***** Gusto Fino Italian Deli, 2103 South LeJeune Road, Coral Gables, Florida 33134, (305) 444-0504.

Every so often Jeff Eats says to himself…

“Self, do you really want to share an amazing -7 table, hole-in-the-wall, Italian sub/salad joint find with total strangers?” Now you gotta picture this…one shoulder has a little Devil Jeff Eats on it and the other shoulder has a little Angel Jeff Eats on it…

Anyway…

Here’s a gift from me to you…Gusto Fino Italian Deli in Coral Gables with its full boat of salads, hot/cold subs, pastas/entrees/ciabatta pizza makes absolutely dynamite stuff. A recent Jeff Eats’ outing had me doing -meatball parmigiana sub, sausage-peppers & onions sub, caprese salad, meat lasagna and I gotta tell you, the food blew me away. No fooling around, the meatball sub (baguette) was one of the best sandwiches Jeff Eats has eaten since this blog’s 2006 startup…trust me on this, I’ve eaten a ton of sandwiches in my day and Gusto is turning out some heavy duty product.

You can check www.gustofinodeli.com for menu/prices.

Gusto Fino Deli is open Monday 11am-4pm, Tuesday-Friday 11am-5pm, Saturday 11:30am-4pm, closed on Sunday.

Nothing for nothing—way back on August 31, 2011 Jeff Eats first told you about Gusto…that’s why that little Devil Jeff Eats didn’t put up much of a fight.

—–

Posted on August 31st, 2011
***** Gusto Fino Italian Deli, 2103 South LeJeune, Coral Gables, Florida 33134, (305) 444-0504.
Tremendous! That’s the best way to describe this “hole in the wall” Italian Deli in Coral Gables. You can check menu/prices/photos at www.gustofinodeli.com.

Just so you know, this is basically a “takeout”…the joint does have a handful of tables. The menu has some absolutely terrific sandwiches, salads, personal pizzas, pastas and entrees. A recent outing had me “doing” sausage & peppers—chicken parmigiana—meatball ciabatta sandwiches…off the chart. I also “did” meat lasagna and a caprese salad…delicious.

I loved this joint.

Nice break from the “typical” $5 sub joints that dot the South Florida landscape.. For those who haven’t yet checked Gusto’s website…sandwiches run $7.95-$8.95 and the most expensive item on the menu are a couple of pasta/entrees that top out at $13.95

Gusto Fino Italian Deli is open Monday 11am-4pm, Tuesday-Friday 11am-4:30pm, Saturday noon-4pm, closed on Sunday.

* Next In the Fad Department—Biscuits!

Jeff Eats knows and I hope you guys know, that–self serve yogurt stores–cupcake stores–grilled cheese stores–most “upscale” fast food hambuger stores are F A D businesses which have very short shelf lives. Don’t believe me, write me a note, let’s say in 6 months and see if old Jeff Eats was right or wrong on these babies. Now for sure, some will suvive, but my money says that there are going to be a whole lot of unhappy franchisees out there and a whole lot of vacant strip center bays.

Anyway…

In recent days, Jeff Eats has read several articles and e-mails about BISCUITS. The “game” here…hot- freshed baked biscuits either stuffed/or topped with all kinds of fillings. The word going around, is that biscuit stores/franchises are being built/offered based on this concept.

Not sure if it was P.T. Barnum or W. C. Fields or my Uncle Abe who coined the phrase…”A sucker is born every minute.”—What I do know, is that ANYONE who buys into this concept and puts their hard earned money at risk—is a SUCKER!!

As Detective Tony Baretta use to say…”And that’s the name of that tune.”

* McDonald’s Dumps Heinz———————-WTF!!!!!

Did you guys catch this recent United Press International article?…

I don’t know about you guys, but in Jeff Eats’ book Heinz Ketchup is the “only way to go”…I don’t know about you, but the thought of Hunt’s Tomato Ketchup or some no name-brand ketchup on my burgers/fries doesn’t sit too well with me.

