Mike Trudnak, executive chef at Aurora at the Celeste, is parting ways with the restaurant. His last day is Friday, April 14. Trudnak opened the restaurant along with the hotel, the only one on UCF’s campus, two and a half years ago in the fall of 2020. In a post on Facebook, Trudnak announced he was leaving and “will be taking on a bigger challenge and opportunity.” Whose challenge and what opportunity he did not say. Calls to his office number were not immediately returned.

Pigzza, the oddly named and much anticipated pizza project from Pig Floyd’s Urban Barbakoa, will open on Tuesday, April 18, in a freshly renovated former gas station and buy here/pay here auto dealer facility. It looks nicer now.

WINTER PARK/NEW YORK – There have been instances in the past of restaurants developed and established elsewhere have opened a location in Greater Orlando. I mean nonchain concepts, even if the second location is the beginning of a bigger expansion. I’m thinking of Il Mulino, a well-known Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village that opened a location at the Swan and Dolphin resort at Walt Disney World in 2007. In most cases, the version we get here isn’t as good as the one in, say, New York. I’m still thinking of Il Mulino.

But now consider Park Avenue Tavern, a Murray Hill bar and restaurant just steps from Grand Central Terminal, on Park Avenue, that has opened a second location in Winter Park’s Hannibal Square in the space that had been Dexter’s, not on Park Avenue, but close. I dined with friends at the Winter Park PAT, as it likes to be known, then, a few days later, ate at the original in New York. The experiences were quite disparate, but this time it was the WP PAT that was more pleasant.

Hamburger Mary's Mac & Cheese Balls. Photo: John Paonessa

Note: Local Flavor is a collaboration between Scott Joseph's Orlando Restaurant Guide and The Community Paper.

Hamburger Mary’s Bar & Grille, whose motto is “Eat, Drink, and Be ... Mary,” celebrated its 15th year in downtown Orlando in March. From the beginning, its Mac & Cheese Balls have been a popular appetizer. John Paonessa, co-owner of the franchise on Church Street, shared the recipe with us.

The yield on the recipe is 60 balls, scaled down from the usual 300 — I told you they were popular — but Paonessa says they can be kept in the freezer until you’re ready to fry them up.

Click the link below to go to the recipe at yourcommunitypaper.com.

Dolce is a pleasant little cafe on Central Boulevard, across from an entrance to Lake Eola Park. It was a perfect place to meet a friend visiting from out of town. And surprisingly, we had the whole place to ourselves.

Although the name would suggest it specialized in sweets, it actually has an extensive menu of breakfast, lunch and brunch items, including crepes, pancakes, waffles and french toast. Yes, you can also get cinnamon rolls.