I got to sample a Global Venture wine-pairing dinner. Here's my favorite part, besides the food: Sixteen guests maximum participate in a Friday or Saturday night meal and they all dine together at one big table. Trust me, those strangers sipping sparkling wine at the beginning will be your chums by the time you polish off that last bite of dessert.
Read moreThe Challah of All Challahs from Ooga Ooga
I haven't even tasted these yet. They are so gorgeous that I am super-excited and had to post their photos right away.
Read moreMy New Favorite Ice Cream Is at Epcot
This is a salted caramel ice cream. Epcot calls it Fleur de Sel or some other fancy take on salt.
Read moreMy Newest Burger Crush - Oblivion Taprooom
Juicy inside, caramelized outside. It must have been cooked over a flame. The Oblivion patties themselves are a half-pound blend of chuck, brisket and short rib.
Read moreTake a Look at this Gorgeous Chile Relleno. Stunning!
Paxia's take is lightly breaded, not battered, and possibly baked, not fried. The filling is mostly shrimp and eggplant and the sauce is from roasted red peppers. There's even a sauce-painting design.
Read moreSisters in Crime Writers Blog Hop. What Is Your Writing Process?
Laurie is a travel writer; a mystery writer with some Murder She Wrote books to her name, and baseball guru. Take a look at her kid-lit baseball book, Catcher in the Sky. She's also the daughter of the guy who wrote Coffee, Tea or Me?
Read moreDear Chef, You Know Beans About What's Truly Vegetarian
Suddenly I thought about kosher products. At many deli counters, signs say something along the lines of "Kosher meats when sliced become unkosher."
Read moreSix New Flavors: 2014 Epcot Food & Wine Festival
We gallivant--or schlep, weather-depending--around the Epcot Food & Wine Festival every year. Themed marketplaces sell piping hot foods from several different countries. What's more, complementary wines and beers enhance each snack with satisfying finesse.
The stews, curries, dumplings and pastries change somewhat every fall, which is only a sliver of the reason the Festival seems fresh, even in its umpteenth go-round since 1996. (The Festival has WAY more than just themed marketplaces. Visit the official website to get a taste of the tastes available.)
Here are six newbies out of the 35 added to the line-up, fresh off the grills for 2014. All seven were very good, although I put my two tippy top favorites first.
This year's Epcot Food & Wine Festival is a week longer than in the past. Lace up your walking shoes and arrive hungry, again and again, from September 19 thorugh November 10. Please share your favories, and your disappointments, in the comments area to help your fellow readers.
Eat enthusiastically, Rona
www.ronarecommends.com
Orlando's Magical Dining Month: Le Coq au Vin
Put on your heels and dust off that credit card. It's time to dine out in Orlando. September is Magical Dining Month here. That means dozens of restaurants offer three-course dinners for $33 every night they're open. Some of the menus give tremendous value, which is why locals find themselves sampling eateries all over town.
We were invited to experience the Magical Dining Month offerings at Le Coq au Vin, so last night we headed to South Orange Avenue to revisit an old-time French restaurant we'd been meaning to retry.
Every restaurant handles its Magical Dining Month menu differently. We were delighted to see that all the servers at Le Coq au Vin mentioned the Magical Dining Month option to each party as they handed out menus.
Some restaurants decline to bring up the fact that they have a lower-priced option. At those places, servers sometimes scorn while delivering a flimsy add-on menu when guests dare to ask about the selections. Le Coq au Vin not only mention the choice but has it on the back page of its hardbound regular menu.
That's smart. It gave us a chance to look at the regular entrees and remark, "Oh, this really is a value. Most of the entrees are $33 on their own." Most of the Magical Dining items were different than the standards, but that's okay. The quality level was the same.
We started with the French onion soup, which was a nice version of the simple, flavorful broth topped with melted cheese. It arrived in a decidedly small cup. I'd imagine the full, and even the half, versions on the standard menu are larger (I could be wrong), but we found it satisfying.
I'm a long-time fan of the restaurant's onion tart so quickly chose the $33 menu's zucchini tart. It was similar--a flaky pastry bottom topped with a combination of three creamy cheeses plus sliced vegetables. Mixed greens tossed with a spectacular herb-laced vinaigrette on the side made the appetizer more of a meal.
The third appetizer choice was a salad of wild greens with a mustard seed vinaigrette. If it's like the tart's side salad, or even if it's a larger version of that salad, it'll please you.
Le Coq au Vin offered four menu choices. We, hesitantly, passed over tournados of beef with Port wine sauce, and beef Bourguinon with egg noodles. Instead, we had a fork-tender salmon fillet with a mustard-flavored crust.
Our other selection was chicken Chasseur, a cut up leg or breast (your choice) in a brown sauce flavored with vermouth , tomatoes, herbs and spices. Both entrees were plated with butter-coated broccoli and carrots, and a cheese potato dish.
The dessert choices are crêpe Suzette and apple tart. The tart was sweet but not too sweet, buttery but not too buttery, and warm with vanilla ice cream on top.
My dining companion chose to pay $6 extra for a souffle. He ordered chocolate but received what I believe is Grand Marnier. Although he'd been craving chocolate, he liked end meal-topper so much that he didn't even mention it to the waiter.
We happened to have been due for a Le Coq au Vin visit so this was the perfect Magical Dining Month starter for us. You can choose from all kinds of other restaurants. Here's the list. I haven't tried any of this year's other $33 menus yet, but, that said, I'll suggest choosing Spencer's for Steaks and Chops, Big Fin Seafood Kitchen, and Luma on Park for starters. They all seem to offer exceptional value.
Eat enthusiastically,
Rona
Vote for Orlando's Best Restaurants -- Now, Please
Love breakfast at your corner diner, the waitress at a particular Italian restaurant or the happy hour specials at an Asian-fusion place? Let your neighbors know.