Read the article… personally Jeff Eats thinks that the folks running McDonald’s should be ashamed of themselves…looks to me like they couldn’t give a rat’s ass about guys like Jeff Eats and I’m assuming guys like you!
*****

“OAK BROOK, Ill., Oct. 26 (UPI) — U.S. fast food giant McDonald’s said the ketchup it buys just got personal, saying it would quit doing business with H.J. Heinz because of a managerial change.
“As a result of recent management changes at Heinz, we have decided to transition our business to other suppliers over time,” McDonald’s said in a statement.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Friday that McDonald’s is cutting ties with Heinz because former Burger King Worldwide Chief Executive Officer Bernardo Hees was just picked to run what is arguably the world’s most famous ketchup company.
Hees is a partner in 3G Capital which, along with Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, purchased Heinz this year. Hees, meanwhile, remains the vice chairman of the board at Burger King, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Heinz said it would not comment on a customer’s business decisions, but the company had been pushing to regain some of the McDonald’s business, which first suffered a setback in the early 1970s, when a tomato shortage forced McDonald’s to find new suppliers, the Post-Gazette reported.
McDonald’s has 34,000 outlets, but in the United States Heinz has only been supplying two of its markets, Pittsburgh and Minneapolis, the newspaper said.”

* Name That Restaurant

Jeff Eats was just thinking–most people seemingly have absolutely no imagination.

Just because your name is Joe or Vito…doesn’t mean that you have to name your new pizza restaurant Joe’s Pizza or Vito’s Pizzeria.

Now be honest–which new pizza restaurant would you be more likely to try…Vito’s Pizzeria or Johnny Chang’s Pizzera?

With the above in mind, what creative names can you guys come-up?

* Darlene Love (Parker Playhouse–Fort Lauderdale)

One of the greatest Rock N Roll singers of all-time, DARLENE LOVE will be performing at the Parker Playhouse on February 14, 2014 at 8pm.

Jeff Eats is talking LEGENDARY!
Jeff Eats is talking ROCK N ROLL HALL OF FAME!
Jeff Eats is talking “HE’S A REBEL”!

You can buy tickets on-line at www.parkerplayhouse.com.

*Jeff Eats On The Radio

Gonna be “on” with stock guru Peter Bruno…

“Good Morning Jeff,
Our web site is www.peterbruno.com and clicking on the radio link on the right side of this page will bring you to a splash page where on the top of the page, one could listen live to the audio streaming on their computer or go to the www.peterbrunomedia.com page to listen live or hear replays of previous programs . Clicking on this direct link will bring you to that page. http://www.peterbruno.com/index.html
The “Managing Your Money” radio program is heard M-F at 5:00 PM on WSBR Radio – 740 on your AM dial.and each program is repeated on that same station in the evening at 9:00 PM. Listeners from North Miami and out West towards Weston and Sawgrass Mills can listen in their cars at 5:00 PM on WWNN Radio, 1470 on the AM dial or on our archive web site at www.peterbrunomedia.com the following day.
Hope this information helps. Call my cell with any questions.”

***** Amici’s Trattoria Italiana, Hammock’s Town Center–10201 Hammock’s Boulevard, Miami, Florida 33196, (305) 388-3787.

Jeff Eats, Mrs. Jeff Eats and two other couples–recently had dinner at Amici’s Trattoria Italiana in Kendall…check Amici’s website www.amicismiami.com for menu/prices.

Before Jeff Eats opines on the food, Amici’s unlike the vast majority of its red sauce South Florida brethern–sisteren (?) decorated with Italian urns old wedding photos and tomato cans is an absolutely gorgeous up-scale “looking” art/deco looking joint—that said, your shorts/tee shirt/flip flop-sneakers’ ensembles will work just fine there. To get some idea as to what Jeff Eats considers “an absolutely gorgeous up-scale ‘looking’ art/deco looking joint”–take a look at the video that’s on Amici’s site. Nothing for nothing, the video’s music had me thinking that I was watching a Star Wars’ movie—but I “think” I get the idea–that Amici’s restaurant is out of this world…then again, Jeff Eats maybe reading/seeing/hearing too much into the video/music–so let’s get onto the food.

As I mentioned 27 seconds ago there were 6-people at the table…ordered food included—veal parmigiana ($13.95), sausage & peppers ($12.95), shrimp fra diavlo ($14.95), lasagna ($10.95), penne vodka ($13.95), large 18″ NY-style pizza ($11), eggplant parmigiana ($11.95) and everyone agreed that the food was real good. Now just so we are straight, although Amici’s is a “dolled up” joint, under the surface it’s your basic-hearty red sauce Italian joint where you come to fress (non Jews look it up) with plenty of Coke/Pepsi, beer, wine to wash down the food. For you guys who like a pecking orders, Jeff Eats would put the lasagna and sausage & peppers–as 1-2…but like I said before, everything was real good.

