Recent Reviews and Restaurant News

Tavistock Restaurant Collection previewed its opening-this-summer restaurant Nami at the Orlando Wine Festival & Auction last weekend. The newest restaurant will be in the Lake Nona Wave Hotel, which also has Bacán and Haven restaurants.

Nami, which should not be confused with NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Greater Orlando, will feature “modern interpretations of traditional Japanese cuisine.” Staffers at the preview, held on the Da Vinci Lawn of the Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes Saturday afternoon, were serving tuna handrolls, best eaten quickly in the 90-degrees-plus heat. One of the servers estimated an opening in about eight weeks.

Speaking of hotels, Orlando is getting a W Hotel, to be built next to Epic Universe. We already have a B Resort, so I’m looking forward to representation from the rest of the alphabet.

The College Park Graffiti Junktion will be scrubbed away Sunday. The burgerie, which opened in 2010, was the second location for the local mini chain. The first was in Thornton Park on East Washington Street. That one opened in 2008 in the space that is currently occupied by Cavo’s Kitchen and Bar. The Thornton Park GJ moved down the street to the corner of Summerlin Avenue in 2017, taking over the former Wildfire barbecue restaurant building.

At that time there were 10 Graffitis Junktion in operation. After Sunday there will be four remaining. The downtown Orlando store, on Church Street, closed in 2019 and is set to be home to a new taco concept.

Graffiti Junktion is known for its substantial burgers, loud music and louder decor.

Here’s a fun fact: before Graffiti Junktion, that College Park address was home to K Restaurant.

Henry Moso, chef and owner of Kabooki Sushi in Orlando, has accomplished what no other chef in Central Florida has been able to do: He is a finalist for the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef – South Award.

There have been many local chefs who have been named to the semifinalists list over the 32 years of the awards’ history but no one – in any category – has advanced to the finals.

The Science of Wine, the popular annual event at the Orlando Science Center that makes drinking educational, returns on Sat., April 22, from 7 to 9 p.m.

SOW is a fundraiser for the Science Center and its mission to “inspire science learning for life.” Early bird tickets are available for $110 per person through March 31 and then go up to $125.