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

White Wolf Cafe has been a mainstay of Ivanhoe Village District for 31 years — before it was known as Ivanhoe Village Main Street District. Back then, you’d more likely hear it referred to as Antique Row because of the many antique shops along that stretch of Orange Avenue.

In fact, White Wolf started as part antique shop and part cafe, and in those early days, a large white German shepherd named Casper (the putative wolf in the name) could be found lolling around the store, effectively eluding the glance of health inspectors.

Casper left us long ago, and owners Michael and Anne Marie Hennessey turned their focus to the restaurant side of the business. Here, Anne Marie Hennessey shares the recipe for White Wolf’s award-winning Baton Rouge Burger, so named for the Cajun notes from the blackened seasonings. The burger started out as a burger-of-the-month special but proved so popular that it is now part of the regular menu.

Find the full recipe at YourCommunityPaper.com.

The France pavilion at Epcot has reopened its boutique restaurant Monsieur Paul, which had been shuttered since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. It returns with a new concept that is ambitious both in scope and price, especially considering its location within a theme park.

It is presenting the “gastronomic meal of the French,” a festive meal that celebrates special occasions that in 2010 was inscribed in UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It doesn’t get much grander than that.

In more simplistic terms, it is a multi-course, prix fixe dinner that according to the dictates should begin with an apéritif, end with liqueurs and feature in between at least four courses – a starter, fish and/or meat with vegetables, cheese and dessert.

That’s all there, and more, at Monsieur Paul. Plus the added fun of having fellow diners in shorts, t-shirts and the occasional Minnie Mouse headdress. A note on the restaurant’s web page reads: “Guests are expected to dress accordingly in attire that adheres to the restaurant's sophisticated and upscale aesthetic. Please no swimwear.” So at least there’s that.

The lists have been made and I’ve checked them twice (because I don’t have a copy editor on staff).

Our Holiday Dining pages have listings for restaurants with special offerings on the Eves – Christmas and New Year’s – as well as all restaurants that have indicated they will be serving on Christmas Day.

Take a look and make your selections, then reservations, for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve dining.

Our friends at Tabla celebrated the one year anniversary of their third location, in Lake Nona, by opening a fourth. The new Tabla is in Oviedo, at 945 City Plaza Way, in the space that previously was occupied by De La Vega, which closed in February, citing vagaries of the pandemic.

The Tabla collection now includes the original, near Universal Orlando (which was one of the first restaurants I reviewed for this website); the Park Avenue location, which opened in 2020; Lake Nona; and Oviedo.