This week on WMFE-FM, I offered an imaginary progressive dinner to 90.7’s Nicole Creston. You’ve heard of progressive dinners, haven’t you? They’re usually done by friends and neighbors in private homes. You start out at one house for the appetizer or salad, then move — or progress, if you will — to other houses for subsequent courses. It’s a literal moveable feast. (You can listen to the broadcast at 5:45 p.m. Firdays or Saturday mornings at 9:35.)

I thought it would be fun to concoct a progressive dinner from among the many options on Restaurant Row. So let’s get started.

We’ll begin with our pre-dinner cocktail or aperitif at Vines Grille and Wine Bar. Why Vines? Because I love the strips of fried bacon the bartenders put out on the bar for patrons to nibble on. I mean, who doesn’t like bacon? And what a smart move, too, because the saltiness of the cured pork makes you want to drink more.

But no time; we have to move on to the next venue for our appetizer course. I’ve chosen Cantina Laredo. Yes, yes, I know, it’s a chain. Don’t hate. We’re here because CL does a terrific tableside guacamole. And the Haas avocados have been wonderful lately; enjoying them in a chunky guac is my favorite form. (Click this link if you want the Cantina Laredo guacamole recipe.)

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This article was originally published in the Orlando Sentinel 24 years ago today, on May 29, 1988. It was my first byline for the paper and the first of the 935 Chow Hound columns that I would write. (Chris Sherman wrote the Chow Hound column before that.) In rereading it, I was surprised to see the names Bananas and Nick’s Italian Kitchen in the review. Those are the names of existing restaurants, both from FMI Restaurant Group, but have no relation to the current day restaurants. I also winced at some of the writing, including the now unacceptable description of one menu as “Oriental.” We move on, but I thought it would be fun to share this with you.

(May 29, 1988) Church Street Station Exchange, the new multilevel retail center in downtown Orlando, has been touted for some time as “a whole new reason to shop.” The big question as far as Chow Hound is concerned: Will it offer a whole new reason to eat? Not that you need a new reason to eat, but then, did you really need a new reason to shop?

The answer to the question on eats, though still developing, can be found at the top of the stairs in the Exchange’s food court. So far, this is what’s available in the way of edibles:

— Chinese Cafe offers your basic Oriental favorites a la carte or in one of four combo plates. You get your egg rolls, your chow mein and your fried rice, among others. There is also a lot of cabbage. A lot of cabbage. A word of warning: Chinese Cafe charges 20 cents for chopsticks. It seems silly to charge extra for what should be considered basic eating utenils. Someone suggested they should charge extra for forks and give the chopsticks away. A great idea.

— Nick’s Italian Kitchen features pizza, calzone and other traditional Italian fare. Also available is something called King Nicoli’s Sandwich, which is more commonly referred to as a submarine sandwich. It’s served on a “homemade” bun. Judging from the freshness of the one served to Chow Hound, the home where the bun was made is somewhere in Sicily.

— Bananas — that’s the name of the place — has shakes and drinks made with fresh fruits. Banana — the fruit — is only one of the flavor choices, making it perhaps an inappropriate name.

— Even more inappropriately named is Everything Yogurt — because everything isn’t. Chow Hound, looking for something to eat for lunch, bypassed the E.Y. stand and got in line at the Chinese Cafe. It wasn’t until after dining on a plate of cabbage (a lot of cabbage) and curried onions (don’t ask) that Chow Hound noticed Everything Yogurt also offers quiches, sandwiches and soups. Poor marketing to say the least, unless of course the soup du jour, Creole-style gumbo that particular jour, was made with . . . nah.

Other foodstuffs within the shopping center include Mrs. Fields’ Cookies, which need no introduction, and The Fudgery, featuring the singing fudgemakers.

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Please join me for an exclusive Supper Club at the Oceanaire Seafood Room with special guest winemaker David SamPedro, who will be visiting from Spain. SamPedro is one of the Rioja region’s emerging young winemakers, and he’ll be on hand to discuss his Cortijo, Calma and El Brozal labels. 

The dinner will feature the cuisine that has made Oceanaire one of the best seafood restaurants in the area. (I revisited the restaurant just a few months ago and verified that it’s still doing a wonderful job.) Oysters, Prince Edward Island mussels, tuna and a main course of bronzini with sundried tomato & olive tapenade are on the menu. And each course, of course, will be paired with wines chosen specifically by SamPedro.

