Asserting once again that they know better about noodle soup, cocktail lounges and Italian food than you do, Yelp reviewers have decreed that four South Florida restaurants belong on the annual “Top 100 Places to Eat” list in 2026.
In an announcement this week, the review website gave props to:
No Palm Beach County restaurant made the “Top 100” list.
In this edition, we’ll spare you our now-annual refrain about Yelp’s ranking system (like why a restaurant with a 4.5 rating charts higher than one with a 4.7), and stop asking why eateries that rank No. 3 in the whole country one year (as Archibalds Village Bakery in Fort Lauderdale did in 2023) magically fall off the list the next. Yelp will stay influential as long as people trust its algorithms and believe its rankings mean the same as a restaurant’s overall reputation, online and off.
So let’s move on, with one caveat: Yelp, for its part, says it ranked its 2026 list “using a number of factors, including the total volume and ratings of reviews.”
Highest on the list in Broward is Larb Thai-Isan (No. 42; 4.7 rating with 1,000 reviews). It’s a repeat Top 100er (it ranked No. 11 in 2023) and a now Michelin-recommended Northeastern Thai eatery dishing savory larb, lemongrass Tom Kha Gai soup and spicy massaman curry out of an open kitchen in a strip mall in Fort Lauderdale’s Imperial Point neighborhood.
Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
VHS movie screenings, weekend burlesque brunch and live bands are common at Revelry in Pompano Beach, which ranked No. 64 on Yelp’s 2026 list of “Top 100 Places to Eat” in the United States. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
One Yelp reviewer raved that its khao soi soup with beef and crispy duck curry was “bursting with bold and authentic flavors,” concluding that the restaurant serves “hands-down the best Thai food we’ve ever had, and we’ve had a lot of Thai food.”
At No. 64 is Revelry (4.7 rating with 225 reviews), a shamelessly nerdy lounge near Federal Highway and Atlantic Boulevard that owners Zena Tarantino and Brando Garcia have described as “inspired by your crazy aunt’s living room,” marrying eclectic mismatched furniture, 1980s movie screenings on VHS, weekend burlesque brunch and the joyful noise of local bands.
While some Yelpers dug the pub-style burgers, chicken sandwiches and smoked gouda grilled cheese, one commenter shouted out its “delicious… mahi sandwich with the Buffalo truffle cauliflower.”
Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel
Rosalia’s Kitchen in Miramar, a Mediterranean-Italian spot known for transforming its dining room and menu with whimsical themes (as it did during Christmastime), ranked No. 72 on Yelp’s list. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
And then there’s Rosalia’s Kitchen in Miramar at No. 72 (4.5 rating with 880 reviews), which arguably goes through as many costume changes in a year as Beyoncé does in one concert. Co-owner Rafael Brazon-Di Fatta brands the Mediterranean-Italian spot a “themed restaurant,” morphing into Christmas wonderlands, Halloween haunts and mermaid kingdoms every month or so.
It’s an idea that started, as some great ideas do, with an entry-level 3-D printer. Brazon-Di Fatta, whose day job is in tech, began 3-D printing whimsical drinkware and table decor in his spare time — a genie lamp with dry-ice smoke billowing out, dragon-shaped cocktail goblets, sea critters on the ceiling — to pair with seasonal drinks and Rosalia’s menu of sandwiches, salads, pastas and Roman-style pinsas.
Rosalia’s Kitchen via Yelp / Courtesy
A Mediterranean beef kebab with tahini at Rosalia’s Kitchen in Miramar. (Rosalia’s Kitchen via Yelp/Courtesy)
The result is a neighborhood place that’s “friendly and welcoming,” according to one Yelper, who added that “the food was good, and we really appreciated the creativity and charm of the décor.”
“We found this happy medium between crazy-kitschy decorations while also keeping the heritage of my family’s recipes and traditional flavors,” Brazon-Di Fatta told the Sun Sentinel in November. “We renew ourselves every few months to have fun and to stay competitive in this crazy restaurant market in South Florida.”
In Miami-Dade, meanwhile, Korean barbecue spot COTE Miami ranked highest on the list at No. 20.
For the full “Top 100 Places to Eat” in the U.S. 2026 restaurant rankings, go to Yelp.com/article.
The organizing committee announced Thursday that Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie will take part in the torch relay. The Opening Ceremony is scheduled for Feb. 6.
This image released by Crave shows Hudson Williams, left, and Connor Storrie in a scene from “Heated Rivalry.” (Crave via AP)
This image released by Crave shows Hudson Williams, left, and Connor Storrie in a scene from “Heated Rivalry.” (Crave via AP)
This image released by CBS Broadcasting shows presenters Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, right, during the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Kevork Djansezian/CBS Broadcasting via AP)
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This image released by Crave shows Hudson Williams, left, and Connor Storrie in a scene from “Heated Rivalry.” (Crave via AP)
The series based off “Game Changers” books has captivated viewers with the fictional story of a Canadian and a Russian hockey player sustaining a decade-long secret relationship.
The first season became the the No. 1 series on HBO Max. Originally developed for the Canadian streaming service Crave, the show scored a distribution deal with HBO and has already been renewed for a second season, and it will broadcast in Italy beginning next month.
The Pig Beach BBQ co-owner and pitmaster will barbecue-battle on a special themed episode of “Beat Bobby Flay” set to air at 9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29.
The Food Network cooking competition has two chefs face off against each other in a first round, preparing a dish with a specific ingredient in just 20 minutes. Two guest hosts then determine which contestant proceeds to a 45-minute kitchen-off against celebrity chef Bobby Flay himself. The winner of the second round is chosen by three guest judges in a blind taste-test.
Abdoo will be going grill-to-grill against Chicago’s Dominique Leach, who has appeared on “Fire Masters,” “BBQ Brawl” and “Chopped.”
But Abdoo ain’t no slouch when it comes to TV either.
The chef — who lives in Palm Beach Gardens with his wife and two children — is a regular on NBC’s “Today” show and has appeared on other Food Network shows such as “The Kitchen,” “Battle of the Brothers,” “Worst Cooks in America,” “Throwdown With Michael Symon” and “Kitchen Crash.” He was a judge on “Beat Bobby Flay” six times.
