Orlando Home & Leisure magazine February 2011

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32 FEATURES: FEBRUARY 2011 WINE COUNTRY 32 FLORIDA 40 There are places close at hand where vineyards stretch to the horizon and vintners trace their love of wine-making to fathers and grandfathers before them. Florida has a tradition of wine making that goes back centuries and is poised for the future, with ambitious upstarts who make wine not only from grapes but from oranges, blackberries, mangoes and – believe it or not – avocados.

by Michael McLeod • photographs by Greg Johnston

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ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE

WITH THIS THEME, I THEE WED For some betrothed couples, having elegance and romance as part of their marriage celebration isn’t enough.

They want to mark the occasion with a theme that reflects their own personal styles and leaves an indelible impression on their wedding guests – some of whom might just be four-legged. by Leigh Duncan ON THE COVER: BMG Model Martine Gutierrez in a New Traditional wedding dress from The Collection in Winter Park, and jewelry from Be On Park and Tiffany & Co., The Mall at Millenia. Chair from Robb & Stucky, Altamonte Springs; wardrobe styling by Stylissima; and hair and makeup by Elsie Knab. Photograph by Rafael Tongol.

FEBRUARY 2011

PHOtOS: (LEFt AND cENtER RIgHt) gREg JOHNStON; (tOP RIgHt) RAFAEL tONgOL; (cENtER LEFt) cOURtESY DISNEY; (BOttOM RIgHt) cOURtESY tHE RItz-cARLtON kEY BIScAYNE.

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DEPARTmENTS 8 AGENDA

Louis Comfort Tiffany’s lost Long Island mansion rises from its ruins in Winter Park; ArtsFest arrives by land and by lake; Nude Nite is not necessarily naughty; the witches of Wicked are wondrous; “Butternuts” battle in a Historical Society exhibit and Orlando Ballet brings back a battle of its own.

16 PAGES

Two new historic novels with Florida ties revolve around a young woman’s connection to a stained-glass impresario and the mid-30’s killer hurricane that devastated the Florida Keys. by Nancy Pate

18 STYLE: FASHION FOCUS

An expanded STYLE focuses on dresses to suit contemporary, traditional, destination and second-bride weddings. by Leigh Duncan & Marianne Ilunga • photographs by Rafael Tongol

24 5 mINUTES wITH: jOHN GOTTmAN

The relationship expert and Rollins College guest lecturer talks about his research into the strategies that make marriages succeed – and his method for predicting those that will fail. by Michael McLeod

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28 DAYS DRIVE: SOUTH FLORIDA

A members-only adventure to Ritz hotels at South Beach and Key Biscayne gives club-hopping a luxury spin. by GiAnna Wyatt

72 wELLNESS: A mAGIC mAN

A former Orlando Magic star’s gift to the city’s tiniest residents.

by Michael McLeod

78 SEEN

From Ronald McDonald to Arnold Palmer to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. at Rollins, Orlando Home & Leisure is out and about.

80 NATIVE SON

A journey down a river and a sign from nearby woods are harbingers for soulmates in the making. by Bob Morris

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FLAVOR

57 SCOTT jOSEPH’S GUIDE TO DINING IN CENTRAL FLORIDA

Reviews of Matteo’s, The Tap Room at Dubsdread and Lowe’s Good Eaton Soul Food Restaurant; local breweries; California Grill’s romantic chocolate lava cake; Barnie’s coffee and dessert pairings; and a listing of Central Florida’s finest dining spots.

SPECIAL SECTION

48 wEDDING RESOURCE GUIDE

OH&L’s annual guide to some of Central Florida’s finest wedding and event planning resources.

WWW.OHLMAG.COM

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ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE

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FIRST

The Road Ahead Has Changed.

So Have the Rules for Survival.

T

he longer I’m around, the more

I suspect that writing is bad for me.

Here’s the problem: As a writer, you grow accustomed to operating within the framework of a courtly universe that rewards dispassion and logic. Just abide by the rules of proper syntax and subject-verb agreement and you’re golden. More and more I find myself running into situations in which that kind of behavior is a disability.

Not long ago we switched from one healthcare provider to another. Three weeks later, the new one refused to pay for a prescription that was keeping my wife from going insane. Nothing else had ever remedied the serious sleep disorder that had plagued her for 20 years.

She had been tested from here to eternity. She had jumped through all the necessary hoops to qualify for the medication. Now, for reasons unclear to either of us, a slate somewhere had been wiped clean, and we had a new set of hoops to negotiate.

I told her I’d handle it and set my finely tuned reporting skills into motion. Go through the proper channels. Find the right people. Communicate clearly with them.

I can show you a series of polished, polite, crisply-written e-mails over the course of two weeks. I deftly delineated why Ambien was exactly what my wife needed. The representative contended, in her own version of carefully worded discourse, that we should try shopping around for something cheaper.

The two of us were just getting warmed up when my wife, who had seen her supply of sanity dwindling to two or three blue pills, thanked me for my efforts. Then she coolly embarked on her own personal blitzkrieg of blistering phone calls to the provider and cut-to-the chase communiqués to her doctor. She moved, it seemed to me, with stunning alacrity. At some point, I know not how, she even acquired her doctor’s cell phone.

The whole thing took roughly 48 hours. Then it was over. When she went in with her newly approved prescription to pick up her pills, the

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ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE

Take Note What’s ONLINE Our comprehensive 2011 Wedding Resource Guide, a full calendar of February events, plus an expanded listing of Florida wineries.

pharmacist looked at her and said: “I’ve never seen anyone get through this process so fast.”

Here’s what my wife said to me: “You went back and forth with emails. I went back and forth with cuss words.”

I have a post graduate degree and a great looking resume. I tell people if they want to know what kind of childhood I had, they should just watch a Leave It To Beaver rerun and think of it not as a sitcom but as a documentary.

My wife, on the other hand, grew up barefoot, dirt poor and neglected in the woods, lakes and unpaved roads of a rural Florida town. When she got out of that place, she did not take the train. She knew the tracks would only slow her down. Growing up in a chaotic environment had taught her that when it comes to survival, sometimes the rules are just useless baggage.

I’ll leave you to decide which of us is better suited for the world ahead.

Michael McLeod Editor in Chief mmcleod@ohlmag.com

What You CAN DO Don’t miss two key charity events in February: The 2011 Orlando Heart Ball, “Heart of the Derby,” at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando on Feb. 19; and the Menello Museum of American Art’s 8th annual gala, “An Evening With Fabulous Friends,” at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes on Feb. 26.

What’s ON DECK Our annual spring fashion preview and the latest cosmetic surgery trends. Plus, find out how changing your style can literally change your life with inspiring makeovers for three local women who beat the odds.

Correction Credit was omitted for freelance writer Kristen Manieri’s contribution to a segment of January’s wellness feature, “Staying In Top Shape, Head to Knee to Toe.”

FEBRUARY 2011

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& Michael McleOD Editor in Chief leiGh DUNcaN Senior & Managing Editor scOtt jOseph Editor at Large laURa BlUhM Art & Production Director NicOle pasKOWsKY Editorial Assistant allisON MilleR, GiaNNa WYatt Editorial Interns MaRiaNNe ilUNGa, BOB MORRis, elsie KNaB NaNcY pate Contributors GReG jOhNstON, Rafael tONGOl, allaN saltMaN Contributing Photographers Editorial: press@ohlmag.com

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MiMi BRieGel Publishing Director Director of Sales lORNa OsBORN Senior Associate Publisher Director of Marketing & Public Relations NicOle ReGO Associate Publisher

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Copyright 2011 by Florida Home Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part prohibited without written permission of the copyright holder. ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE (USPS 000-140) (Vol. 12/Issue No. 2) is published monthly by Florida Home Media LLC, 2301 Lucien Way, Ste 190, Maitland, FL 32751.

