Four Flamingos: A Richard Blais Florida Kitchen will host a four-course wine-paired dinner on Tues., Oct. 3, featuring ZD California Wines. Four Flamingos’ chef de cuisine, Shelby Farrell, will custom curate an exclusive menu for the evening and will personally present each course. She’ll be joined by ZD representatives who will speak to the way the specially selected wines complement each dish. Tickets, which are limited, can be purchased at fourflamingosorlando.com.
By the way, Blais will be at the restaurant for Labor Day Weekend, Friday through Sunday.
Also this weekend, the annual Labor Day Great Irish Hooley at Raglan Road, lots of good food, live music and dancing without moving the arms.
Jaleo Disney Springs will offer a chef dinner on Sept. 30 in celebration of Jaleo’s 30th anniversary. Of course, the Disney Springs Jaleo isn’t that old, but the brand has been around for a while (more than 29 years at this writing). Kristoffer Anderson, chef at Jaleo Disney Springs, will welcome Jaleo Chicago’s chef José Dávilla. Details and reservations here.
Restō Urban Kitchen will ōpen later this month at the Marketplace at Avalon Park. It was described in a press release as “a fusion of comfort and gastronomy,” which is also the description of a kitchen table with padded seats. The restaurant’s website doesn’t have a menu posted as yet, but clues lend one to believe it will have Argentinean influences.
Ryan Manning, former owner of the recently departed MX Taco, has been hired as executive performance chef for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. You may be dismayed, or perhaps relieved, to know that the position of performance chef does not require any singing or dancing. Manning said that he’ll be cooking at the Bucs’ training facility and will “work hand in hand with the team’s director of nutrition to bring luxury chef quality flavor profiles to the player experience while fueling all their needs.” He elaborated that he’ll prepare meals designed to keep players in top-performance condition, cutting or adding calories as needed. And he’ll call on his years of experience as a chef with Ritz-Carlton to make food for the coaches who can basically eat whatever they want.