“I’ve been very fortunate,” Abdoo says. “I became very good friends with the ‘Today’ show people when I did my first segment in 2014 and they did have me on quite regularly ever since, which is like a dream come true.”
That extensive television experience allows him to be relaxed on the air.
“Since I’ve been on camera a bunch of times before, I wasn’t as nervous with the filming aspect of things, but your blood pressure’s high, you’re sweating,” he says. “The person I was competing against, Dominique Leach, she’s also an incredibly acclaimed pitmaster herself. She won ‘BBQ Brawl’ the season before, so she was very familiar with TV as well. But, for sure, not letting the camera be a distraction is definitely a leg up.”
Pig Beach BBQ has locations in West Palm Beach, Boston and Queens, New York, in a business partnership between Abdoo, Rob Shawger and Shane McBride. All three restaurants will host watch parties on Thursday for the special episode, titled “The Thrill of the Grill,” which was actually taped back in January 2024.
Here is more about Abdoo and the special “Beat Bobby Flay” episode from an interview that’s been edited for length and clarity.
Q: Since you’ve been on “Beat Bobby Flay” before as a judge, what do you really want us to know about the competition?
A: The show’s legit. Like being a judge … you have absolutely no idea whose dish is whose. You can sometimes try to guess and, every time you try to guess, you’re usually wrong. At least that’s been my take on it. And the show’s legit in the sense that when that bell rings for 20 minutes, you have exactly 20 minutes in round one. And that bell rings in round two … boom, you have 45 minutes. There’s no cutting, there’s no stopping, there’s no repositioning, it’s all live feed. Any edits they do are edits in post-production like cutting between cameras back and forth. So it’s pretty spectacular how they film the whole thing.
Q: Does this all take place in one day?
A: Yes. So this is why Bobby is a super human. He films two episodes a day. … I was exhausted by the end of this episode, and he had already done one and it was the end of his second one. And he’s just still cool, calm, collected — not even sweating — just, you know, doing his thing.
Q: Without any spoilers, what “Beat Bobby Flay” insider info can you share with loyal viewers?
A: What’s also really cool is that you don’t really get to see how detailed the kitchen is on camera. I mean sometimes you get little snippets when the chefs are running to the pantry or to the refrigerators, but it’s awesome. … They have everything you could possibly think of. It’s amazing. It’s the perfect dry storage for any restaurant wanting to do any cuisine ever. It’s amazing what they have.
Q: You’ve judged “Beat Bobby Flay” before, but this was your first time competing. Did you have a plan in place for this “The Thrill of the Grill” episode?
A: On my plane trip up and in the hotel room the night before, I binge-watched probably 20 episodes just to kind of get my strategy together, to see what wins. The takeaway was: The more complicated you get in round one, the more often you lose, because people get bogged down with timing, trying to do things that were too complicated or too time-consuming. So I went into it with the strategy of just keep it simple, trust in my training, do the things that I know work well.
Food Network
Pig Beach BBQ co-owner and pitmaster Matt Abdoo will go up against Dominique Leach in a special “The Thrill of the Grill” episode of “Beat Bobby Flay” on the Food Network. (Food Network/Courtesy)
Q: I hear you know the hosts of this episode — chef Josh Capon and the “Today” show’s Dylan Dreyer — so how did that make you feel when you strode onto that set and saw them, especially since they judged the first round?
A: One of the things that put me at ease (and simultaneously) made me super nervous was I know both of them very well. You know they’re going to be completely objective, no matter what. And I was just like, “Oh God, I can’t let chef Capon down.” I mean Josh Capon is a chef that I looked up to my entire time when I was in New York City. He’s a super acclaimed, incredibly talented chef. … And Dylan’s an amazing chef herself. She goes home and she cooks all the time for her three boys. One of her boys is gluten-free, so she’s always whipping up these amazing gluten-free recipes.
Q: What would you like for Bobby Flay fans to know about him?
A: He is better than you think he is, in all the right ways. Bobby Flay is one of the quintessential chefs of my time, right? I grew up watching him on “Boy Meets Grill.” He’s arguably one of the most successful chefs of a generation. The guy basically created maybe half the content that’s on the Food Network with this production company. Yet every time I’ve been with him … he’s always been exceptionally cordial, kind and friendly. It’s always like, “What’s up chef? What’s going on? How’s Pig Beach?”
Q: What can you tell us about your watch party at Pig Beach BBQ?
A: The show airs at 9 p.m., so we’re telling people to get here around 8:30 so you can get situated, grab a table, grab a drink. We’re going to be serving a dish that was part of the show that night. I can’t say what the dish is … but people can get a taste of something that I cooked while they’re watching the video, which will be a lot of fun. We’re doing that at all three of our locations, West Palm Beach; Astoria, Queens; and in Boston. And we’re going to be running that dish … basically for the whole month of February. So if you miss it that day, come on in. There’ll only be a limited amount of them made every single day, so first-come, first-served.”
The South Florida location of Pig Beach BBQ is at 2400 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach. Visit pigbeachnyc.com or call 561-803-0333.
The “Beat Bobby Flay” episode titled “The Thrill of the Grill” will air at 9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29, on the Food Network. Visit foodnetwork.com/shows/beat-bobby-flay.
‘The Red Scare Murders’ by Con Lehane; Soho Crime; 400 pages; $29.95
Award-winning author Con Lehane melds a solid private detective novel with a satisfying historical look at the communist witch hunt during the McCarthy era of the early 1950s in “The Red Scare Murders.”
In this launch of a new series, Lehane tackles conspiracy theories, racism, power-mad politicians and how families and careers were ruined through blacklisting, while also depicting the intricacies of New York City during this time.
“The Red Scare Murders” introduces Mick Mulligan, a World War II veteran who has reinvented himself as a private detective in New York City. Not long ago, Mick had a successful career as an animator working for a Hollywood studio, with a good salary and a loving family. But he lost his job, family and security when he was blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee for refusing to name colleagues in the entertainment business who might be communists.
Now scraping by with small, simple jobs, Mick is offered a more lucrative but complicated case by labor leader Duke Rogowski, “a lunch-box sort of guy.” Mick worries he lacks the skills to tackle the high stakes involved. He has 15 days to prove the innocence of Harold Williams, a Black cab driver — and member of the Communist party — who is scheduled to be executed for the murder of his wealthy white boss, the owner of the taxi company. Mick is overwhelmed that a man’s life depends on him. Given the times’ racial attitudes and view of communists, Harold still could be executed even if Mick proves him innocent.