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At Morse Museum, Tiffany’s Gilded Xanadu is Reborn The sTained-glass creaTions of louis comforT

Tiffany have been dazzling visitors to the Morse Museum of American Art for more than 50 years. But they’ve done so mainly on their own, displayed in the Winter Park museum as soloists. This month, visitors will get a glimpse of how Tiffany transformed the finest among them into a sublime ensemble.

A new, 6,000-square-foot wing of the museum evokes the terrace, dining room, living room and fountain court of Laurelton Hall, Tiffany’s vanished Long Island country home, a gilded Xanadu filled with his colorful creations, including his decorating studio’s most lavish, painterly stained glass windows.

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ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE

West Side Story

Feb. 1-6 Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre The Jets are in gear. The Sharks are back in the swim. And there’s always a place for two starcrossed lovers in this modern-day version of Romeo and Juliet . orlandovenues.net

Although those windows helped make Tiffany the decorative darling of his day, his work fell out of fashion following his death in 1933. When Laurelton Hall burned to the ground in 1957, truckloads of now-priceless treasures were rescued by former Rollins College President Hugh McKean, who was once a Tiffany student, and his wife Jeannette Genius McKean.

The $5 million wing, which opens to the public Feb. 19, is connected to the museum by a long hallway flanked on one side by the glass-enclosed Daffodil Terrace, a reconstructed garden enclave from the estate, where eight marble columns topped by bouquets of glass daffodils supported a coffered ceiling and a

Tables Extraordinaire

Feb. 3-5 Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church A museum-worthy array of “tablescapes” with artistic placesettings displayed along with an Aegean marketplace with Greek food and pastries. Proceeds benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities. Opa! htgocorlando.org

Celtic Woman: Songs from the Heart

Feb. 5 Amway Center An ensemble of Celtic violinists and vocalists blend ancient melodies with modern ones. The concept, spanning continents and centuries, is working well enough that the group is on its fifth album. amwaycenter.com FEBRUARY 2011

photoS: (left and right) the CharleS hoSmer morSe muSeum of ameriCan art; (far right) CourteSy united artS of Central florida

AgendA •

ArtsFest, By Land and By Lake ArtsFest, the yeArly extrAvAgAnzA thAt oFFers

roof of iridescent glass tiles.

Beyond the terrace are galleries filled with architectural elements and furnishings Tiffany designed and selected for his lavish home, including a mosaic-decorated marble mantle piece; a domed, leaded glass chandelier; and several exquisitely detailed stained glass windows that celebrate the beauty of nature.

The most stunning display in the new exhibit is a gallery that recalls Tiffany’s living room/study, illuminated by iridescent green “turtle-back” lamps hanging on long iron yokes.

(Tiffany, who struck up a friendship with Thomas Edison on Florida trips, was one of the first decorators to incorporate his friend’s astounding new invention – the electric light bulb – into artistic designs).

In the walls around the gallery, a series of stained glass windows have been installed precisely as they were arranged at Laurelton Hall, among them the Four Seasons, ingeniously wrought to depict summer, spring, winter and fall. “It’s as though the walls come alive,” says museum director Larry Ruggiero.

Admission to the museum will be free for four weeks following opening day, and several other special events are planned to mark the addition’s debut.

For information, visit morsemuseum.org. – Michael McLeod

Cars for the Cure

Feb. 4-6 Colonial Town Park, Lake Mary The need for speed meets the call for a cure with a classic-car show to benefit the American Lung Association. carsforthecure.com

WWW.OHLMAG.COM

What My Husband Doesn’t Know

Feb. 15-16 Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre Not exactly Valentine’s Day material, but rather a biting, visceral, dark-hearted drama about what happens when love is forgotten. orlandovenues.net

free performances and visual arts exhibitions throughout Central Florida, has expanded its reach this year to even include Orlando-area waterways.

For the 2011 version of the week-long celebration of local arts and culture, Orange County Arts & Cultural Affairs will be taking over the Winter Park Scenic Boat Tours for a day for a unique, open-air public art showcase.

Free ArtsFest events – there will be 220 this year, in 81 locations throughout Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties – will also feature Emotions Dance Company at Trinity Preparatory School; the Orlando Concert Band at both Downtown Avalon Park Amphitheatre and City of Casselberry City Hall; the Michelee Puppets at Florida Citrus Sports Varsity Club; and a “Instruments Petting Zoo” presented by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra at Northland Performing Arts Center.

All ArtsFest events are free and open to the public, and most events do not require reservations – just show up and enjoy. For a full schedule of events and more information on “Tickets Are Limited” events, visit artsfestFL.com.

– Michael McLeod

My Favorite Things: Music of Richard Rodgers

Feb. 19 Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre Chances are, his favorite things are your favorite things. Songs from the legendary musicals of Richard Rodgers will be celebrated by the Orlando Philharmonic. orlandovenues.net

ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE

9

AGENDA

Nudity is a seNsitive subject to

Kelly Stevens – for at least three nights a year, anyway. Stevens is the orchestrator of “Nude Nite,” a juried art show and exhibition that features not only photographs and paintings of people in the altogether but shapely sculptures and live performances as well.

The offbeat event is slated for Feb. 10, 11 and 12 at 503 W. Grant St. in downtown Orlando. “With a show like this, there’s always a careful balance,” says Stevens. “There’s a tightrope I walk to protect it from becoming exploitative.”

Nude Nite is not for the prudish.

There are burlesque performers, scantily clad acrobats and models wearing not much more than body paint.

Sure, it’s legitimate artistic expression

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ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE

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and the human form is a beautiful thing.

But it’s the undeniable naughtiness factor that furthers Stevens’ goal of getting attendees to view and buy art. “By representing the artists, Nude Nite can help create a collector base, which we need in Orlando,” she says.

This year marks Nude Nite’s 13th anniversary. As always, it’s being held in a rented warehouse that’s shaped into galleries and decorated to suit a theme. This year’s motif, aside from flesh, is metal work juxtaposed with delicate petals, laces and sheers.

Stevens points out that nudity is, after all, romantic – one reason she’s chosen a date close to Valentine’s Day, pointing out that Cupid “may be the most recognized nude in history.”

She even suggests the show as an icebreaker, great for a first date: “It’s the perfect place to meet the love of your life. It’s a very diverse crowd attracting ages 25 to 80, wearing everything from leather to ball gowns.”

Or, perhaps, nothing at all. For more information, visit nudenite.com.

– Allison Miller

FEBRUARY 2011

11/8/10

photo: courtesy nude nite

The Naked Truth About Nude Nite

9:46:43 AM

AGENDA

Forget the wizard. it’s all about the witches.

That’s the key twist at the dark heart of the Broadway musical Wicked, which will be back in Orlando for a fiveweek run at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre from Feb. 23 through March 27.

Wicked, with Grammy-winning music by Stephen Schwartz and a script by Winnie Holtzman, is closing in on its 3,000th Broadway performance. The score evidences folk and pop influences but breaks with tradition in both its lyrics and musicality – not for nothing is the show-stopping number called “Defying Gravity.”

The show, which appeals to young and old alike, charts the conflict between two witches who meet as young “witchlets” and grow up to do battle over politics and love.

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ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE

The plot is based on a modern novel, Gregory McGuire’s The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. That book is a prequel/ parallel novel to The Wizard Oz, the classic 1939 film starring Judy of Oz, Garland. Both works are expansions of L. Frank Baum’s fantasy, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, published more than a century ago.

In Orlando, the dueling witches will be portrayed by Jackie Burns, most recently seen in the Broadway revival of Hair, and Chandra Lee Schwartz, who appeared in the 2006 offBroadway revival of Damn Yankees Yankees.

For more information visit wickedthemusical. com. – GiAnna Wyatt

FEBRUARY 2011

photo: Courtesy orlando venues

Forget the Wizard – in Wicked, it’s All About the Witches

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AGENDA

Do you know what a “butternut” is? it sounDs

like a candy bar, but it’s actually a slang term, used during the Civil War, to describe Confederate soldiers. Some Johnny Rebs dyed their own uniforms with a homespun concoction made from acorns and the bark of the walnut, or butternut, tree. The dye turned the material light tan instead of light gray.