The Supper Club will be Wednesday, May 2, and will start with a reception at 6:30 p.m. at Oceanaire at Pointe Orlando (complimentary valet parking is available at the front door). Cost is $78.25 per person, which includes tax and gratuity. Only 30 seats are available for this very special dinner so don’t dawdle in making your reservation. 

Here’s a link to the SJ Supper Club Reservations page.

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The first SJO Pop-Up Restaurant is history, and overall it went very well. Actually it went great considering that the space for our dining room just hours earlier had been filled with fish guts but was cleaned up in time for the evening’s guests to arrive.

We gathered at Gary’s Seafood Specialties, the area’s leading provider of fresh fish and other gourmet food items to restaurants in Florida and around the country. From the industrial plant on West Amelia Street just a couple of blocks from the Amway Arena where the Amway Arena used to stand, Gary’s takes in whole fish and processes them to orders throughout the U.S. They’re packaged in huge polystyrene crates filled with crushed ice — overhead ice machines constantly rain down frozen water like so much sleet — and the fish are positioned in the ice as though they are swimming upstream. If you’ve enjoyed a piece of fresh fish in an Orlando restaurant, chances are very good that it first passed through this building on its way to your plate.

On Saturday, we saved the fish from the extra travel by cooking and serving them right there at Gary’s. With the expertise of Cuisiniers Catering and Erin Allport of Vibrant Rioja, not to mention the unfettered assistance of owner Gary Reed and his crew, the room where salmon fly through a specially designed filleting machine and the rows of stainless steel tables are usually occupied by workers cutting up fish was transformed into a dining room, with tables covered with full-drape cloths, black napkins, Riedel stemware and centerpieces of fresh herbs in Mason jars.

A dining room, albeit a very cold one. Because of mechanical requirements, the room cannot get too warm or it will generate so much condensation that it would seem to be raining indoors. As it was, the floor of the room stayed slightly damp throughout the evening. I had warned the pre-registered guests for the sold-out event to bring a jacket or sweater and wear non-slippery shoes. It seemed everyone got through the climate challenge fine.

After a demonstration of how to fillet a fish by one of Gary’s master cutters, the guests took their seats for what turned out to be an overwhelming meal.

The menu was a collaboration of Hari Pulapaka of Cress in Deland and Henry Salgado of Spanish River Grill in New Smyrna Beach. I had approached the two to be the chefs for the pop-up for a couple of reasons. Both have been James Beard Award nominees for best chef South region and are darned fine cooks. And because their restaurants are outside the central Orlando area, I thought it would be fun to bring their talents to an audience that may not have had the chance to drive to their fine restaurants.

The meal began with a collaborative amuse bouche of local Cedar Creek clam steamed in sherry tomato water from Salgado and from Pulapaka a Darling Downs wagyu beef hanging tender with jerk spices and Parmigiano-Reggiano cookie.

Salgado’s first course was what he called “hot, sour, salty, sweet” and featured candied kurabota pork belly, cider glazed Mote Marine sturgeon with eggs and migas extremadura. At the end of the evening, many guests would still be saying their favorite was either the pork belly or the sturgeon, a fish not often seen on local menus.

Pulapaka’s fish course featured Florida Gulf Coast snowy grouper with house-made andouille and Cress’s signature organic grits.

But the dish from Pulapaka that had the crowd raving was one most didn’t recognize. It was a goat stew served in a pappadum horn. I dare say some goat fans were made that night.

Salgado contributed a “surf and turf” of seared sea scallop with sake braised beef cheeks. I’ll never think of surf and turf in the same way again. Delicious.

But we weren’t over yet. Pulapaka prepared tenderloin of domestic ostrich with a blackberry habanero reduction sauce and parsnip puree, topped with cardamom foam.

Instead of a conventional dessert, the chefs grabbed some delicacies from Gary’s cheese room, which may just have the best selection of cheeses from around the country and the world than any place else in the southeast. When I die, I would like to lie in state inside the cheese cooler at Gary’s; just tuck some of the Cabrales under my arm.

The wines were from the wonderful Vibrant Rioja, courtesy of Dhane Chesson, and included a 2010 El Coto Blanco, 2008 Bodegas Riojanas “Monte Real” Crianza, and a 2010 Marques de Caceres “Satinela” demi dulce blanco for the cheese course. We also sipped the 2011 El Coto Rosado and were the first people in the U.S. to do so — they had been shipped over especially for our dinner.