And there is a chance Harold is guilty. Mick finds Harold has many friends who believe him innocent but are afraid to speak up, and just as many people who are fixated on Harold’s race and membership in the Communist party.
The timeworn plot device of trying to prove a convicted person innocent gets an energetic approach by grounding the story in politics and history. Lehane adds racial prejudice, politics, the labor movement and the fear of a cab driver strike. Lehane taps into the paranoia of the 1950s with aplomb, with meticulous research into the McCarthy era. He infuses “The Red Scare Murders” with real people, but these occasional references don’t distract from the plot — they put the story in context.
(Soho Crime/Courtesy)
New York City becomes a character in its own right, as Lehane takes the reader by the hand through neighborhood walks. Lehane shows buildings that are now part of the landscape being built, empty lots ready for plans.
Mick is a sturdy character, well-suited for this launch of a new series. Mick is coming to terms with what he has lost and how his moral code won’t allow him to turn in communists to save his career. He knows the authorities don’t care if the people are members of the Communist party, or not, just as long as they have names. It’s a pleasure watching Mick hone his investigative skills and grow confidence. He considers a private detective to be “the finder of lost souls.”
This marks the start of Lehane’s third series, following his previous collections featuring New York City bartender Brian McNulty and the 42nd Street Library.
“The Red Scare Murders” soars as a solid historical novel with relevance to today’s current events.
Meet the author
Con Lehane will discuss “The Red Scare Murders” in conversation with Oline H. Cogdill at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31, in the Rubel Mystery Collection at the Pompano Beach Branch Library, 50 W. Atlantic Blvd.; 954-357-7643. The event is free. Books will be available for sale, with 10% of proceeds donated to the Pompano Beach Friends of the Library. Registration is required at broward.libnet.info.
Ryan Coogler’s blues-steeped vampire epic “Sinners” led all films with 16 nominations to the 98th Academy Awards on Thursday, setting a record for the most in Oscar history.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters showered “Sinners” with more nominations than they had ever bestowed before, breaking the 14-nomination mark set by “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land.” Along with best picture, Coogler was nominated for best director and best screenplay, and double-duty star Michael B. Jordan was rewarded with his first Oscar nomination, for best actor.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s father-daughter revolutionary saga “One Battle After Another,” the favorite coming into nominations, trailed in second with 13 of its own. Four of its actors — Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn — were nominated, though newcomer Chase Infiniti was left out in best actress.
In those two top nominees, the film academy put its full force behind a pair of visceral and bracingly original American epics that each connected with a fraught national moment. Coogler’s Jim Crow-era film — the rare horror movie to win the academy’s favor — conjures a mythical allegory of Black life. In “One Battle After Another,” a dormant spirit of rebellion is revived in an out-of-control police state.
Both are also Warner Bros. titles. In the midst of a contentious sale to Netflix, the 102-year-old studio had one of its best Oscar nominations mornings ever, with 30 nods. As the fate of Warner Bros., which Netflix is buying for $72 billion, hangs in the balance amid a challenge from Paramount Skydance, Hollywood is bracing for potentially the largest realignment in the film industry’s history.
A coronation for Coogler
For Coogler, the 39-year-old filmmaker of “Fruitvale Station” and “Black Panther,” it was a crowning moment. One of Hollywood’s most esteemed yet humble filmmakers, Coogler has called “Sinners” — a film that he will own outright 25 years after its release — his most personal movie.
“I wrote this script for my uncle who passed away 11 years ago,” Coogler said in an interview Thursday morning. “I got to imagine that he’s listening to some blues music right now to celebrate.”
Reached by phone an hour after the nominations were read, Coogler — speaking alongside his wife and producer Zinzi Coogler and producer Sev Ohanian — was still trying to process the movie’s record-breaking haul.
“I love making movies. I’m honored to wake up every day and do it. I was writing last night. That’s why I didn’t get too much sleep,” said Coogler, chuckling. “Honestly, bro, I still feel a little bit asleep right now.”
The other top nominees
The 10 films nominated for best picture are “Bugonia,” “F1,” “Frankenstein,” “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme,” “One Battle After Another,” “The Secret Agent,” “Sentimental Value,” “Sinners” and “Train Dreams.”
Guillermo del Toro’s lush Mary Shelley adaptation “Frankenstein,” Josh Safdie’s period ping-pong odyssey “Marty Supreme” and Joachim Trier’s family drama “Sentimental Value” all scored nine nominations. Chloé Zhao’s speculative Shakespeare drama “Hamnet” collected eight nods. With the notable exception of del Toro, those filmmakers filled up a best director category of Anderson, Coogler, Safdie, Trier and Zhao, who in 2021 became the first woman of color to ever win the award.
The nine nods for “Marty Supreme” included a third best actor nod for 30-year-old Timothée Chalamet, the favorite in the category he narrowly missed winning last year for “A Complete Unknown.” With Jordan and Chalamet, the nominees are Leonardo DiCaprio for “One Battle After Another,” Ethan Hawke for “Blue Moon” and Wagner Moura for “The Secret Agent.”
Nominated for best actress was the category favorite, Jessie Buckley (“Hamnet”), along with Rose Byrne (“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”), Kate Hudson (“Song Sung Blue”), Renate Reinsve (“Sentimental Value”) and two-time winner Emma Stone, who landed her sixth nomination, for “Bugonia.”
‘KPop’ leads a field light on big hits
The year’s most-watched movie, with more than half a billion views on Netflix, “KPop Demon Hunters,” scored nominations for both best song (“Golden”) and best animated feature. Sony Pictures developed and produced the film, but, after selling it to Netflix, watched it become a worldwide sensation.
Blockbusters otherwise had a difficult morning. Universal Pictures’ “Wicked: For Good” was shut out entirely. While “Avatar: Fire and Ash” notched nominations for costume design and visual effects, it became the first “Avatar” film not nominated for best picture. The biggest box-office hit nominated for Hollywood’s top award instead was “F1,” an Apple production that landed four nominations. The streamer partnered with Warner Bros. to distribute the racing drama.