You’ll have the chance to learn about those iconic uniforms – and even slip into one for a moment – at the Orange County Regional Historical Society’s “Florida in the Civil War” exhibit, which opens Feb. 5.

Florida’s role in the epic conflict is often overlooked, says Cynthia Cardona Melendez, the center’s curator of collections. “Florida was instrumental and provided cattle and salt to the Confederacy,” she notes.

“But there were only two battles fought here.”

Displays will showcase photographs and artifacts from the era as well as interactive stations where guests can listen to poignant recorded versions of letters written by soldiers and their loved ones.

For more information, visit thehistorycenter.org.

– Allison Miller

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ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE

FEBRUARY 2011

photo: Courtesy florida department of state state library & arChives of florida

Battles, Butternuts and Florida During the Civil War

At the Ballet, a Battle is Back Photo: michael cairns, wet orange studio, inc.

In movIe theaters, sequels are

as common as popcorn tubs. You just don’t expect to run across either of them at the ballet. Enter Battle of the Sexes II. The production, slated for Feb. 11-13 at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre, is a follow-up to last year’s hugely successful Battle of the Sexes, which was choreographed for the Orlando Ballet by its director, Robert Hill.

Title notwithstanding, the “battle” isn’t about conflict between the genders.

Instead, it’s about the rigid constraints of traditional ballet versus the broader appeal of more contemporary dance forms, a tension Hill explored last time around by infusing old-school ballet with mod-

WWW.OHLMAG.COM

ern styles and a contemporary score.

“A big part of my mission as a ballet director and choreographer is to make ballet relevant in the world we live in today,” says Hill. “Battle II will be a continuation of that mission.”

Hill says that some elements from last year will be re-staged this time around.

And he promises some surprise cameos performing new choreography. So, the war rages on – and this year may not be the end of it.

“It’s possible,” Hill says, “that this could lead to a third battle next year.”

For more information, visit orlandoballet.org. – GiAnna Wyatt

ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE

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Tiffany Girls, Killer Storm Fodder for Two New Books

in Chicago. “In 1893 the Tiffany made a A tragic hurricane name of Louis Comfort Tiffany will be on the lips name for himself and a mystery of millions!’’ he proclaims. as an American rendered in He tells Clara to find more master of stained stained glass women to work on the glass, drawing ininspire novels chapel – which, by the way, spiration for his designs did indeed make Tiffany a from nature’s brilliant with Florida ties. darling of the monied class hues. Thanks to Winter and has been preserved and reconstructed as Park’s Morse Museum of Art, which recently one of the highlights at the Morse. expanded its world-class Tiffany collection, Tiffany initially hired young women because Orlando-area residents are particularly familof a strike by an all-male union. He insisted iar with his accomplishments. that the women remain single while in his emNow, with Clara and Mr. Tiffany (Random ploy. Vreeland deftly weaves this background House), novelist Susan Vreeland has concocted information into her protagonist’s drama. an intriguing backstory to the iconic Tiffany Clara devotes herself to assembling a core of lamps, deriving inspiration from the recently art students and talented immigrants to work discovered letters of Clara Driscoll, who was a for Tiffany, advising them that the craft is a leading designer for Tiffany’s early 20th-centudemanding one: “You have to love it enough ry stained-glass studio. to forgo all other loves, including men.’’

Some art scholars have suggested that Over the years, Clara is courted by various Driscoll, who headed up a largely unheraldmen while living at a bohemian boarding house ed female workforce known as the “Tiffany full of artists, actors and writers. The battle beGirls,” was responsible for the breakthrough tween her art and her heart gives the first-peridea of leaded-glass lampshades with natureson narrative of the novel most of its tension. As based themes. She certainly played an integral imagined by Vreeland, Clara is a woman ahead part in their design and execution. of her time in some ways as she confronts prejuIt is 1892 as the book begins, and Tiffany, dices at the union-dominated studio. exuberant and bombastic, is delighted to have Vreeland’s exposition about the meticulous Clara at work on his latest project – a Byzantine aspects of the stained glass craft can grow tirechapel for the World’s Colombian Exposition

by Nancy Pate

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ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE

FEbRUARy 2011

COVER: (tOp) COURtESY RandOm hOUSE; (bOttOm) COURtESY thE haChEttE bOOk gROUp

ouis Comfort

some; far more engaging are the conversations between Clara and her mercurial employer, whose talents and ambitions exceed his business expertise. Reading the book made me want to head over to the Morse and marvel again at its collected Tiffany masterpieces. I’ll wonder if Tiffany really threw a gold piece in the molten glass to make the purest red. And did he design that daffodil – or did Clara?

 Late summer, 1935. On board a train barreling through the North Florida wilderness, World War I vet Arlen looks into the eyes of his fellow Conservation Corps workers and sees swirling smoke, a sure sign of impending death. But he can only convince his young friend Paul that

his premonition is the real thing, and so the two, to the jeers of the others, stay behind at a remote station.

The train continues to the Florida Keys – and straight into the path of the infamous Labor Day hurricane that killed thousands.

By the time Arlen and Paul hear the dreadful news, they’ve taken refuge at an isolated boarding house run by the beautiful and secretive Rebecca Cady. But the storm is not the only threat at Cypress House. A powerful judge and a conniving sheriff are intent on making their stay a short one with the help of a murderous swamp-rat family. Neither Arlen nor Paul wants to leave Rebecca alone, especially after a traveling salesman is incinerated in his car.

Michael Koryta expertly mixes Florida

history, backwoods Depression-era adventure and betrayal with a tinge of the supernatural in The Cypress House (Little, Brown), which is even better than last year’s So Cold the River. It’s as if Peter Matthiessen’s Mister Watson met Stephen King in the swampy, fetid frontier of corruption and poked a nest of water moccasins.

Intense and atmospheric, the novel has the momentum of that doomed train as its characters try to outwit fate – and smoke gets in their eyes. l Nancy Pate is an author of southern-themed mysteries and a long-time book reviewer, including nearly two decades for the Orlando Sentinel. Her column appears courtesy of her books blog, “On a Clear Day I Can Read Forever,” located online at patebooks. wordpress.com.

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STYLE

Princess Brides

From traditional to contemporary or second bride to destination, here are some of the perfect dresses for any style wedding.

Style Editor: Leigh Duncan Wardrobe Styling: Marianne Ilunga, stylissima.com Hair & Makeup: Elsie Knab, elsieknab.com Photographs: Rafael Tongol, i2eyestudio.com

ON THE COVER: THE NEW TRADITIONAL DRESS Model Martine Gutierrez, of BMG Models & Talent in Orlando, in a strapless, butterscotch St. Pucchi ball gown with a crystal bodice, a flower-tulled skirt and a semi-chapel train, $6,950, from The Collection, Winter Park; a yellow diamond ring, $12,300, and platinum and diamond earrings, $21,125, both from Tiffany & Co., The Mall at Millenia; and a a diamond tennis bracelet, $36,000, and diamond wedding band, $18,000, both from Be On Park, Winter Park. Hancock and Moore Chair, $1,999, from Robb & Stucky, Altamonte Springs.

SHORT AND SASSY: THE NEW CONTEMPORARY DRESS Short, strapless, ivory Platinum Collection dress with trumpet skirt, $2,995, and a feather and rose barrette, $462, from Priscilla of Boston, Orlando; a white gold and diamond bangle, starting at $4,410, from Be On Park, Winter Park; and a white gold bangle, $9,000, platinum and diamond earrings, $21,125, a necklace, $30,900, and an engagement ring, starting at $45,200, all from Tiffany & Co., The Mall at Millenia.

