Hel-
lo, 2011!
Was it only last year that fad dieters snapped up gluten-free products, cupcakes of all sizes and flavors, and just about anything with bacon? It was only a matter of time before gluten-free bacon cupcakes emerged. Seriously!
http://www.perrysplate.com/2010/03/bacon-cupcakes.html. Thankfully, that age of gimmicky excess is over.
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"Yesterday's" French Onion Soup
from RACKS Downtown Eatery + Tavern |
We predict a return to artisanal dining, with environmentally conscious, ‘ecotistical’ diners frequenting restaurants that buy locally sourced produce, seafood and meats (or scouting nearby farmer’s markets to whip up meals at home). The back-to-basics return to fresh, seasonal eating is more of a lifestyle than a fad, and therefore has more staying power than, say, gluten-free bacon cupcakes. Keep your eye out for locally produced wine and beer, artisan cheeses and hyper-local restaurants boasting their own garden or butcher.
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Carolina Pulled-Pork Sandwich from
Smokehouse Grille & Wingery |
In an even more eco-friendly move (both ecologically and economically), trendier restaurants will make the move to offer wine lists and menus as iPad apps. This not only saves restaurants the big bucks they would normally spend on reprinting an entire menu every time an item is added or removed, but gives an increasingly tech-savvy customer base something to appreciate.
Pork belly may be gone with 2010, but the rest of the pig (and the cow, and the chicken, and even the goat) is here to stay – if it was raised humanely. Note how your food was treated before it ended up on their plate, whether it was cage-free, pastured or spared mutant doses of antibiotics, for an even tastier, healthier meal. Call it culinary karma.
Lastly, forget the staycation. 2011 is the year of the gourmet-cation. Discover regional Mexican cooking in the villages of Oaxaca, or learn how to make une tarte flambée in a Parisian cooking class. What’s life, after all, without a little flavor?
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| Lobster Penne Pasta with Brie Sauce from Piñon Grill |
Hosting a girls night in or a night on the town? Butlers in the Buff™ has got your back. Outfitted in nothing more than a bow-tie, collar, shirt cuffs, and a strategically placed, bottom-revealing apron, Butlers liven up any evening with the total package – wit, charm, personality, and a fit physique. Butlers transform ho-hum events into unforgettable experiences by greeting and mingling with guests, serving cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, raising money for charity events, and assisting you with other pesky host/hostess duties. There is one ‘but’ – More dapper male than Chippendale, the Butlers are trained etiquette experts who adhere to grooming and behavioral guidelines that includes a strict ‘look but don’t touch’ policy. 
Starting off our event-filled week last Monday was The Gab Group's exclusive "Night In Rio" party at the Fairmont Turnberry Isles. Although originally set to be hosted at the hotel's tropical laguna pool area, the weather (more more North Pole than South America) dictated that we bring the party indoors.
On Friday, December 17, Gab and Boca Raton Life Time Athletic Club hosted the annual “Winter Wonderland” party, where guests spread holiday cheer by providing new, unwrapped toys for Toys For Tots and donating to the Life Time Fitness Foundation in lieu of an entrance fee.
Partiers braved the South Florida cold (35 degrees?! Brr!) for Il Bacio's over-the-top “Naughty or Nice" holiday celebration, warming up with festive cocktails sponsored by Ketel One and the chance to win up to $1,000 cash. Although some guests may have been naughty, the party was decidedly 'nice,' with proceeds benefiting Toys for Tots.
On Wednesday night, Gab threw not one but two amazing events, kicking our event planning skills into high gear!
At Umi, Executive Chef John Belleme creates dishes with clean flavor profiles and his signature Asian, Latin American and Spanish influences. Umi is the only restaurant in the area to offer a robata grill, a traditional slow-cooking style of northern Japan that heightens flavors of meat and fish over binchotan charcoal. 