This year, the Oscars are introducing a new category for casting. That new honor helped “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” pad their already impressive stats. Along with those two films, the nominees are “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme” and “The Secret Agent.”
An international shift continues
The academy, which has expanded its overseas membership in recent years, also continued its tilt toward international films. Every category included one international nominee. For the eighth year in the row, a non-English-language film was nominated for best picture. More non-English performances were nominated than ever before.
The top nominee of them all was Trier’s Norwegian drama “Sentimental Value.” It cleaned up in the supporting actor categories, with nods for Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter LilIeaas and Elle Fanning. Also nominated for best supporting actress, in addition to Taylor: Amy Madigan for “Weapons” and Wunmi Mosaku for “Sinners.” In supporting actor, the nominees included Jacob Elordi for “Frankenstein” and, in a surprise that likely dislodged Paul Mescal of “Hamnet,” Delroy Lindo for “Sinners.”
A competitive best international feature category mirrored the turbulent state of the world. That included the Iranian revenge drama and Palme d’Or winner “It Was Just an Accident,” by the often-imprisoned filmmaker Jafar Panahi. He’s spoken passionately against the ongoing crackdown of demonstrators in his home country. France nominated the film.
Also nominated: the Tunisian entry “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” about volunteers at the Palestine Red Crescent Society; the timely Brazilian political thriller “The Secret Agent”; the apocalyptic Spanish road movie “Sirât” and “Sentimental Value.” Four of those nominees came from one independent distributor: Neon. The company, which has had an enviable streak of Palme d’Or wins, was second only to Warner Bros. with a collective 16 nominations.
The 98th Academy Awards will take place on March 15 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and will be televised live on ABC and Hulu. YouTube’s new deal to exclusively air won’t take effect until 2029. This year, Conan O’Brien will return as host.
It’s a bold filmmaking choice to have a countdown clock on the screen for most of your movie.
In the best-case scenario for a movie like “Mercy,” in which a Los Angeles detective has prove his innocence to an artificial intelligence judge within said time limit, it heightens the tension. Who hasn’t gotten sweaty palms in, say, a “Mission: Impossible” movie when the bomb is ticking down and Tom Cruise still hasn’t cleared the building? Why not just extend it for the duration?
Perhaps in a better movie it might have worked. Sadly in “Mercy,” in theaters Thursday, it’s an ever-present reminder of just how much longer you must endure until you too are free of Chris Pratt, Rebecca Ferguson and that chair.
In “Mercy’s” near-future Los Angeles, AI has been adopted by law enforcement and the judicial system to more efficiently clean up the city’s crime and blight problem. It’s a potent and not too far-flung idea that might have been a fascinating and provocative premise for a movie attempting to grapple with the implications of so-called progress that had the potential to be a worthy companion to another Cruise movie, “Minority Report.” But that would have required a more serious script than screenwriter Marco van Belle’s and more vision than filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov managed to muster.
When Pratt’s character, Chris Raven, wakes up, barefoot and strapped into an electric chair sitting in the middle of an oddly large room that looks a bit like the holodeck, he’s informed by an IMAX-sized AI judge (Ferguson) that he has 90 minutes to prove he didn’t kill his wife (Annabelle Wallis). In this world, the incarcerated are guilty until proved innocent. They’ve cut lawyers and juries out of the equation as well. Instead, the accused have everyone’s digital footprint at their disposal to help build their own case. For Raven, that means everything from ring cam footage to his teenage daughter’s secret Instagram account.
Unfortunately for Raven, he woke up with some gaps in his memory between angrily busting into his home to confront his wife about something and being arrested and bludgeoned at a bar later that day. Raven was also one of the original champions of the AI judge system, which in a more curious script might have resulted in some real stakes. This story is more hung up on increasingly tortured plot contrivances, however, including Raven’s drinking problem following the death of a partner killed on the job. To its credit, the story does really keep it ambiguous as to whether Raven did it or not, but to say that it earns any sort of investment in the outcome is a stretch.
One of the most confounding choices is to have a real actor playing the AI judge. Wouldn’t it have been more interesting and provocative to use an AI creation as the impartial Judge Maddox instead of stripping Ferguson of all emotion and charisma in the role? At times, it feels as tedious as watching a stranger’s increasingly frustrating call with a robotic customer service representative play out in real time.
For how reliant this movie is on screens and keeping Pratt alone, one might assume that “Mercy” was a socially distanced, COVID-era leftover instead of something made in 2024. Kali Reis, playing another LAPD agent named Jaq who decides to help Raven investigate on the ground is the one that gets to be out in the real-world chasing leads and hunches. But for the most part, she’s seen only through FaceTime and bodycam footage. Like Raven, we’re largely stuck in the chair watching things play out on multiple screens, acutely aware of just how much time is left.
“Mercy,” an Amazon MGM release in theaters Thursday, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for “drug content, bloody images, some strong language, teen smoking and violence.” Running time: 101 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.
This weekend, it’s Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, but there are even more circus acts headed to South Florida in the coming months. Here are the details for performances in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
The Great Mr. Swindle’s Traveling Peculiarium and Drink-Ory Garden (adults only) — Feb. 12-22 under the big top tent at Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real, Boca Raton. Tickets are $55-$95. mrswindles.com.
— Feb. 26-March 22 under the big top tent near Seabreeze Amphitheater at Carlin Park, Carlin Park, 750 S. A1A Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway, Jupiter. Tickets are $55-$90
Greed is good again at the new Caviar Club, a 1980s-inspired sit-down that’s part steak-and-caviar restaurant, gilded martini lounge and members-only club, coming this October to Fort Lauderdale’s Las Olas Boulevard.
With a price tag pushing $10 million, the Caviar Club, at 833 E. Las Olas Blvd., is billed as an over-the-top Gordon Gekko fever dream of lavish excess: Picture dark burl walnut walls, gold-rimmed mirrors, tufted cheetah-print booths and Cartier gold-banded archways. Restaurateur Marc Falsetto describes the vibe as “nostalgic, old-money elegance,” “fashion-forward” and “intentionally sexy.”
Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel
Caviar Club will take over the former Unique Treasures art building on the corner of Las Olas Boulevard and Southeast Ninth Avenue in Fort Lauderdale. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Here, past the doorman, table captains in custom-tailored Dolce & Gabbana tuxedos will carve dry-aged prime Wagyu steaks and Dover sole tableside, serve caviar pasta and French dips with au jus gravy in Baccarat crystal. An extensive caviar menu will offer a “grand tasting” in the $2,000 range, while a library of 300 French wines and high-end Champagnes includes a $15,000 Bordeaux. In the late-night hours, DJs will spin an ’80s-inspired soundtrack.
“If the restaurant had a persona, it would be ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ meets the movie ‘Wall Street,’” Falsetto tells the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “It’s gonna be full-on ’80s glam, over-the-top, unapologetically bold and loud. A lot of martinis and a dining room like the interior of a Rolls-Royce. It’s going to be exclusive and very hard to get into.”
So tough, Falsetto insists, that he expects reservations at the 4,200-square-foot Caviar Club (which replaced the former Unique Treasures art store) will be booked months in advance. So tough that celebrities and VIPs — the club’s dues-paying private members — will prefer using its private, secret side entrance rather than mingle with the wait-listers out front, he says.
Why does Las Olas deserve a maximalist restaurant, one that’s loud and lavish in the mold of Bemelmans Bar, The Polo Bar and other stately New York drinking dens?
Two reasons: Falsetto loves the 1980s, and Fort Lauderdale restaurants don’t have “enough luxury.”
“This city is on fire economically,” Falsetto says. “There’s a huge demand from people who are doing very well, and they’re tired of driving to Miami and Palm Beach for luxury. Every day, people are moving here from New York. They expect a different caliber of restaurant and we’re going to give it to them.”
Caviar Club marks the first solo-owned restaurant to fly under his Falsetto Hospitality banner (formerly Handcrafted Hospitality), a rebranding he says reflects a pivot toward higher-end dining. He plans to open two more luxury Broward County restaurants over the next three years while still running Tacocraft, Pizzacraft and Anthony’s Runway 84 with other partners.
The man helping him romanticize the decade of Reaganomics, yuppie power suits and brick-sized car phones is New York designer Garrett Singer (Manhattan’s Torrisi, Flyfish Club), in charge of its Art Deco-style lighting, dark wood tones and imported furniture and fabrics.
Falsetto Hospitality / Courtesy
A rendering of the 4,200-square-foot Caviar Club in Fort Lauderdale, which will serve classic American dishes, martinis and high-end wines. Owner Marc Falsetto says luxury cars will line the block around his new restaurant. (Falsetto Hospitality/Courtesy)
Roughly half of the restaurant will be a 40-seat martini lounge, distinguished by low ceilings, pink Dolce & Gabbana chairs and “more animal prints than the Serengeti,” he says, adding that his wife and sommelier, Danielle Falsetto, will curate a lineup of 300 French and American wines, including vintage Bordeauxs and Petrus vintages.
Yes, there will be a formal dress code (dress shirt, pants). Those attempting to slip past its red velvet rope in caps, shorts or flip-flops can take their business elsewhere, Falsetto says.
“That dress code will be enforced,” he says. “We’re going in the complete opposite direction of Fort Lauderdale’s reputation for boats and flip-flops to the golden age of the 1980s.”
The menu, helmed by Falsetto Hospitality culinary director Robbyns Martinez (Anthony’s Runway 84), will feature prime rib, dry-aged steaks flown in from Chicago and Japan, and hamburgers ground on-site.
Falsetto says opening night at Caviar Club will be distinguished by a status symbol parked on Las Olas: A luxury 1989 Mercedes 560 SEC Widebody.
“And it will definitely have a car phone,” Falsetto adds.
Caviar Club, at 833 E. Las Olas Blvd., in Fort Lauderdale, is expected to debut this October. Visit CaviarClubFTL.com.
Falsetto Hospitality / Courtesy
A rendering of Fort Lauderdale’s new Caviar Club, a steak-and-caviar restaurant and martini lounge expected to debut this year with American classics like dry-aged prime Wagyu steaks and Dover sole carved tableside by waitstaff in tuxedos. (Falsetto Hospitality/Courtesy)
After a $15 million makeover, Huizenga Park will reopen with events on Saturday and Sunday, bringing a valuable green interruption to the rapidly developing downtown core in Fort Lauderdale.
For anyone who remembers the old park — in the center of everything at Las Olas Boulevard and Andrews Avenue, but somehow underloved and lightly used — this new gathering space on the New River is a revelation. At once both more attractive and more functional, it is even better than advertised.
The 3.6-acre space, dotted with 88 new shade trees, is divided into a series of thoughtfully planned outdoor “rooms,” including a play area with rolling, climbable hills. Visitors will also find a fenced dog run that has nearly doubled in size since the original plan (after “overwhelming feedback” from constituents), two local food vendors, public restrooms with an attendant, a groundskeeper and on-site security. Park hours will be 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
What you will not see this weekend is Sweetwaters, a stylish restaurant from the group that owns the Rusty Pelican in Key Biscayne. It is under construction in the southeast corner of the park and expected to open in the fall, which seems ambitious.
With more than 80 events scheduled through April, Huizenga Park is a space that “will serve our community in meaningful ways,” said Jenni Morejon, president and CEO of the Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority. “One of the big elements of a successful urban park is continuous activity, not just people passing through the park or sitting on the benches. We’ll have small opportunities, free and open to the public, for people to come and enjoy being social and making those community connections.”
Grand opening events on Saturday include the official ribbon cutting at 10 a.m., followed by guided tours. The first free Movie on the Lawn event will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Sponsored by this weekend’s Visit Lauderdale Food & Wine Festival, the film will be “Ratatouille.”
Sunday features will include yoga at 11 a.m., a community market from Sunny Side Up Market from noon to 4 p.m., then “Muse and Meditation” from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., a creative writing and mindfulness experience from writer-educator Darius Daughtry’s Art Prevails Project.
