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This restaurant -- a comfy, relaxed fine-dining establishment sitting within a lush green yet buzzy-busy theme park -- is based on travel around the world.
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Where should you eat to support your neighbors during Thursday's Dine Out for Orlando United fundraiser? Look closely. The restaurants participating can pledge to give pretty much whatever they want, and some are set to donate way more than others.
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What will be the five best new dishes at Epcot Food and Wine Festival 2016? Here's my list. I sampled a slew of debuting entrees and desserts yesterday at a preview held for Tables in Wonderland members and the media. I was enchanted with these newcomers.
Seared scallop with truffled celery root puree, Brussels sprout and wild mushrooms, from the Wine & Dine Studio marketplace: The sweet scallop will be given a Napa Valley twist, served with a creamy vegetable puree laced with that I suspect may be truffle oil, plus an al dente vegetable and lively bits of mushroom. This dish so good I'd order it in a fine-dining restaurant.
Smoked beef brisket and pimento cheese on griddled garlic toast from the Hops & Barley marketplace: The beef was tender and smokey, but the addition of garlic toast and a shmear of intense pimento cheese put this dish over the top.
Pork tenderloin with cannellini bean ragout and zinfandel reduction from the Wine & Dine Studio marketplace: The pork was fine, but incidental. Get this dish for the beans in the savory wine-laced sauce.
Peanut butter and white chocolate mousse with a caramel drizzle at The Chew Collective marketplace: This dessert is creamy, almost frothy, with a strong peanut butter flavor plus plenty of peanut halves to chew on.
Loaded Greek "nachos" with pita chips, meatless sausage crumbles and vegan tzatziki at the Greece marketplace: I was dreading tasting this once I learned it was vegan, but guess what? It was terrific. I kept eating beyond the two bites I require of myself for this type of review. Using the pita chips as nachos, I scooped up flavored, multitextured portions of a rich and satisfying entree. The sauce is made with "cashew cream." You'd never know it.
As always, the Epcot Food & Wine Festival will involve weeks and weeks of food and beverage events at the Epcot theme park. Small bites and drinks like those above will be sold at themed marketplaces dotting the World Showcase. In addition, guests can sign up for culinary demonstrations, chef-prepared meals, a food-and-wine gala called Party for the Senses, Beverage Boot Camp and way more. In fact, The Chew will host events October 5-7.
Full details will be posted on this link starting July 11 and you'll be able to start booking your cheese seminars, spice-mixing sessions and signature dining experiences on July 21.
The Epcot Food and Wine Festival 2016 is longer than ever this year -- 62 glorious days of culinary hedonism. It will run from September 14 through November.
Eat enthusiastically,
Rona
Plated vs Blue Apron -- Which meal subscription service is better? I aim to find out.
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I urge you to try the omakase dinner at Seito Sushi in Orlando's Baldwin Park.
With Executive Chef Austin Boyd at the helm, the glitzy restaurant at a far corner of this residential neighborhood serves up not only creative and standard Asian fare, but also multicourse dinners. They're known as "omakase," which in Japanese restaurants means "whim of the chef." In other words, Chef Austin and his team take what's tops in their pantry the day of the meal and have a ton of fun making the most of each item.
I tried a nine-course version as part of a media dinner. A gaggle of us were seated around lovely new wooden chef's table, which Chef Austin carved himself. He hails from a line of woodworkers. If you don't have an eightsome willing to undertake this culinary experience, don't dismay. With 48 hours notice, the chefs will create an omakase dinner at Seito Sushi for even two of you.
Here's what we had, in order. Your menu will be different, as mine will be if I return. That's the fun of omakase.
So, um, yea. Don't let my lousy photography dismay you. This meal is an occasion in itself, and it certainly makes a better, say, Father's Day gift than some boring old tie. Make it happen. Call 407.898.8801 and set a date.
Eat enthusiastically,
Rona
Feel like strumming a guitar while in your hotel room? How about toying around with a DJ mixer? Call the front desk. Hard Rock Hotels encourage guests to let out their inner rockers in the privacy of their guest rooms. With a program called The Sound of Your Stay, employees will zip the tools you'll need to your door.
Read moreKing Bao restaurant opened in late April, bringing Orlando a selection of sweetish buns stuffed with fillings from the Orient.
Read moreWhere can you still get a table on Mothers Day in Orlando? Here are restaurants that don't accept reservations, or do but still expect to have plenty of seats available for walk-ins.
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Until someone proves St. Patrick was the saint of green beer, I’ll celebrate St Patricks Day in Orlando in a classy way, thank you. Good food. Maybe good drink. No drunken hordes.
Read moreIf Bloody Marys and eggs Benedict are your idea of a blissful mid-morning meal, try brunch at Disney World's Narcoossee's and California Grill.
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Try Matsusaka beef at Four Seasons Orlando this weekend, and only this weekend. It's your one and only chance, for months on end.
Read moreLearn to make pottery the FABU way, as artist Fabian Pesci is opening his studio for classes, teaching fans how to create their own platters and bowls.
Read moreLakeHouse at Hyatt Grand Cypress, a bright and polished newcomer, is sassy in look and menu.
Read moreI never knew I could learn so much while laughing so hard. Go buy A Reunion of Ghosts and start reading today.
Read moreWith a nutrition degree, Pilates expertise, and decades of worldwide travel behind her, Jayne recently put the lessons she teaches her clients into a book, Mile High & Healthy, The Frequent Traveler's Roadmap to Eating, Energy, Exercise and a Balanced Life
Read moreThat burger! The pizza! Dessert! How could I let snapshots of satisfying foods sit silently on my hard drive? And so, here are photos of more foods from St. Pete's Locale Market and FarmTable Kitchen.
Read moreJump-start your java-brewing finesse by joining Barista Bootcamp at Lickety-Split in Orlando's Four Seasons hotel.
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It's not fancy, FarmTable Kitchen. It's a rustic-chic restaurant on the second level of the Locale Market, a bustling bi-level St. Pete, Florida, food emporium with scratch-made and specially chosen packaged foods. My entire dinner there was phenomenal, but the chestnut soup was a stand-out.
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Baoery specializes in small plates of Asian foods combined creatively. The culinary mastermind behind Baoery is Greg Richie, who also runs Soco, a contemporary Southern restaurant a couple of doors down. , a contemporary Southern restaurant a couple of doors down.
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My Thanksgiving hostess brings in a complete meal, from appetizer to pies, from Boston Market. Don't judge. Plenty of people open their homes for celebration but don't want to cook. Whole Foods offers whole meals, and a la carte dishes, for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah.
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