Taka-Taka’s Cafe is actually half Venezuelan and half Cuban, but the Venezuelan part of the menu was what my friends and I were focused on (and they both know the cuisine and speak fluent Spanish, so it was terrific to have them as guides).

We started with a sampling of empanadas. The Venezuelan version of empanadas is made with a corn flour and deep fried. We tried the shredded beef and chicken varieties, but I think I preferred the white cheese and potato one the best, especially with the creamy garlic sauce.

I loved the cachapas con queso, a pancake-like corn cake with corn kernels and goozing cheese.

We also had a couple of arepas, including the reina pepiada, or chicken salad with avocados. The flavors of the shredded chicken and mild avocado inside the tasty corn cake, which looked sort of like a fat pita pocket, were wonderful. The arepa asado negro featured roasted round steak in a black sauce that had a prominent clove note. The two couldn’t have been more different, but both were delicious.

Even better was the patacon, which one of my friends aptly described as a banana sandwich. Well, sort of. The “bread” for the sandwich was fashioned out of plantains, mashed, fried and flattened. The pork was stuffed into the sandwich with shredded lettuce and a drizzle of sauce. I could sit and eat tostones all day, so to have two big ones as part of a sandwich with other good stuff was wonderful.

Tako Cheena is the new concept from Pom Moongauklang, owner of of the popular Pom Pom’s sandwicherie. The name is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the type of food featured, tacos, and Moongauklang’s Asian heritage (she was born in Thailand). She combines Latin and Asian into true fusion cuisine.
It’s also pretty darned tasty. Moongauklang has a talent for making complex foods look simple, and for taking simple flavor combinations and giving them layers and textures that make them seem complex. It isn’t surprising that she worked at New York’s famed Nobu restaurant.
The menu is short. It offers a featured empanada and a roster of takos. I sampled an array of takos, and I liked every one of them. My favorite was the panko crusted cod, which had bite-sized nuggets of fish in the soft flour tortilla garnished with scallions and mixed cabbage. What really brought out the flavors, though, was the lusciously thick sweet and sour sauce that not only gave it a great taste but also made it look so pretty.
My second favorite was the Chinese barbecue char shu pork belly, with mixed cabbage, fresh cilantro and ginger oil, all topped with a crisp ribbon of crackling. I also liked the Thai peanut chicken, with its velvety peanut sauce, topped off with crunchy crushed peanuts.

Tamarind brings fine Indian cuisine to an area of town that could use some diversification. The main menu is extensive, with categories of chicken, lamb, seafood and vegetarian entrees as well as a selection of tandoori items and dosas. The lunch menu has a fraction of the items found on the dinner menu, which was disappointing at first — I wish I had had more options, especially in terms of soups and appetizers, which are essentially nonexistent at lunchtime, a samosa being the only exception.
But everything I sampled was wonderful, and service was warm and gracious.

From the couple who brought you the wonderful Chef’s Table at the Edgewater, this space – just in the next room – offers a more tapas-like menu with a New Orleans glint. Grilled pork belly, fried chicken livers, boudain balls are all good choices. Service is first-rate.

Charming spot in the burgeoning Sanford downtown district. Chef Nat Russell puts a creative twist on well-known dishes, such as adding a sous-vide egg to Shrimp & Grits.

Charming cafe at Marketplace at Avalon Park serving authentic Mexican fare.

Umi has a pleasant vibe. The menu features not only the expected sushi selections but also kitchen foods that include robata grilled meats and a couple of ramen soups.

Everything is delicious and prettily presented, to boot.

A favorite of locals for special occasions, the former Venetian Room has become Venetian Chop House and specializes in steaks. But while the menu has been tweaked a bit, this is still very much a fine dining restaurant. The dining room is every bit as elegant as before and the service just as professional.

It would be almost enough to go here to sit at the bar, sip a glass of wine and eat strips of bacon while listening to live jazz. (Instead of salty peanuts they put rashers of crispy bacon on the bar here.)
On my first visit to Vines I dined in the main room. I sampled the onion soup, a hearty bowl of beefy broth topped with stringy cheese. For my entree I had the braised beef short rib, oh-so-tender meat that had long given up the bone, served with polenta infused with blue cheese and Brussels sprouts roasted with bacon. (They love bacon in this joint.)
On another visit, I decided to make a feast of a couple of appetizers while sitting at the bar. I selected the steak tartare and seared day boat scallops. The tartare looked as though it were a burger patty ready for the grill. It was surrounded by the usual accouterments, capers, onions, as well as hot sauce drizzled on the plate and a pile of salt. It was topped with a raw quail egg, cracked open and still in the shell. The bartender/server asked if I had ever had the tartare there before and I allowed as to how I had not. She made the suggestion that I blend everything together, the hot sauce and salt included, before eating. It was good advice. The meat was fresh tasting and delicious, and the salt and hot sauce added just the right flavor notes.
Service on the whole was superb.
The dining room is classy and upscale (check out the video wall of fire), which matches the prices.

The folks at the JW Marriott recently opened two new entities, Whisper Creek Farm: The Kitchen and Whisper Creek Farm: The Brewery.

You’ll notice The Kitchen as soon as you walk through the front door of the hotel. It’s just off the lobby, to the right. The Brewery is a little harder to spot. In fact, you’d need a staff person to escort you through the warren of corridors and passageways to the kitchen office where the vats, tanks and necessary gauges have been set up in a corner. It’s definitely not a show brewery such as the one at Cask & Larder.

But the Kitchen is on full display, and what it’s churning out is surprisingly ambitious. I say surprisingly because when it was first announced it was downplayed somewhat, as though it would be more of a bar-menu venue.

But while portions are meant to be more of the small plate size — or, reasonable portions, as I like to think of them — the items are well above the ranks of bar snacks.