A couple of my favs are changing

I'm a bit jealous of what's going on on Purdy Avenue in the Sunset Harbour area of South Beach.

Later this week, they are hoping to open three new places -- Panther Coffee, Tequitzlan Mexican and Ice Box Cafe. Panther Coffee and Ice Box are two of my favs. I met Barbara Streisand at the Ice Box Cafe that was right off of Lincoln Road, where I ate often.

And I love Panther Coffee in Wynwood so much that I almost used a photo of it as a blog name plate here, but was talked out of it because it wasn't in Coconut Grove!

The spaces are much larger than their counter parts. Panther Coffee won't be roasting the beans there like they do in Wynwood, so that's a shame, because the whole setup in Wynwood is what makes it special.

As for the Ice Box Cafe, it is so much larger than the small intimate space that was off Lincoln Road. It also will have a full bar. Ice Box is a fav of many celebs, at least the former space was. Oprah has a favorite cake there, but it's a bit much, it sort of cheese cake wrapped in a chocolate cake, wrapped in somethng else. As they say on Seinfeld, "I'll take an angioplasty with that."

Hoping that these new changes don't affect the ambiance and feel of the other locations.

As for the Mexican place, I am not familiar with it.

Emack & Bolio, the ice cream/yogurt place is part of the mix there as well as a couple of clothing stores.