The $15 million makeover of Huizenga Park in downtown Fort Lauderdale is scheduled to debut with events on Saturday and Sunday. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
THURSDAY
Glorious food: The annual Visit Lauderdale Food & Wine Festival continues this weekend with a wave of celebrity chefs from TV (Nancy Fuller, Eddie Jackson, Richard Blais, Jason Smith, Fabio Viviani) and local kitchens (Jeremy Ford, Brad Kilgore, Ryan Ratino, Timon Balloo, Rino Cerbone, Paula DaSilva, Pushkar Marathe and Daniel Ganem, among others), rubbing elbows with food fanatics at a variety of events through Sunday. Many of the main events are, as always, sold out. But not all: At press time, a few tickets remained for Thursday’s expanded Wok ‘n Roll party, curated by Alex Kuk (Wan’s) and Diego Ng (Temple Street Eatery) and hosted by celebrity chef Clarice Lam at Las Olas Intracoastal Promenade Park. There’s also the Beachside Brunch on the lawn at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Sunday at 1 p.m., hosted by beloved Food Network chef Nancy Fuller (“Holiday Baking Championship,” “Farmhouse Rules”). VLFWF also has a free event, Picnic in the Park, at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Sunday from noon to 4 p.m., highlighted by a 2 p.m. cooking demo by chef Jason Smith (“Food Network Star,” “Holiday Baking Championship,” “Best Baker in America”). For tickets and information, visit VLFoodWine.com.
This charming man: The last time we saw Morrissey, he was not the mopey misanthrope that we remembered (the Curt Cignetti of pop music), instead seeming to be almost happy to be there. While his year so far has already included several postponements, including a concert in St. Petersburg on Tuesday, Morrissey posted a note on Tuesday assuring local fans that he is “looking forward to the show” (originally scheduled for last May) at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. It’s essentially sold out, but visit MyHRL.com for resale updates.
Morrissey seems down to perform at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood on Thursday. (Ryan Lowry/Courtesy)
Bye, bye, bye: The Broadway tour of “& Juliet” ends its run at Fort Lauderdale’s Broward Center this weekend with performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. The sparkly reimagining of what might have happened to Shakespeare’s Juliet without Romeo is set to a soundtrack of Ariana Grande, Britney Spears, Demi Lovato, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC and more. For tickets, visit BrowardCenter.org.
Quit your wining: This is also closing weekend for “In Pour Taste: A Comedy Wine Tasting Experience,” part of the boundary-challenging Off Center Series at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale. A hit from New York to Toronto and Las Vegas, the show features young Australian comedians Sweeney Preston and Ethan Cavanagh cracking wise as a local wine expert leads the audience, seated at four-top tables, through a wine tasting. Shows take place in the intimate Abdo New River Room at 8 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Friday, 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 4 and 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets include five tastings and a personal charcuterie board (vegetarian and alcohol-free options available). Visit BrowardCenter.org.
Australian comedians Sweeney Preston, left, and Ethan Cavanagh are hosting “In Pour Taste: A Comedy Wine Tasting Experience” at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale through Sunday. (Nick Robertson/Courtesy)
FRIDAY
Tragedy at sea: Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz directs his haunting play “Sotto Voce” at GableStage Theatre Co.’s space at TheBiltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, beginning on Friday. The work, which is receiving its first full English-language production in South Florida, was inspired by the true story of the MS St. Louis, the ship filled with 937 passengers, nearly all Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany in 1939, that was turned away by Cuba, the United States and Canada. Showtimes this weekend are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday (Saturday’s show is sold out). Performances continue through Feb. 15. Visit GableStage.org.
Monumental music: The world-renowned Cleveland Orchestra begins its annual season of Miami performances this weekend with Verdi’s powerful Requiem at the Arsht Center on Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. The ensemble, conducted by music director Franz Welser-Möst, will be joined by TheCleveland Orchestra Chorus and an elite lineup of soloists, including Grammy Award-winning, Mexican-American tenor Joshua Guerrero. Visit ArshtCenter.org.
Roger Mastroianni/Roger Mastroianni/Courtesy
Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra return to the Arsht Center in Miami this weekend. (Roger Mastroianni/Courtesy)
Bohemian rhapsody:Palm Beach Opera performs Puccini’s romantic tale of artful strivers in Paris, “La Bohème,” at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are available at Kravis.org.
Weekend laughs:Jerry Seinfeld brings the yada-yada to Hard Rock Live in Hollywood for 8 p.m. shows on Friday and Saturday. Tickets can still be had (more numerous on Friday) at MyHRL.com. … Jen Fulwiler is a comedian, author and former SiriusXM host who has an extended bit about a botched cosmetic procedure on her face, which is very funny and … who turns something like that into a joke? Catch her at the Boca Black Box in Boca Raton on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Visit BocaBlackBox.com. … Comedian, actor and hip-hop performer Lil Duval will be at the Fort Lauderdale Improv in Dania Beach for weekend shows at 7:30 and 10 p.m. Friday, 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday. and 8:30 p.m. Sunday. Visit ImprovFTL.com.
Friday night live: Irresistible duo Afrobeta (they put the “arty” in dance party) will play a free show at Zey Zey Miami on Friday at 8 p.m., joined by Anemoia, Mike Deuce and Aramis. Visit ZeyZeyMiami.com. … Indie-rock favorites Say Anything and Motion City Soundtrack will be at Revolution Live at the Backyard in Fort Lauderdale on Friday. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with a set by special guests Sincere Engineer. General-admission tickets are available at JoinTheRevolution.net. … Gaelic Storm brings energetic Celtic singalongs to the Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale on Friday. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Visit CultureRoom.net.
Cabaret club:Claybourne Elder, the Grammy and Tony nominee currently seen as John Adams on HBO’s lavish 1880s New York drama “The Gilded Age,” will bring his song-and-comedy act to the intimate cabaret space 54 Below at The Rinker at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach for performances at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Tickets are available at Kravis.org.
Take the kids:Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey brings “The Greatest Show On Earth” to Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise for performances at 7 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m., 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday; and noon and 4 p.m. Sunday. The 150-year-old troupe has reinvented the show for a modern audience, with animals replaced by music and high-flying stunts by more than 60 circus performers from 17 countries. Find tickets at Seatgeek.com.
SATURDAY
Masked affair:Florida Grand Opera returns to the Arsht Center in Miami with the joyful and glamorous Johann Strauss operetta “Die Fledermaus,” with performances at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday and 8 p.m. Tuesday. The high jinks of Strauss’ chaotic masked ball are reimagined in FGO’s spectacular Art Deco set and Roaring ’20s atmosphere (recommended attire: 1920s-inspired gowns and tuxedos). Performances will be sung in German with English and Spanish projected translations. Visit FGO.org.