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CLASSIC JEWELRY FOR CONTEMPORARY BRIDES Model Kelly Martin, of BMG Models & Talent in Orlando, is wearing a contemporary, strapless gown with pockets, $2,375, and a crystal-scalloped tulle veil, $650, from Priscilla of Boston, Orlando; a crystal headband, $890, from The Collection, Winter Park; a platinum diamond Bubbles necklace, $30,900, a white gold bangle, $9,000, and a Platinum Embrace engagement ring, starting at $45,200, all from Tiffany & Co., The Mall at Millenia; an A. Link diamond wedding ring, $18,000, a 42-diamond tennis bracelet, $36,000, and sapphire and diamond engagement ring, $16,200, with coordinating earrings, $4,250, all from Be On Park, Winter Park.

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STYLE THE SENSUAL SECOND BRIDE Kelly is wearing an embroidered and bejeweled Monique Lhuillier ivory organza trumpet gown with a beaded corset, $11,500, from The Collection, Winter Park; platinum and diamond earrings, $21,125, from Tiffany & Co., The Mall at Millenia; and a 42-diamond tennis bracelet, $36,000, sapphire and diamond engagement ring, $16,200, and a 15-diamond wedding band, $18,000, all from Be On Park, Winter Park.

THE SOPHISTICATED SECOND BRIDE Martine is wearing a sheer, ivory Monique Lhuillier 3/4-sleeve trumpet gown with Chantilly lace, $6,380, from The Collection, Winter Park; a platinum and diamond necklace, $30,900, earrings, $21,125, engagement ring, starting at $45,200, and a whitegold bangle, $9,000, all from Tiffany & Co. The Mall at Millenia; and a diamond wedding band, $18,000, from Be On Park in Winter Park. Floral arrangement from Lee James Floral Designs in Orlando.

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CONTEMPORARY-DESTINATION DRESS: THE NEW BOLERO VEIL Martine is wearing a Reem Acra rouched gown with silk chiffon bodice, 3-D flowers and Swarovski crystals, $4,190, and a matching contemporary bolero veil, $1,460, both from The Collection, Winter Park; and Steven Richards sliced raw-diamond earrings, $3,885, Penny Preville diamond bangles, $4,410 to $5,995, an A. Link diamond wedding band, $18,000, and an oval diamond engagement ring, price upon request, all from Be On Park, Winter Park.

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STYLE CONTEMPORARY JEWELRY FOR A DESTINATION DRESS Martine echoes old Hollywood glamour, wearing a Vineyard Collection slim-fitted, oneshoulder gown with a cap sleeve and silk-satin chiffon bodice $1,975, from Priscilla of Boston, Orlando; a Platinum Embrace engagement ring, starting at $45,200, Tiffany & Co., The Mall at Millenia; and a Roberto Coin gold and diamond Cobra bracelet, $18,600, yellow gold and diamond chandelier earrings, $8,200, and a yellow gold and diamond statement ring, $15,200, all from Be On Park, Winter Park.

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The timeless TRADITIONAL PRINCESS BRIDE Kelly is regal in an ivory, strapless, silk-satin Platinum Collection full-bottom ball gown with beaded and embroidered bodice and trim, $8,975, a Swarovski-crystal-scalloped tulle veil, $650, and a Maria Elena Filigree and Swarovski crystal clutch, $1,350, all from Priscilla of Boston, Orlando; platinum and diamond Fleur de Lis earrings, $21,125, from Tiffany & Co., The Mall at Millenia; and an emeraldcut diamond ring, price upon request, an A. Link 42-diamond tennis bracelet, $36,000, a diamond tennis necklace, $26,000, and a 15-diamond wedding band, $18,000, all from Be On Park, Winter Park.

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5 MINUTES WITH

Relationship Expert John Gottman

A psychologist studied marriages for 35 years – and discovered a formula for success.

I

f there’s one thing author and psychologist

John Gottman hates, it’s self-appointed relationship experts who dole out advice without doing their homework. That includes – gasp! – Oprah.

Any opinion Gottman has about relationships is based on insights gleaned from his 35 years of meticulous research involving more than 3,000 married couples.

Gottman and his team shadowed some of those couples for years, not only interviewing them but watching them interact, even hooking them up to monitors to chart changes in their metabolisms during interviews and arguments.

He claims that after watching a couple interact for just five minutes, he can determine with 90 percent accuracy whether or not they’ll wind up getting divorced.

Gottman is a professor of psychology at the University of Washington and cofounder of The Gottman Institute, which conducts relationship research and trains marriage counselors. He’ll be at Rollins College this month to give two free lectures about what couples can do to create fulfilling, long-lasting relationships.

One lecture is based on his best-selling 1999 book, Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work. Another is based on a

book he just completed, The Science of Trust & Betrayal.

Gottman was in his Seattle office and in the midst of proofreading the galleys of that book when Orlando Home & Leisure caught up with him for a telephone interview.

Q: so, What haVe you got against oprah Winfrey?

A: I often say that when I first start-

ed doing this research as a graduate student, what my colleague and I had going for us was profound ignorance. But we were curious.

That’s why you do research.

When we started out, I made myself write down how I thought things were going to turn out. And later, when I compared my original thinking with what we discovered from our research, it turned out I was wrong 60 percent of the time.

That’s the problem with people like Oprah and Doctor Phil. They think they already know the answers, and they don’t bother to do the research to find out if they’re right or wrong.

There was a guy named George Bach who wrote a best-seller claiming that the problem in marriage was that partners didn’t air their

by Michael McLeod

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5 MINUTES WITH

resentments, and that they’d feel better if they’d occasionally whack each other with foam rubber bats for an hour or so. He couldn’t have been more wrong. When research was done, it turned out that doing that makes things worse.

There was another book that came out that said not to cuddle and watch television with your partner because that will ruin your sex life. Wrong again.

can’t move anyone away from gridlock unless you can start talking about what money means to them, and until they start talking about the dream hidden within the conflict. They have to establish a dialogue about that dream.

Q: CAN YOU GIVE ME AN EXAMPLE? A: I worked with a couple. Each of them had a father who was

a financial failure. Both fathers were dreamers, idealists who exQ: WHAT SURPRISED YOU MOST ABOUT WHAT WORKS pected to win a fortune and never did.

IN RELATIONSHIPS WHEN YOU BEGAN This couple fought about money all RESEARCHING HOW MARRIED COUthe time. They had exact opposite ideas PLES INTERACT? about it. He was very conservative, conA: One of the most surprising things to me cerned about security. She, on the other was that each partner can be neurotic and hand, was all about thinking big, taking yet still have a good relationship. Freud said risks, becoming very wealthy. you can’t have a good relationship with anyWhen they began to work with me in one unless you mature. That turns out to be therapy they came up with this idea to untrue. Two neurotic people can have a great design a family crest that would combine relationship if they’re nice to each other and their individual values about money. For don’t push each other’s buttons. After all, evher, the symbol was the sun rising, to erybody is a little crazy. represent her idea that she wanted to create a bright future for them. For him, Q: WHAT ELSE SURPRISED YOU? the symbol was a lemon, to represent A: I thought, like a lot of other psycholohis core idea of living conservatively, gists, that solving conflicts was the secret. squeezing every drop of juice out of evWhat we discovered was that many successery dollar. ful couples didn’t solve their conflicts. What That family crest represented their mattered was whether they could deal with goal of honoring both ideas. They those conflicts with affection and a sense of merged their dreams. That’s the way out John M. Gottman, Ph.D humor. of gridlock.

I’m a lot messier than my wife. She needs the house to be very tidy while I can live in Q: IN YOUR RESEARCH, YOU PAID complete chaos and maintain order internally. I initially felt A GREAT DEAL OF ATTENTION TO PHYSIOLOGY – YOU superior to her because I could live like that. But that didn’t MONITORED THE BLOOD PRESSURE AND OTHER BODIwork. I’m still messy – that didn’t change. But now we have a LY REACTIONS OF THE COUPLES WHILE THEY COMMUdialogue about that issue. We can talk about it. That’s what is NICATED. WHY? important.

