By David Pines, Community Online Newspapers,

Chef-owner Alfredo Alvarez presents a sample of SOCO’s international cuisine, a delicacy he calls Pandora’s Box.

The new Pan-Asian restaurant SOCO offers cuisine from around the globe to patrons in search of a unique dining experience.

Featuring Latino, Asian, Mediterranean, Portuguese and Irish offerings, chef-owners Alfredo Alvarez and Luis Contreras believe they are on the verge of a new world order with their inventive culinary offerings.

“We like to say we have World Peace Cuisine,” said Contreras. “We can please anybody. If you come here with a party of five, two can have sushi, another Latino or Italian, we can satisfy all tastes.”

Contreras says the SOCO staff specializes in creating palate-pleasing selections that are equal to delicacies cooked up by the finest chefs in the various countries around the world.

“We make the best risotto in town, better than any Italian restaurant,” said Contreras. “One of our best sellers is the banana black cod fresh from the icy waters of Alaska that we prepare in a special Mandarin style. It’s smothered in a ginger coconut sauce with caramelized bananas and crowned with a binato nest, like a white sweet potato.”

This hidden Grove eatery, nestled in the same Bird Avenue location that formerly housed the Il Tulipano bistro, has a dark brick and wood interior resembling a cutting edge eatery from New York’s Soho. The atmosphere is highlighted with cylindrical lighting; modern tables and chairs, dramatic metal sculptures, and features the astonishing work of Grove artist Neith Nevelson.

The real booty to be found at SOCO is presented in the unique dessert offerings, like a coconut crème Brule inside a real coconut, a pyramid of nuggets from Spain, and there’s the traditional chocolate soufflé.

Contreras is disappointed the restaurant has not yet unearthed a local following for what he considers an unreal deal for lunch. “The lunch is incredible, served in a Japanese style I call the Pandora’s Box, and it’s only $8.95 with salad or soup,” he said. “It has chicken teriyaki, shrimp tempura, rice, sushi, a little of everything, with dumplings, orange and Carambola, we should be having lines out the door to come to eat here. All our prices are reasonable.

“The Grove is not great for lunch, it’s not commercial like the North or downtown Grove or the Gables, but for dinner it’s perfect. We have complementary valet parking during lunchtime, besides if you look at a menu our meals are generally $11 and with that you get a nice piece of Angus beef, fish, potatoes, rice, soup, salad, dessert, everything.” For the dinner crowd, SOCO takes service to another level, sometimes even experimenting with their cooking to see if inspiration strikes.

“Dinner is more serious and we want you to come here and dine with us, sit here and have a nice chateaubriand,” said Contreras. “Veal chops, rack of lamb, and one time I made a whole pheasant that I rolled, tied, cooked half way and put puffed pastry around like a Wellington, with nothing but seasoning inside and foie grass on top. I don’t know if I can repeat that.

“We do some new stuff and classical by request, such as a Wellington for a party of 30, a Tonodor Rossini with a piece of filet mignon, different bouillabaisses with pate featuring Italian tomato sauce, French saffron pernod, Latin cilantro grove or a spicy Thai dish with oyster sauce. We also have something I call Swiss sushi with a touch of rolled rice pudding with banana tempura inside, figs and dolce de leche and boom, boom, boom see you later. We are still working on perfecting floating islands.”

Alvarez and Contreras are lifelong friends from Venezuela. Alvarez came up with the diverse menu while working as a consultant on Celebrity Cruise Lines preparing about 13,000 meals each day and traveling all around the world. A decade ago, they opened Giacosa in the Gables and the Dominican Republic.

Contreras learned about the different ingredients used in seafood in Spain at Diego’s in the Gables and he served a short term as the chef at Yuca on South Beach before reuniting with Alvarez at SOCO. “It was there I came up with a Latin Third World fusion that is really different,” said Contreras. “Now, a lot of restaurants are copying this ‘Nuevo Latino’ experimental cuisine.”

SOCO is located at 2833 Bird Avenue. The hours are 12-3 p.m. Monday through Friday for lunch and 6-11 p.m. Monday through Saturday for dinner. Reservations are suggested. For more information, please call 305-446-8400.

By RICHARD T. PIENCIAK NY DAILY NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT

Michael Chen, one of the refugees aboard Golden Venture in 1993, ouside his Columbus, Ohio restaurant with his son and wife Xiu Lan Lin. Michael Chen vividly remembers the Golden Venture heading for the Golden Mountain as if it were yesterday. He will never forget the rats, the rations and his thirst for freedom.

