Times are tough in the universe of South Florida sports: the Dolphins arecurrently in last place, the Marlins just finished their season in last place, the Panthers are in the midst of the longest streak of not making the playoffs in NHL history (10 years, but we are optimistic about the upcoming season), and the Hurricanes…well, their problems are well documented; no need to get into them here. Plus everyone involved with the NBA, from the commissioner to the owners to the players union, is conspiring to cancel the Heat’s entire season just because they don’t like Lebron.
But there is one local franchise that you can support without condition: our local minor league soccer team, the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers. The Strikers play in the first round of the NASL playoffs at Lockhart Stadium, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against a team of jerks from Edmonton. If the Strikers win Saturday’s game, they will advance to the second round and will have a home and home series with either Carolina or Puerto Rico.
Besides the fact that the Strikers is the only of the aforementioned sports teams that plays in this great city of ours, other reasons to come to Saturday’s game are that tickets are cheap (GA for $10), there’s a food truck rally at the tailgate before the game, there are limited occasions where it’s cool to wear red and yellow together, and when you are drinking and singing there is nothing quite as funny as a sad Edmontonian.
The Strikers played great soccer in the second half of the season and are surely favored in Saturday’s games, and must be one of the favorites to win the league championship. I have not seen the Vegas odds yet, but our team looks good.
So come to Lockhart on Saturday, stand next to your Lauderdale brothers and sisters, and help these young men defend the Fort.
Stopped into the Riverside Market (that wonderful gem of a spot just southwest of downtown) for a sandwich and stopped short upon seeing this sign on the entrance:
No drinking beer or wine on the premises? Preposterous! That is the best place to drink beer and wine. Sure, you can take it to go, but you can do that anywhere. Give me some atmosphere. Give me some craft brew on a barstool next to a table full of cops. Give me a drunken evening wine-tasting with accompanying appetizers. This is bullshit.
The guy working the deli counter said they were having licensing issues but that they are getting it sorted out. Well Riverside Market, not to sound ungrateful, but why don’t you go ahead and sort that out. You have a beer and wine dinner scheduled in three weeks that I would really like to attend.
Email fathand@ftlcollective.com if there is anything I can do to help. I know absolutely nothing about liquor licensing.
Just as we were readying a “Battle of the Barts” for the two St Barts Coffee Companies on Ft Lauderdale Beach, we discovered that St Barts on Sunrise and A1A was changing over to “Oceanview Delight”: a “privately owned cafe featuring homemade food and fresh ingredients”. From what we understood, the two did not share the same owner, and, for the record, we were leaning towards the original St Barts on S Ft Lauderdale Bch Blvd. (Note the difference in portion size of the eggs and cheese at both St Barts below)
Farmer's Favorite at St Barts original location
Farmer's Favorite at St Barts Sunrise and A1A
But after seeing these yummy photos below from Oceanview Delight’s Facebook page, perhaps cafe breakfast food was just not their forte. Not pictured here but also on their Facebook are a “Lamb Burgini” (homemade lamb burger, spicy pepper sauce, and feta cheese) and an “SB Angus Burger”. So far a menu is not available online. Oceanview Delight offers free wifi and delivery to the “lifeguard stand nearest you”.
Middle Eastern Chicken Taco from Oceanview Delight
Ahi Tuna Burger, Wasabi Slaw, and Avocado from Oceanview Delight
Friday September 16th is PARK(ing) Day: an annual, world-wide event to promote creativity and design in an urban setting. Metered parking spots across the globe will be transformed into temporary mini parks and other types of enjoyable outdoor spaces. The purpose is to support beautification of the city, inspire innovation and promote public goodwill. This is an “open-source” event that invites citizens, artists and activist to “rent” a parking space and create and use an outdoor, urban environment… until the meter runs out!
