- City Diner, which probably owed much of its life to its proximity to the Orange County Courthouse and being a convenient lunch spot for lawyers and jury duty hostages, is gone. Like, really gone. It had been “closed for renovations,” as they say, but recently the entire building was bulldozed. I guess that qualifies as extreme renovating. The land will presumably be used for a planned hotel to replace the also-now-gone Travelodge that was next to it.
- Mon Petit Cheri, the Park Avenue French cafe, has closed but the building it was in is still intact. MPC was formerly known as Palmano’s and was the winner of Orange County’s search for “Orlando’s Signature Dish” in a 2017 contest. Chef/owner Catherine Delrieu’s Honey Nougat Glacé was named the winner by a panel of judges, on which I served. (For the record, I voted for one of the other entries.) Nearly two years later, the Honey Nougat Glacé still has not caught on as THE dish to order in Orlando.
- Shin Jung, as I reported last month, is also closed. And while it hasn’t been bulldozed it may be facing that fate. The structure, an old wood-framed house, was destroyed by fire in the early hours of June 26 after the restaurant had closed for the evening. It’s still unclear what the total damages are and what it will take to rebuild the 25-year-old Korean restaurant. It’s also unknown what the owner’s insurance will handle. But a GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help raise $200,000. The fundraiser was started by Keith Gibb, who did not immediately respond to a message sent via GoFundMe regarding his relationship with the restaurant. So far, 19 people have donated a total of $705. I’m guessing the small amount might be summed up in the comment of one person on the fundraising site: “Why don’t they have insurance to cover fire damage?”
- House of Blues will begin offering a Blues Bayou Brunch every Saturday and Sunday beginning Aug. 3. It will be a buffet style brunch — those seem to be coming back into vogue — priced at $33 for adults. You can add all you can imbibe mimosas and Bloody Marys for another $15. This brunch does not — repeat DOES NOT — replace HOB’s popular Gospel Brunch. Well, the Gospel Brunch isn’t popular with everyone. I recall getting a complaint from a couple of readers just after I had reviewed it that they had no idea that it would be so Christian oriented. I wonder if the restaurant has started featuring more nonsecular gospel songs.
