The Drake Kitchen + Bar

Written By Scott Joseph On March 28, 2024

Drake logo

The Drake Kitchen + Bar, in downtown Orlando, gives one the impression that the space it occupies wasn’t meant to be a restaurant, at least not a full service one. Its bar area doubles as a foyer, as it were, and the dining spaces just beyond are trapezoidal, as if designed to fit an available space, which is odd seeing as how the building it is in, the Radius Apartments, is itself a new construction.

But the strange configuration actually adds to the allure of this charming addition to the downtown dining scene. In fact, even when the dining areas are full – easy to occur; it’s not a big place – there’s a feeling of intimacy.

Running the kitchen are husband and wife chef team and co-owners Heberto and Rona Segura, who have been operating a food truck parked mainly at Digress Wine Bar in College Park for a while. The food truck is the Duck and Drake Kitchen, which may have something to do with little hints of Guy Fawkes imagery in The Drake’s decor. (Duck and Drake was a pub in London’s Strand where Fawkes and his coconspirators hatched a plot to blow up Parliament in the 1600s.) It might also explain a cocktail on the menu called 36 Barrels, made with Gunpowder gin. But again, that was the Duck and Drake, not the Drake. Might be more appropriate for images of Sir Alfred, but like the wine bar I digress.

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Judson’s Live announces flight of wine tastings with master somm Miliotes

Written By Scott Joseph On March 27, 2024

George Miliotes at Judson's Live
Photo: Judson’s Live

A listening room is about to become a tasting room. I told you a while back that Judson’s Live, the terrific new venue at the Dr. Phillips Center, was planning a series of wine tasting events featuring master sommelier George Miliotes, owner of Wine Bar George at Disney Springs.

Now I can tell you that the first in an initial series of three events titled “Tasting with
Master Sommelier George Miliotes at Judson’s Live” will be Sunday, April 7, at 1:30 p.m. Subsequent tastings will be May 5 and June 2.

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JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek introduces special hand-selected bourbon from Buffalo Trace

Written By Scott Joseph On March 26, 2024

Buffalo trace 1

The JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek recently sent two of its restaurant managers and sommeliers to Louisville, Kentucky, and Buffalo Trace Distillery to hand select a barrel of Eagle Rare whiskey just for the resort.

The tasters settled on Barrel #122 and the distillery siphoned the 10-year-old single barrel select bourbon into bottles stamped with a special label designating it as JW Marriott Bonnet Creek’s own. You can sample the whiskey now in any number of craft cocktails at the resort’s bars. Maybe try it in The Elite, bartender Samantha Deacy’s creation at the Sear + Sea lobby bar that she demonstrated for us in an episode of On the House.

(There’s probably a good chance you’ll get a taste at our upcoming Dinner Party at the resort’s rooftop bar, illume. Watch for an announcement of the date and details soon, but keep this in mind: The last time we did a Dinner Party at JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek it sold out within 30 minutes of being announced in my newsletter.)

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Boiled Fish

Written By Scott Joseph On March 21, 2024

Boiled Fish sign

I don’t know why I find the name Boiled Fish so unusual. It’s not like there aren’t other restaurants that highlight cooking methods in their names. Kentucky Fried Chicken comes to mind. There are any number of smokehouse places and maybe a few with flambé in their name.

But boiled seems so mundane. And the food at Boiled Fish, a Chinese restaurant on Turkey Lake Road south of Restaurant Row, is anything but mundane.

Just as misnomered is the restaurant’s signature dish of sauerkraut fish. If you’re unfamiliar with this delicacy you probably have an image of German style fermented cabbage with a fillet of fish plopped on top. This is so not that.

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Newsy Nuggets: Smokemade Meats and more

Written By Scott Joseph On March 20, 2024

Smokemade meats exterior
Photo: Smokemade Meats + Eats

Smokemade Meats + Eats will softly open its new permanent home beginning Friday, Mar. 22. It will open at 11 a.m. and close when it runs out of food. So, I don’t know…noon, maybe? Anyway, if you want to try it in its first days, get there early. Pitmaster Tyler Brunache has been serving his Texas-style barbecue in a popup fashion over the past few years. Smokemade took over the former PIzza Hut hut at 1400 S. Crystal Lake Drive, Orlando, in the Curry Ford West District that most recently had been Italian House Pizza & Restaurant. Smokemade’s website currently lists hours only Friday through Sunday.

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