The Great Ride

Written by Scott Joseph on 03 August 2022

Note: When I first started this website I intended to call it Food, Drink, Other Stuff but was convinced by an SEO expert that it would be algorithmic suicide. But if I'd kept that name, this article would fall under the category Other Stuff.

Bike Ride Tetons

Forty years ago today I rode my bicycle into Boston and across the city to Revere Beach, 55 days after leaving Astoria, Oregon, ending one of the most satisfying accomplishments of my life.

I rode with Lane Hakel, whom I had not met until we arrived in Portland. We had both responded to a classified ad in “Bicycling” magazine placed by someone who was looking for riding companions to do the Bikecentennial, a trans-America trail from Oregon to Virginia mapped out by cycling aficionados to commemorate the country’s bicentennial a few years earlier. I never did meet the fellow who placed the ad – he broke his kneecap a week before we were to set out. There was a third respondent who did meet up with us in Portland and began the ride with us. But he was an immature 17-year-old who would take off in the morning without us and sometimes wouldn’t show up at our predetermined stopping point that night. I, being the ranking adult at 28, told him he either had to ride with us or find another group. We last saw him a few weeks later in Yellowstone and no one in the group he was riding with had killed him yet, so I guess he ended up OK.

So it was just Lane and me, two strangers crossing the country on pedal power.

Vancouver: Blue Water Cafe, Five Sails, Bacchus, and Cafe Medina

Written by Scott Joseph on 02 August 2022

Vancouver outside

On a recent visit to Vancouver, I had three different dinner experiences, each enjoyable in its way, plus one really good brunch.

Treviño leaves Tapa Toro/Taverna Opa for MCO lounge

Written by Scott Joseph on 01 August 2022

Trevino

Celebrity chef Roberto Treviño has left the Tapa Toro/Taverna Opa group, which he joined in May of 2021. Previously he had helped develop a ceviche bar for Don Julio’s Mexican Kitchen and Tequila Bar in East Orlando.

He developed a following as a celebrity chef with stints on Iron Chef America, where he was pitted against Mario Batali, and on Rachel Ray's $40 a Day. He was also a recurring judge on Food Network's Beat Bobby Flay.

Treviño, a native of California, moved to Central Florida in 2017 from Puerto Rico, where he owned various restaurants. In December of that year, he opened El Buda, a fusion of Latin and Asian flavors, in a troubled space at Church Street Station behind Hamburger Mary’s, also known as the place restaurants go to die.

Treviño said in a text message that he is currently working with a Japanese company to open a lounge in the new C terminal at Orlando International Airport.

Victoria & Albert's reopens with new look

Written by Scott Joseph on 29 July 2022

victoria albert dome Photos courtesy Walt Disney World Victoria new interior

When I told you last month that Victoria & Albert’s, the jewel in Disney’s dining crown (and named after someone who actually wore the crown jewels) would reopen July 28. It has done.

And along with the personnel changes I reported, including a new executive chef for the resort and chef de cuisine for V&A – developments that would be major announcements any time – I eluded to decor changes, as well.

Añejo Cocina Winter Park

Written by Scott Joseph on 28 July 2022

Anejo ext

Añejo Cocina, a Florida chainlet with locations in Ponte Vedra, Jacksonville, Daytona Beach and Yulee, has opened in the space in the Ravaudage Plaza that most recently was occupied by the New Standard (né Dexter’s New Standard) and before that TR Fire Grill.

Añejo calls its food “modern Mexican,” which means it isn’t traditional Mexican. In many ways, it isn’t traditional Tex-Mex, either. And that’s just fine. The food I sampled – some familiar, some creatively different – was all good, and the surroundings were pleasant and the service amiable.