Central Florida will once again go unrepresented on the final ballot for a James Beard Foundation Award. Despite having six chefs on the semifinals list — and the restaurant Victoria & Albert’s on the long list for an Outstanding Service award — none made it to the finals. Instead, the South region, which included Florida, will have a ballot that includes four chefs from New Orleans and one from Florida, Jeff McInnis of Yardbird Southern Table & Bar in Miami Beach.

The other finalists are: Justin Devillier, La Petite Grocery, New Orleans;  Tory McPhail, Commander’s Palace, New Orleans; Alon Shaya, Domenica, New Orleans; and Sue Zemanick, Gautreau’s, New Orleans.

Local chefs who were named to the semifinal ballot were: Kathleen Blake of the Rusty Spoon; Brandon McGlamery, Luma on Park; Scott Hunnel, Victoria & Albert’s; Hari Pulapaka, Cress; and James and Julie Petrakis, The Ravenous Pig, who were nominated as a team for a second consecutive year. Hunnel has been on the long list for seven years.

No chef from Central Florida has yet to make it to the finals.

Judges for the awards include journalists and food professionals from around the country (I am one) who vote for chefs whose food they have eaten and for restaurants that they have dined in. There is no panel of judges that visits the restaurants specifically for the awards — it is largely a contest of numbers and popularity rather than of actual merit, at least as far as the Central Florida chefs are concerned. In other words, if more of the judges would visit Central Florida and dine in our better restaurants, more of our chefs would get the recognition they deserve.

The James Beard Awards will be announced in a black tie ceremony at New York’s Avery Fisher Hall on May 6. Here is a link to the complete list of finalist for the 2013 James Beard Awards.

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Here’s something you don’t see everyday, at least if you don’t live in Napa or Sonoma County. I stopped by Quantum Leap Winery the other day and saw a new shipment of barrels being delivered. They came with along with some new storage vats as well. As the guests at the latest SJO Pop-Up Dinner learned, Quantum Leap is serious about making good wine (which is why they also import the grape juice from other states and countries). 

I felt like breaking into a polka, but somehow “Fork-lift out the barrels” just didn’t sound right.

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Update 4/2/13: Yep. It was all true, even though the restaurant and its management had no comment right up until the end. And why did it close? Part of the reason may have had to do with its sky-high rent, which one of my sources said was more than $50,000 monthly. Also, this was the poorest performing J. Alexander’s in the chain, which has locations in 13 states. With the myriad options of restaurants along the Sand Lake Road Restaurant Row corridor, J. Alex ultimately couldn’t compete. 

What will go in there next? I hope it’s a good restaurant owned by someone who can negotiate a more favorable lease agreement.

Is J. Alexander’s closing?

It’s a good question. In fact, the people who work at the Sand Lake Road restaurant would like to know the answer, too.

“We’ve been hearing that for a couple of years,” one staffer told me when I called to find out. I was alerted by Flog regular Joe Sarrubbo, who had seen a note from a diner on J. Alexander’s Urbanspoon listing that the Restaurant Row eatery would close April 3. Repeated calls to the restaurant’s corporate office in Nashville have gone unreturned.

J. Alexander’s opened September of 2008 in the then-new Rialto strip that now also holds Ocean Prime and Bar Louie. My review in October of that year noted that J. Alexander’s was apparently another in a long line of restaurants that wanted to out-Houston Houston’s (which, at least locally, is now called Hillstone). And, as I noted, it came pretty darned close. There were several things I liked about J. Alexander’s, not the least of which was its very good and very affordable food. (It served — serves? — a wonderful prime rib for $21; at least that was the price a few years ago. The website doesn’t list a full menu or the prices of the food.)

So did — or do — a lot of other people. The person at the Orlando store with whom I spoke said that business has been steadily growing in the past 5 years. But even the regional manager, I was told, was being evasive about a closing when staffers (including, apparently, the restaurant’s general manager) asked about the rumors.

Timpano, another longtime Restaurant Row eatery, closed recently and will be razed to make way for an Eddie V.’s, a new Darden acquisition.

So, what have you heard? Is J. Alexander’s closing? Do you care? Leave a comment below.

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Things are simmering along Mills Avenue in the Mills 50 district, and on at least one block they’re coming to a full boil.

Noodles and Rice Cafe opened recently in the 800 North block of that stretch of U.S. Highway 17-92, taking over the space where Jephanie Foster’s Blue Bistro used to wow diners. More recently, it was International Market, which sold European and Russian products. Noodles and Rice specialized in hot pot cooking, a sort of Asian style fondue concept wherein diners cook raw ingredients in pots of broth set in induction-style heating elements built into the tables. (I’ll have my review of Noodles and Rice Cafe tomorrow.)

Next door to NandR is another new space that will be operated by the restaurant’s owners but which will feature boba tea and smoothies in a neon-lit setting.

And on the corner, on the other side of the only other business in the building, the British Shoppe, which sells items from the U.K., the space that for many years was Chuck’s Diner is undergoing a complete renovation. It’s to be called The Strand, and will be a bistro that will serve lunch and dinner. Given the name, I wondered if it was another British reference, the Strand being a major street in London. But no, there’s no connection. I’ll have more about it soon.

And, of course, a few blocks to the north, the northwest corner of Mills and Virginia Avenues is finally under development with a Fresh Market upscale grocery store. Rumors are that a First Watch restaurant will be another tenant.

Seems like a good time for the city to consider some streetscaping along Mills to pretty things up a bit.

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The chefs of the East End Market Pop-Up Dinner pause before the dinner begins in front of the barrels at Quantum Leap Winery. From left are Charity Maurer and Elisa Scarpa (Fatto in Casa), Michele and Henry Salgado (Txokos Basque Kitchen), Jamie McFadden (Cuisiniers and BarJme), Rhys and Alexia Gawlak (Cuts & Craft artisan Meats) and Jermaine Allen (Cuisiniers).

