Fleming's Prime Steakhouse Memorable Meal: A Trio of Fleming's Classics. (PRNewsFoto/Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Winnie Ma)

It’s never a bad time to do some wine tasting, especially when it’s Opening Night at Fleming’s. So plan your month accordingly, and head to Fleming’s on Thursday nights. During this month of discovery, you will have the chance to experience the newly released Fleming’s 100 — the 100 wines that made their list for the upcoming year. During each tasting, guests will taste their way through 20 wines, paired with tasting tips from the wine managers and some sumptuous hors d’eouvres from the kitchen at Fleming’s.

These events will take place every Thursday in September (9/2, 9/9, 9/16, 9/23, 9/30) from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. and will cost $25. To make this deal even better, you can use that $25 you spent on the wine tasting as a credit for dining in the restaurant that evening. Call to make your reservations in advance, as this is sure to sell out.

Fleming’s is located at 2525 Ponce de Leon Boulevard, Coral Gables FL 33134.

Photo Credit: Winnie Ma

This post first appeared on PlanetEye Traveler.

A brilliant creation from FarmHouse Fresh, a Texas-based company, this body scrub will leave your skin silky smooth. Once you open the jar, you will cozy up to the nostalgic scent of gingersnap and pecan — and won’t be able to keep out. Slather the scrub on and your skin will be awakened after the brown sugar exfoliates and the Kentucky whiskey and rice bran oil moisturizes.

This luscious scrub come in a 12-oz jar and is priced at $32.50. Available at FarmHouse Fresh and at select retail outlets.

Just add Milagro Tequila, for the perfect margarita.

For our last happy hour event, Dine stopped at Rocco’s Tacos & Tequila Bar in Boca Raton — the perfect destination for drinks or dinner — any night of the week. For this event, we paired up with the SFPRN (South Florida Public Relations Network) for an evening of margaritas and Mexican food favorites — like their tableside guacamole (shown below).

For this event, guests were greeted with a Milagro Margarita and a sampling of favorites from Roccoo’s Tacos like chips and salsa, guacamole, tacos, flautas and more.

Everyone who attended enjoyed the lively energy, the active crowd and took time to kick back, relax and make some new contacts. For more photos from this event, check out our Dine flickr page.

Rocco’s Tacos & Tequila Bar is located at 5250 Town Center Circle in Boca Raton. (561) 416-2131

While Tuesdays in August tend to be a down time at many restaurants, Caffe Abbracci is the exception to the rule, and there is good reason for that. Restaurateur Nino Pernetti ensures everything is executed properly, and that is why his devoted fans fill up Caffe Abbracci week after week. When Nino agreed to host a Dine Happy Hour event, we were more than thrilled –  we knew that the evening would be perfect.

Guests were welcomed into this sold-out event with a glass of Banfi wine — San Angelo Pinot Grigio or Banfi Rosso to start off the evening, and a selection of gourmet bites from the kitchen like Belgian Endive with Parmigiano Reggiano Fondue, Beef Carpaccio with Truffle Oil and Grissini Torinesi wrapped with Parma Prosciutto ham.

Dine's Wine & Spirits Editor Patrick Sullivan with Nino Pernetti

Although the bar area was cozy, it wasn’t uncomfortable — and with Nino mingling with our guests, everyone felt right at home. During the event, we happily snapped some photos to capture the memories.

And, a few lucky guests even went home with a copy of Nino Pernetti’s Caffe Abbracci cookbook.

Caffe Abbracci is located at 318 Aragon Ave, Coral Gables. 305.441.0700

Guests were greeted with a myriad of gourmet menu offerings like Scallop Carpaccio with Krispy Rice, Sauteed Shrimp with coconut carrot puree and Roasted Duck Breast with marinated watermelon — all pleasing to the palate.

To pair up with these delectable bites, guests were treated to cocktails with Chambord Flavored Vodka, a recently released (and definitely a must-try) spirit to enter the marketplace.

Guests remained in good spirits for the duration of the evening and were happy to discover yet another Miami hot spot. For more photos from the event, visit the Dine flickr page.

Amuse at Tempo Miami is located at 1100 Biscayne Blvd, 3rd Floor in Miami.

If you are looking to purchase Chambord Flavored Vodka, you can purchase it at the following locations:

Best Buy Liquors, 27329 S Dixie Hwy, Miami
Jensens Liquors, 1646 SW 27th Ave, Miami
Patio Lounge, 19367 S Dixie Hwy, Miami
Quail Roost Discount Liquor, 18841 SW 117th Ave, Miami
Winn-Dixoe, 18300 SW 137 Ave, Miami

Photo by Brett Hufziger

We start off our tour of exotic sushi rolls with a stop at a local South Florida BBQ establishment — Smoke’t Southern Kitchen & Tap in Coral Gables for their BBQ Pork Roll.  Served with Smoke’t Blazin Hot Sauce, this roll of pulled BBQ pork, cole slaw and sticky rice offers the perfect crunch to each mouthful.

