- MX Taco will donate the day’s profits on June 12 to the One Pulse Foundation in commemoration of the anniversary of the massacre. It’s a nice thing to do.
- Central Florida is well represented in this year’s Blended Burger Project, which challenges restaurants to create a burger that uses chopped mushrooms with beef. The Mushroom Council is a sponsor of the event. The goal is a more healthful and sustainable burger. American Kitchen Bar & Grill has submitted an entry called La Vaca Trufa (the truffle cow), with house-ground angus beef and Kissimmee River Mushrooms (pictured). The Ravenous Pig’s entry is the Duxelle Burger, with shiitake duxelles blended with short rib and brisket. Other’s from the area include: Cedar’s Cafe, Melbourne; Bearded Chef Food Truck, Palm Bay; Coasters Taphouse, Cocoa Beach; Darci’s Bacon Blues, Cape Canaveral; Ember & Oak, Melbourne; The Nomad Cafe, Melbourne; North by South Bistro, Satellite Beach; Playalinda Brewing Company – Brix Project, Titusville; Pompano Grill, Cocoa Beach; and The Snug Pub and Eatery, Cocoa. All the restaurants are featuring their blended burgers on their menus. You can vote for your favorite at the Blended Burger Project website through July 31. The 25 restaurants receiving the most votes will advance to the finals to be judged by a “panel of experts,” who will evaluate the burgers based on culinary creativity, best flavor profile and presentation, though it is not apparent if the judges will actually taste the burgers. Did I mention the competition is co-sponsored by the James Beard Foundation?
- Soco restaurant in downtown’s Thornton Park is hosting a collaborative dinner with Sagamore Spirit Master Distiller on Tuesday, June 25. Pre-dinner drinks (whiskey based, of course) will be served at 6:30 p.m. A five-course dinner by chef/partner Greg Richie will follow. Cost is $95 per person plus tax and gratuity. Reserve your spot by emailing at this link.
- Luma on Park is offering a Lebanese-inspired seven-course dinner paired with wines from Chateau Musar Tuesday, June 18, at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $120-plus-plus. Call 407-599-4111.
- Chef Wang’s Kitchen, reviewed here a year ago, has closed. Owner Jian Hua Wang is said to be looking for another location.
- Someone decided that what College Park really needs is another Italian restaurant, so Due Amici will take over the former Kingfish Bistro space.
- Bite30, the monthlong restaurant week sponsored by Orlando Weekly, is currently underway. Participating restaurants offer $30 prix fixe menus. Who’s participating? Look here.
- We told you in March that Manny’s Original Chop House would be closing its Baldwin Park location right about now to remodel and reopen as an upscale steakhouse more befitting the tony neighborhood. But a reader reports that a sign on the restaurant now just says, “We moved.” No word on a forwarding address.
