Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Food & Drink
The treasures of the ocean, the citrus-scented whiff of farmland and an im-
migrant population give Florida serious culinary cred. On the flip side, strip
malls, an all-too-American emphasis on reliability over adventure and a bad
habit of cloning, rather than creating trends, are all marks against Florida's
gastronomic reputation. Where does the truth lie? In the middle. In the mean-
time, gourmets can genuflect before celebrity chefs, while gourmands hunt
Florida's delicacies, such as boiled peanuts, frogs legs and gator.
In Miami, you can find classic Cuban brands that are no longer sold in Cuba itself - such
as Hatuey beer, La Llave coffee and Gilda crackers.
Destination Dining
Florida has a rich culinary heritage, but the state wasn't known as a place for good restaur-
ants until the 1990s, when a wave of gourmet chefs transformed the Miami dining scene.
They dedicated themselves to pleasing sophisticated urban palates by spicing up menus
with South Florida's unique combination of Cuban, Caribbean and Latin American influen-
ces, which came to be dubbed Floribbean cuisine.
Today, Miami remains the epicenter of all things gourmet, and it has the greatest selec-
tion of ethnic cuisines. It's a town that is highly susceptible to buzzword-of-the-moment
dining trends; at the time of writing, farm-to-table cuisine and an affected focus on rustic
simplicity was all the rage.
The ripples of Miami dining have since spread statewide. In big cities and anywhere
moneyed tourists and snowbirds land, you will find upscale restaurants and skilled chefs
plying their trade, often in contemporary dining rooms framing ocean views.
North of Miami and Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and West Palm Beach
offer the well-heeled foodie oodles of fun. Key West is, as in all things, more laid-back, but
its dining scene is notably stocked with creative-fusion cool, and for a town of its size, it
possesses a surfeit of excellent dining options.
