b is for burgers

before my love for food grew into exploring exotic cuisines, eating at fancy restaurants and appreciating hole in the wall joints - it was always simple for me - "i'll have the burger."

it's the most ideal thing to eat - a warm patty usually made out of beef, slice of melted cheese, whatever toppings you desire, dollop of ketchup - all nestled into a bun...yum. i've had great ones at places like shake shack, in-and-out, houston's, primanti's, etc. over the past year or so they've become the trendy item to order - just like good ol' cupcakes - and restaurant's are either updating the traditional cheeseburger with unique creations or opening with the entire concept based around the burger. trendy or not, i'll always love a burger and there are two burgers that i recently tried that cannot go without recognition.

rok brgr in ft. lauderdale

rok brgr and the peggy burger

http://www.rokbrgr.com


mike o'donnell makes his smooth return to the blog and appropriately so on a burger post. when the two of us aren't bantering about movies, music or just mocking one another - we are usually talking about how great american food is. as mike is trying to expose me to more music he loves (and sports - but that's going to take much longer), i am trying to expose him to eating different types of eats and especially break down his aversion to spicy food. we had been talking about the best burgers we've had for quite some time and when the new rok brgr on himmershee street in ft. lauderdale was getting rave reviews, i knew that's where i wanted to take him during his visit to south florida. it’s a very laid back scene with good music playing and adding to the bar scene in downtown ft. lauderdale,  except here they offer super quality food and lots of burgers.

he was so giddy over all the options and was struggling to decide on one. we happily compromised with ordering two different burgers and splitting them. he got the rok brgr which came with hickory smoked bacon and a winning bourbon bbq sauce and i got the peggy – topped with pulled short rib, same bbq sauce and a horseradish cheddar cheese. both burgers were served with handcut fries – perfect to stuff into your burger for that one really good bite.

photo courtesy of daily.likeme.net

vegetarian dines at mellow mushroom & sublime

two super good restaurants with two of some of my most favorite people in the world - javier and jessica garcia. married for almost two years now, javier and jessica are young, carefree spirits and an unbelievably kind duo. javi is one of my closest friends from high school and it's great to see him find someone like jess who carries the same outlook on life as him - simple yet refined (and always a little bit of crazy.) 

mellow mushroom in delray beach

monk in the trunk, kosmic karma pizza, cinnamon and honey pretzel 

www.mellowmushroom.com

after an unpredictable adventure with the two to rescue an old cell phone held hostage from a disturbing character, our dining fates were immediately sealed when jess quickly learned we were very near mellow mushroom and realizing i had yet to eat there myself... she, i quickly found, was one of their regulars.

nirala sweet house in sunrise

i love, love, looooooooooooove this restaurant. i'm pakistani and this is a hole in the wall pakistani joint which really means it is incredibly delicious and i always feel like i'm celebrating my birthday when i get to eat here. so when my second family a.k.a the wildest group of women i know informed me that we would be going to nirala for their infamous sunday brunch, i kinda cried with joy. i have a lot of foodie friends but mimi, zara and maliha are a whole other world of food eaters. some have described us as "beasts" and my favorite "garbage disposals." what's the harm in getting a tad bit excited about the food you eat?

canyon southwest cafe

canyon southwest cafe
ft. lauderdale, fl
www.canyonfl.com

cozy, dark and packed with young, hip diners all eating some of the best locally produced food in ft. lauderdale. the music is loud and the wait is long. here's the deal - they don't take reservations, they're only open for dinner and happy hour doesn't exist. but what does exist are their infamous prickly pear margarita's, which you must order. they describe their cuisine as 'american artisanal' with southwestern fusion and exciting hints of asian and south american influences. a few girlfriends and i went on a saturday night and had a ravishing time - the prickly pear margarita's were great company.

joie de vivre's for april

new food fantasticals. place's that will keep you wanting to come back.

epicure gourmet market in sunny isles beach
http://www.epicuremarket.com/

i have a tendency to spend my lunch breaks at either fresh market or whole foods because what's second to eating food, looking at food. so when i discovered epicure on collins avenue, i was afraid that completing  important work tasks was going to be impossible. between their deli, hot foods, produce, full bar, wine collection, exetensive cheese collections, seafood varieties, isles and isles of international groceries and my cryptonite - desserts, galore... i just didn't know what to do with myself. i wanted to unleash my grazing muscles when i saw the assortments of chocolates, baked goods and cakes. there was a point where my face was so close to the glass case, that my breath had created a fog. i didn't stay long once i realized that i was close to grocery shopping for items that would have hit an all time carb high. this was a serious charlie and the chocolate factory moment. amazing.

seasons 52, florida room & primanti brothers. top night.

what's better than good food? that's easy. enjoying it with good company. this past saturday night's adventure is better told with my two friends who accompanied me.

the unusual suspects:
jessica brager - foodie/fashionista/friend-to-the-end

michael hidalgo - foodie/dj/way too literal for his own good/superstar