Linda’s Winter Park Diner will cease to be the last week of July. Owner Linda D’Auria has been the owner of the Fairbanks Avenue favorite for 35 years and decided it was time to retire. She has sold the property and would not say who the buyer is but did say it will no longer be a restaurant. “I feel like I served the community for a really long time,” D’Auria said by phone Tuesday, “I made so many great friends and I wanted to go out on top.”

The James Beard Foundation handed out its chef and restaurant awards Monday at a ceremony in Chicago. As in years past, Central Florida left awardless, though at least we had a dog in the fight this time – and a Michelin Guide-recommended dog at that. Henry Moso, the chef and owner of Kabooki Sushi, was the first Orlando chef to ever advance to the final round. He was nominated for the Best Chef: South region, which also includes Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Puerto Rico and New Orleans. I mean Louisiana. For a change, a New Orleans chef did not walk away with the medallion. Instead, Natalia Vallejo, the chef at Cocina al Fondo in San Juan was named the winner.

The Curry Ford West District F&D Woodfired Italian Kitchen is set to reopen, perhaps as soon as June 12, The freestanding, newly constructed building sits on the corner of Curry Ford Road and Primrose Drive. It replaces the original FDWIK that was near the corner of Bumby Avenue and was closed a little over a year ago because the block it was on was scheduled for imminent redevelopment. Apparently imminent doesn’t mean within a year – nothing has happened on the site so far.

When the relocation was announced, an official with F&D said that when the restaurant reopened it would likely lose the word Italian from the name. As you can see from the photo above, that didn’t happen.

What’s going on with valet parking?

Reports have come in that two cars were stolen from the valet parking station at the recently-opened Norman’s at Dellagio Town Center on Restaurant Row Friday evening. The cars are said to be a Rolls Royce and a BMW, so at least the thieves aim big. Exact details from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office were not immediately available, but a spokesman at Norman’s confirmed Saturday that two incident reports were filed.

This follows another theft two weeks ago at Ava Mediterragean restaurant in Winter Park where a Mercedes G-class wagon was also stolen after parking with the valet.

Local Flavor is a collaboration between Scott Joseph’s Orlando Restaurant Guide and The Community Paper.

Bites & Bubbles, the contemporary American restaurant at Mills Park in the Mills 50 District, is known for its extensive assortment of tapas and charcuterie boards as well as full entrees. And craft cocktails if you’re not in the mood for bubbles.

With summer upon us, chef and co-owner Eddie Nickell is sharing his recipe for Summer Watermelon Salad, which is a perfectly cool option for a hot day. B&B tosses the salad dressing with mixed greens, blueberries and cherry tomatoes, although you could substitute your favorite salad fixings. But do toss in some cubes of juicy watermelon.

The recipe for the dressing makes one quart, but Nickell says you can easily halve it. See the full recipe at yourcommunitypaper.com.

Big Fin Seafood, the elaborate restaurant at Dellagio Town Center on Restaurant Row, has been sold. Philippe Villain, who also owns Russell’s on Lake Ivanhoe and a new brand called Little Fin in the Villages, said he sold Big Fin last week to Estein USA, an investment company located on Apopka Vineland Road in Orlando.

In a phone call Tuesday afternoon, a spokesman for Estein said Big Fin will continue to operate the same with the current front- and back-of-house staff in place. Estein also owns and operates the private London House next door at Dellagio.

Ace Cafe, the downtown Orlando mega bar and restaurant that emphasized loud motorcycles and louder music, announced its closing over the Memorial Day weekend. The restaurant, at 100 W. Livingston St., opened almost exactly six years ago in the former Harry P. Leu building.

The Orlando location was based, loosely, on a venue in London that became popular with young people during World War II who would ride their motorbikes to the remote bar to listen to one of the few juke boxes in England. (For my review, in June 2017, I visited both the just-opened Ace Cafe Orlando and the one in London, near Wembley stadium, within a week of each other.)

Taste! Central Florida is Friday, Aug. 18, at Orlando World Center Marriott, and I’ll be there.

But right now I’m here – to save you some money.