PARK(ing) Day began in San Fancisco in 2005. Rebar, a design/art studio, converted a metered parking spot in the downtown area into a temporary park. They used the space for the allotted meter time of two hours and a few weeks later a single photo of the transformed space travelled across the web, sparking requests to promote this project in other cities. This event’s popularity has grown each year, and in 2010, 850 parks were created in 183 cities in 30 countries across 6 continents.
Cadence co-founders Gage Couch and Rebecca Bradley built furniture out of recycled wood pallets for their space, and they invite you all to join them in their creation from 7:30am-1:30pm this Friday. “In order to be a success, we must have visitors to use the space, “says Rebecca, “Sometimes we all need to step out of the “norm” and take the time to re-imagine everyday places in a whole new way. Urban transformation powered by the people!”
Gage and Rebecca received clearance for this gathering from several city departments. If you are interested in renting a spot of your own, be sure to contact the City of Fort Lauderdale and clearly outline your plan and purpose. Or, just join in on the fun with Gage and Rebecca. Also, remember that the purpose of PARK(ing) Day is to support beautification of the city, inspire innovation and promote public goodwill. This gathering is not to promote any business, service or product. Happy PARK(ing)! Facebook page: Park(ing) day Fort Lauderdale
Check out some photos from Park(ing) Day in other cities after the jump:
It’s early in the week and there’s already so much new local music circulating the web. Here is a summary of just a handful of local bands that released new music this week.
Retrocities
I think it’s pretty safe to say that Retrocities are big fans of Joy Division, Morrisey, and The Cure. The Pompano Beach trio channels these great bands in their newest EP. The FTLC has been anxiously waiting to hear some recordings from these guys; their latest release doesn’t disappoint. Stream 3 of the 5 tracks below:
Young Circles
HURRY! HURRY! HURRY! Until midnight tonight, you can download for free Young Circles’ newest album Jungle Habits from their Bandcamp. I’m a big fan of this album, and especially love their song 2012– it’s one of my favorite tracks of the year.
Worth mentioning, these experimental rockers are amazing live.
Little Beard
Lo-fi rock band Little Beard make fun, beach cruising music. Think of bands like Best Coast, Wavves, Tennis, or even a little of Jacuzzi Boys. Their latest song Me Too (download for FREE on Little Beard’s Bandcamp) is more of the same. I like everything this band has recorded thus far.
Like most, we’ve been excitedly waiting for O-B House to open. Though the prices on their all-breakfast menu seem a little high, we were eager to see if their mouth-watering descriptions could make it worth it. Read on for the FTLC breakdown of Saturday brunch at the new O-B House.
O-B Oven Pancake $9
O-B D-Clawed $14
Appearance
Old black and white photos of South Florida and some maritime decorations adorn the otherwise somewhat minimalistic green walls of O-B House. (It’s a bit of a small space so it looks just right). The dark wood tables looked like mostly 2-tops and each had their own single, fresh flower- Gerber daisy, perhaps? It’s super clean and obviously everything has that brand new feel to it. There is also an area for outside seating with speakers, which, when we were there, seemed to probably be playing a Jack Johnson Pandora station of sorts- Sublime, Michael Franti, DMB, and the like were heard. O-B House definitely is trying to get some laid-back sea vibes out- servers even wear some type of boat shoe.
Service
Our server was really friendly and followed standard restaurant procedure in a timely manner- greeting, drink order, check back after our food was out, etc. She even gave us unwrapped straws by holding them with a napkin! Our food didn’t take very long at all (probably under 10 minutes) but there were only a handful of tables at the time. Either way, she was on top of it and if there’s one thing the semi-hefty prices might get you it’s at least great service.
