Norman’s, the upscale dining restaurant from one of Florida’s most celebrated chefs, Norman Van Aken, has opened in its new location at Dellagio Town Center in the Restaurant Row District after an absence of nearly four years. Its return immediately widens the field for anyone conducting a search for Best Restaurant of Central Florida.

A new chain owned by Cheesecake Factory, but don’t let that deter you. The food is good and the service is impressive.

An upscale seafood (Ocean) and steak (Prime) supper club (live music) in the vein of The Oceanaire Seafood Room. The main dining room features warm wood walls with huge five-foot portholes that look through to the lounge area. (The dining room has its own bar for more intimate imbibing, a nice touch.) Touches of blue neon and a soft glow from drumlike light fixtures offer romantic notes, and white tablecloths and candles with frosted shades add a touch of elegance.
A “surf n turf” appetizer had lovely sea scallops and boneless short ribs plopped together in a smallish bowl with way too mashed potatoes. Good scallops, good ribs, bad presentation.
Onion soup was distinguished by a near lack of broth under heavy cheese; she-crab soup had a slight astringency and was not nearly as rich as it should have been.
Service was professional and thorough, and once the kitchen makes the right improvements, Ocean Prime will be a good choice.

f you walked through Peperoncino’s front door and took too many steps you’d find yourself back outside through the little restaurant’s back door.

But what it lacks in size it more than makes up for in charm and, more important, the food. In the realm of Italian restaurants in Central Florida, few offer the sort of authentic experience that Peperoncino does. If you’re sitting in a spot that allows a view of the Dellagio’s central plaza, you might think you’re on a piazza looking at one of the fountains of Rome.

And don’t expect the food to bring you back to reality. It is expertly crafted from recipes cooked in the kitchens of the chef/owner Barbara Alfano’s grandmothers and is lovingly replicated here. Every bite is a veritable travelogue.

In the days following Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of New Orleans, Ruth’s Chris accelerated its plan to move the chain’s headquarters to Central Florida. Subsequently, it opened this location – it’s third in the area – as a sort of flagship. There has never been any question about the quality of the food, especially the signature steaks. But beware the servers’ attempts to upsell. They can be persuasive and, on some occasions, deceptive. Other locations include: 610 N. Orlando Ave., Winter Park; 407-622-2444; and 7501 W. Sand Lake Road, Orlando; 407-226-3900.

A winner of the Best Indian Foodster Award for Independent Restaurants, Saffron is part of the group that includes Madras Cafe, the all vegetarian and vegan restaurant, and the estimable Mynt in Winter Park’s Hannibal Square neighborhood.

Second location at 463 E. Altamonte Drive, Altamonte Springs (in front of Altamonte Mall); 407-767-1252. Darden’s latest concept works on a number of levels, thanks to the hard work of manager George Miliotes, executive chef Clifford Pleau and their talented staffs.
The original conceit of the restaurant was that something somewhere was coming into season every week of the year. The kitchen has sort of gotten away from following that too closely, but continues to offer entrees with lots of flavor but fewer calories. Forget about the food being healthfully prepared, you won’t notice a difference when you taste the grilled pork with polenta or the filet mignon. If you start feeling too goody-goody, go crazy and order all the mini desserts. The wine list here – which includes a large number of by-the-glass selections – is especially impressive.
Despite coming from the same company that brought you the Olive Garden and Red Lobster chains, Seasons 52 is more upscale and casually elegant — there is even a piano player in the bar area many evenings. And just to drive home the point that adults are the target audience, Seasons 52 keeps no highchairs or booster seats on hand.

This quick-serve operation describes itself as a Brazilian restaurant on bread. It’s not nearly that messy, but it serves a good steak sandwich. Just be prepared to pay for it.

Almost walked out because the place was empty at the height of lunch hour. I’m glad I stayed.

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.