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Tasty Chomps' Orlando Food Blog

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In the 12/12/2018 edition:

First look: Chef Wolfgang Puck opens Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill in Disney Springs

By Tiffany Nguyen on Dec 11, 2018 08:00 pm

We were invited to celebrate the grand opening of Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill at Disney Springs with a ribbon cutting ceremony with Chef Wolfgang Puck.

The morning started with Chef Wolfgang Puck trying out all the flavors of gelato for “quality control” he said while handing out a few cones to some lucky guests walking by.

Vanilla gelato with sprinkles for breakfast.  It was so good.  I can’t wait to go back and try the other flavors!

Ribbon cutting ceremony time!  There was actually two ribbon cuttings that morning – the first one was for the public & the second one was for media only.

Chef Wolfgang Puck cuts the ribbon with Executive Chef Mike Tiva and General Manger Sarah Lealock

Chef Wolfgang Puck cuts the ribbon with the Vice President of Disney Springs, Matt Simon and Chef Mickey

Time to eat!

Sliders

Salmon bruschetta

Shrimp skewers

Mushroom bruschetta

Margherita pizza

Smoked salmon pizza

Basil shrimp pizza

Tempura calamari & shrimp with preserved lemon aioli.  It was the best tempura calamari & shrimp that I’ve ever had!

Grilled sea bass – shaved fennel, peperonata

Mesquite grilled NY strip “steak frites” – crisp french fries, arugula, green peppercorn sauce.  So good.

Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill takes the culinary scene at Disney Springs to a whole ‘nother level.  Highly recommended!

For more information, please visit: disneysprings.com/dining/wolfgang-puck-bar-grill/

Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill – Disney Springs
1780 Buena Vista Dr, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
(407) 828-0107

 


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Special Dinner Event: Feast of the Seven Fishes at Reel Fish Coastal Kitchen & Bar – Dec. 24

By Tiffany Nguyen on Dec 10, 2018 03:14 pm

The second annual Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner at Reel Fish Coastal Kitchen & Bar in Winter Park returns on Monday, Dec. 24.  The Christmas Eve extravaganza will begin at 6:30 p.m. and is limited to the first 50 guests.  This special 7-course prix fixe menu will feature all-inclusive new world and old world wine pairings.   Reel Fish will also be open from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Dec. 24 offering its regular dinner service.

Tickets to are $69 per person (plus tax + gratuity) and can be reserved by calling (407) 543-FISH (3474).

In the spirit of holiday giving, Reel Fish Coastal Kitchen & Bar will donate 10% of the dinner’s proceeds to the Coastal Conservation Association.

*Menu and wines subject to change based on availability*

Feast of the Seven Fishes is a tradition that originated in Southern Italy and is celebrated on Christmas Eve with a 7-course seafood dinner to commemorate the wait of the midnight birth of baby Jesus.  Because Christmas Eve is a vigil or fasting day,  the abundance of seafood reflects the observance of abstinence from meat until the feast of Christmas Day itself.

Owner Fred Thimm (right) and James Gallagher from Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits who personally went over each wine with us.

Octopus Ceviche

Shrimp Mac & Cheese

Baked Clams Casino


Whiskey Shrimp – Wild-Caught Key West Pink Shrimp with Jack Daniels Cream Sauce on Sour Dough

Seafood Nachos – Blue Crab & Crawfish, House-Made Wontons

Whole Fried Hog Fish (pictured – so good!) and Genuine American Red Snapper with Smothered Tomatoes & Okra

Gulf Oysters Shooters featuring Tito’s Vodka

Cioppino – Clams, Shrimp, Scallops, Grouper, Tomato Broth over Linguine

Mike’s Famous Carrot Cake.  This was the best carrot cake I’ve ever had in my life!

Seven-Layer Chocolate Cake

Chef Mike served up a wonderful Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner with his own personal flair.

Reel Fish is celebrating the holidays with a variety of other festive specials, including:

  • Get a FREE $10 bonus gift card for every $50 in gift cards purchased.
  • Book a group dinner with 15 or more guests and receive a 10% discount AND $10 gift card for each person in their party.  To book a holiday party contact Fred Thimm at (202) 957-7377 or fred@reelfishcoastal.com.
  • Reel Fish Coastal Kitchen + Bar will feature a live DJ, food & drink specials and a midnight Champagne toast to ring in the New Year on Dec. 31.
  • New Fall/Winter menu featuring fresh local fish, signature salads and additional non-seafood options like all-natural Creekstone Farms steaks and FreeBird chicken.

