#ThankYouMiami for Brunch - Our Passion at the Trio

It's Sunday funday so we're coming at ya with a new brunch find: Our Passion at the Trio in Fort Lauderdale. Believe it or not, I grew up in Fort Lauderdale. Yes, my parents' house was in Boca but my high school, my friends and, therefore, my social life revolved around Fort Lauderdale. My memories from that time consist of beach days at Sea Ranch Lakes, beach volleyball tournaments at the Yankee Clipper, awkward movie dates at the Galleria Mall, and eating Vito's pizza, Jacks burgers, Laspadas subs and, on special occasions, Chez Porky's everything. When Our Passion invited me to try their new brunch menu, I was psyched to visit my old stomping grounds and find new reasons to come back. After all, brunch wasn't a "thing" in high school so I have a brunch filled hole in my repertoire of Lauderdale food venues. Excitedly, I put on an EW's BINGE Harry Potter podcast and headed north on I-95.

Like many businesses along this corridor, Our Passion is nestled in a strip mall. The space it occupies is cozy, with only a dozen or so tables between the entrance and the bar in the back. During my visit, I was greeted by the very friendly Chef Paul Lobeck and his wife, both of whom won major points by offering me a glass of mimosa or sangria as I walked through the door. (I award them bonus points for offering unlimited quantities of both mimosas and sangria at only $15 per person because, if there's one thing I love more than brunch, it's brunch with unlimited drink offers.) After delivering my mimosa, they walked me through the nine eclectic dishes on their brunch menu, stopping only to recommend the "South of the Border" and the "That's All Folks" as their two favorites. I ordered and devoured both.

What struck me most about Our Passion are its strong family ties. Chef Paul was inspired to cook by his grandfather, a passion that he passed on to his son Joseph. At only 11 years old, Joseph loves to spend time with his dad in the kitchen helping out with his catering orders—Chef Paul also owns and operates a successful catering business—and at his restaurant. Young Joseph even invented Our Passion's most popular dessert: JoJo's Smile (two peach cobbler empanadas à la mode). I had the chance to meet Joseph when I stopped by and asked him if he was nervous about cooking for 200+ people at an upcoming event with his dad. Not surprisingly, he was completely unfazed.

Chef Paul's wife and daughter are also integral to Our Passion, handling the front of house with a smile while the men are busy in the kitchen. It was only because the whole Lobeck clan was on board that Chef Paul pursued his lifelong dream of running his own restaurant and opened Our Passion. It is the family's unity, as well as their passion for food and friendly service that make this spot worth visiting. Plus, Chef Paul really let his creativity shine through in the brunch menu. (For example, he made the quesadilla breakfast appropriate in the "South of the Border" by stuffing it with bacon and topping it with an egg, chipotle crema, and pico de gallo.) Their family-owned restaurant brings a rare warmth and personal flare that has been lacking on Commercial Boulevard since my high school days.

We were invited to try the brunch menu by Our Passion at the Trio. However, all opinions expressed regarding our experience are our own.

#ThankYouMiami Launches "Events" Page

We have very exciting news! Earlier this week we launched a new page on our blog dedicated solely to Miami events. We're talking about all of the amazing restaurant openings, concerts, celebrations, collaborations, fashion shows, and other fun happenings around Miami that we're clued into and want to make sure you don't miss.

Previously we were bringing you the low-down on upcoming local events in the form of periodic round-up posts that were not on a regular schedule and did not happen frequently. These nuggets of event info were exciting when they happened but did not provide you a dependent resource with which to plan your social calendar. Our new "Events" page is here to solve all of those problems. This permanent #ThankYouMiami feature includes a list of can't-miss Miami events that we will be updating regularly starting this week.

Whenever you're looking for something to do or to keep tabs on what is happening around town, our new "Events" page can be your go-to resource. Just place your cursor over the "Miami" section of the menu up top and click on "Events"—it's that easy. You're welcome, Miami! (P.S. If you love what we do, please vote us Best Local Blogger in the 2016 South Florida Blogger Awards.)

What do you think about our recently launched "Events" page? Have any feedback on what you like or what we could do to make it better? Excited for an event that is not on our list? Have an upcoming event that you would like us to consider for inclusion? Send us a tweet @ThankYouMiami or e-mail us at info [at] thankyoumiami [dot] com!

#ThankYouMiami for Brunch - Pinch Kitchen

We've set a very Miami goal for ourselves since we're in town from now until the Christmas holiday: to discover and enjoy a new brunch every weekend. For that reason, the next six weeks you will find a new brunch post every Sunday morning. Today we're coming at you with Pinch Kitchen, a locally-owned restaurant in the MiMo District with a brunch menu that we have been dying to try since the summer.  We finally had the chance to check it out recently and it was as delicious as we expected. We're especially excited to share it with you today because November marks Pinch Kitchen's one-year anniversary, a well-deserved milestone considering how much fun we had during our visit.

We knew we were at home when opened the door to find server Eloy in the dining room dancing like no one was watching. (After all, we're known for our spontaneous bouts of dancing, especially in the car.) We decided to sit at the bar so we could chat with and learn more about this awesome human being. It turned out to be an excellent decision because he's as charming as he seemed on first encounter. He kept us engaged in conversation throughout our meal and, when we needed a hand model for snapping the more interactive dishes on the menu, he was a willing volunteer.

