Jugofresh - Open for Life - or 2pm, whichever comes first

Jugofresh is the newest and hottest thing among Miami Beach's smart set. It is a beautiful little organic juice bar that has taken design cues from the Cowshed, and hot yoga teacher customers from Whole Foods. It's a great place to go get juice on a fast, but in my case, I'm coming here to break it with one of their delicious "blended beverages".

But there are issues, there are.. rules. Essentially, they are the "Juice Nazis" of Miami Beach, and just like Seinfeld's original Soup Nazi, the lines are long, the rules are strict (no changes to juice recipes, cold-pressed never centrifuge!) and subjects willingly go back day after day until the last Gogi Lemonade or Mylk Shake is gone.  Which is around 2pm, when they close. I know, I know, 2pm?! But remember we're playing by their rules, not ours.

That said, they have already expanded their offerings beyond just juice to include some food. Raw, vegan food that is. See menu below:

Perhaps their indifference to walk-in customers has more to do with the fact that their core business is the juice cleansing clients, who get an entire day of juices for $75. These people take priority and have first dibs on the Allow Meow H2O. And personally knowing how much work it is to make juice I would say it's a pretty good deal if you've got the scratch.

devotees

Chia Seed Pudding

Sugar Sherm - my reward for making it 4 days!

from the outside

They deliver if you're on "the program"

Happy New Year

I want to wish a happy new year to all my Persian Peeps (there are many) who are celebrating New Years today (usually on March 20 or 21st). It's a pre-Islamic custom that clerics frown on, but who cares, it's the start of the vernal equinox! And, it's full of great "rituals" that we do anyways: spring cleaning, buying new clothes and setting the table. Only this table is decorated with seven symbols of life, health and beauty using stuff like hyacinth plants, rosewater, coins, candles. There should also be a gold fish in a bowl, a mirror for cleanness and honesty, decorated eggs for fertility.  It's not green beer or anything, but you might want to get down with a little Persian cuisine which only be found at Rice House of Kabob in Miami Beach. It's not quite as good as Moby Dick in DC, which I'm sure it was inspired by, but it's pretty darn good for a basmati rice fix. Enjoy!

Jujeh and Kubideh combo with sumac sprinkled on top

Broken Shaker Madness

 I finally made it to the Broken Shaker, a cute little pop-up bar in the Indian Creek Hotel. It's on the site of a former favorite restaurant of mine, Creek 28. As much as I liked the restaurant, the bar, with it's eclectic speakeasy music, creative old timey decor and games galore, is a better fit. Drinks don't cost too much ($11) and the place is packed with an eclectic mix of funksters, locals and hotel guests. Complex craft cocktails are on the whim of the 'tender and on a menu that changes daily, so forget about asking for a Cosmo or some such dreck. You're more likely to find sage, passion fruit or bitters in these 'bespoke' cocktails. Definitely come check it out soon if you haven't already as this limited engagement ends in June.

Mixologist Barista

Yan, Nuria, and Lester Kuan

Lester and Hadley

Note the single large cubes

She looks happy but that was before the Henriettes beat the Kuans 10-4 in Fooseball

A Little Life Food

I finally made it this week to Life Food Gourmet on Miracle Mile. I've been trying to make it there for two years, but I never knew exactly where it was (it's in the building right across from Beber Silverstein, facing the Mile). When I got there I found a cute, clean little place to have healthy, mostly organic, raw food or just grab a quick smoothie, fresh juice or lemonade.

The truth is, raw food isn't good just any old time. You can't really go straight from having Lucky Charms or Denny's for breakfast to this - it will be a shock to your unhealthy system! It's really best when you're coming off a cleanse, trying to loose weight, or better yet - in the midst of eating a raw diet. I was in neither of these categories, but I did enjoy my lunch, served with a serious ginger lemonade out of a old-timey fountain. I had the "Italian Plate" with a delicious warm zucchini pasta in a creamy nut sauce and a cannelloni made with a flax wrap. I ditched the wrap and just ate the sauteed mushrooms in the middle (wait, that's not raw!) and the rest was great. I will be back - especially when I'm going raw or veg for the week (it's been known to happen.)