Go to tastecfl.org and click on the link to Buy Tickets. You’ll see an option to “apply a promo code.” Click on that and type in SJO25. Update the amount and wah-la, you’ll see the purchase amount decrease by $25 for each ticket you’re purchasing. That doesn’t suck.

Taste!, of course, is the annual food and wine walkabout event that raises awareness and money for fighting childhood hunger. Proceeds benefit Coalition for the Homeless and Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. And 100 percent of the monies raised stays in Central Florida.

As the event gets closer I’ll have more details on some of the participants and highlights of this year’s event. In the meantime, get your tickets now using the SJO25 code because it won’t last forever.

Pizzeria Valdiano has been sold, but it’s still staying in the Liguori family. Founder Joe Liguori, who also has the growing Hangry Bison brand, has sold the Pizzeria Valdiano business to his sister Angela Liguori and two longtime employees, Michael Fiorino of the Winter Park location and Adrian Zumbado in Lakeland. Asked if he was selling to focus on Hangry Bison, Liguori said: “Yes, that is the primary reason, but it is also for Mike and Adrian, my sister, and the Pizzeria Valdiano brand as well. The timing is right that The Hangry Bison needs my full attention, and Pizzeria Valdiano deserves new leadership as well.” Liguori is seeking franchisees for the Hangry Bison concept. Closing date for the Pizzeria Valdiano sale is Sept. 1.

Jason Wolfe, who recently left the kitchens of Tornatore’s, has joined Millenia Catering as chef de cuisine under executive chef and owner Lo Soukahvong. This is a return to the world of catering for Wolfe. Before Tornatore’s and K restaruant, he was chef de cuisine at Cuisiniers Catered Cuisine and Events.

The 2023 edition of Wine Quest, the annual wine tasting and auction benefitting Quest, Inc., will be Friday and Saturday, June 2 and 3 from 7 to 10 p.m. each night at Loews Portofino Bay Hotel.

Friday is the grand tasting event, a walkabout sampling of wines, hors d’oeuvres and craft spirits plus a silent auction.

Saturday is a sit-down, four-course dinner with pairings from Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars.

You can do one night or both. The Friday tasting event is $250 per person and the Saturday dinner is $350. You can get both evenings for $500.

John Paonessa has had a day. He arrived at work Tuesday morning to find news vans from every local television station in front of Hamburger Mary’s, the restaurant he owns and operates with his husband, Mike Rogier. He’s been fielding calls for requests for interviews from NPR and CNN and other national news organizations.

“I never thought this would blow up the way it did,” Paonessa told me.

The “this” is the announcement that Paonessa and Rogier, through their business entity HM Florida-Orl, LLC, are suing Ron DeSantis and the State of Florida in federal court claiming that a bill recently signed by the governor forbidding children to attend drag shows is a violation of their First Amendment rights. The downtown restaurant hosts weekly events featuring drag performers, some of which are attended by customers with children. The lawsuit also names Melanie Griffin, secretary of Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Le Coq au Vin, one of Orlando’s oldest and most iconic restaurants, has closed. 

Current owner and chef Reimund Pitz said that the French restaurant served its last dinner Saturday night, and said in a text message my “wife and I are ready for the next chapter of our lives.” He said the closing was “bittersweet.”

Pitz and his wife, Sandy, bought the restaurant in the A-frame house on South Orange Avenue from longtime owners Louis and Magdelena Perrotte in November of 2008. (The structure was a model for a business selling houses.) In a separate message, Pitz said that he will be selling the property.

This is a developing story.

This artical has been updated to include quotes from Norman Van Aken and Ritz-Carlton’s general manager, Jon McGavin.

Yusuf Yildiz, longtime general manager of Norman’s, the upscale restaurant that was originally at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, is leaving the recently reopened version of the Norman Van Aken restaurant just months after it reopened in its new Restaurant Row location – and days before a grand opening benefit dinner.

In an ironic twist, Yildiz is returning to the Ritz and its Michelin-starred restaurant, Knife & Spoon, which occupies the space that was home to the original Orlando Norman’s. He will have the same role there that he did at Norman’s, as general manager, sommelier and maitre d’.

Photo: Tap Room Dubsdread

In this month’s issue of The Community Paper, my Local Flavor column features the recipe for Hot Crab Dip from the Tap Room at Dubsdread.

