K restaurant in College Park is donating 10 percent of all sales this weekend to the American Red Cross and Hurricane Sandy relief. You don’t have to say or do anything to participate — just dine at the popular restaurant this weekend, which is really easy to do.

That includes chef Kevin Fonzo’s once-monthly Sunday brunch, which is also this weekend, on, um, Sunday.

K is at 1710 Edgewater Drive, Orlando. Call 407-872-2332 for reservations (recommended). {jcomments on}

It’s time for Beaujolais Nouveau, the annual release of the first wines of the Beaujolais region. As dictated by France, the wine cannot be released to the public until the third Thursday in November. Hey, that’s next week!

Once again, the folks at FMI Restaurant Group are hosting the Joseph Drouhin Beaujolais Nouveau Release Party at Prickly Pear and Nick’s Italian Kitchen. The party is Thursday, November 15 from 7 p.m. until midnight or later at the restaurants, 100 S. Eola Drive, Orlando (at the Sanctuary Condominiums). Attendees will sample American and French style foods, sip a glass of Joseph Drouhin B.N. and be entertained by the Prickly Pear Showcase. Admission is $25 per person.

But wait! Thanks to Eddie, Nick and all the folks at FMI, I’m giving away a pair of tickets — a $50 value — to 15 winners. As always, the names will be drawn at random from among the list of the SJO newsletter recipients. If you already get the newsletter, you’re already entered for this and all future drawings. If you’re not signed up, just click this link and you’ll be entered instantly. 

The first drawings will be this evening, and they’ll continue throughout the weekend, finishing on Monday. Winners will be notified by email, so watch your inbox for a message that reads “A note from Scott Joseph.”

For more information on the party at the Pear, call 407-480-5650.

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Today is the beginning of Eat Local Week, an initiative to promote local food producers and the restaurants and markets that use them. As you might guess from the name, Eat Local Week runs for eight days, Nov. 9 through 17, 2012. It culminates next Saturday with full day of events at the Winter Park Harvest Festival in Central Park’s West Meadow.

ELW is the undertaking of Slow Food Orlando, the local convivium of the global organization that emphasizes the use of local, sustainable products.

What’s local? Most who use the term, including Slow Food Orlando, consider anything within a 200-mile radius to be local. Some of the reasons to eat locally include helping the local economy. Restaurants often buy directly from the producers, and those purchases keep the money in the local economy instead of sending it to an out-of-state middleman food broker. Another good reason is that most of the local farmers and ranchers are not mass producers, so there is a more identifiable farm-to-table route. And, even though most of the vendors don’t go through the bureaucratic red tape to have their products certified as organic, a lot of what ends up on local menus would qualify for that designation.

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Isn’t this a great idea? On some nights, the Downtown YMCA invites Eat More Produce, a fresh market in Winter Park, to set up a makeshift farmer’s market in the lobby. They haul in boxes of fresh vegetables and fruits, selling by the item or by the pound. It makes so much sense to promote a more healthful diet to a customer base that is obviously trying to be more healthy. Judging from the number of Y members I see at the nearby Publix whenever I stop in there after my workout, this setup will save some people an extra trip to the store. Wednesdays seem to the the scheduled day of the week for the pop-up market, but I’ve seen it on other days, as well. {jcomments on}

Last month I participated in the SNAP food stamp challenge, an awareness program sponsored by Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The organization sent out notices to all Central Florida chefs to take just one day and eat only the allotment that would be available on the average daily food stamp allowance of $6.67. Five chefs accepted the challenge. I asked if I could participate, too.

The idea of a restaurant critic, someone who routinely spends more the $6.67 on a single cup of soup served as part of a multi-course meal, having to restrict himself to a full day of food for that amount was an interesting challenge. Actually, the hardest part of accepting the throw-down was finding a day that I didn’t have to visit a restaurant and thus violate the rules of the game. Those rules included not accepting free food from friends or family members, and not using food already in the home, except for condiments and spices.

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The salmon from Les Chefs de France was a hit.I’m going to throw a party, and you’re invited! I’m going to have lots of food, wine, beer — maybe a cocktail or two. I’m going to decorate the place up special with lots of colorful  splashes and moody lighting. And entertainment! Oh my goodness golly, I’ll have some really good entertainment. Truly, no expense will be spared.

Which brings me to a sensitive topic. I’m going to have to charge you $145 to attend my party. I’m sure you’ll agree it will be worth it. Would you like a place to sit down? I can put your name on a table for $170. And if you’d like to be separated from the other people, I can put you in a special spot in my place with your own table and a few other amenities, like a full bar and table service, so you won’t have to get up and get the food and drinks yourself. I’m happy to offer this amenity for a mere $270. Of course, as you know, I live in a gated community, and a nominal fee of $89 (plus tax) will be necessary to get through the gate. Oh, and parking! It’s only $14, and you’ll have to park outside the gates and walk in. Sorry, I don’t offer valet service — I’m trying to keep the costs down for you!