The chefs were assisted by their wives, Jenneffer Pulapaka and Michele Salgado, who also work with them in their restaurants. Mark Thompson also came with the Spanish River Grill team. (You might remember Thompson as the chef/owner of Two Blondes and a Shrimp in Sanford a few years ago.) Throughout the evening, guests were entertained by Camryn Wessner, who sang and played piano and ukelele. 

The initial idea to have a pop-up restaurant at Gary’s was Jamie McFadden’s of Cuisiniers and barJme. Cuisiniers handled all the logistics of getting restaurant finery — tables, chairs, linens, plates, flatware, etc. — in place. And David Friedman and his crew of servers — Eva Czokoly, James Welchance and Tracy Potter — whisked the dishes from the back staging area to the waiting guests with impressive alacrity. 

It was a great night with wonderful food and delicious Rioja wines. I can’t wait to see where we pop up next time. Stay tuned.

The chefs cooked in a make-shift kitchen on a rented stove and oven.

Guests were given a demonstration on how to fillet a fish.

Plating the goat course.

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This week on WMFE-FM, Scott chat’s with 90.7’s Nicole Creston about chef’s tables. Here’s some of what they talked about. You can hear Scott’s radio segments Fridays at 5:45 p.m. and again Saturday mornings at 9:35. You can also click this link to hear Scott’s podcasts.

It used to be that when you said “chef’s table” you meant one thing: a table set up in the kitchen that was set aside for a dining experience apart from the dining room. Depending on where you rank yourself on the Foodie Scale, the notion of dining in a kitchen either thrills you or brings on a yawn.

For me, I love being able to watch a professional culinary crew work. And the extra attention that the chef pays to the table, often with extra little bites and favors, makes it extra special.

But it’s getting harder to find a chef’s table that is in the kitchen any more. There is still the chef’s table at Victoria & Albert’s, which is arguably the finest foodie experience anywhere in the Southeastern United States. One of the costlier ones, too. Dinner with wine pairings will run you in the mid $200s. Per person. But in terms of bang for buck, you get a decent amount of bang. Wait, that didn’t sound right. What I mean is, you go in at about 6 p.m. and leave four or four and a half hours later, after well over 10 courses, each prepared by Scott Hunnel, one of our top chefs, and his able crew. V&A’s chef’s table is also one of the toughest to book — expect a wait list of several months.

As far as actual in-the-kitchen chef’s tables, Vicky & Al’s is the only one I can come up with now, at least the only one with a single table experience. There’s also the aptly named Chef’s Table at the Edgewater, the Winter Garden restaurant where it’s difficult to determine whether the dining room is in the kitchen or the kitchen is in the dining room. Whatever, there are more than one table, yet you still get the extra attention from the chef as he delivers the courses.

There’s also La Coquina Chef’s Table, a Saturday-only dining experience that also has multiple tables assembled in the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress’s professional kitchen, the same space that the following morning is reconfigured for the restaurant’s Sunday brunch stations.

But then there are other restaurants that have designated a space in the main dining room as the chef’s table. At Norman’s at the Ritz-Carlton the large table in the center of the octagonal room, set off by wine cabinets, has been appointed as the chef’s table. Citricos at the Grand Floridian has a table behind a glass wall. You’ll get a special dining experience at these tables, but I would miss the theatricality of the kitchen.

For a compromise, some restaurants, such as Luma on Park, consider a food counter overlooking the open kitchen to be their chef’s table experience. I suppose that’s better than nothing, but I’d prefer that special table away from the other diners where only you and your guests get to see the kitchen.

Do you know of others, or do you have a favorite chef’s table? Tell us about it in the comments below.

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In the previous articles, Why I’m Not Fat, Part 1 and Why I’m Not Fat, Part 2, I talked about how someone who eats professionally can avoid gaining weight. Essentially, it’s knowing that what you’re served in a restaurant does not necessarily fit into your recommended daily allotment of calories (not to mention fat grams and sodium intake, but we’ll save that for another time).

 

My mantra for those times when I feel the need to get my weight under control is “If you can’t measure it, if you can’t count it, don’t eat it.” Assuming that one’s weight gain, weight loss or ability to maintain an ideal weight is tied to the simple equation of calories consumed versus calories burned, it’s essential to know the number of calories that you eat each day. By following my mantra, I avoid eating anything I can’t quantify and track.