A: People weren’t doing that when we started out. But we wanted to gather that data, and we wound up discovering Q: AS A THERAPIST, WHAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT some very important things. If someone is feeling threatened THING YOU CAN DO TO HELP A TROUBLED COUPLE? in a conversation, nothing positive is going to come out of A: The most important issue is: How do you move people away that interaction. from a state of gridlock, when every time they talk about the I recently worked with a woman who complained she didn’t issue that’s between them they hurt each others’ feelings? feel sexual desire for her husband and assumed the marriage It turns out there’s a secret to this. And the secret is that it’s was doomed. She was blaming him. not about compromising. Often when a couple argues, it’s over But when she talked about this her heart rate was 108 beats a an issue that goes back to a dream within themselves, a core, a minute. That was an indication of a profound anxiety. So it was wish that’s so much a part of them that compromise is unthinkno wonder she had issues with arousal. Biologically, you are simable. It would feel like giving up the bones of who they are. ply not going to have a functioning libido in a state where you Often this dream has to do with money, by the way. So you are anxious and are releasing adrenaline at a very high level.

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The New TIFFANY Wing at the

Q: WHAT KIND OF REACTIONS HAVE YOU GOTTEN FROM OTHER PSYCHOLOGISTS ABOUT YOUR WORK? A: At first, they all thought we were

e Morse the new yo Opening February 19, 2011

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crazy. When my colleague, Bob Levenson and I started doing this research in the mid-80s, we were being evaluated for tenure. And I was told by my tenure committee that I was going down a blind alley. I was told that I couldn’t possibly predict what was going to happen between two people.

But that was what I was curious about. And Bob and I eventually discovered that you really could make accurate predictions – even just by looking at physiology.

The funny thing is that Bob and I weren’t doing very well with women ourselves at the time. We both had dates with very interesting women, but they were all pretty troubled relationships.

The Morse Museum’s new galleries feature the recently restored Daffodil Terrace and 250 art and architectural objects from Louis Comfort F ASHION Tiffany’s Long Island estate, Laurelton Hall.

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Q: DID YOU LEARN FROM YOUR OWN RESEARCH? HAS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR WIFE GOTTEN BETTER BECAUSE OF IT? A: Yes, in part. But it’s also just good

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TRUST, Bonding in Two TalkS Gottman will speak at the Bush Science Center Auditorium at Rollins College on Feb. 8 at 12:30 and 7 p.m. The subject of his first lecture is “The Science of Trust and Betrayal,� while the subject of his evening lecture is “What Makes Relationships Work.� Both lectures are free and open to the public.

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27 9:41:49 AM

D AY ’ S D R I V E

The Club Lounge at the Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne, is a sanctuary that offers convenience, camaraderie and a round-the-clock array of sumptuous treats.

Clubbing With the Ritz

Members-only perks include a tanning butler at the swimming pool, champagne on demand, gourmet dining and beachside yoga.

M

y fiancé and i decided to get away for

the holidays, but all we had in mind was a destination: Miami. Beyond that, the plans that Jeff and I had were hazy.

Since neither of us had time for brochures, phone calls or web searches, we looked for a turn-key trip, one that would virtually plan itself. That way our few days away would be only as busy – or as relaxing – as we wanted them to be.

Mark Ferland, general manager of the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes, recommended a club. And not just any club. This one, called the Club Lounge, is actually a series of members-only enclaves available at many hotels in the Ritz-Carlton chain.

Staying at any Ritz is, in itself, a special experience. But clubhopping through the state as a Club Lounge member, enjoying outrageous VIP treatment at multiple properties, sounded to us like being rock stars on tour.

When booking a Ritz stay, you simply add the Club Lounge as an option. The going rate for a club-level room varies depending on the season; while we were there, it started at $369 a night. What that gets you is a luxury home away from home: an exclusive inner-sanctum that features Internet access, free cocktails, five “food presentations” daily and a club concierge who’ll assist you in planning activities and booking reservations.

by GiAnna Wyatt

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The South Beach spa features a “Rhythm Massage,” which combines an energizing, cross-friction massage with the beat and

Photos: courtesy (left) the ritz-carlton key biscayne; (right) dan forer

tempo of Latin guitar and drums.

As we were about to discover, there’s an automatic and instantaneous bond among club members. Also, apart from the camaraderie and comfort, there’s a convenience factor. Because all meals and snacks are served at club facilities, you never need to leave the property for a meal.

We decided to try out the club concept at two South Florida properties: The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach and the Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne.

Our first stop was South Beach, an iconic, one-of-a-kind destination. Situated in the former DiLido Hotel, a hotspot in the famed Art Deco District, the beachfront Ritz-Carlton has been restored to its 1950’s style and décor. The lobby – romantically lit and stocked with comfy couches and lounge chairs – doubles as a sophisticated art gallery.

Stepping just outside the lobby, we were on the famous South Beach strip, standing on the urban edge of an international playground known for its dazzling style and wild nightlife. There were so many beautiful people that the strip seemed stocked with supermodels, floating along a sandy, sunlit runway that ran PM -beachside OrlHome&LeisureNOV.pdf 1 10/7/10 4:28 past trendy259-038 clubs and shops.

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D AY ’ S D R I V E

FAST FACTS: The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach

LOCATION: On the corner of Lincoln Road and Collins Avenue, in the heart of the fun and funky Art Deco district.

BEDDING DOWN: For extra pampering and privacy, there’s the exclusive Club Level on the ninth and tenth floors. The Club Level VIP lounge offers private check-in, concierge services and five food and beverage “presentations” throughout the day.

LOCAL FLAVOR: At the oceanfront DiLido Beach Club, enjoy lunch, dinner and hookah with cocktails. Bistro One LR offers classic bistro fare, as well as organic produce and seafood.

MUST DO: The Rhythm Massage, combining Latin music with cross friction massage techniques at the Ritz-Carlton, South Beach Spa. FOR YOUR HEALTH: A full-service fitness center and an array of outdoor activities, plus beachside yoga.

DON’T MISS: The Art Moderne-themed art collection on permanent loan throughout the resort.

RETAIL THERAPY: Lincoln Road is a thriving, 10-block pedestrian esplanade with eclectic dining, shopping and entertainment. Even if you don’t spend a dime, people-watching is priceless.

CONTACT: For hotel information, visit ritzcarlton.com or call 786-276-4000; for more on South Beach, visit the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau site at miamiandbeaches.com.

FAST FACTS: Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne

LOCATION: Located just 6 miles from downtown Miami, this posh but relatively small barrier island attracts more locals than tourists.

TRIVIA: Ponce de Leon discovered what’s now called Key Biscayne during his search for the Fountain of Youth; he christened it “Santa Maria.”

BEDDING DOWN: The Club Level is on the ninth, tenth and eleventh floors. The Club Level VIP lounge offers private check-in, concierge services and five food and beverage “presentations” throughout the day.

LOCAL FLAVOR: The innovative “Around the World” culinary experience blends global flavors at the resort’s four signature restaurants: Cioppino, Dune, Cantina Beach and Rumbar, the Cuban-inspired lobby lounge. The VIP rum lockers store private bottles, such as actor Andy Garcia’s Bacardi 8. There’s also a humidor cabinet with a cigar collection.

MUST DO: Have concierge charter you a boat and take a tour around the island.

See the historic Cape Florida Lighthouse and the downtown Miami skyline.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Hike all the way to the lighthouse and back on the Atlantic Walk; ascend 109 steps to the top and enjoy sweeping views of the ocean.

DON’T MISS: The Cliff Drysdale Tennis Center, the largest tennis facility in the Ritz-Carlton chain. Classes offered for all ages.

THERAPY: The Organic Coconut Series at the Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne Spa. OUTDOOR ADVENTURES: Key Biscayne is home to the 500-acre Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, which encompasses about one-third of the island.

CONTACT: For hotel information, visit ritzcarlton.com or call 305-265-4500; for more on Key Biscayne, visit the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau site at miamiandbeaches.com.

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Suddenly I felt dowdy in my pedestrian twopiece and confessed as much to a fellow club member, who boosted my ego and pointed me toward Collins Avenue and Lincoln Road, the epicenter of the chi-chi South Beach boutiques.

