Chef Allen's

The Food Truck phenomenon has spread like wildfire across the country and Miami is no exception.  Just over a year ago, Miami had approximately 50 trucks on the road and now that number is approaching 100 or more.  Food Trucks roam the streets of Miami solo or roar into rallies from South Miami all the way up to Palm Beach County almost every day of the week. Latin Burger and gastropod were some of the first trucks on the road and the pioneers of the Food Truck frenzy in Miami.  BTTR - short for Biscayne Triangle Truck Round-Up - is the most longstanding Food Truck rally and began in 2009.  Every Tuesday night, you are sure to find 15-20 trucks in front of Johnson and Wales University, slinging their food for crowds. Everyone is sure to find something at BTTR to tickle their palate - how about a Bubble Tea from Boba Station?  My favorite is the lychee slushie with orange pearls - bursts of fruit and sweet that leave you craving just one more (technically, I had one more plus since I also had to sample the Papaya and the Black Milk Tea). The Bubble Tea is perfect to wash down a true eyes-roll-to-the-back-of-your-head favorite - the Grilled Blue and Bacon (crisp bacon with creamy blue cheese and green onion on sourdough bread).  This sandwich, along with several other signature snacks, come hot and melting off the grill of Ms. Cheezious® - may I recommend the Crabby Cheese Melt or the Swiss and Guava special? But you can’t stop there.  Food truck rallies are not about stopping at one truck.  The siren song of El Rincon del Coqui is calling you to come and sample a huge, flavorful Tripleta Sandwich, Puerto Rico's famous three meat sandwich. It comes complete with incredible sauce and crispy potato sticks. Bring friends - this is a monster, must-share sandwich. If fish tacos are your indulgence of choice, check out  Purple People Eatery  which has a crispy Miami Mahi taco topped with chipotle mayo and pineapple-jalapeno salsa.  Another option is  Jefe’s Original Fish Taco and Burgers  - a quick bite and make sure you request some of the house hot sauce! Porkalicious has more bacon, pulled pork, marinated pork, grilled pork and chicharrones than any other truck I have seen.  They even have you covered with bacon ice cream for dessert! And if dessert is what you want, then dessert is what you get. For those that have the stomach for it, the Krispy Kreme shake and/or Nutella shake from Big Kahuna are the dessert waves to ride.  Donuts.  In a Shake.  Think about that. Fireman Derek has scrumptious sweets - chocolate flan, pie pops and award-winning Key lime pie.  Cupcakes may be more your style and Clarabelle’s Cupcakes gives a great selection, including a Lavender Cupcake with Lavender icing!  Shaved ice may be the perfect solution to cool off as well but if you are looking for me, you can find me at the Bubble Tea truck … sampling.  Again. Other standup weekly food truck rallies include Young Circle in Hollywood on Mondays, BTTR on Tuesdays, and Bayfront on Wednesdays - Come hungry! For calendars and locations of the Miami Food Truck rallies - check out: South Florida Food Trucks.

Miami is a foodie dream come true. Offerings for restaurants and markets are internationally influenced and keep palates entertained every day of the year. Food Events in Miami are national as well as international destinations and when combined with the fabulous weather - it’s a match made in heaven. Here is a Save the Date Miami Food Event list that will fill your calendar and tantalize your tummy for the whole year! Winter Winter 2013 will be the 13th year of The Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival presented by Food & Wine. Do you love food? Are Chefs the Rock Stars of your world? Is Food Network permanently on your TV? THIS is your event of the year. It’s pricey but worth fitting into your budget - I promise it will make your foodie heart beat a little faster for four whole days. Spring Dinner in Paradise at Paradise Farms features the finest chefs in Miami preparing a delicious five course meal made with local organic products and paired with fine wines. This food and wine experience, served under the stars and in the lush landscape of Paradise Farms is magical. Calle Ocho Carnaval Miami is food, music, packed streets, celebration, color and an experience to remember. Expect musical stages at every corner and hundreds of food vendors with every kind of food that you can imagine. Miami Food & Wine Festival this past year boasted four nights of food and wine events at three venues and they served 4,000 happy guests and raised half a million dollars for charity. Expect more Craft Beer Tastings, Fine Wine Tastings, interactive dinners with Top Chefs and Celebrity Chefs and opportunities to indulge in Foodie Fantasies! Summer Every August and September, Miami Spice hits the city with top restaurants offering lunch and dinner deals to keep the summer yummy. Three-course meals for lunch and dinner with two tiers are on offer, giving everyone a chance to search for a new favorite. Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation® celebrated their 25th Anniversary in the summer of 2012 and it was a dizzying whirlwind of stunning food and cocktails from the top Chefs and Mixologists in Miami. I recommend splurging on the VIP ticket to really experience all the tasty bites available. Goombay Festival Coconut Grove is a celebration of Bahamian culture and a feast of Bahamian food and the evolution here in Miami. When you are done eating, dance the day away! Fall Starting in mid-October, batches of mustard sauce will be prepped throughout South Florida in anticipation of the delectable bounty from the sea - Stone Crab Season is coming soon! Anytime Miami Culinary Tours makes every week a foodie event. They offer weekly year-round culinary tours of South Beach and Little Havana that are a gastronomical and cultural adventure. If you are looking for fun and great good, follow the many Miami Food Trucks for a smorgasbord of foods. The trucks always seem to be in the middle of the action! These are the events that you can plan for but don’t forget to stay tuned to local Miami websites for pop up foodie events and tastings … what a way to eat the year! Don’t forget to look for me, The Hungry Goddess,  I will be by the food!

Tourists may flock to Miami to enjoy the sun, but every local knows the summer heat can wear you down. Thankfully, the city's spas offer restorative hydrotherapy services that are even more satisfying when it's scorching outside.At Exhale Miami—Miami New Times's pick for Best Spa in 2012—swimsuit-clad visitors rinse off under a warm-water wash before lying upon heated stones in the coed hammam. There, an aesthetician dissolves dry skin with a double exfoliation that includes an organic aromatherapy scrub. A cool shower rinses skin clean, and an aromatherapy mist seals in the moisture that results from the scrub.On the rooftop of the Delano South Beach Hotel, patrons catch ocean breezes and take in 360-degree views in Agua Spa's open-air lounge area. Guests can laze outside on lounge chairs and enjoy poolside massages and manicures, or they can head indoors to air out their pores with oxygen-infused facials. Uhma's half-hour Vichy showers drizzle water onto overheated limbs, a treatment the spa suggests as a prelude to the acclaimed massage services that were twice featured in Allure. Visitors plan their own water journeys at Lapis, the spa at the landmark resort Fontainebleau, by choosing from a selection of six Lapis Ritual Water Elements and Journeys. The mineral-treated waters of the 75-foot pool energize and soften the skin, and the jets of the Elements rain tunnel massage limbs with alternating showers of warm and cool water.For a more extreme cooling experience, breeze through The Standard Spa, where guests submerge their sweltering skin in a 50-degree soaking tub known as the Arctic Plunge. The spa's hydrotherapy menu is extensive, boasting everything from cold rain showers to relaxing dips in an outdoor infinity pool that features a front-row view of breezy Biscayne Bay.