Weekend barbecue: Tropical Smokehouse in West Palm Beach (now also Delray Beach, if you missed it) will host their fourth annual Smoke & Sunshine Festival, a barbecue event that will include pitmasters who draw inspiration from Thailand, Egypt, China and across the Caribbean. Hosted by Tropical Smokehouse chef Rick Mace (a James Beard semifinalist), Smoke & Sunshine will send all proceeds to the National Alliance on Mental Illness and its efforts to raise awareness of mental health issues in the hospitality industry. Get information and see if any tickets are left at EatTropical.com.
Horseplay: The 10th annual Pegasus World Cup brings major thoroughbred racing ($5.7 million on the line in race-day purses), a fashionable crowd and a club vibe to Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday. The party side of things will come courtesy of David Grutman’s Groot Hospitality and Myles Shear’s Palm Tree Crew, who have booked headliners Empire of the Sun (“Walking on a Dream,” “We Are the People”) in the reimagined Flamingo Room, and DJ duo Two Friends in the Carousel Club’s new VIP Garden and Fan Zone, hosted by Griffin Johnson (TikTok guy and horse owner). Visit PegasusWorldCup.com.
You can expect a stylish crowd at the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach on Saturday. (Wilfredo Lee/AP file photo)
Saturday night live: Indie-rock mavericks Red Wanting Blue bring their tour to The Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton on Saturday at 7 p.m. with honky tonk singer Jason Eady opening. Visit FunkyBiscuit.com. … The Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale will host Close Enemies, featuring Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton, on Saturday. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Get tickets at CultureRoom.net.
Local sounds: The weekend will include a rare reunion show by the Groove Thangs, the soul-funk band that cut a memorable path through South Florida nightclubs (and beyond) in the late 1980s and early ’90s. Six years after their most recent gig (and 40 years after their first live show), original members Down Pat (Stacey), Bonefish Johnny, Kilmo and Tim Kuchta will perform at Tarpon River Brewing in downtown Fort Lauderdale at 7 p.m. Saturday, joined by Bob Taylor, Jeff Renza and surprise guests. Visit GrooveThangs.com.
Sweet life:Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables will transform its 83 acres into a candy land for the 19th edition of A Festival of Chocolate on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Activities will include a marketplace of master chocolatiers, cooking demonstrations, workshops, wine pairings and chocolate martini flights, a kids’ zone and more. Visit FairchildGarden.org.
Saturday tributes: Nationally touring Meat Loaf tribute act Meet Loaf will play The Parker in Fort Lauderdale at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Visit ParkerPlayhouse.com. … Long Island singer/piano player David Clark brings his Billy Joel tribute All About Joel to the Boca Black Box in Boca Raton on Saturday at 7 and 9 p.m. Visit BocaBlackBox.com. … Disbarred will perform a tribute to the music of Chris Cornell (Soundgarden, Audioslave, Temple of the Dog) on Saturday from 9:30 to 11 p.m. at Mathews Brewing Co. in Lake Worth Beach. The Scream Queens will open with a set from 7:45 to 8:45 p.m. Visit Facebook.com/mathewsbrewing.
SUNDAY
Good old ‘Daze’: The Miramar Cultural Center will celebrate HBCU (historically Black colleges and universities) culture and community with a unique screening of Spike Lee’s “School Daze” on Sunday at 5 p.m. The interactive event — kicking off Black History Month celebrations at the venue — will feature dancers bringing the film’s scenes to life, along with concessions, free popcorn and curated photo areas to capture the atmosphere. Attendees are urged to dress to represent your fraternity, sorority or alma mater. For information on tickets, visit MiramarCulturalCenter.org.
Do you like piña coladas? If you can sing Hall & Oates’ “She’s Gone,” Rupert Holmes’ “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” or “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” by Looking Glass out loud, in public, with earnestness, while also being in on the joke, Yacht Rock Revue is for you. The irreverent band and their terribly awesome fashion will bring all the hits you hated to love to The Parker in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday at 7 p.m. Visit ParkerPlayhouse.com.
More movies: The Donald M. Ephraim Sun & Stars International Film Festival launches its fourth season on Sunday, beginning a slate of 28 films screening in multiple locations in Palm Beach County through Jan. 31. Opening night will feature the coming-of-age comedy “Ethan Bloom” — featuring Hank Greenspan (from the CBS comedy “The Neighborhood”), Rachelle Lefevre (“White House Down,” ”Proven Innocent,” “Boston Legal”) and Joshua Malina (“The West Wing”) — in the Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. The screening will include a preshow gathering at 6:30 p.m., and director Herschel Faber and screenwriter Maylen Dominguez will be on hand for an audience discussion. Visit SASIFF.org.
Sunday jazz: Incomparable jazz singer Diana Krall comes to the Arsht Center in Miami at 7 p.m. Sunday, with some tickets remaining at ArshtCenter.org, and 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, which is a sellout. Check for updates at Kravis.org.
Claude Paris, Associated Press
Jazz musician Diana Krall will perform at the Arsht Center in Miami on Sunday and at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach on Monday. (Claude Paris/AP file photo)
Shop talk: The holidays are over, but we’re still shopping local, right? The Flamingo Flea makes that easy by gathering favorite purveyors of crafty and handmade creativity at Tarpon River Brewing in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. There will be live music, brunchy food and beer from TRB, the dog-friendly, indoor-outdoor downtown space. Visit Instagram.com/theflamingoflea.
Sexy Sunday: Busy day on Sunday for local burlesque performer Ruby Tesla: She’ll host the Burlesque Brunch at The Wilder in Fort Lauderdale from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Later she’ll lead a bevy of performers at Savor Cinema on the other side of downtown for “Temple of Tease,” a burlesque parody of the “Legend of Zelda” game series, from 7 to 9 p.m. Get information and tickets at RubyTesla.com.
Dog day afternoon: The touring canine comedy extravaganza “Mutts Gone Nuts,” featuring a cast of rescued shelter dogs, comes to the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center at 1 and 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. Visit AventuraCenter.org.
