Bon Appetit, Bon Voyage, Robert Tolf!

Robert W. Tolf | 1/1/2008

Tolf Unveiled: After 34 years of silhouetting our restaurant editor, Robert W. Tolf, Florida Trend can take him out of the shadows.

Julia Child was right: “You meet the nicest people in the food business.” A friend from my pre-foodie, Foreign Service days in Norway, she was responding to my change of careers a zillion calories ago — back in 1973, when I began writing my first food and restaurant columns. The first was in January, about an Italian chef-owner who wore a halter and hot pants while whisking and whirling her way at a happy little Miami cafe.

Another early restaurant discovery, one with direct links to New York’s legendary Café Chauveron, had more staying power, but the last of the five Frenchmen who worked wonders at Fort Lauderdale’s Trois Mousequetaires just recently retired and closed his splendid Café Claude in Deerfield Beach — to be replaced apparently by yet another Italian operation.

Trattorias and ristorantes grande and grandissimo are a constant on the restaurant scene, and so too are steakhouses — rugged and otherwise. Remember when Ruth’s Chris was a pioneer, all alone? Now there are close to 130 of them, all white tablecloths and formally clad servers with impressive wine lists and staffers knowledgeable about what they’re pouring.

What a joy it has been to participate in the fantastic fullness of the wine revolution and to witness the tremendous expansion, the overall improvements of all aspects of this most challenging of trades. This is my last column, but I’m remaining in the Trend family, advising on the south Florida restaurant whirl and consulting on the all-important Golden Spoon awards. Thanks to the unstinting support and direction of that family, it’s been a most rewarding if not incredible 34 years!

Tags: Dining & Travel