from the NYT: Miami restaurants take a hit during recession...

Hey Annie,
Just saw this in the NYT. Thought of you--maybe you can try the "Recession Cruncher" special:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/dining/22nation.html?pagewanted=2&ref=dining

MIAMI

Restaurateurs here say that in the past few weeks, conversations have turned from beaches to budgets.

Ms. Bernstein, 38, the chef and a partner at Michy’s, said her business is down about 20 percent from the same time last year.

Diners, she said, now buy one bottle of wine instead of two, and often order fewer items from her menu, which includes full and half portions. Rising prices have added to the squeeze.

“Flour is up 85 to 100 percent,” she said. “We can’t raise our prices because we can’t lose you.”

On Lincoln Road, the main restaurant row of South Beach, owners and managers described wild swings from night to night.

“Some days we’re off by $100,” said Vinny Cartiglia, a manager at Balans, where the most popular item is the sea bass ($22.95). “Some days it’s by $2,000 or $3,000.”

Restaurants with predictable food at decent prices seem to be doing better. Bars with football fare (burgers, wings, quesadillas) report that business has stayed roughly even since last year, as do the South American cafeterias that dot most Miami neighborhoods.

Some restaurants with more sophisticated offerings have tried to adjust.

Icebox Cafe in Miami Beach, which offers New American fare with a focus on seafood, wine and layer cakes, now offers a “recession cruncher” menu that includes a stuffed red pepper with a beef and rice filling for $12. The owners have also had some success with new, affordable family take-out: a loaf pan of meatloaf, with nine servings, goes for $18.

But perhaps no one understands the city’s stomachs — and wallets — better than Myles Chefetz. He owns four restaurants here.

In an interview at the sleek steakhouse Prime One Twelve, he rattled off his sales numbers. The Big Pink diner was flat. Nemo, an American bistro that has been open for 14 years: down 10 percent. Shoji Sushi: down 13 percent.

And Prime One Twelve, where the average check is $105? Up 6 percent over last year.

To explain why, Mr. Chefetz walked into the restaurant’s softly lighted, crowded dining room. He pointed to a powerful developer who could still afford expensive wine. Mr. Chefetz walked outside. A $200,000 Bentley was parked near the curb. He said he planned to open a high-end Italian restaurant across the street later this year.

“The people here with a lot of money,” he said. “They’re still going out.”