Food
We decided on the D-Clawed, the O-B Oven Pancake (both pictured above), and 2 cups of coffee (which brings you to about $28 after tax). The D-Clawed (soft, fresh, free range egg O-B omelet filled with jumbo lump crab, cream cheese, fresh, chopped cilantro, and served with O-B oven roasted Yukon golds or cheese grits and O-B toast) was very tasty but a little underwhelming in size. We went with the 6-grain toast and was very fresh and hearty. The omelet was quite simply almost crepe-consistency and had the crab, cream cheese, and cilantro rolled in the middle. Though the menu does state the omelet is “filled” with the ingredients, I was kind of expecting them folded in instead of wrapped. Nevertheless, it too tasted fresh and did it’s job without leaving you feeling grossly overly stuffed. We should also note everything was nicely buttered but in a non-greasy diner way. The O-B oven pancake is just as it is described on the menu: a thick and fluffy, cast-iron baked 8″ buttermilk pancake made with organic flour, sour cream, and fresh, free-range eggs, served with real Vermont maple syrup. If you want pineapple pecan, banana, blueberry, or strawberry, it’s $3 more, and if you want an extra side of syrup that’ll also cost you $3. Technically, it could cost you $15 for this pancake, but if you go for the basic (pictured below), you will not be disappointed. It’s huge, light but filling, and truly tastes homemade (if you bake your pancakes in the oven, that is). It came to our table steaming hot and fresh, and a perfect harmony of moist center and crispy edges. Honestly, it’s so good you may not even need to put syrup on it.
Price
If you haven’t already noticed, O-B House isn’t exactly going to get us in the door with their prices. But if you’re looking for an occasional splurge on breakfast, and/or excellent service, this place is for you. And while we make a stink about their That’s-not-Folgers-in-your-cup coffee policy, it’s still pretty reasonable that $2.50 (that includes a 50 cent refill of the small cup) get’s you two cups of coffee.
In May, we posted about the sale of Dania Jai Alai, said to be finalized in September. With the pending sale, the fate of the game is unknown, though it can’t be a good sign the venue has recently stopped jai alai altogether (and their dollar beer Wednesdays) until September 1st.
In continued efforts to give a sort of face lift to the city, Pirates Inn and Lounge is in the process of being demolished (see picture below) after being deemed unsafe and sitting unoccupied since 2009. The city has already built a $6 million 440-spot parking garage in hopes of enticing developers to build in the area, and demolishing what many call an “eyesore” is just another tactic they hope will attract new business to the area.
Bottom line: as Dania hopes for the best and tries to figure out how to attain it, the future of Jai Alai still remains uncertain. So you better get your vintage sport-watching in before it’s too late.
Coming soon: Tap 42 (pictured above) is set to open off of Andrews Ave. and SW 14th St in September. They recently took part in the Seminole Hard Rock Rock N Roll Beer B Que (pictures here) and seem to already have a following, considering this is “just two brothers who are opening a new bar, and want to make it a cool place for you, and us to hang out”, according to their page on Facebook. The venue will have 42 beers on tap and 100+ bottled (largely crafts), live music nightly, food, and an outdoor patio. A quick visit to their website and you can sign up for their mailing list and send over your personal beer suggestions. Sounds like Tap 42 is making a genuine effort to become the area’s newest neighborhood bar. Located at 1411 S Andrews Avenue, FTL.
Open: In the spot that used to be Barbara Young Bake Shop, and a different cupcake place before that, East End Eats has opened up. The cafe has breakfast, lunch, sandwiches, pastries, coffees, and more and is open Monday through Saturday 8:00am-5:30pm and Sundays 8:00am-3:00pm. East End Eats is at 1523 Las Olas Blvd, FTL.
Coming soon: The much-anticipated, and needed since Bluejays’ closing,Old Fort Lauderdale Breakfast House that we posted about in June will be opening Friday, August 5. Where Village Pie never opened, O-B House is just about ready to go with their breakfast menu and plan to be open 7 days a week. While a little pricey and no coffee refills, they do have some interesting choices such as the “D-Clawed”: soft, fresh, free range egg O-B omelet filled with jumbo lump crab, cream cheese, fresh, chopped cilantro, and served with O-B oven roasted Yukon golds or cheese grits and O-B toast ($14). Located at 333 Himmarshee St, FTL.
