BBQ for Breakfast

Well, not literally.  Well, yes, actually.  Literally.

I usually head for the counter at The Floridian for a leisurely Sunday breakfast over the Sunday paper, but this week my timing was off, and the counter was full of people.  And not just full of people, but full of people reading menus.  Not really a situation where you just wait for someone to finish and pay.

With a line of people waiting for tables,  I got in my car, planning to drive over to Lester's - and not enthusiastically.  Lester's is great for breakfast, but always packed.  And this, being Mother's Day, was likely to be more packed than usual.  So as I came up on 17th Street and US 1, I remembered that Ernie's is owned by the same people that own The Floridian.  And here's the good part - they DO serve breakfast!

So I pulled into the nearly empty lot.

Inside, there were only a few tables seated.  But I decided to stick it out, and took a seat.  A waitress gives me a menu, and brings me a cup of coffee.  So far, so good.

Right off the bat, you see that the menu is much smaller than diner across town, but that's to be expected; after all, the Floridian is a diner, and Ernie's is a BBQ joint. Some of The Floridian's signature omelettes are on the menu, as well as other basic breakfast fare.  But management wisely chose to play to the kitchen's strengths, and you can have BBQ for breakfast.  I ordered the pulled pork barbecue omelet, with home fries.

The coffee was better than The Floridian's.  It was a little bit stronger and more flavorful.  Perhaps, as a BBQ joint, they don't serve as much coffee so the machine is cleaner.  Whatever, it was a pretty good cuppa.

At the next table, the waitress was explaining to the couple that Ernie's had been serving breakfast for some time, but it hasn't really taken off.  "We had a banner, for awhile," she said, "but it blew away, and we went through a lot of turnover i the kitchen, so it was inconsistent, so no one wanted to push it, I guess."  But then she added "but now we've got this really good cook back there, and things have really improved!"

And I agree.

The homefries were a hundred times better than The Floridian's, and maybe 10 times better than Lester's.  They were firm, moist without being mushy, and perfectly browned on a couple of facets, just like ma used to make.  My only complaint would be that the portions are smaller than the diners' portions, but hey, we don't really need that many carbs on the plate. 

The omelet came with a small bowl of Ernie's BBQ sauce on the side, so I could season it to taste.  It was savory, with small chunks of onion and tomato, and a hint of pepper that reminded me a little of the conch chowder they are known for.  But it's a big honkin' serving, and I just couldn't finish the whole thing, although I really wanted to.

I did not think to ask if the rooftop patio was open for breakfast service.

Like The Floridian, Ernie's BBQ is part of what I like to call "Travis McGee's Fort Lauderdale."  Founded in 1957, Travis McGee - or at least author John D. McDonald - might well have stopped in for dinner at some point.  I'll have to re-read the books to see if a BBQ joint crops up at some point.

Ernie's opens for breakfast at 7am, 7 days a week. 

Remember Shirttail Charlie's?

Right on the river, across from Riverfront, it was a great place for a burger and brew. Well, good news: a new restaurant just opened, and it's hopping:It's now The Pirate Republic. And yes, it's run by the same group that has the place over on the beach.

I haven't eaten there yet, but it's only a matter of time...

Charges dropped against beating victim.

Originally, Fort Lauderdale Police charged Joshua Ortiz attacked and provoked them on an elevator back in December.

The police were responding to a complaint that several men were arguing in the lobby of 201 SW First Avenue. Ortiz wasn't one of those men, but yelled at the officers to leave the men alone from the elevator in the lobby.

Officer Derek Lade wrote a police report describing what he claims happened:

"I turned to Ortiz, and instructed him to get back in the elevator and return to his vehicle.I advised him to leave because he was not part of the incident. Ortiz continued to yell at me and walked right up to me, hitting his nose to my nose. A that point I struck Ortiz in the chest with a double handed palm heal strike, sending him to the rear of the elevator facing away from me. As I approached Ortiz to take him into custody, Ortiz spun around to face me and assumed a fighting stance (both left and right hand clenched into fists and body bladed.),"

Unfortunately for Officer Lade, there was a security camera in the elevator, and it showed something very different;



In the tape, we see one of Ortiz's companions standing in the door of the elevator: he moves aside as Lade walks up, Ortiz moves to the door, both hands tucked in his belt, and Lade indeed "struck Ortiz in the chest with a double handed palm heal strike, sending him to the rear of the elevator," But Ortiz hit the back wall hard with his back, facing Lade the entire time, while Lade was on Ortiz the entire time beating the crap out of him, two other cops right next to him, and third joining in.

Officer Derek Lade lied. And so did the cops who corroborated his story.

Even viewing the tape from the lobby end fails to substantiate Lade's story. We can see Ortiz yelling at the cops, but we can see the cops beating on the two guys who were arguing in the first place. From the tape, it's apparent that the first thing the cops did was to increase the level of violence, tackling the arguing men, hitting them, and throwing them to the floor. Ortiz and other members of his party appear to be trying to get the cops to calm down and use less violence.

After the cops beat the shit out of Ortiz, everyone exits the elevator, and a woman can be seen screaming at the cops. One of the cops throws her to the floor before arresting her.

It's a sickening display. But that's not the worst part of this utterly disgusting tale of police brutality and falsified reports.

This is what should have every citizen demanding an accounting:

Internal affairs investigators with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department reviewed the incident over a month ago and found no violations of agency policy or procedures, said Sgt. Frank Sousa, the department's spokesperson.

"It was not a beating," Sousa said. "The video clearly shows that [Ortiz] made a movement toward the officer."

Fortunately, the prosecuting attorney upheld justice and dismissed the charges. Kudos to Assistant State Attorney Lee Cohen.

Officers Lade, Smith (who can be seen delivering a roundhouse blow into Ortiz's face from behind Lade) and whoever watched that tape and concluded the cops were justified need to be removed from public service.

We can't tolerate cops who step over line, or internal affairs officers who can't tell where the line is.

In Which the Author Gets a Haircut

Part of moving is discovering "your" new places; the stores you'll be shopping at, the restaurants that you'll frequent, and so on.

This weekend, I found "my" barber shop; the Las Olas Barbershop.

Everything is right about the Las Olas Barber Shop. It's two doors down from "my" diner, the Floridian, it's open reasonably late so I can get there after work, it even smells right. It's the real deal, it's been there since 1951. That's even before Travis McGee found his way to Fort Lauderdale! You don't find a lot of Fort Lauderdale that pre-dates McGee.

And my barber was, well, kinda hot. You see, the barbers at the Las Olas Barber Shop are all women. Karli took a look at me as I sat in the chair, and immediately said "Neaten it up, right? Bring it over the ears and thin it out?" This is what I've told every barber I've ever had, and it's the first time I've ever had a barber use those words to me the first time I've been there.

And yes, she finished with hot lather and a straight razor to clean up the back of my neck. (If you've had a proper hair cut, you know how important this is.)

Trav would approve. And so do I.

Fort Lauderdale: Ersatz Air & Sea Show

Who needs the Air Force and Navy? There was plenty Air & Sea along Fort Lauderdale yesterday.