Let me wrap this one up…

Jeff Eats loved Amici’s Trattoria Italiana. Good solid food, good service, reasonable prices—and a nice change from the mundane “mom & pop” Italian joint decor.

Amici’s Trattoria Italiana is open Monday-Thursday 11am-10pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-11pm, Sunday noon-10pm.

The Manhattans

* Mardi Gras Casino– Great Concert Series (Hallandale Beach)

I don’t know about you guys, but Jeff Eats thinks that it’s absolutely absurd to pay a “king’s ransom” to buy a a concert ticket…sometimes, the service fees are literally more than the “seat” price.

Anyway…

This past year the Mardi Gras Casino has/had a Rock N Roll/Pop concert series that priced tickets at $10, $20, $40 a ticket—with a service charge of maybe a buck or two per ticket. The acts that have already appeared…The Lovin’ Spoonful, The Grass Roots, The Association, The Atlanta Rhythm Section, The Marshall Tucker Band, Jay & The Americans—still left to go, Fire Fall on November 12th and The Manhattans on December 31st…

Be smart– keep an eye on Mardi Gras Casino’s website www.mardigrascasinofl.com as the casino has all types of entertainment coming through—and you won’t have to go for you lungs to get a ticket.

* Rhino Donughnuts & Coffee (Boca Raton)

Jeff Eats loves and I do mean LOVES a good donut or two or three…with that in mind, I’m hearing that Rhino Donuts & Coffee a gourmet donut shop is currently under construction in Boca Raton…I really don’t have any particulars on the business other than it is located in the same strip -center as Spandini’s Pizzeria (see review 5/15/13) which is right across the street from Mizner Park in Boca Raton. Now, this again is hearsay as Jeff Eats is no Perry White—that in addition to the Boca location-Rhino has three other South Florida stores also under construction. The hearsay-story also says that Rhino makes outrageously delicious donuts and that the planned Boca menu is limited to coffee, donuts and a handful of muffins.

So…you now know as much as Jeff Eats knows about Rhino Donuts & Coffee.

Let’s keep an eye on this “one”…sounds like something that Jeff Eats might really enjoy trying out.

***** Joji Yogurt

Yesterday..

Jeff Eats tried a really cool “food truck” Joji Yogurt- at a Boca Raton street fair. Joji serves (pun intended) Miami to North Palm Beach, so you’ll need to check www.jojiyogurt.com to find out where this truck is on any given day.

Real simple concept, the side of the truck has 6-self serve frozen yogurt machines and a toppings bar. For 5 bucks you get an 8oz. cup which you can load-up with all of the yogurt and toppings that your little old heart desires.

Now, you and I both know that Joji Yogurt is a “variation on a theme”…that being the local self-serve frozen yogurt store—with the differences being 1. that this is a store on wheels and 2. the purchase price no matter how little or how much you “take” is capped at $5.

When you check Joji’s website, you’ll find that it has something like 2,000,000 rotating yogurt flavors and 2,000 rotating toppings. Yesterday, Jeff Eats tried the pineapple sorbet, vanilla and chocolate yogurt flavors and chopped peanuts and chocolate sprinkles toppings… everything was delicious on a sunny 85 degree South Florida day while walking from tent to tent looking at endless wind chimes, leather braclets, and paintings. Maybe it’s just me, but I could swear that I’ve seen some of the same paintings for-like 20 years at various street fairs. Anyway, I digress…

You regular guys know -that Jeff Eats has for a long time considered self-serve yogurt stores a “fad.”—I’ll even go on record, that the fad has ended and the predicted store closings are the next shoe to drop here in South Florida and elsewhere around the country. With that in mind, I gotta tell you, that Joji Yogurt’s food truck “one price” concept is genius…absolutely perfect for street fairs, carnivals, private parties—unlike a brick & mortar store, the truck can go where the action is.

Now nothing for nothing, Joji’s concept can be easily duplicated, replicated, copied in a flash. That said, yesterday was the first time that Jeff Eats had seen a “price fixed self serve yogurt” food truck in action, so the props and shout-out go to Joji’s.

You got Joji’s website. Its phone number is (954) 788-2565.