I bought a sexy, black-and-gold bikini at Dash, which is owned by the Kardashian family. The next day, I slipped it on and went to sunbathe at the hotel’s pool area, which is designed to look like a cruise ship’s multi-leveled aquatic paradise.

Although my Orlando inhibitions still gnawed, I was feeling more like a South Beach sort of girl.

Soon I had a pleasant surprise, courtesy of the club: a tanning butler. The Club Lounge concierge had sent a shirtless, bronze hunk equipped with Gucci board shorts and a European accent my way. Under his expert touch, I was suitably slathered with SPF and tanning oil.

I was all about the tan, the view and the shopping. Jeff, however, favored the food at the Club Lounge and yet another service provided by our faithful concierge, who made all of our dining reservations – and had the clout to make certain that we’d get prime tables.

If we were too tired to go out to lunch, the club offered a smorgasbord of sandwiches, sushi and champagne. Who needs a kitchenette in your room when you’ve got Chef Oscar Vides at your disposal with a mango sorbet?

During the club’s dessert/coffee hour one evening, another guest tempted me by suggesting an unusual spa treatment I just had to try. The hostess at the club made my appointment on the spot.

The next day, therapist Dayalis Gonzalez demonstrated what she called a “Rhythm Massage,” using hand movements that relaxed my muscles to the beat and tempo of Latin guitar and drums.

It was both soothing and energizing.

On the last night of our South Beach stay, the club concierge reserved a hookah table at the DiLido Beach Club, the only oceanside dining spot in South Beach. We sat along the sand, watched the sun set and inhaled the exotic tastes and aromas of apple merlot tobacco. It was an ethereal experience we won’t soon forget.

After the wildly upbeat tempo, eclectic glam and sometimes rather hedonistic street-side displays of South Beach, it was nice to arrive at our second destination: The Ritz-Carlton, Key BisFEbRUARy 2011

Coastal-Mexican dishes at the Cantina Beach restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne, part of an “Around the World

Photo: courtesy the ritz-carlton key biscayne

Tour” of themed restaurants at the resort.

Biscayne. This historically rich, tropical barrier island paradise is a favorite weekend spot for laid-back Floridians. It’s only 15 minutes south of South Beach, it seemed like a different world in attitude and ambience. Gigantic green iguanas roamed the grounds of the hotel. Palm trees and sandy beaches surrounded the perimeter, and the city’s historic lighthouse was walking distance away.

Our first night was devoted to a progressive dinner with a jetset pass. The club concierge set up an “Around the World Tour” through the resort’s four restaurants. And so we drifted luxuriously from Dune, a high-energy beach bar, to Cantina Beach, a Coastal Mexican-inspired restaurant with its own “Tequiler.” Then we traveled to Italy, or at least its approximation, in the form of Cioppino, which features a banquet-style wine room and tabletop telescopes for moon- and star-gazing on the patio. There’s even a constellation concierge to help you find your own lucky star.

Every club in the chain is different. At the Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne, a club outpost was situated in the middle of the beach, so that guest-members could enjoy a quick bite while sunbathing.

There was also a club lounge in the resort, where we booked

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a boat tour around the island and an appointment for a CocoLuscious Body Wrap at the spa. That treatment involved raw sugar cane granules and rich coconut oils to exfoliate, followed by a warm rinse and an antioxidant moisturizing body butter with mango.

Even though the trip lasted only a few days, I felt, when we came back home to Orlando, that we had traveled to opposite ends of the earth – and had never been far, all the while, from a place where everyone knew our name. l

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Florida

Wine Country Winemaking is a generations-old passion for florida’s vintners.

by Michael McLeod • photographs by Greg Johnston

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T

here is a place where grapes are grown and wine

is made. Winemakers trace their love of the craft back to fathers and grandfathers. Vines stretch to the horizon in crisply curried rows. When the grapes are pressed at harvest time, an unmistakable fragrance, somewhere between crushed roses and ripening pears, thickens the air.

It’s a wonderful place to visit, but don’t bother booking a tour because you’re already there. Though they’re so scattered and remote you might never know it, 26 wineries call Florida home, spanning the state from the Panhandle to Key Largo. And if there is such a thing as Florida wine country, Central Florida is at the heart of it.

Lakeridge Winery, the largest in the state, is just a half-hour drive west of Orlando, operating out of a Spanish mission-style sales, production and wine-tasting center on a ridge overlooking an 86-acre vineyard near Clermont. The winery produces table, dessert and sparking wines from Floridagrown grapes, turning out 1.5 million bottles a year.

Just a few miles away, at an agricultural institute in Apopka, researchers are trying to revolutionize how and where grapes are grown by developing a broad array of disease-resistant vines that would thrive in a sultry climate such as ours.

That’s the hitch. Florida does have an indigenous wine-making grape with a thick skin and a lyrical name: muscadine, which thrives here easily. But venerable European grapes with a more distinguished wine-producing pedigree do not.

Florida is not California. Grapes love it in California, where nearly 90 percent of the wine made in America is produced, and whose 12,000 wineries thrive in the rich soil, steady sunshine, cool winds and silky fog that favor the Pacific Coast and Central Valley regions.

A recent study for the Florida Grape Growers Association put the annual economic impact of wine and grapes in Florida at a hefty $895 million.

California is in an entirely different league: the annual impact there is $61.5 billion. But Florida does have at least one distinction over the Napa Valley crowd: a head start.

In the mid-1500s, French Hugonauts in St. Augustine were the first Europeans to make wine in the New World. This put them roughly 150 years ahead of the Spanish missionaries in California, who needed wine to conduct Mass and planted vines in order to make it.

Over the centuries, generations of Floridian vintners tried to grow winemaking grapes from vines brought over from Europe, but always failed.

Eventually, modern botanists would find out why. It wasn’t just the soil and the unremitting heat. It was an insect pest, the glassy-winged sharp shooter,

At Lakeridge Winery in Clermont, visitors to the gift shop can sample and purchase wines, choosing from among the 10 labels the vitner produces. The winery’s rustic, Spanish-mission style sales and production center includes a 400,000-gallon fermenting-tank operation. Lakeridge is the largest winery in Florida and its offerings are widely available in supermarkets and wine shops.

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which thrives in hot weather and transmits a bacteria that kills off susceptible strains of grape vines. This scourge is known as Pierce’s disease, which also decimated Southern California’s wine industry in the 1880s.

Fifty years later, Florida farmers with an interest in grape-growing and winemaking sought help from the agricultural sciences department at the University of Florida, hoping researchers there could breed a broad variety of grape vines strong enough to fight off the disease and survive in the Florida weather.

The fruit of their labor was a handful of resistant hybrids. Creating such plants, however, is a process that takes decades of cross-hybridization and relies on luck as much as science – a genetic rolling of the dice that’s not unlike breeding race-horses in hopes of creating a Kentucky Derby winner.

Two scientists at UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences in Apopka want to cut to the chase. Biotechnology researcher Dennis Gray has developed a blueprint for speeding up grape-vine cross-breeding. His colleague, Don Hopkins, is trying to inoculate grapevines against Pierce’s disease by infecting them with a weak strain of the bacteria that causes it.

Jeanne Burgess is cheering them on.

Burgess is vice president in charge of winemaking at Lakeridge Winery, operating out of an office decorated with her dusty collection of vintage Florida wines, most from small wineries long since gone. Like any winemaker, she takes pride in helping to create an exciting new wine that captures the attention of her peers.

You can see that pride surface when she talks about Blanc du Bois, a semidry white wine created from one of Gray’s most successful hybrids.

“I remember, very early in the process when we were experimenting with this grape, thinking: ‘We’ve got something here,’” says Burgess.

She was right. Blanc du Bois is named after an ambitious 19th-century Tallahassee winemaker and entrepreneur named Emile DuBois – although the running joke is to refer to it as “Blanche DuBois,” after the fading Southern belle in A Streetcar Named Desire. The wine tastes so much like a classic Sauvignon Blanc that when Burgess labeled it as such and surreptitiously slipped it into a tasting competition, it took a silver medal.