In the early morning hours of Sunday, June 6, 1993, the Golden Venture, a dilapidated freighter holding 282 illegal Chinese immigrants as its cargo, struck a sandbar offshore from Fort Tilden on the Rockaway peninsula.

Ten of the passengers drowned or died of hypothermia while trying to swim ashore in 53-degree water and high waves.

Although Chen, who was only 20 at the time, survived the torturous 16,000-mile journey, he has been foundering in a sea of immigration red tape ever since.

“We've tried to get permanent residence here. And in 10 years I've never given up hope. America is the freedom country," Chen said."But I'm scared. We shouldn't have to be hiding. I'm afraid of being picked up by immigration. Who knows? It could happen to me tomorrow."

Of those who made it to shore, about 45 were granted political asylum, about 140 returned to China — voluntarily or via deportation proceedings — and about 50 were sent to other countries, said Beverly Church, a paralegal in Gettysburg, Pa., who has worked on the Golden Venture case.

That leaves Chen and 37 other men who are trapped in an immigration black hole. They have been allowed to live, and work, in the United States pending a decision on amnesty that has never come.

Over the years, Chen has become quite Americanized.

He changed his name from Chen Sherm Dee, to fit in better. He married Xiu Lin, 22, on Sept. 1, 2002, in New York City, with several of his Golden Venture comrades in attendance.

He and his wife have a 3-month-old son, Allen. He owns and operates a restaurant outside Columbus, Ohio, called the Cafe China.

"We've been very good citizens. We pay taxes. We work six days a week and 12 hours a day," he said.

But he and his buddies — who live quietly in about eight states, including New York and New Jersey — are not free.

"I think it is most unfortunate that it's 10 years later and these men are still in limbo," said the Rev. Joan Maruskin, who heads the Church World Service's immigration and refugee program in Washington."Unfortunately, these men happened to be the ones caught up in a system that is painfully slow and very unjust."

A bill introduced by Rep. Todd Platts (R-Pa.) would give amnesty to the 38 — and immediate permanent residency. But a similar bill in the last Congress died without action.

"This is our last chance," Chen said of the Platts proposal."We hope we can get the amnesty bill so we can stay here legally. I want permanent residency. I don't want to be illegal. I don't want to be hiding. It's scary every day."

National attention

It was shortly before 2 a.m., a decade ago this Friday, when the plight of the Golden Venture first came to the attention of New York law enforcement. Quickly, the world would learn of the horrors, which crystallized national attention on the illegal migration of Chinese to the West.

Those aboard had prepaid about $5,000 each and promised an additional $30,000 in stateside labor to a syndicate of snakeheads, the term given to smugglers of human contraband.

During their three-month trek, the passengers were crammed into two tiny storage holds, each 25 feet by 40 feet, forced to share a single bathroom, fed a meager offering of rice with vegetables or stale peanuts — just once a day — and small rations of water. They shared their living space with lice, rats and roaches.

The journey for freedom began in January 1993, when a freighter bearing a Panamanian registration and the name Tong Sern left Bangkok - its hold empty.

Several weeks later, with the vessel out in the South China Sea, about 100 Chinese boarded, transported to the ship by speedboats.

From there, now sailing under the Honduran flag and the name Golden Venture, the rusting ship headed for Singapore.

As the ship departed, the immigrants shouted"America, America." They were bound for a new life in the U.S., a land that Chinese illegals have long called the Golden Mountain.

From Singapore, the ship headed to Mombasa, Kenya, where the rest of the illegal passengers were picked up. The second group had been aboard another ship, the Saudi-owned Najd II, that had been seized by authorities.

But the snakeheads arranged for a local fishing vessel to secretly ferry the Chinese out to the Golden Venture, which was waiting offshore.

Chen was among those who boarded in Kenya but said his trip actually began in 1991, two years earlier, when his parents shipped him off to Burma, then Thailand, and finally Kenya.

"Out on the ocean, I was so scared because we ran into a couple of big storms," Chen said." I was a little bit seasick, too."

In mid-May 1993, as the Golden Venture approached the Eastern Seaboard, the captain searched in vain for several small boats that were supposed to rendezvous for transfer of the passengers for the final leg.

When a fleet of small boats failed to appear at a second rendezvous point, the representative of the Chinese crime boss who ran the operation tied up the captain and ordered the Golden Venture steered toward Rockaway.