Smoke’t Southern Kitchen & Tap is located at 1450 S Dixie Highway, Coral Gables.

We continue our tour of exotic sushi rolls with a visit to Haru for the Red Hot Mama Roll ($15) where we get our fill of Louisiana flavors. This specialty roll available at all of the Haru locations (in New York, Philadelphia and Boston) combines crawfish, mango and cilantro. It is then topped with yuzu tobiko and a Japanese remoulade.

Sushi takes many shapes and sizes and at Kerry Simon’s L.A. Market, located at the J.W. Marriott Los Angeles, it even comes as a pizza. This fresh take combines Angeleno’s long obsession with sushi with the latest pizza craze and brings you one of the most popular menu items at LA Market — the Sushi Pizza.

LA Market is located at the JW Marriott Los Angeles, 900 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA. (213) 765-8930

It’s time to play with fire at The Colony at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki where a quick flick of a blow torch comes into play with this innovative line of sushi dishes. Choose between the Miso Glazed Maguro with Kaiware (sprouted daikon radish seeds) and sesame or the Cream Cheese Flamed Smoked Salmon with lavendar onion and lemon. Add in a brief stint with the blowtorch and you’ll have a nice, charred finish to the dish. Are you feeling brave? Chef says that this flavor enhancement can also be done at home with a small hand-held blowtorch and a tangy miso sauce of garlic, white miso and mayo.

The Hyatt Regency Waikiki is located at 2424 Kalakaua Avenue, Honolulu, HI. 808 923 1234

Photo by Hannah Kaminsky

In Connecticut, sushi takes an even healthier twist at Health in a Hurry and becomes vegan-friendly. For this Raw Vegan Sushi Roll ($7.95), the rice is substituted with a vegan ‘rice’ made with nut pate, almonds, ginger, tamari, scallions and miso that have been blended together to form a thick pate resembling rice and having a sushi flavor. These rolls are then filled with fresh vegetables like avocado, carrots, beets, red peppers, celery and sprouts. This is served with tamari dipping sauce.

Health in a Hurry is located at 1891 Post Road, Fairfield, CT (203) 254-5777

A meal is not complete without dessert and for that we present you with Fruishi ($2.50 for the first roll, $1.50 for additional) at Orange in Chicago. This twist on your typical roll features fresh fruit for a sweet, light ending to your meal. Orange has multiple locations in the Chicago area.

Where do you like to go for sushi? Do you enjoy standard rolls or would you try something a little out of the norm?

Chef Jason Connelly

I met Chef Jason at the Taste of the Nation a few months ago, as he was serving up some gazpacho. Farm fresh cuisine, good energy and a passion for being creative in the kitchen all drew me to this chef and I knew that the Dine Club would be paying him a visit, and am I glad we did. This restaurant is still an undiscovered gem that I was glad to introduce our members to at our last Broward County Event.

Pears wrapped in smoked salmon

This casual indoor/outdoor restaurant offers the perfect meeting place when you want to enjoy the ocean setting. A relaxed feel and the breeze from the ocean created the perfect setting. While the beachfront restaurant at a hotel is often associated with mediocre food, Sea Level offers gourmet fare like Wild Mushroom and Goat Cheese flatbread, buckets of mussels, Jamaican jerk wings with mango dipping sauce and pears wrapped in smoked salmon (seen above).

They also offer a creative cocktail menu, including a refreshing one made with Ultimat Vodka, cucumber and mint — that we thoroughly enjoyed.

Once the food began, it didn’t end and we happily tried a melange of creative hors d’oeuvres, specially prepared for our group including Watermelon and Goat Cheese Flatbread, Pistacchio and Blue Cheese Grapes, Beef Empanadas and more.

And of course, these decadent chocolate truffles.

While we were there, we snapped some more photos of the group.

Sea Level is located at the Marriott Harbor Beach, 3030 Holiday Drive, Fort Lauderdale. 954-765-3041

The Frei Brothers Merlot proved to be a crowd favorite with it’s cherry and cocoa flavors, but the Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand wasn’t far behind. These paired up nicely with a sumptuous selection of hors d’oeuvres that were served.

These Chicken Potstickers were a favorite of mine to satisfy my craving for Asian flavors. Other standouts were the BBQ bacon wrapped shrimp and the tuna pate.

Guests enjoyed returning to this PGA hot spot, and were happy to discover the 1/2 price drink offers and $4.75 appetizer specials. Take a look at some of our photos from the event.

Spoto’s Oyster Bar is located at 4560 PGA Blvd in Palm Beach Gardens. Whether you are looking for a destination to gather for drinks, want some oysters or a fresh seafood dinner, Spoto’s Oyster Bar should be on the top of your list.

