* ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT

There is an old saying…”You don’t know shit from Shinola.”

I’ll leave you guys to do some GOOGLE HOMEWORK and learn the “history” of this line. For you short-cutters out there—Shinola was an American brand of wax shoe polish manufactured by the 2-in-1 Shinola-Bixby Corporation from 1907-1960. During World War II the line “You don’t know shit from Shinola” became extremely popular–with the reference being to Shinola’s black polish. A long story short, the manufacturer went out of business in the early 1960s and the brand was dormant until very recently.

Now, for the ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT part of the story…a couple of years ago, Tom Kartsotis, co-founder of the Fossil retail chain acquired the Shinola trademark and in early 2013 via Shinola/Detroit LLC -opened a factory in Detroit to manufacture upscale watches, leather goods and bicycles. As of today’s date, Shinola products can be purchased at the Company’s website (www.shinola.com), specialty retailers (like Barney’s) and most recently at two Shinola retail stores-1 in New York City and 1 in Detroit.

From what I’ve heard, the “plan” is to develop Shinola into an upscale luxury brand–think Michael Kors, Coach…

Now…only time will tell if Mr. Kartsotis can “pull this off”…that said, Jeff Eats’ bet is–that Kartsotis will hit a home-run based on Fossil’s success and the “rarity”- to find a “start-up” retail business that has instant name recognition -literally with millions of people. I also think, that although the “upscale” accessory arena is a crowded one–there is always room for a new player who has a different “take” on things. The “picking” of the Shinola name–tells me, that just maybe Mr. Kartsotis has some fresh-ideas up his sleeve to woo consumers to the brand.

Let’s watch this “one”…

In closing, I know that you guys appreciate how hard it is to start a business from scratch…Let’s see if Tom Kartsotis knows or doesn’t know “shit from Shinola.”

* Does Stuff Like This Ever Happen To You? Me Neither!

Just read this in Huff-Post:

“Every once in a while, we are reminded of the value in paying it forward.
That’s quite true here. An unidentified man walked into a Tim Hortons location in Edmonton, Canada, just after 4 p.m. on Monday and ordered — wait for it! — 500 cups of coffee, according to CBC News.
His order totaled $895.28, and if you don’t believe us, here is the receipt:
dd receipt
When store manager Joanne Averion asked the man why he was purchasing so many coffees, he reportedly did not give any explanation. He also refused to reveal his name.
For the rest of the day, any customer who came in received their drink order free of charge until all of the money had been used. The money lasted until about 8:30 a.m. the next morning, according to Metro News.
Employees and customers of the Tim Hortons still don’t really have an explanation for the man’s actions, other than it being a random act of kindness.
“That’s pretty awesome just to know people are out there willing to just go ‘Hey, let’s do something nice for somebody else,'” one customer told CBC News.
And don’t worry America, we still have some very kind people here too: There recently has been a guy going around the country handing out $500 tips in his brother’s memory.)”

***** Caketory, 7160 Beracasa Way, Boca Raton, Florida 33433, (561) 672-7606.

The other day, purely be accident- after eating a lunch of sweet & sour pork and pork fried rice at a Pei Wei Asian Diner– Jeff Eats discovered Caketory, a kosher bakery (located 2 doors-down) that makes breads, cookies, cakes, cupcakes, pastries.

Jeff Eats and Mrs. Jeff Eats absolutely loved the challah and mixed cookie lb that I brought home.

You do know-that I couldn’t resist “working”- pork and kosher into the run-on sentence that started things off-here…don’tcha?

Anyway…assuming that you aren’t looking for maple walnut bacon topped donuts–

Check Caketory’s website www.caketory.biz for menu/prices.

Caketory hours:
Monday……closed
Tuesday…..7am-4pm
Wednesday…7am-5pm
Thursday….7am-6pm
Friday……7am-2pm
Saturday….closed
Sunday……7am-4pm

* Men With Mics

It never ceases to amaze Jeff Eats as to the number of musically- “talented” people who live in South Florida…with that in mind, let me introduce you to– Men With Mics.

