Scoreboard Gourmet

florida table - the mag of good taste published near the home of the springtime Orioles

You know you're going to like a magazine with a fancy front cover (all glowy gold, silver and green, like a metallic springtime) and headlines like: 5 DAZZLING RESTAURANTS THAT WON'T MAKE YOU FAT! and GROW YOUR OWN - BACKYARD FRUIT TREES THAT REALLY WORK.

I am completely serious, by the way. The magazine is florida table(no caps). I picked it up in Boca, which happens to be where it's published, and where my grandma lives, and where there's an amazing Italian restaurant I'm returning to tonight (second time in three days; it's that good; will post name later).

Why am I in Boca other than to read magazines and eat Italian food with my grandma and aunt? To be close to where the Mets will play their first Spring Training game - Fort Lauderdale, home of the springtime Orioles.

florida tablerecommends two fish houses nearish the ballpark (Fort Lauderdale Stadium).
1. Tark's Clams
1317 S. Federal Highway, Dania Beach

2. 15th Street Fisheries
1900 SE 15th Street, Fort Lauderdale

Planning to check them out. Will report back. Anyone prefer one to another? Leave Comments below.

The Orioles host the Mets at 1:05pm tomorrow(!). That's 24hours to Spring Training!

Dogs, Sleds and Seven-Course Dinners: the Iditarod

photo by J. Dory of Nome

What do you get when you're the first musher in the Iditarod to reach the bank of the Yukon River? Gold, of course, in the form of a swanky seven-course meal and $3500 in one-dollar bills (next year they might give dollar-coins)

Musher Martin Buser sat at a proper dinner table (linens, crystal, china, etc) for the feast, prepared on a camping stove by Mick Hug, executive chef of the Millennium Alaskan Hotel. 2007 is the 21st year the hotel (located in Anchorage) sponsored the First Musher to the Yukon Award.

This being an odd year, the Yukon River checkpoint was in the town of Anvik, about 600-miles from the start (in even years it's in Ruby because the racers follow a different route). After dinner, Buser slept for some hours before continuing his trek (he had 500 miles to go). I'm not sure what he did with the engraved Alaskan gold pan that held his cash prize.

Here's the Menu (and wine was paired with each course):

1- king crab-apple tower, apple gellee', whipped horseradish cream, tarragon, lemon oil

2- smoked corn bisque, crispy serrano ham, goat cheese dumpling

3- king prawn & scallop, molasses glazed pineapple, pancetta, pomegranate mustard

4- seared ostrich medallions, blueberry-onion compote, quinoa, shiraz demi glace

5- grilled jicama (salad), navel & blood orange, cilantro, plantain chips, honey-lime vinaigrette

6-chocolate crepes, bittersweet mousse, black cherries jubilee, espresso whipped cream

7- port poached pear, dried apricot scone, aged stilton, honey gastrique

FYI: It took Buser, a four-time winner, 9 days, 12 hours, 46 minutes, 7 seconds to get to Nome; a 4th place finish and you thought I was only writing about baseball and, yes, this news is a couple weeks late