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A spiffy contemporary kitchen with several work stations. Tables set with linens and sparkling wine glasses. Chefs incrisp whites offering warm welcomes. You'd expect this kind of polish at a professional cooking school, maybe, or a high-end restaurant's wine-pairing repast. But this is an educational four-course dinner at Publix.
Orlando -- Chefs are cooking and vintners are pouring at Chef's Gala, anannual food-and-wine extravaganza. Attendees don cocktail dresses and heels, or jackets (don't worry gents, you can leave your ties at home). They peruse silent-auction items, then sample all the appetizer-size creations they want from more than 20 local restaurants. Paired wines are poured generously. It's fun, and the proceeds help our neighbors in need.
Chefs of three Central Florida restaurants are up for the James Beard Foundation's Best Chef: South award for 2014. They've all been nominated before, as have some others, who didn't make the list this year. No one from the area has yet snagged the actual title, or others like Best New Restaurant or Outstanding Bar Program.
Read moreIf we can’t fuel up over a bowl of steamy, solid, soul-comforting foods in February, when can we?
These two restaurants do an especially good job with wintry entrees. I’d sure rather eat them without having to shovel snow first. Wouldn’t you?
With a classically French menu in a homey trio of dining rooms, Le Coq au Vin is an insider’s winter escape.
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Read moreI felt sorry for the best chefs in town, truth be told. They were tasked with creating appetizers so delicious that folks wouldspend $250 to eat their creations, along with others, at a gala event. The catch? Some ingredients had to be the same as those used in the kitchens of the McDonald’s fast food chain.
Last night, Orlando-area food writers were invited to taste four of the appetizers, plus two cocktails. My conclusion? ...
Read moreIt's not an addiction, not really, my compulsion to play Freecell. Just like Facebook -- or Pinterest, or ProgressBook, or my online library account -- Freecell is simply a distraction. It's a tool for procrastination.