 

But of course the other side of the equation requires that I also monitor the number of calories burned so that I know there’s more going out than went in. (That doesn’t sound right, but you know what I mean.) There are charts and resources to estimate that if you weigh X, walk (or run or bike or swim) a distance of Y, then you’ll burn Z calories. Of course, knowing the distance is necessary, or sometimes you can figure it by the amount of time you spend doing the activity. But the charts are generalizations — better than nothing, but not as accurate as I’d like.

 

But now I’ve started using something that helps me measure my activity and the calories burned, plus it helps me keep track of the intake, too.

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Scott Joseph’s Orlando Restaurant Guide is now available with personalized covers to give as a corporate gift or thank-you amenity. Emblazoned with your name and logo, the guide is the perfect keepsake for real estate agents, financial institutions, hoteliers and convention planners.

 

People like dining guides. They use dining guides. And with a personalized edition, you can have your name prominently displayed on something your clients will keep around and use often.

 

Scott Joseph’s Orlando Restaurant Guide is the most comprehensive collection of restaurant reviews for Central Florida from the area’s most experienced critic.

 

To find out how to order your personalized copies of the guide, contact Scott here.

 

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This week on WMFE-FM, I chat with 90.7’s Nicole Creston about online restaurant review resources. Listen in at 5:45 p.m. Friday or 9:35 Saturday morning. Or, click this link to hear this segment and past podcasts.

 

It used to be that the only regular source for restaurant reviews was the local newspaper and maybe a magazine or two. I was just fine with that because for 20 years I was the restaurant critic for a newspaper. Around 2007-2008, I started to notice that online resources were beginning to become more prominent. And I was just fine with that because in 2008 I left the Sentinel to start ScottJosephOrlando.com. (Actually, one of the deciding factors in my choosing to leave was the growing popularity of Yelp, which collected reviews of restaurants and other businesses from their customers. I figured it was only a matter of time before my employer saw that people were writing reviews of restaurants for free — why would they continue to pay me?)

 

Now there are myriad resources for restaurant reviews, including the aforementioned Yelp, and others, such as Zagat and Urbanspoon, that aggregate multiple reviews. So instead of having just one opinion — say, a professional restaurant critic — you have the collective thoughts of several people, sometimes dozens or hundreds depending on the business.

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This week on WMFE, Scott talks with 90.7’s Nicole Creston about French restaurants in Central Florida. You can hear the broadcast Fridays at 5:45 p.m. and again Saturday mornings at 9:35, or listen to the podcasts any time.

When most people think of a French restaurant, they usually think of something fancy. It’s true that many of the fancier restaurants around the country are French. There’s just something about putting La or Les in front of a name that makes it sound classier, at least to some.

 

But when I think about French restaurants, I think Classic instead of classy. More than any other country, France has done more to establish tradition in terms of technique more than in the actual food.

 

And beyond the fine dining french restaurants, we also have bistros and brasseries. In France, these are distinctly different types of places: brasserie translates to brewery, or what we might refer to as a brewpub or the British might call a gastropub. A brasserie serves food throughout the day, and its quality isn’t usually the sort that gives French food a good name; it can be fairly basic stuff. Wine service isn’t a biggie at brasseries.

 

A bistro is a neighborhoody kind of place with good wine service and plats du jour.

 

In this country, the terms are interchangeable and the definitions obscured. I tend to think of French restaurants in the categories of haute cuisine and country french. I’m not going to review a restaurant that calls itself a bistro and ding it for actually being a brasserie. Now I might have an issue with a nonFrench restaurant calling itself a bistro – P.F. Chang’s Chinese Bistro comes to mind, but it’s not even Chinese, so don’t get me started on that one.

 

Some favorite French restaurants in the area are:

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In my previous article explaining why I’m not fat, I explained that I find it essential to monitor how many calories I take in and how many calories I burn. What works for me is to keep detailed records of everything I eat and to add up the calories throughout the day. My mantra is, “If you can’t measure it, if you can’t count it, don’t eat it.” Whenever I eat something, I want to know the size of the portion and what ingredients were used to prepare it. Then I can look up the individual foodstuffs in a database to know how many calories I’ve just ingested. I keep a log, updating the totals as the day goes on. A lot of work? It can be, although there are tools that make it easier (more on that later).  But just by writing down every individual cracker or peanut can make one aware of just how much we eat everyday without even thinking about it.

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