Here in Florida, there really isn’t a crab season — we can pretty much get fresh crab all year. However, right now is when the freshest catches occur, so you’re likely to find some good product at your favorite fishmonger. Or crabmonger, if you will.

MIAMI – Some thoughts on the Michelin Guide “star reveal” ceremony Thursday evening at LoanDepot Park:

For a major international corporation, Michelin, as evidenced by the quality of the ceremony, is pretty amateurish. The production was marred by sound snafus, missing graphics, wrong graphics, nonreponsive teleprompter operators, a mid-presentation stall-for-time by an off-stage host, and long stretches of dead air while the hosts waited for winners to make their way to the stage, take off the sport coats they were wearing to put on a Michelin chef’s jacket, then stand silently for photos. If the ceremony had been a tire it would have been unpatchable.

The concourse overlooking the third base at LoanDepot Park, with its multi-story open-air view of the Miami skyline, is a really cool place to hold an event.

Did you know that every time you say the words “Taco Tuesday” you’re violating a trademark?

It’s true. The phrase is owned by the Wyoming based chain Taco John’s, which trademarked it 34 years ago. (It was originally Taco Twosday because they sold their already-cheap tacos two-for-one on Tuesdays.)

Now everyone says it, because the only thing we like better than tacos is alliteration. (Making a note to see who owns Wine Down Wednesday.)

But now Taco Bell has filed a petition with the US Patent and Trademark office to have the trademark rescinded. Bell is not going after John’s for selfish reasons; it is only thinking of you.

Taco Bell’s filing – which was submitted, cheekily, on Tuesday – states that its petition is on behalf of “anyone else who wants to share tacos with the world to the possibility of legal action or angry letters if they say ‘Taco Tuesday’ without express permission from [Taco John’s] — simply for pursuing happiness on a Tuesday.” Also Taco Bell.

It seems frivolous, but I know that these things are taken seriously. Still, I have a feeling that TB might come out victorious on this one.

Let me tell you a story.

MIAMI – It was Tampa’s night in Miami Thursday as the Michelin Guide held its star reception at LoanDepot Park to announce the additions to the Florida 2023 edition, which focuses on Miami, Tampa and Orlando. Tampa was the only area that failed to win a star in the inaugural Florida guide last year.

Three restaurants emerged with one star each: Koya, Eric Fralick, chef; Lilac, John Fraser and John Werksman; and Rocca, Bryce Bonsack.

But the real question of the night is: In what world does Victoria & Albert’s, the venerable restaurant at the Grand Floridian with some of the most exquisite food the the Southeast, not rate at least one star? Most people going in to the event were expecting it to come in with at least two stars. In retrospect it was telling that the Michelin organization did not even invite representative from Victoria & Albert’s or Toledo. Neither was Lordfer Lalicon of Kaya.

Here’s something for anyone who’s ever thought, “Gee, I really like burgers but I sure wish they were shaped like a Lego block.”

It’s also for people who don’t mind buying a ticket for an event that doesn’t yet have a date.

Brick Burger, according to a press release, “brings together the beloved world of LEGO® and the mouth-watering flavours of gourmet burgers…” The release also says that Brick Burger is a new concept coming to Orlando in September. But a closer read makes it look like the whole thing is a popup event rather than a restaurant moving into the area.

And September is the closest the announcement comes to an exact date. The event’s website warns people that they’re buying a ticket to an event that does not yet have a specific day or days. And the cost of that ticket is $47, which gets you a burger and one drink (soft, beer or wine).

And the location? They’ll say only that it will be somewhere on Jeff Fuqua Boulevard, which you probably know is the address of Orlando International Airport.

Maybe the organizers are thinking about a quick getaway after ticket buyers realize they’ve paid forty-seven bucks for a Lego-shaped burger and a drink.

I reached out to Denmark-based Lego to see if the pop-up restaurant is officially approved and received this reply via message: “We can say that this hasn’t been approved by our corporation. Our team has been made aware of the articles going around and will take further action if necessary.”

This one just might be bricked before it even pops up.

Orlando based Darden announced last week that it would acquire Winter Park based Ruth’s Hospitality Group, owner of the upscale Ruth’s Chris Steak House chain. The purchase price is $715 million, or about what it would cost for steaks for a party of 10 at Ruth’s.

