Editor's Note

Editor’s Note December 2011

Tobin Bennison

“YOU THERE! WHAT DAY IS IT?” It happens every year. The morning after “Black Friday,” we always awaken to a story of someone, somewhere deep in the heart of this great nation, bludgeoning, pepper-spraying, decapitating, or disemboweling someone else for the sake of a bargain. Our reactions are just as rote. We go through the tiresome pantomime of acting “disgusted,” “shocked,” or “concerned” about how “commercial” Christmas has become. And those reactions, at least to my mind,... [Read more...]

Features This Month

Tobin Bennison

Silvestro’s By Tobin Bennison Photos by Rich Sullivan  Since taking over last September, the new owners of Silvestro’s have had their work cut out for them. There’s no delicate way of putting it: prior to their arrival, the restaurant was fraught with problems — exorbitant prices,... [Read more...]

Tobin Bennison

Roger Burleigh of Green Gloves Garden Center By Tobin Bennison  Twenty-seven years ago, opening a nursery and landscaping company was probably the last thing on Roger Burleigh’s mind. Back then, skateboarding and BMX occupied most of his thoughts. The half-pipe he built in the backyard of his... [Read more...]

Tobin Bennison

Estonia: Land of Song By T. Bennison “So he paused. And the Grinch put his hand to his ear. And he did hear a sound rising over the snow. It started in low. Then it started to grow. But the sound wasn’t sad! Why, this sound sounded merry! It couldn’t be so! But it WAS merry! VERY! ... [Read more...]

Tobin Bennison

Ted Taylor of Ted Taylor’s Fitness • Tobin Bennison  Ever since he moved here from Baltimore, Maryland in 1995, personal trainer Ted Taylor has been a well-respected and very visible member of the Cocoa Beach community. You’ll often see the incredibly fit 70-year-old walking on the beach... [Read more...]

Word On The Street

News of the people, by the people, for the people...

Local Scribes

Rick LaClaire

The Memory Season By Rick LaClaire “It’s Xmas time again/Has it really been a year?” — Joe Jackson, “Tango Atlantico” My wife’s family has an enduring tradition for Thanksgiving dinner. After all are seated and grace is said, each person at the table must say... [Read more...]

David Sherman

A Very Small Gift List By David Sherman It was my intention to write something of a more non-political nature for the December issue, granting a sort of Holiday ceasefire, if you will. But, as I would be the only one ceasing fire, that idea, however originally well-intentioned, seems a bit pointless,... [Read more...]

M. Alberto Rivera

Great Things From a Roach Motel By M. Alberto Rivera Years ago while listening to a cocksure young artist discuss success and her inevitable collision course with it, I interrupted her well-intentioned rant with some questions she could make neither head nor tail of. “How do you measure success?”... [Read more...]

Previous Restaurant Reviews

By: Tobin Bennison

With all the talk of failure going on in this country, it’s no wonder everyone’s depressed. Turn on the radio or television, or open up a paper on any given day and you’ll find yourself inundated by an unending litany of bankruptcies, liquidations, layoffs, bailouts, foreclosures,... [Read more...]

By: T. Bennison

Love. Surf. Eat. You’d be hard pressed to find a motto that captures the spirit of beachside living better than that. Those three simple directives form Da Kine Diego’s guiding credo, which, while certainly catchy and pithily evocative of this area’s ingrained principles, also hides... [Read more...]

By: Tobin Bennison

In much of polite society, it’s considered somewhat rubeish to order beer with your meal. Among the wine drinking sophisticates who rule as the equally reviled and exalted archons of taste, the celestial clink of fine stemware is the only admissible sonic accompaniment for any repast. The convivial... [Read more...]

Tobin Bennison

BEACHSIDE BARBECUE You’d think that the last thing anyone would want to do in this infernal heat is stand over a hot grill flipping slabs of meat. But that’s human nature for you. We’re as willing to sweat over a fire in 98-degree weather as we are to do a few early morning backstrokes... [Read more...]

Tobin Bennison

Ideally, good restaurants should provide something much more than just edible sustenance. Our favorite eateries certainly serve food we like, but we often return to the same place for a great many other reasons — the atmosphere, the people, and the comfort and sense of community they offer. We... [Read more...]

By: Tobin Bennison

Since 1994, Gregory’s has been the place for steak on Cocoa Beach. Countless locals and myriad returning visitors (thanks to Gregory’s attachment to the Ocean Landings Resort) trust Brigitte Krause, Head Chef/Owner Klaus Krause and Chef Jason Tavernier to provide them with some of the best-cooked... [Read more...]

Tobin Bennison

Goombay’s • Tobin Bennison • This summer has seen a fair share of speculation about the status of Satellite Beach’s Goombay’s. Had it gone on extended hiatus? Had it closed for good? Suffice it to say that the Goombay’s so many knew and loved is back — and better than... [Read more...]