Read moreDon't Touch that Plate!
Once the server cleared Michael's place, though, I felt self-conscious about eating slowly. I felt rushed, as if the table-clearing were a clear message that I should hurry the heck up. And pissy. I felt very pissy.
Read moreHere's a Sneak Peek at the Ritz's Highball & Harvest
Instead of frou-frou, the new restaurant, Highball & Harvest, will go for earthy. The menu will be thoughtfully created and the foodstuffs carefully sourced. But the offerings will be relaxed, more like a farm-to-table restaurant and less like a sophisticated coffee-shop-slash-steakhouse. The
Read moreA Manly Meal, an Italian Feast, and Dinner with the Philharmonic -- Have We Got Dining Deals for You
Orlando -- Compensate for the searing summer sun by having truly good food at a lower price than usual. These three so-called Dining Deals offer value at places with great food. I talked about them recently on Orlando's Fox 35 with David Didzunas, executive chef of the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport, and anchor Lauren Johnson. Here's the clip. David Didzunas, executive chef of the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport, will join me. Manly Mondays Head west, hearty eaters. The Crooked Spoon, a gastropub in Clermont, will match your appetite with a Manly Mondays basket guaranteed to fill you up. The “Man-Sized Meat Baskets” will be filled with three or four house-smoked meats, such as ribs, wings, and smoked and grilled sausage. The selections will change weekly. Extras like grilled corn, corn bread, fritters or French fries will be in there too, all for $19.
A Manly Mondays basket
I allow myself no Manly Meals, as I want a Small Waist, but I’d say a Manly Meal plus a doggie bag sounds like a fine idea. 200 Citrus Tower Blvd., Clermont, 352.404.7808, thecrookedspn.com Estate Italiana Peperoncino is a sweet little Italian restaurant on Restaurant Row in the Dr. Phillips neighborhood. It’s offering a three-course dinner on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays for $30. Here’s the catch: You must mention Rona Recommends to receive this package. You’ll be entitled to an appetizer such as cozze pepate (peppery mussels) or arancini (fried rice balls); a “primo,” which is a small entrée; sorbet or a homemade dessert; and a glass of house red or white wine. The menu changes daily, but your primi choices might be pasta with a Bolognese ragù sauce or pasta alla Norma, made with roasted eggplant and fresh ricotta cheese.
Fried rice balls
Pasta Bolognese
Pasta with eggplant and ricotta
Dellagio, 7988 Via Dellagio Way #108, Orlando, 407.440.2856, peperoncinocucina.com Liberty Weekend Food & Wine Experience The chefs at the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport put together gourmet wine-pairing dinners several times a year. This month, they’re having a Liberty theme. The four-course dinner will be served while the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra performs live. The entire meal is $105 including tax and tip. That’s quite a value for the combo.
Diners sit on the balcony and watch the orchestra below.
The meal will begin with seared Idaho rainbow trout topped with a Zelwood corn creme. Cedar-roasted quail will follow, plated with smoked barbecued cannellini beans and an heirloom tomatoe confit. For the entrée, expect a strip of roasted bison loin with a roasted plum demi-glace and fingerling potatoes, bacon and baby Swiss chard. The meal will end with a warm blueberry and blackberry cobbler topped with ice cream. These summer flavors will be accompanied by Grgich Hills Estate wines paired with each course. Valet parking will be free and a lodging package is available. Saturday, June 28, 2014. 9300 Jeff Fuqua Blvd., Orlando, 407.825.1315, orlandoairport.hyatt.com Eat enthusiastically, Rona www.ronarecommends.com
B Resort Orlando -- Value-Priced Chic at Disney World
Orlando will welcome B Resort next week, a Lake Buena Vista property a short walk from Downtown Disney. B Resorts are cheap-chic. In other words, they have a suave, contemporary flair, yet they're midpriced. The decor is a spiffy, bold white palette with vibrant splashes of color.
When the restaurant American Q opens, it will feature barbecue from all over the Americas. That means salmons as Native Americans cooked it, jerked meats from Florida (well, really Jamaica), and brisket from Texas. Look for that in about a month.
Here are some photos of this snazzy hotel. I have my eye on those lanai rooms for a little staycation.
The lobby, which has several seating areas
This is the bed in a junior suite.
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This junior suite sofa folds out to a bed.
Two queen beds
The outside of a lanai suite. There's a sofa on the side you can't see. These suites are right by the pool, and the staff considers the seating areas "private cabanas."
The pool. It's zero-entry, which means you can walk right in starting at pool deck level.
The rooms come with Aveda amenities. When the spa opens in a few weeks, it and its salon will use Aveda products.
Room snacks are a mix of upscale, generously packaged items. Each is $5.
Candied bacon, deviled egg and crudite. I don't know if this will be a menu item or a catering option, but it was very good. So was smoked brisket,a seafood salad, and a white chocolate-covered cookie. I'm excited about the food.
I'll report back when the restaurant opens.
Eat enthusiastically and lodge with style,
Rona
Craft Cocktails, Orlando-Made
"We would love to hear your opinion of our drinks," said an email that came through my website. "We are asmall business here in Florida that is providing a culinary experience by way of our line of premium cocktail mixers."
And so I came into possession of three colorful bottles of Bungalow 23 cocktail mixes, each in trendy, inventive flavor:
...
Read moreAn Elegant Food & Wine Experience -- at Publix
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.
Gear Up for Orlando's 2014 Chef's Gala
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.
Three Orlando-Area Chefs Are James Beard Award Nominees
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 moreHearty Winter Meals – Yes, Even in Orlando
If 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 moreSo Now I'm Telling You to Eat McDonald's Food ... sort of
I 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? ...
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