The acquisition of another premium steak brand is an interesting choice for Darden, which already has the Capital Grille in its portfolio. Ruth’s Chris has 154 locations worldwide, 80 of which are company owned or operated.

Ruth’s Chris Steak House was founded in 1965 in New Orleans by Ruth Fertel, who bought an existing restaurant called Chris Steak House (which explains the odd name). Fertel had no restaurant experience; she was a a single mom with two sons and working as a lab technician at Tulane Medical School when she saw the restaurant listed for sale in the newspaper. Not long after Fertel bought the business, a hurricane hit the city and knocked out the power. Faced with losing her inventory of steaks, Fertel had her chefs cook them up and serve them to emergency workers, earning her a loyal base of new customers.

Otto’s High Dive in Orlando

The Michelin Guide has announced the addition of eight new restaurants to its Bib Gourmand designation ahead of next week’s awards announcement in Miami.

Added to the Florida guide’s Bib Gourmand list are Isan Zaap, Otto’s High Dive and Taste of Chengdu in Orlando and Norigami in Winter Garden. Also joining the list are Gorkhali Kitchen and Psomi in Tampa and Rosie’s and Jaguar Sun in Miami. The Florida edition of the estimable guidebook includes restaurants in Miami, Tampa and Orlando areas.

The International Vegan Food Festival was Saturday, April 29, from 3 to 8 p.m. on downtown Orlando’s Wall Street. 

Speaking of food festivals, I’ve learned that the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, which will run from July 27 through November 18, will again be missing the wine tastings, dinners and other events, including the popular Party for the Senses, that were put on hold during the pandemic. But a Disney World spokeswoman says that “the teams are evaluating for the future.”

If you want to experience the cuisines of the world, you need to go to the world. Art In Voyage, the travel company with offices in Orlando and Cape Town, is offering an extraordinary opportunity to do just that.

It’s called the Magellan Odyssey, and in March 2024 it will take 48 guests on an around-the-world journey – 10 countries on five continents in 28 days.

Travel will be aboard a private, all-business-class jet with lie-flat seats, with stops in Peru, Chile, Tanzania, Jordan, France, Finland, Bhutan, Thailand, New Zealand and Bora Bora. Along the way you may go on safari, take a jungle boat ride, dine in a Michelin-starred restaurant, see the Northern Lights, and take a train through a Peruvian valley. The trip is designed so that individuals can customize the experience at each of the stops.

The trip was curated by AIV’s founder and CEO, Mikael Audebert. “Magellan Odyssey was designed with the intent to escape the usual destinations by focusing on exclusive experiences, and avoiding crowded cities and overdone areas,” said Audebert. “We put a great deal of care into identifying and studying destinations guests might not visit on their own—because they are remote or hard to reach, or because other tour companies don’t offer the same level of luxury access.”

I know many of you have been on an AIV journey – I’ve hosted some myself – so you know that Audebert makes certain everything is first rate. This one will be truly over the top. It’s definitely a dream vacation for those who dream really big.

See more details at Art In Voyage for more on the Magellan Odyssey. And take a look at the video below.

May 14 is Mother’s Day so May 14 will be the busiest brunch day of the year.

What mother doesn’t like to be treated to brunch? (It’s a rhetorical question; no need to reply.) There are bunches of brunches to choose from this year and you’ll find some select ones on our Holiday Dining pages.

You’ll want to pay especial attention to the offerings at Tap Room at Dubsdread, a perennial holiday brunch spot. And The Wilson at the Meliá Orlando Hotel Celebration, where brunch comes with unlimited beer, wine, prosecco or mimosas for mom, assuming that your mom is over 21.

At STK at Disney Springs, you can find the traditional brunch (and I’ll have more about STK’s brunch soon), but they’re also offering an afternoon tea, which comes with prosecco, Moêt Brut or Veuve Cliquot Rosé, which is my cup of tea, as it were.

Be sure to make your reservations as early as possible, and remember that if your plans change – like your mother breaks down and tells you she’s never liked brunch – call the restaurant to tell them your plans have changed and that you may possibly be adopted.

