ATR
2465 Wilton Drive 954/565-2959
Wilton Manors
The initials stand for American Turkish Restaurant, and it's where owner Ercan Aydin has been entrenched three years, opening daily at 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. and honoring Turkish traditions with red lentil and tripe soups, white kidney bean stew, and chicken and lamb kebabs along with such standard American fare as burgers. Breakfast, lunch and dinner entrees range from $6 to $12.
bha! bha!
847 Vanderbilt Beach Road 941/594-5557
Naples
Despite the expert treatment of lamb braised with butternut squash and prunes in a pomegranate-tomato sauce, the name is not the bleating of sheep, but Persian for "yum-yum." I've sung my own choruses of bha! bha! while smiling through cumin-seared scallops; sauteed Bulgarian feta; charbroiled veggies flattered with homemade cilantro-spiked yogurt and served with chilled couscous salad; almond-crusted turmeric-spiced fish of the day; and zaban ragout, poached veal tongue tickled with tomato-curry and accompanied by saffron-saturated basmati rice. The Sunday brunch is as sensational and exotic as the tales of "Scheherazade." Lunch Tuesday through Saturday, and dinner, entrees $12.50 to $22.00, Tuesday through Sunday.
Ibex
1809 West Platt St. 813/254-4239
Tampa
After a five-year residency in town, now with new digs, colorful table settings and expanded menu, Florida's only Ethiopian restaurant is better (and more popular) than ever. Start your pilgrimage to the ancient spices of Africa with grilled shrimp and sambusas filled with lentils or meat in the Indian samosa manner, and then order the eye-popping mesob, a basket of injera, crepe-like bread surrounding spiced meats and veggies spiced to four-alarm berbere (very spicy) levels or awase, meaning mild with an extra shot of garlic. And don't worry about a lack of utensils. Do what the Ethiopians do -- eat with your fingers and injera. Dinner entrees $8 to $l5, every night but Sunday.
Indigo
620 Las Olas Blvd. 954/467-0671
Fort Lauderdale Riverside Hotel
Southeast Asia comes to southeast Florida with a vengeance. Elbow into the Golden Lyon Bar and decide whether to dine inside or on the boulevard of no regrets, the street of great eats. Start with satay or rice paper-wrapped po-piah or coconut tuna with fried lotus root, before zeroing in on Balinese lamb sprinkled with spicy pumpkin seeds; beef-eggplant curry; Indonesian snapper baked on banana leaf, topped with colo-colo and served with meru rice; or chicken pie with button and shiitake mushrooms made in the manner of Singapore's famed Raffles Hotel. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, entrees $8 to $18.50, daily.
Istanbul
707 N. Broadwalk 954/921-1263
Hollywood
Owner-chef Ferhat Hasan Kochan is proud of the fact that he has the only really authentic Turkish restaurant in the state, maybe the South. Opened in September l992, it was where brother-in-law and ATR owner Ercan Aydin learned the Turkish trade before spinning off three years ago. The setting is strictly functional, but the spirit and music are pure Turkish countryside, the ingredients fresh and the made-from-scratch specialties reach pure peaks of pleasure. My favorites are the doner kebabs, stuffed grape leaves, falafel and Turkish pizza. Lunch and dinner, entrees $8 to $14, daily.
Kasbah
420 N. Federal Highway 954/941-4277
Pompano Beach
In this storefront decorated to the nines with fabric-covered walls, miles of silver and gold thread, a plethora of pillows, super-solicitous service and nightly navel maneuvers, don't worry about MSG, lard or curry. Executive chef Zakaria Tadlaoui doesn't use them when preparing his Moroccan marvels: Cornish game hen with almonds and honey served with artichokes, lemons and olive oil or couscous or vegetables. The brochette of chicken, lamb with apricots, fresh fillets of fish sauteed with bell peppers and tomatoes in garlic and herb-enhanced olive oil are only part of the magic carpet ride. Traditional five-course dinners from $19 to $29 served nightly.