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Two new books — so much more than just cookbooks — from local authors and restaurateurs are perfect gifts for food lovers. Or for yourself.

OK, let’s get this holiday gift buying chore out of the way right now. Yes, it’s only October, but the season will be upon us faster than you can say eggnog, and I don’t know about you but I’d rather spend my time going to holiday parties drinking, um, eggnog than trudging around looking for last minute gifts.

The good news is that if you have someone on your list who appreciates good food (and if you’ve got someone on your list who doesn’t, why on earth are they on your list?) there are some wonderful options in the form of gorgeous new books.

Among them is the “The Ravenous Pig, Seasons of Florida,” written by the popular restaurant’s chef/owners James and Julie Petrakis, with Bob Morris. The book is a publication of Morris’s Story Farm. And when I first saw proofs of the book, I knew without even looking that the photography was by Gary Bogdon and the design by Santa Bogdon.

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I hope you’ll join me Thursday night at the historic Dubsdread for the 11th annual Feed the Need, benefitting the Christian Service Center.  The evening will feature food, drink, entertainment, and the chance to pick up some good bargains in both the live and silent auctions. The event will be emceed by Scott Maxwell, who, according to a press release, writes a column for a local newspaper.

Taproom at Dubsdread owner Steve Gunter started Feed the Need with Sandra Lavender in 2001 as a response to do something for people who suddenly found themselves needing assistance following a downturn in the economy after the 9/11 attacks. Gunter says they chose the food pantry of the Christian Service Center specifically because it deals with people suffering a temporary setback. In the past 11 years, the one-night event has raised nearly half a million dollars.

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Let me tell you a little about the restaurant I’m not reviewing today. Yes, I said not reviewing.

The restaurant is fairly new — which always catches my attention and gives it added appeal to visit — and is a cuisine that adds cultural diversity to our roster of restaurants. I get excited when I find places like this; it’s always fun to tell you about something new and different and intriguing.

But after two visits to this restaurant I’ve decided that it isn’t worth reviewing. The food, at best, is bland and unexciting, and there were enough signs to indicate to me that the owners and staff are not familiar with the workings of a restaurant. It could be, too, that others who found the restaurant early on have figured that out, as well. On my first visit, at lunch, the restaurant had a decent crowd. Two weeks later, at a dinner toward the end of the week, at the prime dining hour, I was the only guest in the restaurant the entire time I dined.

I could go ahead with the review and give you my full thoughts, but I’ve really already done that. The food is bland; there isn’t a thing about it to recommend.

So why don’t I just tell you the name? As I also mentioned: the place was empty. It’s been a policy of mine for nearly 25 years now that there is no reason to tell you not to go to a restaurant you’re already not going to. 

This sort of place sometimes breaks my heart. People have put a lot of effort and money into the business — although, arguably, not enough ultimately — and unless things turn around, they stand to lose everything. As you know, I don’t shy away from giving a negative review when a restaurant deserves it. But sometimes you just need to shrug, wipe your hands clean, and then move on to the next candidate. This has happened probably hundreds of times over my career — I just rarely mention it.

This restaurant will likely go out of business soon; it doesn’t need my help to get there sooner.

Come out to Winter Park Village Thursday for Toast. 

No, wait; that doesn’t sound very intriguing. Come out to Winter Park Village Thursday for a “wine & spirts walk” called Toast. It will feature several of Winter Park Village’s restaurants and purveyors, including Mitchell’s Seafood Market, Lime Fresh, Truffles Grill, and Taps, as well as Publix and Publix Liquor Store. Each will offer wine, beer or a cocktail and have appetizers to nibble on. There will be live entertainment (my favorite kind!) and everybody gets a goodie bag. (Classic Audi is one of the sponsors, so I’m hoping for a really big goodie bag.)

Tickets to the event, which is being organized by Mpact Orlando Marketing, are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. You can order tickets here.

But I’m giving away five pairs of tickets. As with all the other giveaways here at the flog, the winners will be chosen from among my list of newsletter recipients. if you’re already getting my newsletter (which comes out only occasionally because who likes getting too much mail?) then you’re already entered to win. If you’re not, click this link to the newsletter sign-up form. It’s really painless (and by signing up for the newsletter, you’ll also be among the first to know about SJO Dining Deals and exclusive Supper Club events).

Winners of the Toast tickets will be announce on Tuesday; tickets will be available for pick-up at the event.

Toast will be held Thursday, August 16, 2012, at Winter Park Village from 6 to 10 p.m.