Reel Fish Coastal Kitchen & Bar
1234 N. Orange Ave, Winter Park, FL
reelfishcoastal.com


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Dragonfly Robata hosts Tokyo Soul

By Katherine Nguyen on Dec 09, 2018 01:11 pm

Dragonfly Robata hosted an encore seating of their Tokyo Soul dinner event on December 6-7, 2018. The event and dishes were inspired by street food classics born in Tokyo, and seasoned with the flavors of the deep South Southern Kitchen, making this dinner event unique to Dr. Phillips.

The event consists of a limited number of seats at a long table where you can sit with familiar friends as well as make new friends with others next to you.

This event consisted of a 6-course meal beginning with a Japanese Inspired Souse with braised daikon, carrot, scallion, and inari. This dish starts the event by warming your soul with brilliant flavors, which is great on a chilly night.

Family-Style Tempura Corn Fritters served with Shirasu shies and Japanese horseradish. The corn fritters are crispy with each bite and sweet from the corn. There are slight distinct notes of the horseradish, which is not overwhelming to the palate.

The corn fritters is served with a Sake cucumber Masu Box, which traditionally signals the wealth and generosity of the restaurant to the person who drinks from it. The sake itself is light, refreshing and floral.

The Beer Batter Spanish mackeral is served with Tsukemono and a house-made house sauce. This dish consists of a crispy batter with fish that has a soft texture and disintegrates in the mouth.

Sapporo-hibiscus shandy is paired with the mackeral and flavors resemble grapefruit seltzer.

The next dish is a 36 hour Sous-vide brisket served with potato salad, Jus and micro wasabi. The brisket is very soft, moist and falls apart easily. Flavors are fresh and delightful. However, not each dish is consistent in texture.

The Japanese whisky-tea cocktail is paired with the brisket. It tastes like sweet tea with intense honey flavors.

Dish number 5 is the Chef Choice Seasonal Omakase, which is Cajun crusted salmon sashimi and crawfish maki-roll photographed above. The Salmon is fresh with simple seasoning to bring out natural salmon notes. The Crawfish maki-roll has a sweet honey taste along with a crispy texture of the crawfish and softness of the rice coating.

This fresh seafood dish is paired with the Shochu-pomegranate cocktail, which is sweet and tart at the same time.

The final dish is the Honey Carrot Castella, which is a Japanese sponge cake, carrot ginger mousse, persimmon, and candied bacon. The sponge cake is dense and solid, but moist at the same time; there are notes of a unique taste thanks to the ginger and cinnamon. The persimmons seemed to be soaked or infuse with sweet ginger flavor. Paired with the dessert is the Umeshu (Plum) cocktail, which is sweet in flavor.

While waiting for the event to begin or for the next dish to roll out, feel free to ask for a drink menu. Photographed here is the Green Tea’s Knees cocktail, which consists of fig infused Jim Beam, matcha honey and yuzu. It is a delicious and strong drink that is sweetened just right.

For more information on Dragonfly Robata and their future events, pease visit their website.


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New fall/winter menu at Marlow’s Tavern

By Tiffany Nguyen on Dec 08, 2018 11:01 am

We were invited to Marlow’s Tavern – Lee Vista (located one mile from the Orlando International Airport) to enjoy a chef’s selection of the new fall/winter menu and creative handcrafted cocktails.  The new menu will stay until March, as Marlow’s Tavern changes their menu three times a year.

Marlow Tavern’s Executive Chef/CEO/Co-founder John C. Metz, who created the menu along with Rick Blumberg, manager of adult beverages, said in a recent press release, “Our revamped menu has an abundance of great starters, salads, sandwiches, tavern favorites and creative cocktails.  These inspired takes on traditional tavern dishes and drinks give our guests yet another reason to gather around the table at Marlow’s throughout the fall and winter.”

