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.
...
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? ...
Read moreI Beg You, Windows 8.1. Bring Freecell Back. Please!
It'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.
I lied. It's more. The simple on-screen card game is a path to calming down. If my head throbs during a writing
struggle, if I'm miffed at family, if I ...
Read moreAll I Want for Christmas ... Is to be Served in a Restaurant
Roasts, nogs, chestnuts ... mess. Maybe you're exhausted by holiday prep and prefer to dine civilly this year, seated at a restaurant table, with
prepared foods delivered to you, the clean-up not your concern. Here are three tempting options.
Café de France is an intimate French restaurant right on Winter Park's main drag, with seats in the small dining room and ...
Autumn in Orlando – Four Harvest Festivals
Now that our air has gone from sultry to seductive, Orlando-area chefs are stepping outdoors and firing up their stoves. Among thebest events are four that celebrate the season. I talkied about these events on Fox 35 on October 20. Those of you with Facebook can see the clip here. CLIP
Edible Orlando Field to Feast Dinner
The editors of Edible Orlando happen to also ...
Read moreThe Lemon Pledge
On Rona's rarely used Wordpress blog, she will post photos showing how different restaurants respond to, "Can I have lemon with my water--a lot of lemon?"
Eat heartily, my friends,
Rona
www.ronarecommends.com
blog.ronarecommends.com
The Newest Bites: 18th Epcot International Food & Wine Festival
The mania builds for months before the six-week Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, which, on September 27, will start its 18th year. You'll find all kinds of seminars and classes and lunches and dinners, all well-run and well-done.
My favorite part is the simplest: the marketplaces. All around Epcot's World Showcase, little kiosks serve up a trio or so of ethnic
...
Read moreThe Door Bore
So now it’s doors. Every three hours, it seems, I must replace a part of my home.
Blame Florida heat and humidity, cheap 21-year-old builders’ materials or plain old age. Whatever the culprit, it siphons off loads of cash I’d rather keep. And is, specifically, no fun. At all.
Today’s project is the front door to my house. It’s a double-door, wood, painted green right now, with little glass panes. The glass gets filthy, the wood is weakening, the ...
Read moreA Funky Local Food Joint, in Jerusalem
Here's Where to Get Great Food for Less in August
As I prepare to talk about three great amazing food deals in Orlando for Fox 35's Good Day on August 11, let me share the details with you. (OnAugust 13 or so, you'll be able to find the interview here; simply search for "dining deals.")
Who knew? you'll ask. Bar ...
Read moreOur (Temporary) Ultra-Jewish Immersion
Once I got to Tel Aviv, I found the Israel I expected — a bunch of brunettes who looked like me and my family living lives similarto ours.
That’s not what I encountered traveling to Israel.
Our ultra-Jewish adventure began in the Newark airport as we waited for our connecting flight. After a lunch we didn’t need in case the airline meal was awful, we packed up the remaining half of my son’s Subway turkey ...
Read moreHow to Stay Connected While Traveling: Brilliant Kid Version
We were four over-connected Americans traveling to Israel. Between us we had three iPhones, one regular cell phone, one laptop, one GameBoy, oneKindle, and three iPads. Cheapy me, though, refused to buy a new converter for plugging American devices in overseas outlets. Two is enough, I insisted. We'll share.
Not enough! my 16- and 20-year-olds agreed. So they came up with a solution: a circuit breaker with space for plugging in several ...
Read moreTry Lunch at Cask & Larder
I rarely blog after a media meal. I think it's cheesy to fill space with free publicity for a restaurant just because I fueled up on its dime. If thefood is worthy, I'll write about the flavors, the portion sizes, the plate presentations, in magazines, books, and online features as opportunities arise.
But oh my heavens, I just returned from sampling a few items off Cask & Larder's lunch menu, which debuts ...
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