I’ve always thought of Flying Fish as one of Walt Disney World Resort’s more upscale restaurants, even before it underwent a full renovation that elevated the decor to the level of the food.

When it opened, in 1995 and as Flying Fish Cafe, the restaurant had a more whimsical decor and ambience that invoked the halcyon days of Coney Island, including images of fish – flying –  on Ferris wheels and other carnival rides.

Places like the Daybreak Diner are getting harder to find. Part of the reason is that a new place can’t recreate the timeworn atmosphere of a place that’s been slinging hash for decades.

Daybreak has been in its current location, a corner spot in a strip mall at Curry Ford Road and Crystal Lake Drive, since about 2005. When it first opened, in 1997, it was down the street in the space currently occupied by Los Generales Mexican restaurant. When another restaurant, B&B, announced it was getting out of the diner business, Daybreak’s owners grabbed the opportunity to move to the larger space.

But even though Daybreak Diner has been around for so long, and in a location that’s close enough that I could probably walk there, I hadn’t been back for many many years. I corrected that by meeting friends there for breakfast recently, and I felt as though I’d gone back in time.

The Drake Kitchen + Bar, in downtown Orlando, gives one the impression that the space it occupies wasn’t meant to be a restaurant, at least not a full service one. Its bar area doubles as a foyer, as it were, and the dining spaces just beyond are trapezoidal, as if designed to fit an available space, which is odd seeing as how the building it is in, the Radius Apartments, is itself a new construction.

But the strange configuration actually adds to the allure of this charming addition to the downtown dining scene. In fact, even when the dining areas are full – easy to occur; it’s not a big place – there’s a feeling of intimacy.

Running the kitchen are husband and wife chef team and co-owners Heberto and Rona Segura, who have been operating a food truck parked mainly at Digress Wine Bar in College Park for a while. The food truck is the Duck and Drake Kitchen, which may have something to do with little hints of Guy Fawkes imagery in The Drake’s decor. (Duck and Drake was a pub in London’s Strand where Fawkes and his coconspirators hatched a plot to blow up Parliament in the 1600s.) It might also explain a cocktail on the menu called 36 Barrels, made with Gunpowder gin. But again, that was the Duck and Drake, not the Drake. Might be more appropriate for images of Sir Alfred, but like the wine bar I digress.

I don’t know why I find the name Boiled Fish so unusual. It’s not like there aren’t other restaurants that highlight cooking methods in their names. Kentucky Fried Chicken comes to mind. There are any number of smokehouse places and maybe a few with flambé in their name.

But boiled seems so mundane. And the food at Boiled Fish, a Chinese restaurant on Turkey Lake Road south of Restaurant Row, is anything but mundane.

Just as misnomered is the restaurant’s signature dish of sauerkraut fish. If you’re unfamiliar with this delicacy you probably have an image of German style fermented cabbage with a fillet of fish plopped on top. This is so not that.

We had a delightful, intimate Dinner Party at Rocco’s, the wonderful fine dining Italian restaurant in Winter Park. Chef and owner Rocco Potami was the gracious host with his well-trained staff keeping things moving. Tony Matos, representative for Opici Wines & Spirits, curated the pairings.

For our welcome reception, Matos poured the Laluca Prosecco Superiore Valdobbiandene, made with 100 percent glera grapes. Always nice to start things off with a bit of bubbly, especially one as full and fruity as this one.

I recently spent a week in New Smyrna Beach, enjoying a beachfront condo and walks along the shore. It was also a chance to catch up on some NSB dining, revisiting some longtime reliables that I haven’t been to in decades and finding one new (to me) gem.

You know a restaurant has a weird system when the first thing a waiter says to you when he greets you at your table is, “I realize our system is a little weird here.”

This was at Marlin Bar at Tommy Bahama in Winter Park Village. Many of you will remember Tommy Bahama Cafe when it was at Pointe Orlando (it closed in 2018). It was a full-service restaurant and bar next to a Tommy Bahama retail store. About the only thing that’s the same here is that Marlin Bar is also next to a full retail store filled with the high priced (and let’s face it, high quality) silk and linen clothing the retailer is known for. A lot of the clothing bears a logo of a marlin fish, hence the name Marlin Bar.

The big difference here is that the restaurant isn’t exactly full service, though it doesn’t use the term quick service, either. One enters at the bar and is greeted by a cashier. Patrons are expected to order and pay or at the very least leave a credit card on file.

Just because Mardi Gras has passed doesn’t mean you have to give up eating Cajun and creole food, unless you promised to give them up for Lent. And who would do that?

Nevertheless, I visited the Bayou Kitchen & Lounge in Longwood before carnival season began, so I’m good either way.

Russell’s on Lake Ivanhoe, the upscale casual restaurant in the historic district north of downtown, isn’t a French restaurant per se. But with a French chef/owner, Emmanuel Clement, there are bound to be some dishes with French influences. Wonderfully so.

And now, with the addition of some new menu items created by Clement, there are a few more. I met with some friends for dinner at Russell’s recently and had a chance to sample some of the new dishes.

Judson’s Live, a music venue, officially opened this week at the Dr. Phillips Center, another world-class performance space for the jewel of downtown Orlando. 

It’s a stellar room. Think of any of the well-known clubs in New York – 54 Below, Birdland, Cafe Carlyle, Blue Note – and it blows them all away, with the possible exception of Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center, which served as the inspiration for the design of Judson’s. (The only thing missing is a vast window overlooking Columbus Circle.)

Judson’s Live bests the others I mentioned because it has better sight lines, isn’t cramped, has a more spacious stage platform that isn’t raised too high, creating a more intimate experience between audience and musicians, and its acoustics are pristine. They obviously took a cue from the sound designers of the amazing Steinmetz Hall.

Another arguable difference: You’re probably going to find better food at Judson’s than in any of those New York clubs. And I’ve eaten in most of them.