Some of the new menu offerings and crafted cocktails include:

Our G&T – Empress 1908 gin, smacked sage, orange, angostura bitters and tonic
Pineapple Rum Express – Plantation pineapple rum, St. George spiced pear liqueur, fresh lime
Beached Margarita – Herradura hibiscus tincture, Beach coconut whiskey and house sour
The Jet Plane – Bacardi añejo rum, Brovo Amaro #1, aperol and fresh lemon

Roasted Heirloom Carrots – whole baby carrots, orange honey glaze, crumbled feta

Arugula, Trout & Apple Toast – smoked trout, baby arugula, Granny Smith apple and pickled red onion

Feta & Artichoke Fondue – grilled artichokes, Swiss chard, creamy Mornay, feta cheese and toasty
ciabatta

Pastrami Melt – Montreal Smoked Meats pastrami, Swiss cheese, caramelized onions and
dijonnaise on deli rye.  Served with house pickles and Marlow’s Tavern fries, yum!

Grilled Atlantic Salmon – with jumbo couscous, baby spinach, toasted almonds and dried cranberry
in a red wine reduction

Chicken Pappardelle Stack – grilled Prestige Farms chicken, creamy artichoke and Swiss chard,
fresh pappardelle noodles, snap peas and roasted mushroom cream.  The chicken is organic and never frozen.

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna – sage Mornay sauce, pomodoro, butternut squash, Swiss chard and
mushrooms

Big thank you to Joel, the manager of Marlow’s Tavern – Lee Vista, and Chef Benjamin for hosting us!  It was a delicious dinner!

Marlow’s Tavern – Lee Vista
6889 Eagle Watch Dr, Orlando, FL 32822
(407) 985-2381
marlowstavern.com


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Holiday Night of Lights at Rosen Hotels & Resorts

By Tiffany Nguyen on Dec 06, 2018 12:13 am

What are your plans for Christmas?

Every year, my family dines at one of the Rosen Hotels for their Christmas Day buffet and we take a picture with Mr. Rosen himself, pictured above.  It’s become a family tradition of ours ever since we met him during a Christmas Day buffet back in 2014 when he greeted our table and asked us how we were doing.  My mom immediately recognized him from reading about him in the papers and asked him if he was Mr. Rosen and he confirmed and allowed us to take a picture with him.  He’s seriously the best.

Life came back to a full circle when I was invited to attend Rosen Hotels & Resorts’ first-ever Holiday Night of Lights media event to preview what each hotel is doing for their Christmas Day buffet & holiday events this year.  The night started with all 50 bloggers and friends hopping onto a snazzy two-story bus (our “sleigh” for the night that was generously donated by City Sightseeing Tours Orlando) to visit all 7 Rosen properties and see their holiday lights, with delicious bites at each stop.

Photo credit: Rosen Hotels & Resorts

At Rosen Hotels, their attention to detail is always impeccable, nothing ever gets overlooked and the customer service is top-notch.  I am so looking forward to making it out to the Christmas Day buffet at one of the Rosen Hotels this year with my family.

First Stop – Clarion Inn Lake Buena Vista for chocolate peppermint mocktinis, Santa Claus mopolitan, crab cakes, caprese skewers, dunking donut station, sweets, and a tour of the beautiful Bella Vista event venue.

Second Stop – Rosen Inn Closest to Universal for a hibachi performance from the Shogun chefs (I wasn’t able to get a picture of them in action because they were super fast) and sushi & sake from the Sakura Bar.

Third Stop Rosen Inn International for “The Rosen Tree” lighting, cesar salad cups and sweet & spicy meatballs

Fourth Stop – Rosen Inn at Pointe Orlando for selfies with an elfie, chicken wellington, mushroom puff and Christmas cookie

Fifth Stop – Rosen Plaza – for a sneak preview of the upcoming Dec. 15 Iced Out! event (free to the public), an ice luge with a signature cocktails, fig & manchego lollipops, lobster corndogs and baby lamb chops prepared by Executive Chef Michael and team.

Sixth Stop – Rosen Centre – for a greeting by Christmas carolers, a real gingerbread house, Harry’s ropa vieja empanada, pineapple ceviche, strawberry cheesecake, pumpkin cheesecake, and drinks from Harry’s Poolside Bar & Grill

Seventh Stop – Rosen Shingle Creek for a sneak preview of the charity trees (which will be displayed in the hotel’s grand lobby) decorated by 24 local non-profits throughout Orlando, and a festive mix and mingle with the hotel and charity partners.

Thanks Mr. Rosen for hosting us in such a family way!


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