The chapters are divided into themes like Happy Hour with Sangria and Chocolate Cherry Stout flavors; World Tour featuring White Chocolate Wasabi and Tres Leches and Roasted Pineapple; and Blue Plate Special with Chicago Style Pizza and Pancakes and Bacon; and more.  From there, it is time to improvise and create something exotic. Colorful photos are attached to many of the recipes.

What will you come up with? Sweet, savory — there is no limit. The challenge is on.

And if you are close to Chicago, a visit to Bleeding Heart Bakery is a must where they offer a selection of breakfast foods, cakes, cupcakes and other decadent desserts and use only local, organic and sustainable ingredients.

Here are some local offerings:

• Bice, 313 1/2 Worth Ave, Palm Beach (map). During the summer months, Culinary Diva Maude Eaton pairs up with Chef Elmer at Bice for an evening of food and wine. Guests will learn to make signature Bice dishes in this demonstration class, sip on Italian wine and sample everything being prepared. They will then leave with all of the recipes from the evening. Cost is $45. (More details)
• The Biltmore Culinary Academy located at The Biltmore, 1200 Anastasia Ave, Coral Gables (map). The Biltmore now has a culinary academy and it requires full audience participation. No slacking off here! Whether you would like to learn the signature dishes from Palme d’Or ($110), take part in a bootcamp ($450+) or want to bring the office in for some corporate team building — you will do so Biltmore-style. They even have a special program for children. These classes are available for every skill level and are taught by the chefs from The Biltmore’s restaurants.
• Chef Jean-Pierre’s Cooking School, 1436 N Federal Hwy, Fort Lauderdale (map). Chef Jean-Pierre’s Cooking School offers the most complete line-up of recreational cooking classes in the area. Classes are offered nearly every night of the week. Topics range from 10 minute gourmet meals to a Romantic Dinner for Two, or you can rent out the entire studio for a private party. If you want intense instruction, why not sign up a Basic Skills Class and learn all your basics– selecting a knife, salads and vegetables, sauces, pastry and desserts and preparing the perfect meal. Guest instructors from local restaurant also offer classes at the cooking school. Classes start at $65 or $55 for the knife classes.
• Chef Allen’s 19088 N.E. 29th Ave, Aventura (map). Have you always know what it would be like to spend the day in the kitchen with your favorite chef? Chef Allen offers his ‘Be a Chef for a Day Program.’ Perfect for any skill level and available for either 1-2 people, you can now learn the tricks of the trade with Chef Allen. From conversation and tips to participating directly in the kitchen activities, this is for a day of intense instruction. Cost is $195 per person and is based on availability. These interactive classes take place Monday-Friday from 3-7:30 p.m.
• In the Kitchen, 389 Tequesta Drive, Tequesta (map). In the Kitchen offers a variety of culinary classes, something for everyone- both interactive and demonstration classes. Whether you are looking to improve your skills, learn a new technique or enjoy a social night out, you will find something to your liking. Past classes have included the following topics: Evening in Barcelona, where guests learned to make Spanish tapas and Five Favorite Ingredients, fabulous food with simple ingredients. The classes take place during the week, in the evening. Prices start at $60 and go up from there. (schedule)
• Ortanique on the Mile, 278 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables (map) Cindy Hutson will guide students through an interactive cooking class on Saturday afternoons. While the them varies from class-to-class, students will learn to prepare her signature dishes. The group will be divided up into groups of 6, with a chef from the restaurant guiding the group through the lesson. Each table elects a head chef and the sous chefs to assist. Class is limited to 18 people. What class would be complete without champagne and wine flowing throughout, and students will learn further their skills of food and wine pairing. Students leave with a gift and recipe book from the day. Cost is $90 and up.
• Whole Foods Market, various locations. Visit your local Whole Foods Market for a list of upcoming classes, that are informative, good for you and down-right affordable. With topics ranging from French Cuisine to exploring Artisan Cheeses to hands-on sushi classes, you will become a pro in the kitchen in no time. Some are taught by the in-house staff, while others are taught by your favorite chefs from local restaurants. Stay on top of the schedule, as new events are always being scheduled.
• Wok Star Cooking Classes with Eleanor Hoh, Miami area. Eleanor Hoh teaches you how to make an easy, one dish, wok dinner using a lightweight cast iron wok. Her no recipe, no measuring approach is perfect for any skill level, and will leave you with a new confidence for cooking with a wok. Students will learn how to make a Rainbow Lettuce Wrap, Shrimp and Asparagus Stir Fry and more. You will also become familiar with a variety of Asian ingredients during this interactive class. Classes cost $55, and take place at a variety of venues and times so check her schedule.

Photo Credit: Hiltsch @ flickr

This article first appeared on PlanetEye Traveler.