Lunch!

One Dolla!

Montadito

Midtowners already know the magic of the Montadito, but I just had the chance to finally eat one last week. They're little sandwiches which come with anything and everything on them, and on Wednesdays, at 100 Montaditos, they're all a dollar. And the beer, well that deal is supposed to be on Friday, but they gave us a little one for free! The sandwiches are about  $2.50, so you can go any day of the week and not the bank. Try the choriso, or Serreno ham with olive oil or the Pulled BBQ Pork. They're all pretty yummy, but I might suggest steering clear of the fish ones - they're the only ones that are not so great. That should be easy considering there are 100 different varieties. Beachers will have their own outpost of the Spanish chain any minute on 15th and Washington! Yipee!

RED's Red Wine

Every time someone asks me where to go for steak in Miami, I always tell them hands down, without a doubt they should go to RED the Steakhouse. It is by far and away the best steakhouse (and the owners are from Cleveland, which might be why the service is so good). They are the only ones serving real prime beef, warm Alaskan King Crab and their sides are amazing, not heavy triple cream junk that makes you want to hurl afterwards (Prime 112, I'm talking to you), but really beautiful, well-seasoned vegetables and starches. So I jumped at any excuse to go there and in this case it was to try their new house red, Constant's Diamond Mountain Vineyard. The special blend of 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon runs $199 a bottle and isn't found anywhere else. And I can speak from experience, it's full of bite, yet super smooth. It won full approval from my French palate (aka the better half.) What has the steakhouse really excited is that they are one of few restaurants around the world to offer such a fine house wine, bottled and labeled just for them. They still offer their $72 house wine from Gerard, which is great (smooth and peppery), but we're kind of stuck on the Diamond Mountain.  An amazing bottle to order if you're in that league... or just blowing all your money on a big celebration.

The big cheese

a taste of filet mignon and creamed corn

A little Bulgari water never hurt

Field Trip: South Pointe Park

Show Off

Rough Biking on the Pier

The only place in Miami that looks really "Eastern Seaboard"

Sun in front of us - rain behind

Our Meddow

If We Took a Holiday

go full screen for full effect!

An impromptu bike ride along the beachwalk on Monday yielded some great vibes. I stumbled upon a local breakdancing trio called Revolution drawing a crowd with  an 80's style breaking circle. Then I heard some drum beats a bit down the way and found some African drummers. I didn't want to interrupt their performance to get their name - they were way into it. But Ocean Drive was so alive, and everyone was having so much fun everywhere that it made me think... this is exactly the kind of Holiday that Madonna has been singing about all these years.

Schwinning!

I bought the basket at Fritz's - next: fenders, streamers and a rear-view mirror!

Today is probably going to be the best bike riding day of the year - in Florida anyways. No commuters, no drunk drivers, just a bunch of people staying home, taking the day off - perfect conditions for biking. And now, thankfully I have a new bike to do it on. (I've been bikeless for over a year - when my expensive mountain bike was stolen and thrown into a shipping container bound for Central America with hundreds of others at the Port of Miami (well that's what the guy at Fritz's Skate Shop thinks anyways).

Replacing it wasn't as easy as I thought. I didn't want to spend too much if it was just going to get stolen again, and I wanted to try a hybrid. You know, half road bike, half mountain bike - a perfect pix for a Goldilocks like me. The problem was I couldn't find a bike that looked chic, had fenders and shocks for less than $600. So I gave up - until I found not a Trek, or a Jamis, but a good, old fashioned Schwinn for $279! And I love it! It's so comfortable and cute. But I have two.

Instead of buying it, I put it on my Christmas list and low and behold my Mom and my Dad both bought a bike for me! Now I have two. And bikesdirect.com is unreachable (I thought I would return one and get a mens version for my husband). So if anyone would like to buy the second one from me email me at hadleyhenriette@gmail.com!

color: white (with pink and white houndstooth embroidery accents)
size: Medium (for 5'6" -5'10")
gears: 3

Eat your heart out Pee-Wee!