Middle Eastern Delights
1911 S. Federal Highway 561/276-9459
Delray Beach Tropic Square Plaza
Since the summer of l992, the Lebanese family in charge of this Mid-East mission to the New World has been converting local palates to the joys of fresh, low-fat fare in this half-deli, half-cafe, where you can concentrate on staying thin while titillating your appetite. I always start with hummus, mashed chick peas with tahini, grape leaves filled with minced lamb and rice, and ground bulgur wheat tabouleh with green onions, parsley and tomatoes; working into a Shish Tawook, the chicken kebab, or one made with lamb cubes or some thin slices of lamb from the Lebanese gyro wheel. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, entrees $7.55 to $13.50, daily.
Red Square
411 Washington Ave. 305/672-0200
Miami Beach
The never-satisfied wizards of SoBe's China Grill, already responsible for the Blue Door at the Delano a few doors away and a couple of stunners in Manhattan, opened this non-Soviet surprise last year on the anniversary of the Russian Revolution, November 7. It features an incredible l00-plus vodkas (keep your own in frozen block lockers), a bar made of ice, Russian art and such zakuski, starters, as potato piroshkis, vegetarian borscht, potato pancakes with smoked salmon, and caviar with anything and everything. For the mains, what else but lamb shashlik, filet Stroganoff and chicken Kiev? Dinner, entrees $14 to $16, served until 2 a.m. every night.
Tradition
237 E. Blue Heron Blvd. 561/844-9242
Riviera Beach
For far simpler surrounds, find this 4-year-old restaurant and deli at the foot of the Blue Heron Bridge, across from the infinitely more popular Crab Pot restaurant. It's the mini-empire of the Feldman family, father Simon, son Igor, with wives and in-laws in tow. You can start with Middle-Eastern hummus and falafel, but I prefer the Russian potato salad sporting carrots, peas, eggs and pickles or the pelmeni, veal bits, or the ground beef-stuffed cabbage, followed by the beet-red borscht. Then prepare for the beef Stroganoff, kielbasi sausage and sauerkraut, Cornish game hen and goulash mated with varnachki, buckwheat egg noodles. To wash it all down, order Kvass, a bitter drink of the Russian masses made with fermented black or rye bread. It's all a real stuff-yourself-silly experience and is served nightly with entrees pegged from $10 to $17.
Restaurants Around The State
SOUTHEAST
PALM BEACH
Aquaterra
230 Sunrise Ave. 561/366-9693
The ultimate best of land and sea with seafood and meats grilled and roasted, brought to you by owner-chef Charlie Palmer of Aureole fame. Brunch and dinner daily, entrees $14.50 - $18.50.
SOUTHWEST/TAMPA BAY
ST. PETERSBURG
Bertoni
16 Second St. N. 813/822-5503
Talented chef Antonello Bertoni, an alum of Brunello on the beach, is a master of northern Italian classics, with novello twists. Lunch and dinner, entrees $7 - $17.50.
CENTRAL
LAKE BUENA VISTA
Wolfgang Puck Cafe
Disney World 407/939-3463
A second-floor dining room and ground-floor pizza take-out and cafe, all camped out in mod design, are the latest from California guru Puck. Lunch and dinner, entrees $24 - $32.
NORTHEAST
AMELIA ISLAND
Ritz-Carlton
4750 Amelia Island Pkwy. 904/277-1100
The Grill and the Cafe continue their flagship performance with impeccable service and superior cheffing. Breakfast, Sunday brunch, lunch and dinner, entrees at The Grill $58 - $72, The Cafe $14.50 - $25.
NORTHWEST
DESTIN
Frangista
1820 Old Highway 98 850/837-2515
Mediterranean-inspired home of Florida coastal cooking: pepper-seared yellowfin tuna, pan-cooked trigger fish on curry couscous with cumin and cucumber sour cream sauce and wild rice stuffed quail with vine ripe tomato salsa and cane syrup glaze. Lunch and dinner, entrees $16 - $25.