Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays from the Amateur Gastronomer! For my friends in the cold weather, here’s a look at one of Miami’s holiday traditions: the annual holiday boat parade! This past Saturday dozens of boats decked out in Christmas lights (and many blasting Christmas music), sailed from Miami Beach to Brickell Key, passing underneath the McArthur Causeway [...]

AG Pick Under $20: B.R. Cohn Silver Label Cabernet Sauvignon

I’ve been a fan of B.R. Cohn’s wine since visiting the Sonoma winery earlier this year. Their 2006 Silver Label Cabernet Sauvignon is one of my favorites. It’s a big and tasty wine that is a great value, costing around $17. The wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the B.R. Cohn Olive Hill Estate Vineyard [...]

Soya e Pomodoro: Downtown Miami Hangout Serves Up Delicious Italian Fare

“Hole in the wall” would be the best way to describe Soya e Pomodoro. From the street it looks like an unlikely spot for a restaurant. It’s squeezed into an alcove in a former bank building between watch and jewelry stores in downtown Miami. It’s a space that looks like it was abandoned for years [...]

It's All About the Butter

I love cooking but I’m not much of a baker. The last thing I baked was brownies using one of those mixes I bought at the supermarket. I prefer to put together a bunch of ingredients with the hope they’ll taste good in the end rather than follow a recipe. For people like me who [...]

AG Pick Under $20: Jean Albrecht Cremant D’Alsace Brut Reserve

If you’re looking for a nice bottle of sparkling wine to celebrate the New Year, skip Champagne and head farther east in France to Alsace. Crémant D’Alsace is a sparkling wine made in the traditional Champenoise method but doesn’t carry the same price tag as Champagne. For the taste and the cost, Crémant D’Alsace is [...]

Fun with Older Wines

My husband and I spent the weekend in Atlanta, where much of his extended family lives. In between visiting with his maternal grandmother, aunt and uncle, cousins and one of his sisters, we were reminded of how much we enjoy Miami’s winter weather. Our trip included a visit to his paternal grandparents’ home and a [...]

Wine Worth Sharing at Wine 69

It’s good Wine 69’s address is in its name, otherwise you may drive right by it. The wine bar and restaurant is located at 69th Street on a quiet block of Biscayne Boulevard in Miami. The décor is sleek and simple: a long wooden bar, tables covered in white tablecloths and a comfy white couch [...]

AG Pick Under $10: Camino de los 7 Lagos Cabernet Malbec

In July 2006 my husband and I traveled to Buenos Aires where we spent four days drinking great wine and eating all sorts of meat. Our friends from Argentina did the ordering so I’m really not quite sure what parts of a cow we tried or even if it was all from cows. There was [...]

A Family Favorite: Ethiopian Food

It’s one of my family’s most cherished food traditions: sharing a delicious meal at our favorite Ethiopian restaurant in New York City. It started in the early 1990s with my first taste of Ethiopian food in Washington, D.C. and has become a meal my family looks forward to. My sister orders the food, I control [...]

AG Pick Under $20: Chateau Ste. Michelle Columbia Valley Merlot

Of the many Chateau Ste. Michelle wines I’ve tasted, I have yet to find one I don’t like. I’ve tried several different vintages of the Columbia Valley Merlot and have always found it to be a good, solid wine that can pair with a variety of different dishes. Chateau Ste. Michelle is the oldest winery [...]