I’ve been absent for a while, first physically, in Athens and Istanbul and points between (food and restaurant notes coming soon), and then mentally, as on my return I came down with what I assume was flu that knocked me on my rear end for 12 days. Yes, I had gotten the flu vaccine, but either it wasn’t geared to the strain I had or I got it too early in the season and its efficacy was muted. Anyway, there’s a lot to catch up on.

Let’s start with Quantum Leap Winery, which last week announced that it was essentially being kicked out of the Mills 50 facility it has called home since it opened 12 years ago. The building, about one block west of Mills Avenue and one block south of Virginia Drive, was sold last fall and the new owners intend to use it for their own business (plastics, I hear; shoutout to “The Graduate”). 

Owners David Forrester and Jill Ramsier made the announcement in an open letter to Friends of Quantum Leap Winery and said that they have to vacate by the end of April but are looking at an interim facility while searching for a permanent new home. “We truly love being Orlando’s winery and being a meaningful part of this special community,” they wrote in the letter. “We are happy to say that [we] will continue to bring you award-winning wines and ciders; and we look forward to hosting many more private events, community gatherings and winery events soon.” It was a great event space; one of my favorite moments was hosting a popup dinner there in 2013.

In a phone conversation Tuesday afternoon, Forrester said that he has both “interim and longterm prospects, but nothing beyond the prospect phase” at the moment. If he doesn’t have a lease signed soon, the company will have to move the equipment and product, including 15,000 bottles of wine, to a temporary storage facility.

Down Virginia Drive, Hall on the Yard has closed, to the surprise of almost no one. The fanciful food hall with reserved seating and table service, was reportedly locked out for nonpayment of rent and is being sued by the landlord, Ivanhoe Place Propco. Hall on the Yard filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year. Other Halls – in Tampa, Atlanta and New Orleans – have met similar fates.

I know what you’re thinking, that the space would be great for Quantum Leap Winery. David Forrester thinks so, too, and wishes that someone from Ivanhoe Place Propco would return his calls.

Let’s go around the corner and down the block – careful with the ongoing construction on Orange Avenue – to the Hammered Lamb, which got some unwanted – and unwarranted – attention from the Orlando Sentinel when it published, erroneously, that the popular bar and eatery had received an emergency shutdown order after a health inspection by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The Sentinel subscribes to a third-party service that aggregates the date from the department’s website. 

The original mistake was the state’s; it misattributed the failed inspection data to Hammered Lamb because the actual restaurant, Ethos Vegan Kitchen, had originally occupied the bar’s address on Orange Avenue. Eleven years ago.

The Lamb’s owner, Jason Lambert, contacted the Sentinel, which immediately published a correction and followup article. Lambert, magnanimously, thanked the Sentinel for the correction in a Facebook post but acknowledged that the business was taking an unnecessary hit that was exacerbated by the road construction, now in its fifth decade (I’m just guessing). And how lucky was Ethos to have all of this kerfuffle hide that it was the actual recipient of the negative report?

In related news, Ethos Vegan Kitchen, 601-B S. New York Ave., Winter Park, was ordered to close on March 20 following an inspection by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. It reopened on March 21 after addressing complaints, which included dead roaches, live roaches, roach excrement behind the toaster, and flying insects in kitchen, food prep and storage areas.