Recently caught this 3-man group at Bobby Rubino’s in Pompano Beach and I gotta tell you, if you are a fan of doo wop, 60’s Rock n’ Roll and 1970’s disco music—these guys will definitely blow you away. Nothing fancy going on here…three guys singing to background tracks—but man-can they sing!

If this is your “bag”- you can catch Men With Mics at restaurants/country clubs all over South Florida.

For info on the group’s schedule/bookings…
www.menwithmics.com.
www.facebook.com/MenWithMics.

***** English Tap & Beer Garden, 5050 Town Center Circle, Boca Raton, Florida 33486, (561) 544-8000.

Silly me!

Something like 2 years ago, a restaurant named English Tap & Beer Garden opened in Boca Raton…until last Friday night, Jeff Eats “thought” that the joint was a British pub where fish & chips were the primary dish served and people who looked liked Winston Churchill- sat around eating, drinking and waiting for Prince William and Kate Middleton’s baby to be born. But oh contraire, it’s really an “American Style” joint that seats something like 250 inside/outdoor patio and serves all kinds of appetizers, salads, burgers, sandwiches, flat breads, wings, meat/chicken/seafood entrees and desserts…it has 2 full bars, 1 inside/1 oustide—tons of beers on tap and loads of flat screen tvs.

Real fast, the ENGLISH in the “title”—the joint’s creator was Todd English the celebrity chef/entrepreneur…like Jeff Eats said 4 seconds ago, silly me. Before I get to the “meal”…what’s with this American fascination with this Prince William and Kate Middleton’s baby thing? If memory serves me correctly, didn’t we kick their (that’s the British) asses back in 1776 or 1783 or whenever it was? So what’s the big deal with this baby or for that matter anything even remotely connected to the Royal Family? Let’s get serious here, do you really think that Prince William or his brother Prince Harry or for that matter their father Prince Charles could competently run a Sunoco station (you do remember Sunoco Gas don’t you?) on his/their own without a brigade of Buckingham Palace guards instructing them the whole way? Well I don’t—talk about being members of the “Lucky Sperm Club.”

Anyway…

Last Friday night, Jeff Eats, Mrs. Jeff Eats and another couple gave the English Tap & Beer Garden a “try”…and I gotta tell you, the joint is terrific.

As I mentioned above, there is both inside and outdoor patio seating…in fact, though I didn’t do a head count, Jeff Eats’ money says that more than half-the seating is outside under huge umbrellas. The ordered items included… mac & cheese with bacon, meatball flat-bread, bacon cheeseburger, crab cakes, bbq babyback ribs, bbq pulled pork sliders—and I gotta tell you, that everything we ordered was delicious.

At this stage of the game, check www.theenglishtap.com for menu/prices.

English Tap & Beer Garden is a real casual joint…your tee shirt/shorts ensemble will work perfectly there. Just so you know, the joint has all kinds of daily food “specials”-you can easily stuff your face for $9.99 and $14.99–it also has loads of drink/food happy-hour specials.

Let me wrap this one up…Good food, real reasonable prices. terrific energetic young staff, cool inside/outside seating setup.

Jeff Eats really enjoyed this one…

English Tap & Beer Garden is open Monday-Thursday 11:30am-midnight, Friday-Saturday 11:30am-2am, Sunday noon-10pm.

One final thought on this English thing…in retrospect, the English-did give us Gerry & The Pacemakers—for which Jeff Eats will always and forever be deeply indebted.

***** Deli Inn Diner, 1494 South Military Trail, West Palm Beach, Florida 33415, (561) 964-1116.

Got a real good “mom & pop” formica/counter/table/booth seating diner for you…Deli Inn Diner in West Palm Beach.

Not gonna make a big deal about this one, not gonna do it (line-courtesy of President George H.W. Bush…he’s the father)!—breakfast/lunch/dinner joint that does breakfast all-day, salads, burgers/hot dogs, sandwiches, meat/fish/chicken entrees.

