- For the first time in 55 years, Paul Bocuse, the legendary restaurant outside Lyon, France, is not a three-star restaurant in the Michelin Guide. It was demoted to two stars in the most recent guide (three stars is the highest rating) causing a stir among the culinary community in France and around the world. Paul Bocuse is the flagship restaurant that was founded by its eponymous chef, who died two years ago in January of 2018. The business is now overseen by his son, Jérôme, out of Orlando. (The restaurants at the France pavilion at Epcot are part of the Bocuse collection.) Was the downgrading brought on by the senior Bocuse’s death? Hard to say. He had been largely absent from the restaurant for some time as his health failed, but maybe the raters couldn’t see their way to taking away a star while he was still alive. Indeed, when I dined there in the summer of 2018, I noticed some things that surprised me, such as allowing guests wearing t-shirts into the dining room. And local restaurant writer Rona Ginden reported that when she dined there last summer a guest at a neighboring table dropped her napkin on the floor and it remained there throughout the meal. Michelin’s critics notice thing like that, too.
- Hey, if you’re around Pointe Orlando this week stop by Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar for some food and drink and if you pay with a credit card through Feb 1, you’ll be given the option of rounding up a dollar (or more) to aid Puerto Rico’s earthquake relief efforts. All dinner checks will have a donation line, making it easy for guests who choose to donate to Hispanic Federation, the Latino non-profit organization that works to promote the well-being of the Latino community.
- Friday, Jan. 31, is the Orlando Brew Festival at the Orlando Science Center. More than 45 breweries are expected to participate in the event, which runs from 8 to 11 p.m. However, if you pay an extra $15 over the $50 ticket price you can get in an hour earlier. Tickets here.
- This Sat., Feb. 1, is the St. Cloud Culinary Bicycle Tour 2020. Participants pay $15 and then peddle their way around St. Cloud to more than 10 restaurants for food, drinks and snacks. Registration is at 10 a.m. and the ride starts at 11, but there are limited spaces so register ahead of time at webtrac.stcloud.org.
- Bad As’s, the Foodster Award-winning sandwich shop in the Milk District, is planning a second location in Winter Park in the former Joe’s Pizza space on Fairbanks Avenue. No opening date as yet.
- Why hasn’t anyone thought to open a cookie shop in the Milk District?