See all the listings here

Daytona Grande

Mike Trudnak, who earlier this month left Aurora at the Celeste, the restaurant he opened in 2020, has reemerged in Daytona Beach at the Daytona Grande. He started his new job as the executive chef for the oceanfront resort on Thursday. On Monday, his former executive sous chef and sous chef from Aurora will join him on the coast.

“We’re trying to bring that Aurora magic over here,” Trudnak said in a phone conversation on Wednesday.

Not that it’s going to be Aurora at the Grande. In fact, Trudnak hasn’t even decided yet what he’s going do with the menu for the property’s main restaurant, though he said he expects the cuisine will reflect the diversity of his kitchen staff.

The hotel, which has been open a year and a half, is the only hotel with walkup access from the beach, according to Trudnak.

Jason Wolfe – Photo via Tornatore’s Facebook page.

Jason Wolfe, who became the executive chef at Tornatore’s Ristorante nearly three and a half years ago, is leaving the popular College Park restaurant. His final day in the kitchen is Saturday, April 22.

In a text message Friday, Wolfe wrote, “I have many opportunities lining up [but I’m] just not sure the direction I’m going to go just yet.” He said he’s looking for a position that will allow him to spend more time with his 19-month-old son. He said that he is considering starting a private-chef business but realizes that in the meantime he will have to “keep the lights on and food on the table while I build it. Going to take this week to decide which direction to go in.”

Denny Tornatore texted that he will step back into the role of executive chef. “I will be taking over the kitchen like I did the first 11 years here,” he wrote. He added that he and Wolfe are “best friends and I wish him the best.”

“I have 30 years experience cooking Italian food so I will bring it back to the classics that we built our restaurant on,” Tornatore said. “I am actually excited to get back in there.”

Our friends at Southeast Steel Appliance Warehouse in downtown Orlando are introducing a new line of products called LG Studio. I don’t know where they’re going to fit them all because the warehouse is already chockfull of manner of stoves, refrigerators, dishwashers and washing machines. (Do people still call them washing machines or is that an old-timey term?)

Southeast Steel has been carrying LG products for years, and most recently brought in the LG SKS, an upscale line of kitchen appliances. (SKS stands for Signature Kitchen Suite.)

LG Studio is also an upscale line, but with appliances for both kitchen and laundry. And the really attractive thing – literally, if you’re design minded – is that all LG Studio appliances are meant to match. So if you want a uniform look in your kitchen you can achieve that by shopping the LG Studio line.

If you’d like to get an idea of what they look like, stop in this Saturday, April 29, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Southeast Steel will have a display set up and an LG representative will be on hand to answer questions about the Studio line. Also, not incidentally, Southeast Steel is featuring a rebate on LG Studio appliances.

I plan on stopping by because I’ve always wanted to tell my friends I have an upscale washing machine.

Southeast Steel Appliance Warehouse is at 63 W. Amelia Street, Orlando (map).

Walt Disney World culinears have have announced the dates for the 2023 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, and while for the past several years the fest has been getting longer, this year it will be shorter.

Mind you, it will still run a pretty long while, from July 27 through November 18. Last year it started on July 14 and ended Nov. 19, but not everything opened right away; certain marketplaces – the food stands set up throughout the theme park – didn’t open until mid August.

Still waiting on word about whether the festival will return to its prepandemic schedule of events. Last year we were still missing winemaker-hosted tastings, special luncheons and wine dinners, and the splashy Party for the Senses, which had previously run most Saturday nights during the event’s run.

Mike Trudnak, executive chef at Aurora at the Celeste, is parting ways with the restaurant. His last day is Friday, April 14. Trudnak opened the restaurant along with the hotel, the only one on UCF’s campus, two and a half years ago in the fall of 2020. In a post on Facebook, Trudnak announced he was leaving and “will be taking on a bigger challenge and opportunity.” Whose challenge and what opportunity he did not say. Calls to his office number were not immediately returned.

Pigzza, the oddly named and much anticipated pizza project from Pig Floyd’s Urban Barbakoa, will open on Tuesday, April 18, in a freshly renovated former gas station and buy here/pay here auto dealer facility. It looks nicer now.

This is probably more attention than Bud Light deserves.