You regular readers know that Jeff Eats is a sucker for joints like Deli Inn Diner. I just love the home-town vibe that these joint’s throw off. Absolutely nothing fancy going on here–just “solid” stuff like…the western omelette that I had and the waffle with strawberries that Mrs. Jeff Eats enjoyed.

Now- to fill some space and kill some time!

Personally I don’t care for the name Deli Inn Diner…

Is the joint a New York Kosher Style Deli?
Is the joint an Inn like Motel 6 is? You do remember Tom Bodett’s famous line–“We’ll leave the light on for you.”–sure you do.
Is the joint a Diner like the Greek diners that Jeff Eats “knows” from New York?

If I was renaming the joint, I think that Deli Diner would work—I’d lose the Inn. Here’s my figuring—for sure Deli Inn Diner has loads of “deli” meat sandwiches/hot dogs–so the word Deli works. Next, when I was there—for the life of me, I couldn’t find any beds or guest rooms, so Jeff Eats is gonna deep-six the word Inn…Finally, the joint has formica counter/table/booth seating “sort-a” like you find in New York diners (although its hours aren’t even close to the 24 hours that many New York diners have)—so we keep the word Diner…and there you have it…Deli Diner!

Space filled, time killed…

To wrap things up…Jeff Eats and Mrs. Jeff Eats really enjoyed our breakfast at Deli Inn Diner.

If you live or work in Deli Inn Diner’s neighborhood give it a shot.

You can check menu/prices at www.deliinndiner.com.

Deli Inn Diner is open Monday-Friday 6:30am-6pm, Saturday-Sunday 6:30am-3pm.

* Bakeries

Need the names of some really good South Florida-bakeries…wouldn’t hurt if you could tell Jeff Eats where they are– and why you think they are really good.

Thanks for helping out…

Jeff Eats.

* Nostalgic Candy

I don’t know about you guys…but every so often Jeff Eats likes “to go back” to a more innocent time…for me that’s the 1950’s—mom, dad, brother Andy and our 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment- 6M at 811 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn, New York 11218—(718) GE 8-7625.

Now- you and I both know that there is no such thing as a time-machine.

Jeff Eats’ way of going back—

I go to the computer and type in www.blaircandy.com and order 4 boxes of 24 count 1.5oz bars of Bonomo Turkish Taffy at 24 bucks a box —1 box of vanilla, 1 box of chocolate, 1 box of strawberry and 1 box of Banana (my favorite)—wait 3-4 days, get the package in the mail- and then precede to smack the bars down and crack the taffy up.

You’d be very surprised how effective this Bonomo Therapy is…

For you guys who don’t know what the hell I’m talking about…GOOGLE-BING or whatever you use!

If you got a second, tell sentimental old Jeff Eats about the candy of your “past.”

***** Burgers & Suds, 261 East Commercial Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33334, (954) 772-8007.

You guys can thank me later!

Last night, Jeff Eats ate at Burgers & Suds…for our purposes- let’s call it an “American-Style” hole-in-the-wall that serves salads, burgers, wings, pizzas, sandwiches/wraps, tacos/burritos, Saturday-Sunday breakfast. The name Burgers & Suds is a bit deceiving…for sure, the joints- got 13 different burgers and something like 10 different bottled beer brands—but as I mentioned 2 seconds ago, there is a load of other “items” to stuff your face with.

Before I get into what I “tried”—let me tell, if you want to eat some outrageously good food—then you gotta go to Burgers & Suds. By the way, the joint has only been open…5-months.

I think you guys know by now, that Jeff Eats has eaten in his fair share of South Florida restaurants. Trust me on this, Burgers & Suds’ food is heads and shoulders better than most of the joints that I have been to.

Just so you know, Burgers & Suds looks like an absolute “dump” inside and outside…the inside has a bar that seats maybe 6 and 3 hi-tops that seat 9—the awning covered outside patio has a handful of tables with seating for 24…do the math—we are talking a total of 39 seats for the whole joint.

