George Vogelbacher, right, with Kirt and Maxine Earhart, owners of Maxine’s on Shine.
George Vogelbacher, longtime area chef with a varied career, has been named executive chef at Maxine’s on Shine. Vogelbacher joined the restaurant in April as a seafood specialist. He replaces Audrey DeJesus, who has left the business.
Owner Kirt Earhart says that Vogelbacher will make menu changes, but not until after Visit Orlando’s Magical Dining Month. “We’ll taste through some different ideas over the next few weeks,” says Earhart. You can expect to see more seafood selections.
Vogelbacher had most recently had been chef at Winter Park Fish Company, which he helped open in 2010, but was let go from that restaurant in 2013. His most well known restaurant is aruguably the French restaurant Le Cordon Bleu, which occupied the building where Cask & Larder now resides. A fire forced the restaurant to close down, and Vogelbacher took over a restaurant space in front of the Enzian theater, the former Jordan’s Grove. Vogelbacher named that restaurant Nicole St. Pierre for his daughter and son.