An ugly trip turned uglier when the Golden Venture hit a sand bar.

"I said, ‘We finally landed.' My first thought was 'America is the freedom country,'" Chen said."But it was a horrible night. It was so cold. And also, we were so weak because we'd been on the boat for so long."

As authorities sought to cordon off the Queens beachfront about two-thirds of the passengers jumped off and tried to swim ashore. The remaining 100 stayed on the 175-foot ship to await the arrival of rescue personnel.

Chen says he didn't jump into the water because he cannot swim."I waited on the boat until the rescuers came. I was lucky. Many people tried to run away. They jumped in the water. When the waves came, they couldn't stand up. A lot of people called, 'Help, help.' It was so horrible."

Most of those who reached the beach, near Jacob Riis Park, were too tired to move and were picked up by police. About 30 passengers, however, fled into the neighborhood.

Soon, the beach was filled with ambulances. One official would later characterize the mission as the city's largest rescue effort, other than the World Trade Center bombing earlier that year.

Several dozen of the passengers were taken to local hospitals to be treated for hypothermia and exposure; the dead were taken to the city morgue. The survivors were taken to holding cells.

The immigration system in the city could not possibly hold that many detainees, so more than 200 of them were transported to local jails in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.

Most were sent to the York County Jail in central Pennsylvania. While there, many passed the time by transforming a paper-folding pastime into an art form, creating increasingly elaborate paper sculptures as gifts for their supporters. The best of the works were later displayed at museums across the nation.

A local group in York affiliated with the United Methodist Church was formed, and, calling itself the People of the Golden Vision, took up the fight for the detainees' freedom.

Claims rejected

Many in custody petitioned for political asylum. Some cited China's coercive family-planning laws — the one-child-one-family rule and forced sterilization policies. Others claimed religious persecution. Most of the claims were ultimately rejected.

Little by little, the prisoners were returned to China or sent to neutral nations, including Equador, Venezuela and Canada.

After four years, Chen and the others in the final group were released from York County Jail in February 1997 by special order of then-President Bill Clinton, pending determination of their immigration status.

But the bureaucracy sucked them in, said Church and Maruskin.

And then came the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

"I think that hurts us a little bit," said Chen. "Before Sept. 11, people could get work cards easier. Since then, everything has been much harder."

Officially, before the Platts legislation can be moved, the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, formerly known as the Immigration and Naturalization Service, must conduct extensive background checks to make sure the men have not committed any criminal acts since being released.

Calls to the Homeland Security Department about those checks were referred to the new immigration agency. Repeated calls to that agency's headquarters in Washington were not returned.

"I know in my heart that we're going to win this. It's just a matter of persevering in getting it through," Church said."They've gone through hell and back. They don't deserve it."

She said the men should be allowed to stay here"because after 10 years of working hard, of showing us why they want to be here — not unlike my own grandfather when he came from Ireland — I think they've shown they have a reason to be here.

"They have left their families, they have left everything they ever knew — and still love — and they still prefer to be here to try and make a living and fend for their families and live free." Originally published on June 1, 2003

<a href=winnipeg.cbc.ca>winnipeg.cbc.ca Web Posted | May 30 2003 12:51 PM CDT

WINNIPEG - Most of the people who stole diamonds from a Thunder Bay jewellery store this year have been sentenced to time already served in jail.

That amounts to a sentence of about six weeks.

The group is made up of mostly men, from Mexico, Columbia and Venezuela.

They were arrested in Winnipeg in mid-April with $29,000 in diamonds stolen days earlier from Atkinson's Jewellers.

All of the accused, with the exception of one Canadian woman, now face deportation back to their native countries.

A ninth person remains in custody awaiting a further court hearing.

southflorida.bizjournals.com 4:36 PM EDT Tuesday Jim Freer

Ocean Bank of Miami reported earning $10.1 million for this year's first quarter ended March 31, according to the bank's quarterly Call Report to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Those earnings are a 17 percent decrease from Ocean Bank's $12.1 million profit for last year's first quarter.

Ocean Bank had $4.1 billion in assets as of March 31, making it the largest commercial bank based in South Florida.

On May 1, Ocean Bank client Terremark Worldwide (Amex: TWW) announced that the bank had agreed to convert a portion of the Miami-based computer networking firm's loans into equity and to extend the term of its remaining loans to Terremark.