But the Anheuser-Busch InBev brand has been at the center of a brewhaha that has prompted a boycott and a counter buycott. And locally, a restaurant and bar has decided to take a stand in a rather public and pinheaded way.

The restaurant, Grills Seafood, which has locations in Cape Canaveral, Melbourne and on North Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando, removed Bud Light from its list of beers and, according to an article in The Space Coast Rocket, destroyed what it had in stock with a manager allegedly telling staff, “We don’t serve faggot beer.”

Guy Fieri, the Guy of Chicken Guy!, stormed into Winter Park last week with brand partner Robert Earl of Earl Enterprises to introduce some new menu items. The ensuing scrum of media – both professional broadcast and Tik Tokkie avocationers – must have made the other fried fowl vendors jealous in that area known alternately as the Chicken Strip and Cock Block. (You can see Fieri’s spiky ‘do and Earl being interviewed in the photo at top. They stepped out to the parking lot to greet a firetruck that was there for a reason that was not made immediately clear.

Among the items being added to the menu is a springtime huckleberry shake.

Market on South, the plant-based mini food hall that opened on South Street in a small two story structure in 2015, has been “temporarily closed” for a while. Now, two of its vendors, Valhalla Bakery and Dharma Southern Kitchen have announced they will move on and into the Cheney Collective, another soon-to-be food hall on Old Cheney Highway that was Mi Bodega Latina Grocery until a few years ago. When it makes the move, Dharma will change its name to Dharma Southern Chick’n, that being the preferred spelling of the unmeated food substance that mimics the taste and texture of the real-meat chicken that vegans prefer not to eat.

Hamburger Mary’s Mac & Cheese Balls. Photo: John Paonessa

Note: Local Flavor is a collaboration between Scott Joseph’s Orlando Restaurant Guide and The Community Paper.

Hamburger Mary’s Bar & Grille, whose motto is “Eat, Drink, and Be … Mary,” celebrated its 15th year in downtown Orlando in March. From the beginning, its Mac & Cheese Balls have been a popular appetizer. John Paonessa, co-owner of the franchise on Church Street, shared the recipe with us.

The yield on the recipe is 60 balls, scaled down from the usual 300 — I told you they were popular — but Paonessa says they can be kept in the freezer until you’re ready to fry them up.

Click the link below to go to the recipe at yourcommunitypaper.com.

The third annual Corks and Forks will be Thursday, April 20, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Venue on Lake Lily, formerly known as the Maitland Civic Center. General admission tickets are $65 plus $6.21 fee; access to the VIP Lounge is $125 plus $10.23 fee. Proceeds benefit the Venue on Lake Lily.

It’s a walkabout event featuring food and beverage stations, including flog favorites Tap Room at Dubsdread and Francesco’s. There will also be wine, beer and cocktails plus live jazz.

More details and ticket buying opportunities at the event’s information venue, formerly known as its website.

Fortuna Bakery, an Central Florida chain featuring Colombian and South American pastries, breads and savory items, will move into the space on Park Avenue that most recently was Grato of Winter Park. Before that it was Antonio’s House of Pizza, Antonio’s Trattoria & Wine Bar, and Maestro Cucina Napoletana. It was also, very very briefly, Makis Place, a Brazilian sushi franchise, and I seem to remember a place called Sala Wine Bar. Going back further, it was home to Park Avenue Compact Discs, which today would qualify as an antique store.

Victoria & Albert’s

Eight Orlando restaurants will be added to Michelin Guide’s second Florida edition, including Victoria & Albert’s and Toledo at Walt Disney World and newcomers Kaya and Otto’s High Dive. Tampa will add three restaurants, joining the previously announced eight restaurants in Miami. Only restaurants in those three metropolitan areas are considered for the prestigious distinction.

Whether the restaurants will be awarded stars, designated a Bib Gourmand, or simply named to the list of recommended restaurants will be revealed at an invitation-only ceremony in Miami on May 11.

Here are some select choices for Easter dining:

The third Orlando Magic-sponsored Orlando Wine Festival & Auction took place March 24 -26 with 420 attendees participating in wine dinners, tastings, and an auction, culminating with the Magic game Sunday against the Brooklyn Nets.