She would love nothing more than to see the UF scientists come up with other upstart Florida hybrids that could pull off a similar masquerade. In all these years, for example, a “killer dry red,” as Burgess wistfully calls it, has never emerged.

Meanwhile, though, Florida can always claim bragging rights for the perkiest avocado wine to come along in quite some time.

“You wouldn’t believe the flavor that comes out of that thing,” says Peter Schnebly, co-owner of Schnebly Redlands Winery, located south of Miami and north of Key Largo. He belongs to a generation of Florida winemakLakeridge winemaker Jeanne Burgess has a passion for finding new wines and a weakness for old wine bottles that represent the work of Florida vintners over the years.

At Tarpon Springs Castle Winery (right), owners Joe and Diane Marks import grapes from other regions to make “Old World” style wines.

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At Florida Orange Groves & Winery, three generations of the Shook family concoct award-winning wines not from grapes but from oranges, avocados, blackberries, blueberries, pineapple, mangoes, carrots, tomatoes – and chocolate.

ers whose inventiveness has changed the way consumers view Florida wines.

Schnebly moved to Florida in 1989 to grow tropical fruit such as mangoes, lychees, guavas and carambola. Seven years ago, friends convinced him he could make wine from all those fruits.

It took a bit of experimentation.

“With grapes, all you have to do is squeeze, and juice comes out,” says Schnebly. “If you squeeze lychees and mangoes, you get baby food.” Eventually he discovered workable strategies, such as the one he uses with avocados: He separates the oil that bubbles to the top, which can be used as a base for facial creams, and makes a dry avocado wine – with “a citrus nose with a beautiful lingering finish” – from what is left.

Other Schnebly wines are made from the carambola, or star fruit (“similar to a Pinot Grigio”), guava (“showcasing elegant bouquets of orange blossom, honeysuckle and Meyer lemon”), 38

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and coconut (“an oaky nose and refreshing hints of coconut and lemongrass on the palate, with a long buttery finish”).

Then there is citrus. Making wine from oranges and grapefruit in Florida is a tradition that goes back to Emile DuBois’ era and probably beyond it. The current reigning champions of the approach are the Shooks – Ray and Gladys, their son Vince, and their grandson Lance, who operate Florida Orange Groves & Winery in St. Petersburg.

The Shooks are a farming family from Pennsylvania who initially came to Florida to grow oranges. “We went with some friends on a winery tour out west,” says Gladys. “They had people tasting the wines, and I noticed a lot of people making faces and pouring it out. The guide was saying, ‘This is an acquired taste. You might not like it right away.’ Well, that’s foolish. If you don’t like it right off, why bother?”

The Shooks went back to Florida and resolved to make wines people wouldn’t have to work hard to enjoy. That surely is the guiding principle behind one of their latest concoctions: Hot Fudge Sundae Chocolate Wine. Their repertoire also includes wines made not only from citrus but from blackberries, blueberries, pineapple, mangoes, carrots and tomatoes. They have won 219 medals in wine competitions.

There’s no rule that says a Florida winery must sell wine made fEbRUARy 2011

VISTING FLORIDA WINERIES You can visit many Florida wineries to purchase and taste wine, tour the facilities, attend festivals and in some cases have a meal. Here are a few of them. For more information and a complete directory, go to the Florida Grape Growers Association website: fgga.org.

Lakeridge Winery & Vineyards 19239 U.S. 27 N., Clermont, FL 34711 Complimentary tours with wine tastings are conducted seven days a week. The winery also has an extensive wine and gift shop and hosts 12 festivals and a variety of other events annually. Its wines are available at supermarkets and wine shops throughout Florida. san sebastian Winery 157 King St., St. Augustine, FL 32084 A large wine shop and tasting counters are open seven days a week near downtown St. Augustine in a historic building that was once part of Henry Flagler’s railroad domain. The winery offers banquet facilities and a Wine and Jazz bar that is open on weekends.

from something grown in Florida. At the Castle Winery in Tarpon Springs, owners Joe and Diana Marks import grapes from other regions. They specialize in European grape varieties, including Pinot Noir, Merlot, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.

“I learned how to make wine as a kid, from my Uncle Tony,” says Joe Marks. “I grew up in the Finger Lakes region of New York. That was winemaking country. Every year, at harvest time, there would be a day when we would wake up and there’d be 30 or 40 cases of grapes left in front of our house. Every kid in the neighborhood would skip school that day to crush the grapes.”

The Florida wineries are far too scattered from one another to facilitate that sort of neighborliness. And they have a long way to go before they’ll ever challenge California’s multi-billion-dollar empire.

But they are linked together and to vintners elsewhere in the world by a happy, ancient cause that transcends state lines and centuries.

“There is a romance to wine,” says Schnebly, lord of the coconuts and carambola. “It’s a celebration of life. You drink not because you have to, but because you want to.”

Or as Ernest Hemingway wrote in Death in the Afternoon: “Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection.” l WWW.OHLMAG.COM

FLorida orange groVes & Winery 1500 Pasadena Ave. S., St. Petersburg, FL 33707 Specializing in tropical, citrus and berry wines, the winery is open for tours and tastings daily, Monday through Saturday. tarpon springs CastLe Winery 320 E. Tarpon Springs Ave., Tarpon Springs, FL 34689 Open seven days a week, offering numerous special events in a scenic setting, with a gift shop stocked with nine premium wines made “Old World” style. sChnebLy redLand’s Winery 30205 S.W. 217th Ave., Redland, FL 33030 The southernmost winery in the continental United States, located on 96 acres, encompassing a horseshoe-shaped tasting bar surrounded by tropical waterfalls. Catered events are held in Tiki huts surrounding a tropical courtyard. Open seven days a week. tangLed oaks Vineyard 1317 S.R. 100, Grandin, FL 32138 Offering traditional southern muscadine wines as well as international varieties such as Barbera and Chardonnay. Founded by the DaCasto family, whose roots are in the Piedmont region of Italy. Free tastings and tours. Closed Sundays.

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Christopher and Sofía LeCours

Benji and Ginny Rattner

I thee wed.

With this theme,

Calvin and Genesis Mickel

Pablo and Christina González with Lola

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PPPP THREE UNIQUE WEDDINGS REFLECT EACH COUPLE’S INTERESTS AND IDEALS.

by Leigh Duncan

PHOTOS: OPPOSITe PaGe: (TOP LeFT) anGeLa ROBBInS; (TOP RIGHT) SunSHInePHOTOGRaPHICS. COM; (BOTTOM RIGHT) keVIn keeLan; (BOTTOM LeFT) COuRTeSY unIque DeSIGn STuDIOS

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ost couples opt for

traditional weddings. Others, however, want to plan a special day that’s a bit – or maybe a lot – out of the ordinary. That’s what the following three Central Florida brides did – and their guests are still talking about it.

One couple timed an elegant, plateddinner, evening reception so they could roll out masks and candy-apple stations at the stroke of midnight on Halloween. Another couple honored their oldfashioned romance with a 1940’s theme evident in everything from the bridal party attire to the wedding programs and vintage-style photography. Still another couple celebrated a connection with nature during an eco-chic wedding, proving that organic can be classy and elegant.

Each theme reflected the personalities of the couples involved, but had to be brought to fruition with the help of wedding coordinators, family and friends.

The intensely personal experience of a themed wedding leaves an indelible impression on guests and participants, bonding brides and grooms and celebrating passionate and intimate connections.

In the end, what it all boils down to is symbolism: the creation of a one-of-akind, artful event inspired by the very things that make us unique.

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Man’s Best Man on your wedding day, you want to involve those who are closest to you. For many, that list includes man’s best friend. With the right outfits and a little imagination, canines can be entrusted with formal roles, such as ring bearer, flowerdog, bridesmaid or even best man – or best mutt.