Beyond fan-girling over Eloy, we engaged in some serious eating, which required two cups of coffee to recover from the food coma it enduced. (Seriously, we were surprised we didn't face plant into the bar.) Our meal started off light with a citrusy, refreshing corvina and shrimp ceviche with yucca chips that has substantially raised the bar for us when it comes to ceviche. We jumped in next into a cazuela of homemade curry dumplings filled with curried beef and smothered in a golden curry sauce that are making our mouths water every time we think about them. Eloy recommended we keep the empty dish for dipping with the grilled whole wheat toast from Egg in a Basket, our next dish. (What. A. Power Move.) If you read The Hunt Miami, then you know we're obsessed with Huevos Bulla. Egg in a Basket is like Huevos Bulla in a self-contained bowl made out of potato chips so needless to say we ate ever last bite, transitioning smoothly into the Pinch Kitchen's eggs benedict. We accompanied our final entrée with a blood orange mimosa because it wouldn't be brunch without eggs benny and mimosas.

By the time we were halfway through the egg dishes, food coma was already at a 9 out of 10 but we powered through it. Then, like the food blogging champs we are, we ordered dessert: orange-chocolate soufflé with crème anglaise served inside of an orange peel. (We have Amber Love Bond to thank for slowly, but surely converting us into appreciators of the sweet stuff.) Turns out we have a separate stomach reserved for enjoying warm, gooey chocolate soufflé. Turns out it doesn't make a difference when it comes to food coma, which explains our post-meal struggles. Nevertheless, it was well-worth every last bite.

If you're looking for brunch, Pinch Kitchen's food and service make it one of our top recommendations in Miami. Can't make it for brunch? Worry not—they also serve lunch and dinner. This month, to celebrate their one-year anniversary, they are offering a special menu that includes some of these items and is another great reason to visit!

We were invited to try the brunch menu by Pinch Kitchen. However, all opinions expressed regarding our experience are our own.

#ThankYouMiami How-To: Booking Miami Activities With Vimbly

As we veer head first into high season, our lives become infinitesimally more hectic and we start to rely more heavily on people, places, and products that make our lives simple. Vimbly, an app that allows us to easily find and book Miami activities on demand, fits the bill. For starters, it removes the pressure of coming up with ideas when we're looking for something to do by giving us an ample but narrowed down list of available options. In fact, their home page starts off with only four choices: today, tomorrow, this weekend and see all. Once you choose, you're taken to another page where you can filter by activity type (learn, explore, eat, drink, watch, date, fight), by price, by part of town, etc.

We tend to alternate between homebodies and beach bums on the weekends, so we recently used Vimbly to spice up our weekend routine. We were initially lured by the idea of doing a BYOB paint night and/or a sunset champagne cruise—yes, both are activities you can book on Vimbly—but they were both sold out. (Note to self: book drinking activities early.) Instead we decided to check out Miami Culinary Tours' South Beach Food Tour. You may remember that last summer we went on and loved their Little Havana Food Tour so we knew we were in good hands. Plus, we were super intrigued to see what restaurants they recommend in our own neighborhood.

Surprisingly booking through Vimbly was a super smooth process. Since we had previously signed up for a Miami Culinary Tours directly through their website, we were initially apprehensive about inserting a middle man in the process. Our fears quickly disappeared when we received a text from a Vimbly rep confirming our reservation and letting us know that our tickets would be emailed shortly. There's something about an actual person taking care of you that is uber comforting. Alas, we showed up the day of our tour knowing that everything was squared away for us. It's the simplicity and piece of mind that is so precious, particularly this time of year.

We were invited to book the South Beach Food Tour by Vimbly. However, all opinions expressed regarding the experience are our own.

#ThankYouMiami Talks New Book: #TheHUNTMiami

Unless you've been living off the grid, you already know that I wrote a book and that it was released on Monday. A la Eddie Redmayne winning Best Actor at the 2015 Oscars, I'm super excited about my accomplishment and have been yelling about it from the cyber rooftops and mountain tops of social media. It's just that, it's a milestone I never thought I would achieve—not for lack of confidence in my writing ability but because I never dreamt of becoming a published author. I've dreamt of living in other countries, of becoming a pop star (that's another story for another time), of starting my own business, and of building a great career as an environmental scientist. I never, ever dreamt of writing a book and getting it published. Until the opportunity came knocking, I guess I didn't think it was realistically within my reach and therefore never gave it a second thought.

Now, here I sit as a published author with a copy of my pocket-sized print guide sitting pretty on my lap, my bio listed under the "About the Author" section on its Amazon page. OH MY GOD. You guys have no idea how excited I am (if you watched the video of me holding my book for the first time, you may have a clue). Most of all, I am thankful. Thankful to Gatehouse Publishing for entrusting me to deliver a guide worthy of The HUNT Guides name, to all of you for supporting my blog and thereby making it possible, to my family and friends for their patience during many a sleepless night, and to Miami for being such an amazing city worthy of sharing with others.

This success is not just mine. It is all of ours. I started #ThankYouMiami as means to take control of our community's narrative amidst the negativity we are constantly subjected to. The addition of The HUNT Miami to a series that includes other world-class cities like Rome, London and New York is a testament that our work is paying off, slowly but surely. I am so excited to celebrate this small win with all of you. In fact, I am working on organizing a few events around town so I can sign your copies, share behind-the-scenes stories about the writing process, and hear from you about your favorite places in Miami. Stay tuned for more details. In the interim, join me tonight at 8 p.m. EST for a Facebook Live broadcast where I will tell you where you can get your very own copy. See you then!