Before Jeff Eats goes any further, let me tell you that Burgers & Suds is my kinda of a joint or shall I say dump? I seriously doubt that most people looking at Burgers & Suds for the first time-would even consider eating there…

I’m sure, that you-know the old saying…”Don’t judge a book by its cover”—well, Burgers & Suds could be the poster-child for that famous line.

Last night, Jeff Eats’ party of-4 “had”…honey garlic wings (10 wings $8.95), Greek salad ($5.95), 1/2lb cheeseburger with onion rings ($8.95), chicken wrap with sweet potato fries ($7.95), 10” margarita pizza ($7.95), lamb burger with French fries ($10.95) and the food was amazingly good. No fooling around here, I would rate the cheeseburger right up there with the best that I’ve had ANYWHERE. Let me go as far and say—every item that we had was terrific and could hold its own against South Florida’s best of breed.

Burgers & Suds was a rare find. This joint isn’t some-guy throwing pre-formed frozen burger patties on a grill…the joint is supplied daily by a local butcher shop…hamburgers are charbroiled while lamb burgers are flat-top grilled—salad dressings are made in-house. The back-of-the-house really knows how to “cook” and portion size/price points tells me that a real “pro” is running Burger & Suds.

For right now, I’m thinking-that not too many people know about this joint- but, I’m willing to bet you a breakfast/lunch/or dinner–your choice, that this anonymity won’t last too much longer. There is no way that food like this—doesn’t find a gigantic audience.

For you “drinkers”–in addition to 10 bottled beer-brands, Burgers & Suds has a handful of wines by the glass/bottle…

For you “sports people”– there are 2 big flat screen tvs inside and 1 big flat screen outside.

Not to be too repetitious or nothing—but I’m telling you, you gotta try this joint!

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

Burgers & Suds is open for lunch/dinner Monday-Friday 10am-9pm, Saturday-Sunday 8am-9pm (breakfast 8am-noon).

* JAY & THE AMERICANS (Mardi Gras Casino, Hallandale Beach)

Just wanted to give you 1960’s Rock N Roll aficionados a heads up…on Tuesday Night, October 15, 2013 one of Rock’s legendary groups -Jay And The Americans will be in concert at the Mardi Gras Casino in Hallandale Beach. Don’t have ticket pricing-yet, but if the Mardi Gras Casino “prices” tickets like it did for its recent -The Lovin’ Spoonful and The Grass Roots’ concerts—don’t worry, you won’t have to get a second job to pay for your seats. By the way, Jeff Eats attended both of those concerts (which were held outdoors in the Grandstand area) and the bands and the casino put on fabulous shows…you just gotta pray for good weather!

Just a drop of history…

JAY AND THE AMERICANS with hits such as “She Cried”–“This Magic Moment”–“Cara Mia”–“Come A Little Bit Closer”-“Walking In The Rain”–“Some Enchanted Evening”–“Only In America” has had three lead singers…John Traynor, Jay Black and Jay Reincke. For what it’s worth, way back when—in 1975 Jay Traynor’s mother was Jeff Eats’ legal secretary when he worked for D’Amato, Costello & Shea in New York City. Now catch this one, Mrs. Jeff Eats when she was 13 years old, baby-sat for Jay Black’s son when Jay lived in Brooklyn, New York. Mrs. Jeff Eats and Jay Black (his real name is David Blatt, but don’t tell anyone) lived in the same apartment building -The Phillip Howard on Flatbush Avenue…and no I can’t tell you what year it was- because Mrs. Jeff Eats would kill me if I did. Sorry, no “history” with Jay Reincke the newest of the bunch -as he is originally from Chicago and Jeff Eats only connection to that City is that his cousin Bobby -a major-heavyweight SEC attorney has lived there since 1975.

Anyway…keep an eye on www.mardigrasfl.com for details.

One final note…check-out Jay And The Americans at www.jayandtheamericans.net. The site has a real-interesting “biography” on the group and its lead singers.