If you read my recent review of Unreserved, the multi-faceted restaurant at the JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek, you know that chef Peter Kunstek is cooking up some good food there.

One of his more popular dishes is the Beef Cheek Ragout with Gnocchi and he shares the recipe in this edition of Compliments of the Chef. Actually, he shares three recipes: the braised beef cheeks, the potato gnocchi and putting it all together. The latter is shown in the video below.

This is a good full day project, or you can make the beef cheeks ahead of time and use premade gnocchi (Kunstek says that’s fine) and assemble the ragout in just a few minutes.

Watch the video then give the recipes a try.

This episode of Compliments of the Chef could be titled Compliments of The Chef & I as Chris Rains, chef/owner of The Chef & I at Hall on the Yard in Ivanhoe Village, demonstrates his recipe for Wild Mushroom Risotto with Pan-seared Sea Scallops.

Risotto is labor intensive, but Rains gives some useful tips on making the rice dish. And he shows how to beautifully sear the scallops.

Watch the video below and then give the recipe a try.

This episode of Compliments of the Chef could be titled Compliments of The Chef & I as Chris Rains, chef/owner of The Chef & I at Hall on the Yard in Ivanhoe Village, demonstrates his recipe for Wild Mushroom Risotto with Pan-seared Sea Scallops.

Risotto is labor intensive, but Rains gives some useful tips on making the rice dish. And he shows how to beautifully sear the scallops.

Watch the video below and then give the recipe a try.

In this episode of On the House, bartender Kelli Whitney shares The Whiskey’s recipe for its WTF – Whiskey Tango Foxtrot – cocktail. One of many specialty drinks available at the popular burger and bourbon bar on Sand Lake Road’s Restaurant Row. Watch the video and then give the recipe a shake.

I know you’ve seen the beautiful burgers served at The Whiskey, the restaurant and lounge on Sand Lake Road, but you won’t be surprised to know that The Whiskey also specializes in cocktails.

Whiskey cocktails, at that. And one of its signature concoctions is the Annie Oakley, a straight shooter made with Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond with some blackberry puree.

Despite the puree, the cocktail isn’t sweet – that’s thanks to some chili bitters.

Watch the video with bartender Kelli Whitney, then give the cocktail a try.

Here’s the recipe:

When I first visited Illume, the rooftop venue at the JW Marriott Bonnet Creek, I was taken in by the spectacular view and then by the excellent food.

But Illume also has a stellar cocktail program. Some are pretty elaborate, like Magritte’s Pipe, a sort of Japanese Old Fashion made with Hibiki Harmony Whiskey, Amaro Montenegro and tobacco bitters. It’s served in a pipe-shaped pitcher and poured into a smoked glass.

And the Firebird, with Haiku Vodka, sake and freshly juiced cantaloupe, served in a bird beaker with a feathers chaser.

But those aren’t cocktails you can easily prepare at home. So I asked Illume bartender Roberto Cruz for a cocktail recipe we can enjoy on the restaurant’s terrace or prepare ourselves at home. He recommended the ILLUMination, a variation of a margarita.

Watch the video then see the recipe below.

Sear + Sea Woodfire Grill is the wonderful new(ish) steak and seafood restaurant at the JW Marriott Bonnet Creek resort. Melissa Sallman is the hotel’s new executive chef and oversees the restaurant. There may be some small changes coming with the menu but you can probably count on this polenta side dish staying on.

Of course, another word for polenta is grits, so when I made the recipe following Sallman’s instructions in the Scott’s Kitchen video below, I grilled up some shrimp to go along with it for my own version of shrimp and grits. Cheesy grits/polenta, too, thanks to both parmesan and goat cheese.

Watch the video then give the recipe a try. And be sure to visit Sear + Sea to sample the polenta with one of their steaks – or maybe some shrimp.

Rocco’s Italian Grille serves some of the finest food in Central Florida. And owner Rocco Potami has a certain skill with creating complex Italian dishes.

But in this edition of Compliments of the Chef, Potami demonstrates how to make Veal Scallopini. Give the video a look, then pick up some veal (or chicken) from your market and give the recipe a try. Or stop by Rocco’s and let Potami make you a perfect one.

Since taking over the Big Fin Seafood Kitchen in 2020, executive chef Eric Enrique has been making changes to the menu. One of the additions has been his Grouper Piccata, a take on the classic Italian preparation usually done with veal or chicken. Enrique has tweaked it for fish and for added flair deep fries the capers that garnish it. When I recently reviewed the restaurant, this dish was easily my favorite.
In this episode of Scott’s Kitchen, Enrique walks me through the steps to make the dish. This is definitely one that will impress your dinner guests.
Watch the video below then find yourself some good grouper and give it a try.

Here’s a recipe for the adventurous. It’s for the Goan Prawns Xacutti served at Mynt in Winter Park and Saffron on Sand Lake Road’s Restaurant Row. Both restaurants, along with Madras, are owned by Sunny Corda, who shares this recipe in celebration of Saffron’s 10th anniversary.

This one is presented as a no-recipe recipe. That is, it isn’t in the conventional format with exactly measured ingredients at top and strict instructions for the procedure. That’s because xacutti, which refers to a blend of spices, is open to interpretation and improvisation. You’ll need to feel a little comfortable with tasting and adjusting as you go.

But watch Corda prepare the dish in the video, then gather up the spices and prawns (large shrimp are fine, too) and have some fun.