Green day: The green thumbs of nonprofit gardener group Rooted in Broward will collaborate with popular beer bar Laser Wolf in Fort Lauderdale’s Progresso neighborhood for a free, all-ages plant party on Sunday starting at 2 p.m. The day will include a vendor market with rare and exotic plants, La CondesaTaqueria food truck, a vinyl DJ, raffles, giveaways and Laser Wolf swag. Visit RootedInBroward.com.
Note to readers: Many South Florida venues now operate with a dynamic pricing model that changes the cost of seeing a show between the time we compile this roundup and when you see it. This is frustrating for you and us. So instead of specific prices, we have decided to provide a direct link to the latest information on tickets. Please let us know how you feel about this change: bcrandell@sunsentinel.com.
Tim Sullivan’s screenwriting credits include the films “A Handful of Dust,” “Where Angels Fear to Tread,” and “Letters to Juliet.” He’s also directed TV, including episodes of “Sherlock Holmes.” His series of crime novels, which launched in the U.S. in late 2025 with “The Dentist,” features DS George Cross, who is on the autistic spectrum. The series will roll out “The Cyclist” on Jan. 13, “The Patient” on Feb. 3, “The Politician” on March 3, “The Monk” on April 7 and “The Teacher” on May 5. Here, he takes the Book Pages Q&A.
Q. Please tell readers about your DS George Cross mysteries, which are rolling out into U.S. bookstores in the coming months.
My series of crime novels are centered around Detective Sergeant George Cross. George is on the autistic spectrum. He has autistic spectrum condition, which used to be known as Asperger’s syndrome. This has many consequences for George. He can come across as brusque, rude even, when he doesn’t mean to be. But it is what makes him a great detective. It doesn’t give him a superpower where he can look at a murder scene and come up miraculously with an instant solution. It gives him the patience and a dogged determination to examine the normal, the routine and the mundane in the knowledge that this is where the answer to any case will often lie.
His attention to detail and looking in places other detectives choose to ignore, means he has the highest arrest-to-conviction rate in his force. Things other detectives dismiss as irrelevant to a case, or trivial, are what George is drawn to and it is so often where he finds the answer to a case. Based in the city of Bristol where I grew up, with the city of Bath nearby, the series also hopefully conjures up images of the beautiful southwest of England.
As with many people on the autistic spectrum, George is obsessed with things being right or done in the correct way, be it punctuation, pronunciation, the accuracy of historical facts, or the way his tea is made – loose leaf always, never a bag, milk in the cup first. He is, for example, incapable of disobeying an order, although he often finds ingenious ways around this. For him, order is the order of the day. Without order there can only be chaos. This need for things to be right neatly falls into line with his work. He needs the right thing to be done. The right person to be arrested and convicted. For justice to be done.
Q. You’ve worked in film and television — notably directing Sherlock Holmes adaptations — how did that affect the creation of your own detective character?
I’ve always had an interest in autism, particularly in the workplace. It can so easily be misinterpreted and presents a challenge for both the neurodivergent person and the neurotypical. I’d done many years of research and so it only seemed natural to put George on the spectrum.
In many ways he fits into a long tradition of detectives on the spectrum. From Auguste Dupin, Sherlock, Poirot and arguably Maigret, many fictional detectives would now be considered to sit somewhere on the spectrum. With Sherlock, this was very much the case. What I learned from Jeremy Brett as Sherlock was his loyalty to the original text. He recognized that Conan Doyle had created something unique and to be faithful to his writing would lead to an authentic portrayal of the great detective.
Q. As well as working on adaptations of E.M. Forster’s “Where Angels Fear to Tread” and Evelyn Waugh’s “A Handful of Dust,” you also worked on the animated Aardman film “Flushed Away” – how did these experiences affect your novel writing?
I think the main things I took from writing screenplays was the importance of narrative drive. I also came away with an ability to set scenes and write dialogue, which have both proved to be useful in writing the novels. The difference between the two forms comes in the rhythms. Screenplays are obviously a lot shorter than novels. There is more time to develop things in a book, which took a lot of getting used to. I had to find my rhythm and make sure the books weren’t at all episodic. Working in animation is such a different process to live-action movies and I suppose one thing I took away from that process is that things can always be improved.
Q. What are you reading now?
I’m working my way through Michael Connelly’s Bosch canon, which is an absolute joy. Coming to the party late means I have a stack of them to read.
Q. How do you decide what to read next?
Often from recommendations of friends or booksellers. Reviews in the papers often result in me buying a book and adding it to an ever-increasing TBR pile.
Q. Do you remember the first book that made an impact on you?
Like so many people, it has to be “Lord of the Rings,” just the scope of the imagination and the creation of an entirely unfamiliar world. But later it would be Henry James’s “Portrait of a Lady.”
Q. Is there a book or type of book you’re reluctant to read?
I’m not a great one for horror. Just don’t understand the attraction of settling down with a book and scaring yourself half to death.
Q. Do you listen to audiobooks? If so, are there any titles or narrators you’d recommend?
I can’t listen to fiction as an audiobook for some reason, my mind just wanders off. But I really enjoy nonfiction, particularly the work of Ben MacIntyre.
Q. Which books are you planning to read next?
I’m researching the world of horse racing in the UK for a possible Cross novel, so I’m going to be reading books about famous horse trainers and the racing world.
Q. Is there a person who made an impact on your reading life – a teacher, a parent, a librarian or someone else?
There were a couple of English teachers at school who had a great influence on me. One was more traditional and introduced me to the works of Henry James and Mark Twain. The other was really into contemporary (at the time) American and European literature and so I found myself immersed in Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, Richard Brautigan and Herman Hesse at a young age.
Q. What do you find the most appealing in a book: the plot, the language, the cover, a recommendation? Do you have any examples?
For me, it’s about plot and character and how sometimes, more often than not, they inform each other. The most successful crime fiction has a great character at its heart. I think what appeals to readers with my series is George’s character. His and the inner circle of friends and colleagues who help him navigate his way through life and work. Not that he’s always aware of it.
Q. Do you have a favorite bookstore or bookstore experience?
When I was younger, I liked nothing more than trawling round secondhand bookshops like Thorpes in Guildford and the Wise Owl Bookshop in Clifton, Bristol. You never knew what you were going to stumble upon and were hopefully able to afford. They have both disappeared – along with so many others – which is sad.