Bankers in South Florida have been wondering whether Terremark's financial problems might have an impact on Ocean Bank, which is the largest lender to Terremark.

Ocean Bank executives were not available for interviews, according to a spokesman for the bank.

The bank's latest report to the FDIC shows a continuation of two recent trends - profitability, but a ratio of non-performing loans that are more than twice the banking industry average.

Ocean, which is privately held by owners based in Venezuela, had a 2.1 percent ratio of non-performing loans and real estate owned to total assets on March 31.

Non-performing loans are loans that are delinquent for 90 days or more and no longer accrue interest.

Ocean Bank's non-performing ratio was 2.4 percent on Dec. 31.

The bank's non-performing loan ratio has been above 2 percent for each quarter since the quarter ended June 30.

The national average was .9 of a percent for commercial banks and savings and loans as of Dec. 31 - the latest date for which data is available.

Ocean Bank's report for March 31 listed $525,000 in loans 90 days or more past due and $87.9 million in loans not accruing interest.

The report also indicated Ocean could soon be dealing with additional non-performing loans.

The bank's loans between 30 and 89 days delinquent increased from $29.2 million to $134.3 million during this year's first quarter.

The report did not identify any non-performing loans or borrowers on those loans. But in a Feb. 14 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Terremark said it was negotiating restructuring $44 million in debt it owed Ocean Bank. Terremark added it owed $1 million in unpaid interest on that credit.

On May 1, Terremark said that Ocean Bank had agreed to convert $15 million in Terremark debt to equity at 75 cents a share.

Terremark also said the bank extended the terms of its remaining $28.9 million in debt to Ocean Bank for three years - until April 30, 2006.

Despite its problem loans, Ocean Bank has continued to generate significant income on loans that are current, and thus report quarterly profits.

The bank reported earning $45.5 million in 2002, with a profit in every quarter.

For this year's first quarter Ocean Bank reported interest income of $57.3 million - primarily interest earned on loans. That compared with $62.5 million in interest income for last year's first quarter.

Ocean Bank added $11 million to its loan loss reserves during this year's first quarter. That put the bank on a pace similar to 2002, when it added $47 million to its reserves.

Analysts do not regard those additions as alarmingly large for a bank of Ocean's size. Large additions to reserves can significantly reduce a bank's net income for a quarter.

Ocean Bank had $80.9 million in loan loss reserves on March 31.

That gave Ocean Bank a reserves-to-problem loans ratio of 92 percent - a level regulators consider very strong for covering potential losses.

During this year's first quarter, Ocean Bank's equity capital declined from $334 million to $329 million.

As of March 31,the bank's ratio of equity capital to assets was 7.72 percent - almost twice the 4 percent regulators require for a bank to be considered adequately capitalized.

For the remainder of this year, rival bankers will be watching Ocean to see if it can resolve problems with its delinquent borrowers - and thus continue its run of profits.

<a href=www.foodproductiondaily.com>foodproductiondaily.com Strong 1Q for Krones, but future growth expected to slow 27/05/03 - Krones, the German equipment provider, has said that since launching its bottle pockets in 1992 it has produced a record number of ten million. Krones, which is based in Neutraubling, has been manufacturing the bottle pockets for its bottle washers in-house. During the eleven years of production, the main plant has so far produced ten million pockets, providing the hearts to hundreds of machines.

The combination of a steel carrier with steel-sheet pockets featuring a bottle-friendly plastic nose has proved to be the best material variant. Krones claims that this provides several advantages. These include the fact that the heat (and thus energy) entrainment is lower by a factor of three for steel compared with plastic. This fact in turn helps to ensure that the bottle carriers, despite their sturdy construction, make a significant contribution to the energy savings of the machine as a whole.

Smooth surfaces

During the 11 years of production Krones’ Development Department has also cast a critical eye over the pockets’ surfaces. Firstly, the total surface area has been reduced, and secondly it’s been made smoother, with maximised homogeneity for the connection between the sheet-metal body and the plastic nose. This design has reduced to a minimum the liquid entrainment of water and caustic during the washing process.

Quality control of the finished pockets is a crucial factor. The fully automated high-precision in-house manufacturing process includes 100 percent checking of dimensional accuracy.

The importance of accurate machining for the pockets is evidenced by the amount of bottle pockets incorporated in a single washer. One of the biggest machines built so far was installed last year by the Polar Brewery in Venezuela. The equipment meant that 73,000 bottle pockets were fitted - each one to a maximised standard of quality.