The second SJO Pop-Up Dinner was held Saturday at Quantum Leap Winery and featured some of the chefs of the upcoming East End Market. Eighty guests attended the sold-out event, first nibbling on whimsical hors d’oeuvre creations and sipping samples in the winery’s tasting room, then moving sitting down to a four-course dinner in the fermentation room, which had been transformed into a beautifully elegant candlelit dining room by the magicians at Cuisiniers Catering.

All of the wines were from Quantum Leap’s inventory, and more than a few guests were surprised at the fine quality of the wines. The chefs also did a great job of matching their food to the qualities of the wines. Quantum’s co-owner David Forrester was on hand to pour and tell guests about the winery.

If you’d like to see the menu, you can download it here. And below are some of the sights of the evening. I only wish I could also share with you the aromas and tastes that we enjoyed throughout the night.

By the way, the dinner sold out within hours after it was announced in my e-letter. If you want to make sure you’re among the first to be notified for future dinners, please sign up here.

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I’ve just emailed the ticket holders for tomorrow night’s Pop-Up Dinner to tell them the loation, which has been secret until now. We’ll be dining among the barrels and aging tanks at the new Quantum Leap Winery in Orlando’s Mills 50 district. This is going to be an exciting dinner, prepared by the chefs of East End Market, including: Jamie McFadden, Cuisiniers Catering and BarJme; Henry Salgado, Txokos Basque Kitchen (and Spanish River Grill in New Smyrna Beach); Rhys and Alexia Gawlak, Cuts & Craft Artisan Meats; and Elisa Scarpa, Fatto in Casa.

Our hosts for the evening will be Quantum’s owners, Jill Ramsier and David Forrester, who have selected the wines. The chefs have been careful to match their courses to the wines, so I know it’s going to be an extraordinary culinary event.

The dinner sold out within 36 hours of its announcement, which was made solely via my e-letter. Which means that if you’re not on the list of recipients, you may not have a chance of the next Pop-Up Dinner, tentatively scheduled for May. If you’d like to join us, you can sign up for my surprisingly infrequent and not-at-all annoying e-letter at this link.

Well this won’t do anything to dispel the rumors of a curse.

Galopin, the restaurant that took over the former Circa, the former East of Paris, the former Chapters, the former Zak’s, the former Park Avenue Grill, closed its doors recently and put a sign on the door telling folks that it was restructuring. Now we know a little more about what to expect.

The next tenant will be Matilda’s Pub, an entity out of Newark, Delaware, that also has a  restaurant, mad-macs, that specializes in macaroni and cheese (mac of the month: jambalaya mac!).

Ryan Smith, owner of Matilda’s, told me that the new business might have some of the mac and cheesiness of mad-macs but that it would be a different operation in total. Smith said he was still working out details with the current owners of Galopin and that he expected the new operation to be a restructuring of the current business, which, he thought, would allow the process to speed up. He is hoping to open in mid to late March, something that could only be possible if the business doesn’t actually change hands.

That’s all I have for now, but expect to know more soon. Stay tuned.

What do you think, are you excited about a pub on the Avenue?

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As I told you last week, I attended a dinner at the estimable Daniel restaurant in New York Wednesday. Although Daniel Boulud’s team prepared the hors d’oeuvres that were passed during the reception, the dinner was prepared by the international chefs who collaborate on the restaurant Remy, which is found on both the Disney Fantasy and Disney Dream ships. 

Scott Hunnel of Victoria & Albert’s (one day after learning that he had been nominated for a best chef award from the James Beard Foundation for a seventh time) and Arnaud Lallement of L’Assiette Champenoise near Reims, France, were given run of the kitchen at Daniel to showcase some upcoming menu changes for New York media. Here are a few more pictures and details:

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NEW YORK — The culinary talents behind Remy, the fine dining restaurant aboard Disney Cruise Line’s Dream and Fantasy ships, convened here Wednesday on neutral — and dry — ground to announce new menus for premium dining venue. Scott Hunnel of the AAA Five-Diamond award winning Victoria & Albert’s at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and Arnaud Lallement from the two Michelin starred L’Assiette Champenoise in Reims, France, took turns in the kitchen of Daniel, the upscale Upper East Side restaurant owned by Daniel Boulud.

Joining them were Erich Herbitschek, pastry genius from the Grand Floridian, and crews from both sides of the Atlantic. They prepared a six-course meal that was served in Daniel’s private dining room to members of New York media — and one representative from Central Florida

The evening started with passed hors d’oeuvres, prepared by Boulud’s team, and Taittinger brut La Francaise, the ships’ signature Champagne. The guests were then seated and served an amuse bouche of Alaskan king crab in a broth tinged with lemongrass and lime. The next three courses, by Lallement, were also seafood.

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Update: I’ve had 4 seats for the dinner open up. To join us, click on the “Contact Scott” button at the top of the page and send me a note. First come, and all that.

Please join me Thursday, March 21, for a wonderful evening of great food and wine at a fantastic price at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Winter Park.

Operating partner Rebecca Gaines and chef partner Tom Nadolski have put together a wonderful menu with a global aspect. Best of all, instead of the $125 you’d expect to pay for this dinner, the Fleming’s folks have authorized me to offer it to readers of SJO for only $75 per person plus tax ($79.88 total). The gratuity is built in, so you will not be presented with any added fees at the end of the meal.

Seating is limited, so please book no more than six reservations. To reserve your space, send me a note here, dicating how many tickets you would like to purchase.

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar is at 933 N Orlando Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789. The evening will begin with a reception at 6:30 p.m. and dinner at 7.

Here’s the menu for the evening:

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