Reviews for Whisk, Villa Azur and Tap 42

This week, the Miami Herald's Victoria Pesce Elliott stops by South Miami's Whisk Gourmet Food and Catering. Elliott has high praise for Whisk's affordable and well-executed Southern cuisine:

"Big appetites are required for food that tends toward Southern comfort with fried green tomato sandwiches and crumbly cornbread with scallion honey butter but also borrows from Latin America with pork masitas and a tender pulled-pork burrito. They take advantage of what is fresh and in season to create very satisfying meals.

...As simple and indispensable as the kitchen tool for which it’s named, Whisk is one of those precious places you almost hate to rave about for fear that the waits will get even longer."

VPE gives the crowded and cozy restaurant three and a half stars, noting "the reasonable prices, smart service and simply delicious food at this not-very-well-kept South Miami secret have the neighborhood gem packed for lunch and dinner six days a week". [MH]

Lee Klein of the Miami New Times leaves Villa Azur unenthused: "The menu of executive chef Mickael Bensa, a native of Nice (and most recently chef de cuisine at the Strand in Saint-Tropez), concentrates mostly on Mediterranean territory, with occasional forays into other parts of France and Italy...The fare proved fresh and was prepared in a competent fashion. Nothing, however, stood out as special. One uninspired dish followed another to the table like a string of second-tier stars strutting the red carpet during an off year at the Oscars." [MNT]

Eric Barton of the Broward New Times files a rave on Tanzy, the new iPic Theaters restaurant in Boca Raton: "There were some misses and some just fine dishes during our meal there, but that single dessert was enough to define this place as a special-occasion-priced restaurant that will likely be on many people's lists of the best new kitchens around." [BNT]

Over at First Bites, Lee Klein recommends the Upper East Side's Iron Side Cafe for lunch: "Iron Side is an art complex by the railroad tracks in Miami's Upper Eastside. Partners Fernando Nascimento and chef Nuno Grullon, both formerly of Metro Bistro, opened Iron Side Café within the complex about six months ago. Fernando is from Rio de Janeiro; Nuno is from the Bronx and learned to cook from his Dominican family. Both wanted a small, personal restaurant of their own where they could serve simple fare based on organic ingredients. Iron Side is that restaurant." [Short Order]

The Sun Sentinel's John Tanasychuk has a few at Tap 42 Bar and Kitchen in Ft. Lauderdale, highlighting Tap 42's ability to balance the focus of the restaurant: "You'd be wrong if you thought all this obsessing over beer meant the food, service or design got short shrift. In fact, Tap 42 serves some of the best tavern food in South Florida." With "burgers among the biggest stars", Tanasychuk grades Tap 42 three and a half stars. [SS]

THE BLOGS: Gourmandj has a rough outing at Estiatorio Milos. AssaultnPepper heads to the SLS to try The Bazaar. Fatgirl Hedonist stops by Blue Ginger in Pembroke Pines. Burger Beast has a taste of the burgers and chili dogs at Doggi Style off of Coral Way.