Tag: Orlando Brunch

Exploring Orlando – again

by ginnyinshanghai

Sundays are a good day for food trips. On a recent day we stopped at Market To Table. It’s described as ‘modern American cuisine with classical influences’.

It’s typically an evening destination – except on the weekends when they add a 11am – 2pm dining period. No better way to start than with some special brunch drinks: 2 bloody marys and 1 Market mimosa (vodka, orange, hibiscus & sparkling wine) – v.e.r.y delish! Can you guess who had the market mimosa?

Starting with the salmon Gravlax was an excellent choice. I would go back just for that treat.

Between the three of us, we chose very different entrees. I had been craving eggs benedict and they had their own ‘market’ version. Loved it! Except for the breakfast potatoes left on the plate, everything else was gone.

Adrienne’s selection looked absolutely delicious: pork belly B.L.T. Her fries looked great. Maybe next time I could substitute fries for breakfast potatoes?

Eric enjoyed his braised short rib hash. Not my thing but he ate every morsel.

A repeat visit was to Hall On The Yard.

It’s not your typical restaurant or food hall. The concept involves one owner for the building with different chefs & company. They cook their specialties without sinking a huge fortune into a building, infrastructure, kitchens and waitstaff.

One (very large) menu highlights the diversity of flavors and one waitstaff brings your selection to the table as selections are ready, no matter where it’s coming from.

We started with the ‘zazzy’ fries from the Indian restaurant. Mm, mm, good. Loved the salty & spicy coating and remoulade.

We added their guacamole and homemade chips before the main dishes arrived. We all agreed the flavor was unique (quite good!) so much so that Eric went to it’s kitchen and asked their chef. Honey vinegarette was the ingredient that ‘made’ the dish interesting.

Wow! This looked great – Greek octopus salad.

Adrienne’s choice

Eric ordered two more appetizers, samosas and a chicken quesadilla.

Remember at the top when I said I had been craving eggs benedict? Yep, I got another one the following weekend. Hidden underneath those eggs…………salmon (after the replacement dish arrived).

When my first plate arrived, I started digging in, got about 1/2 way through one of the eggs and said ‘Wait a minute”. While it was tasty it wasn’t what I ordered. There was homemade sausage underneath. Eventually we flagged down our waiter and he didn’t seem to understand why I wanted my original order. Really? BTW – much better with the salmon.

Ginny

Girls’ Sunday ventures

by ginnyinshanghai

I subscribed to Natural Life’s Daily Chirp and really enjoy their graphic art. This one seemed fitting for today’s post.

Eric’s been working a few days at a local ’boutique’ grocery store which required a few changes in our normal Sunday plans. He’s only working 1-2 days weekly and invariably Sunday is one of those days. Therefore…………the girls were on their own!

What do do? Where to go? What kind of plans should we make? Most important – where should we eat! Occasionally, there was another factor for our eating destination. Depending upon his shift, he could meet us afterwards – mid-afternoon – so that somewhat dictated locale and direction. We did good with our selections. Let’s check out where we went.

First Sunday we texted a popular Winter Garden restaurant located in their historic downtown to see if we could get a table for 2 before noon at The Chef’s Table. Got it!

We haven’t taken Adrienne here yet and it has been a LONG time since I visited – both good reasons to stop here. We started with some liquid refreshment. Florida lager for me and a blood mary for her.

I tried to find some history about this place and it was tough. It has won numerous awards, both locally and more broadly and was considered a gourmet dining experience. The owner, Laurie Tarter was doing ‘farm to table’ cuisine way earlier than most. She originally opened with 9 tables and 30 seats. That has expanded into two concepts (prix fixe menu & small plates).

We started with two small plates for sharing: duck fat fries and smoked fish dip (of course) 🙂

Next up was a salmon plate and ham benedict on a biscuit. Never had a benedict served like that, but it was mighty tasty.

A different Sunday we went to The Porch located in Winter Park.

Started with a red Sangria and these pretzel bites. LOVED the pretzel bites and come to think of it, REALLY liked the Sangria. Total win.

So I had an awesome and authentic pressed Cuban sandwich in Miami earlier this summer. The one I ordered here was no slouch. I would come back here in a heartbeat – just for this sandwich. Okay, it doesn’t look like much in my photo but it was mighty tasty. Oops – a repeat phrase, but it’s the truth so the phrase stays in the post.

Checking out their website before coming, these things were top of mind and there was no doubt they would be ordered. Beignet Poppers: homemade apple cinnamon puffs topped with powdered sugar and served with Angry Orchard Cider-salted caramel sauce. Wow. A lot of words for a dessert. They were yummy. But let’s be honest………..they were fritters, not really beignets.

Wanted to throw in a few photos from another Sunday stop – The Glass Knife. A guy at work visited and could not stop talking about the place. Even arriving mid-morning we had a 30-minute wait.

Going inside I can see why – its small. We ended up in their outside covered patio which was bearable, even during July in Orlando. White sangria definitely helped get over the wait.

Small menu for their Sunday brunch but I ate every single crumb of this pretzel roll, roasted turkey club sandwich with aged cheddar cheese, applewood smoked bacon, vine-ripe tomatoes, argula, peppercorn aioli and a tangy honey mustard. Man! Everybody likes to include lots and lots of descriptors for their menu items. The photo may not look very exciting, but nothing was left on the plate.

I’ll close with another interesting food stop in Orlando – Se7en Bites. They specialize in nostalgic southern comfort foods with a modern twist.

Chef owner Trina Gregory-Propst has been featured on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives along with other tv shows. Her restaurant currently resides in the area in Orlando defined as the ‘MILK’ district for the last 5 years. Wasn’t sure what to really expect. There was a line outside by this door when we drove up.

Next stop inside was the counter to order your food.

Being this was ‘brunch’ Adrienne ordered a chicken salad sandwich which she said was fantastic.

I got another ‘benedict’ with the egg sitting on top of another biscuit with smoked bacon and a fried green tomato. More yumminess.

We both ordered sangria with our choices. I think being served in a plastic cup didn’t really do the drink any justice.

Something the restaurant is known for is their bakery within the building.

Had to vouch for their goods and brought home some sweets – the cherry pie was awesome. I would go back to this place just for the pie – just saying.

Probably wondering what is the ‘MILK’ district. One cow and twenty acres of land was all it took for T.G. Lee and his wife to open a dairy farm east of Orlando in 1925. This dairy still exists and anchors the 10th Main Street America district in Orlando with their national headquarters.

That’s it for this post. The girls are still exploring dining options throughout Central Florida and sometimes we let Eric come along. 🙂

Ginny