MANIC MONDAY: Glories of Fort Lauderdale...

Ahhh...Florida.

Look at these two gals. I found them in the produce aisle of the Whole Foods in Fort Lauderdale (which is FAB, just FAB). We had a ball helping a hunky gaggle of gays choose produce to take back to their B&B before a night of drinking and dancing.

I jest (kinda).

I just came back from Fort Lauderdale where the weather is fabulous and the people are so damn nice. What was especially nice was spending time with my wonderful partner and our friends. You realize how blessed you are in this life to have people who love you for who you truly are. But as I always say - they can only love you if you love yourself.

Truly, they read my blog so I have to tell each one of them, I adore you beyond all reason Joe, Greg, Will and Andy. You are truly the best gal pals a gay guy could ever have.

And my partner, Andy, is the biggest blessing in my life. You are everything to me.

Now...onto the FOOD.

Being the big gay man that I am (big in waist, heart and personality), I am always on the hunt for food in Fort Lauderdale. For breakfast, the place to go is a fabulous, down-to-earth joint Egg and You. Big plates of tasty and fluffy pancakes, truly light omelette's and amazing eggs. Wonderful and real food for those who MUST have a tasty breakfast.

Egg and You is @ 2621 N Federal Hwy in Fort Lauderdale and their telephone is (954) 564-2045‎.

Egg and You do serve burgers, but for a burger everyone in Wilton Manors knows the place to go is Rosie's. Dear Lord. Have a margarita and a burger there you'll never want to leave. Even for those of you who are worried about your waistlines, you can relax - this is the kind of place where a burger in the early afternoon will hold you ALL day long. The wine and beer list is shockingly extensive and and the burgers...well...as I said before, unreal.

They have two star burgers: Rancho Burger and Rodeo Burger. The Rancho is very simple - sharp Wisconsin cheddar, crispy bacon and BBQ...I had this one day and added sauteed onions and it was great. The Rodeo is a very nice, subtle blue cheese and crispy bacon burger.

The fries are nice, but their potato salad is very fresh and tangy.

The rest of the food is very standard fair. I tried a taste of the crab cakes and they were so-s0...the chicken burger is bland and the salads uninspired. This is the place for burgers, plain and simple.

Rosie's is @ 2449 Wilton drive in the Wilton Manors section of Fort Lauderdale and their # is 954-563-0123.

One of the biggest surprises to me was the Thai food in Fort Lauderdale.

Now, I'm not a New York City snob. I'm not one of those who thinks Florida is a wasteland of nothing but strip malls and vapid culture. I mean, sure, some in Florida are a bit uneducated and could benefit from a visit to the orthodontist, but we can't all be rocket scientists.

One thing they do have is GREAT Thai food.

The first is where all the snobby residents go - it's called Galanga and it's pretty damn good but it's not THAT good.

On the other side of the street is a very simple and less elegant but good Thai restaurant called Tasty Thai. Tasty Thai lacks ambiance but the noodles and meat dishes were fresh and bright, and very inexpensive.

Galanga is at 2389 Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors and their # is 954.202.0000.

Tasty Thai is at 2254 Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors and their # is 954.396.3177

And despite my New York snobbery over pizza, the local pizza joint, Humpy's was very good. I had a sliced meatball slice that was spicy and had just the right amount of red sauce on it.

My friends had the spicy sausage and the white pie which was very tasty. Of course, Humpy's may be good but their crust lacked an authentic NYC bite to it, but it does the job if you have a hankering for pizza.

Gosh, wonder if they cater to The Gays.

Whenever I meet people the conversation inevitably goes to my feverish search for a home for my cooking show. It was no different in Fort Lauderdale.

After they all assured me I'd be a TV star soon, very soon, they would then spill all their food stories.

The most interesting one was from a sweet New England couple who told me one of the two always had to have a big breakfast with ketchup on just about everything. Apparently, the person who was ketchup happy was so because eating it reminded him of happier times.

He has, like all of us, a dark shadow to his childhood. He never knew his father. Still doesn't. The reasons why he doesn't is much too personal for me to write about them on a public blog, but suffice to say it's a mind fuck.

But one of the memories he does have during his childhood is when his mother would make him breakfast and he'd have ketchup over everything. Like...everything. So everyday he likes to have a big breakfast with (you guessed it) ketchup.

His partner (a very sweet man who reminds me of my husband in 20 years) said he read once we develop all of our food desires by the age of 3. After that, our cognitive process halts. Sure, we continue to learn, but by 3 our deepest food desires are hardwired.

He said he felt the show needs to be more about a focus on childhood. I agree. So I am going to add the idea of our needing to examine our childhood experiences with food to our relationship to food. The idea isn't really new as my entire show is about people and relationships, but it did dare me to everyone to ask themselves:

What are your earliest
childhood food memories?

Tell me...I'd love to hear...



Mikey Bryan Your Food Therapist