Virtual wine dinners and online flour sales: the new normal for restaurants

All the news that’s fit to eat

Twisted Root in Winter Park saves its hide with better burgers – and a staples market : Making ends meat

By Faiyaz Kara

Twisted Root carved out its niche in better burgerdom by offering its guests ground critter exotica like camel, emu and, uhh, beaver among other wacky proteins stuffed between the buns. Founders Jason Boso and Quincy Hart expanded their reach throughout Texas before the allure of franchising beckoned. Now, amid the coronavirus outbreak, all the corporate-run Twisted Root burger joints are shuttered, while the ones that remain open for takeout, curbside and delivery are the four franchised locations in Birmingham, Shreveport, San Angelo and in Winter Park.

Glenn and Jennifer Pilson opened Twisted Root back in November inside the Grove plaza off Aloma Avenue. They're no strangers to franchises either, having run a handful of Five Guys around Central Florida as well as a couple of Chicken Salad Chicks. But the pandemic threw their budding burger joint for a loop, and the effects are being felt by Twisted Root's employees.

Winter Park Biscuit Co. opening inside East End Market this summer

By Faiyaz Kara

Even amid a pandemic, there are passionate chefs and restaurateurs looking ahead and planning their restaurant openings. The latest are chef and cookbook author Mary Westfall (née Mattern) and A Day to Remember guitarist Neil Westfall, the power vegan couple behind pop-up outfit Winter Park Biscuit Co.

Tasty Chomps’ Ricky Ly joined the Orlando Weekly Press Club because ‘Orlando Weekly provides power to the people’

By Jessica Bryce Young

What would Orlando be without the pages of Orlando Weekly? Whether it’s the piercing observations and commentary of the late, iconic Billy Manes in “Happytown” as he sat in on City of Orlando Council meetings, or Faiyaz Kara’s quirky gastronomic adventures into Orlando’s far-flung restaurants and mom-and-pop shops, or the annual “Best of Orlando” that gives us a list of local Orlando businesses and restaurants to try out for the next year – without these pages, we would be missing out on so much that makes Orlando the City Beautiful.

Chef John Tesar of Orlando's Knife & Spoon is selling some of the finest steaks you will ever taste

By Faiyaz Kara

Celebrity chefs might be in a slightly better position to ride out the pandemic, but that doesn't mean they're not struggling to survive. John Tesar, Top Chef contestant and four-time James Beard Award semifinalist for "Best Chef: Southwest," runs one of the most lauded steakhouses in the country, if not the planet.

Editor's Pick

The New Standard and Tim's Wine host virtual wine dinners that are, dare we say, fun : The Dining In Diaries

By Faiyaz Kara

Virtual happy hours and dinners are a thing now. But I hadn't participated in one myself, until I was invited to a virtual wine dinner a couple of weeks ago by Dexter's New Standard and Tim's Wine Market. I didn't really know what to expect, and I'm not sure chef Ryan McLaughlin of Dexter's or Tim Varan of Tim's Wine Market did either.

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences

All the news that’s fit to eat

Twisted Root in Winter Park saves its hide with better burgers – and a staples market : Making ends meat

Latest from Tip Jar

Winter Park Biscuit Co. opening inside East End Market this summer

Tasty Chomps’ Ricky Ly joined the Orlando Weekly Press Club because ‘Orlando Weekly provides power to the people’

Chef John Tesar of Orlando's Knife & Spoon is selling some of the finest steaks you will ever taste

Editor's Pick

The New Standard and Tim's Wine host virtual wine dinners that are, dare we say, fun : The Dining In Diaries