Florida's finest restaurants: The Golden Spoons

The winners are announced! This annual section by Florida Trend features the best restaurants in the state, with 20 top newcomers and new Hall of Fame entries. Winners are listed by award type and are also organized by city and region. Listings include reviews, addresses, phone numbers and links to the restaurant's website. There's an overview article that discusses food trends such as how many restaurants are offering smaller plates and more farm-to-table food. Browse all the Golden Spoon winners here.

See also:
» What will be on Florida's tables in 2015?

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Florida’s health insurance marketplace to offer Obamacare plans

Florida’s little-used health insurance marketplace will start selling plans that comply with the Affordable Care Act in the next few weeks, said Rose Naff, the marketplace’s CEO, even though Gov. Rick Scott opposes the health law. [Source: Miami Herald]

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Construction spending rises 1.1% in October

Newly built homes and schools boosted U.S. construction spending in October to the highest level since May. The Commerce Department said Tuesday that construction spending rose 1.1 percent in October, after having slipped 0.1 percent in September. [Source: AP]

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Florida's minimum wage will rise to $8.05 on Jan. 1

Florida workers who earn the minimum wage will get a 12-cent bump in their pay on Jan. 1. The state's minimum wage will increase to $8.05, up 12 cents from $7.93 in 2014. For tipped employees, the minimum wage required is at least $5.03 an hour. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

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How to Make Someone Want to Do Business With You

How can you build your book of business? You may get short-term results from invasive, hard-sell tactics. But they won’t last for long, as clients retreat whenever they feel pressure or desperation. So, to create a sustainable business that succeeds over the long term, you need to ensure clients want to work with you and proactively seek you out. [Source: Entrepreneur]

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ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› FAU’s largest donation ever to build major facility [South Florida Business Journal]
Florida Atlantic University received a $16 million donation – the largest in the school's history – from the Schmidt Family Foundation. The gift will fund construction of a learning and training facility for student athletes.

› Food trucks en route to becoming permanent Jacksonville Beach features [Florida Times-Union]
Food trucks are on the road to becoming a permanent feature in Jacksonville Beach. The Jacksonville Beach City Council passed on first reading Monday night a proposed ordinance removing the expiration date on the one-year food truck pilot program.

› Tiger Woods moving Orlando tournament to the Bahamas [Orlando Sentinel]
Tiger Woods is back, but, as expected, his annual tournament benefiting his foundation will not be back next year in Orlando. Woods said Tuesday that his tourney has signed a contractual arrangement to be played in The Bahamas for the next three years.

› What’s the Big Idea? [UF News]
For the second year, the Warrington College of Business Administration, along with its Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (CEI), is sponsoring The Big Idea Gator Business Plan Competition

Go to page 2 for more stories ...

› A banner first year for Miami’s bayside art museum [Miami Herald]
Exactly 12 months ago, the bayside grounds and terraces of the Pérez Art Museum Miami looked like a Home Depot garden center — chockablock with racks and pallets of plants in containers. What a difference a year makes.

› Accounting firm opens first Miami office [South Florida Business Journal]
Indiana-based accounting and consulting firm Crowe Horwath LLP has opened its first Miami office, joining the urban business and finance hub centered around Brickell Avenue.

› FIU interior architecture program ranked 1st in Florida [FIU News]
The FIU Department of Interior Architecture has been ranked among the top 10 interior architecture degree programs in the nation, and first among universities in Florida by DesignIntelligence.

› South Floridians put off holiday shopping [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Waiting to shop for holiday gifts? You are not alone. South Floridians are more apt to be shopping procrastinators than the rest of the nation, a new poll has found.