Or, your loyal hound can simply take his place as an honored guest. If you want your best animal companion to participate in your nuptials, you may want to call in a specialist: Bow Wow Vows in Windermere can help incorporate your dog into your big day with class, style and peace of mind.

Rachel Holzer was already the owner of a successful dog-walking service, Dog Walking Diva LLC, when she created Bow Wow Vows. “I was a bride-to-be and couldn’t imagine Reesie, my treasured Yorkshire terrier, not being a big part of our big day,” she says.

So Holzer started calling pet sitters and dog walkers but couldn’t find anyone willing to take responsibility for handling an animal at a wedding. “I started swirling ideas up to create a service that would assist other couples getting married, as well as myself,” Holzer adds. “Thus, Bow Wow Vows was organically born.”

Bow Wow Vows customizes packages to meet the needs of bride, groom and dog.

Packages include special wedding-day grooming services and fashionable, high-end bridal attire.

Looking sharp and wedding-day ready, your pampered pet is then chauffeured to and from the event, and handled with loving care throughout the ceremony, reception and photography events. It’s even given a custom “Swag Bag” filled with treats and toys as a congratulatory gift.

“Getting married without our Victorian bulldog, Lola, was not an option for Pablo and me,” says Christina González. “That’s when our wedding coordinator put us in touch with Rachel. Her service is a lifesaver. We had an elegant wedding with Lola walking down the aisle and right by our side. Without Rachel, it wouldn’t have happened.”

Since Bow Wow Vows’ inception in December 2009, Holzer has participated in several weddings in Orlando and throughout Florida, traveling as far south as Miami. She handles dogs of all breeds and sizes as well as other animals.

Says Holzer: “When couples tell me that their dream wedding wouldn’t have been possible without our services, it lets me know that there is a need and we’re doing something sacred and memorable for people who consider their pets family.”

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OLD-FASHIONED LABOR OF LOVE

Christopher and Sofía LeCours Wedding Date: October 17, 2010 From the beginning, there was something old-fashioned about the romance between Sofía Segami and Christopher LeCours – right down to the antique ring Christopher gave Sofía when he proposed.

The Orlando residents met in 1996 at the University of Florida. They were college sweethearts, but broke up and led separate lives until the fall of 2007, when they reconnected on Facebook and a romance was reignited.

“The old adage, ‘If you love something set it free; if it comes back, it’s yours forever,’ is our story,” Sofía says. “Our friends, who followed our history, saw it coming before we did.”

In May 2010, Christopher took Sofía back to Turlington Square on the UF campus, where he proposed with an antique peridot ring that he and his daughter, Eve, had picked out together. The ring resembled a treasured toy ring that Eve had given Sofía earlier.

Christopher, who worked as a banquet server at the venerable Dubsdread Golf Club, 42

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had seen enough modern, cookie-cutter-style weddings to want something else for himself and his bride. Sofía, a selfproclaimed “old soul” who shared Christopher’s sensibilities, decided that staging their wedding in a different era would be just the ticket.

“The vintage theme honored our past, our personalities and everyone who knew our history,” says Sofía. “It was dubbed the ‘Labor of Love,’ because all of our friends and family helped make it truly unique, elegant and special.”

The couple was drawn to the 1940s because the decade combined high style with solidarity and sacrifice as the country entered World War II. “We wanted to honor those ideals, as well as the elegance of the time,” says Sofía.

Though the wedding was produced in Orlando, Christopher and Sofía chose a destination wedding equidistant for their guests: “Savannah’s rich historical ambiance and architecture fit our theme perfectly,” says Sofía. “The whole wedding party and all the service providers were from Orlando, but we all migrated to Savannah just for the event.”

Green dominated their color scheme: “It’s our favorite color, and it symbolizes fresh, new

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PPPPPPPPPPP life, love, peace, optimism, joy and nature,” adds Christopher, who donned a pin-stripe suit, a green paisley tie and a fedora for the wedding.

Sofía wore a vintage-inspired gown with lace and delicate beading and asked her bridal attendants to wear something in keeping with the 40s. They all obliged, with some finding beautiful pieces at local resale stores. “Our 1940’s newsboy-style ring bearer wore a bow tie, knickers, suspenders and cap, and held a messenger bag filled with our wedding programs,” Sofía says.

One of Eve’s teachers, Felicia Gorecsky, handmade her jewelry while longtime friend and local stylist Beth Doucette did her hair and makeup. Invitations were traditional 1940’s-style telegrams delivered to guests via messenger.

Bridesmaid and Florida Homebuyer Orlando magazine art director Toni Foster designed the wedding program, titled Best of Times, which was mocked up to resemble a newspaper from the era. It featured tongue-incheek tales casting the bride, groom, attendants and friends as Bonnie and Clyde-type characters planning a secret wedding. Foster also designed a period-appropriate wedding announcement showcasing a picture of the couple in front of Whitefield Chapel, where they were married.

A sleek, antique Bentley chauffeured Christopher and Sofía to the reception, which was decorated with such props as old typewriters and hatboxes. For photography, they called on two friends: Erika Barker, a former military combat photographer, and Angela Robbins, an WWW.OHLMAG.COM

established fine art, fashion and editorial photographer. Another friend, local animator and artist Quinn Holmes, provided the videography.

“Our images were far superior to anything we’ve seen,” says Sofía. “They were edgy, elegant and truly captured the time period and the essence and energy of our wedding day.”

In the spirit of conservation and reuse, bridesmaid Angela Leavell made all of the flowers and boutonnieres, giving each attendant a handmade keepsake. To honor her mother’s memory, Sofía was given a bouquet charm with a picture of her parents on their wedding day.

In lieu of a traditional cake, Christopher’s sister, Gin, designed and made cupcakes, some adorned with lotus flowers in the style of Sofía’s family seal. And rather than a guestbook, Sofía’s sister collected old postcards and asked guests to inscribe them with personal messages. She has been mailing to the postcards to the newlyweds at regular intervals throughout their first year of marriage.

Guests were also given CDs that looked like vinyl records, with covers designed by Sofía’s sister. Christopher’s compilation honored the couple’s decidedly old-fashioned romance with meaningful songs from various decades, starting with the ‘40s.

“Most of our guests contributed their time, talent and love to make the wedding possible. They felt a true sense of ownership and investment, rather than being mere participants,” says Sofía.

“It truly was a labor of love.”

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A MONTH TO REMEMBER

Benji and Ginny Rattner Wedding Date: October 30, 2010 October is an anniversary month in more ways than one for Benji and Ginny Rattner. They met in October 2008 and were engaged in October 2009. It only made sense, then, to go for a trifecta, with a wedding one year later on October 30, 2010, followed by a surprise Halloween-themed after-party at the stroke of midnight.

The couple met online through a Jewish dating network, JDate.com. Benji was in Colorado and Ginny in Fort Myers.

But they bonded instantly over Brett Farve, of all people, who had just left the Packers for the Jets. Originally from Wisconsin, Benji was an avid Packers and Badgers fan, while Ginny, with family in New York, cheered for the Jets.

They emailed and telephoned until Benji called an audible and visited Ginny in Fort Myers while en route to see family in Naples. The face-to face meeting was a game changer, and a longdistance romance ensued.

For a year, Benji and Ginny got together whenever they could, including an October gathering in Benji’s home state for a friend’s wedding. That’s when Benji took Ginny to Calatrava’s Milwaukee Art Museum, ran with her through the pouring rain and asked her to make a wish in the fountain. He was on bended knee when she turned to him afterwards – and she knew that her wish had come true.

“We didn’t meet like ordinary couples, so we wanted an anything but ordinary wedding,” says Ginny. “It had to be on October 30, 2010, at a destination where all our family could be together. And we were blessed with parents who wanted to give us the wedding of our dreams.”

Benji’s parents live half the year in Wisconsin and half the year in South Florida while Ginny’s parents live in Tampa. “So we chose the Waldorf-Astoria in Orlando for its location and grand elegance,” Ginny adds.

To pull it all together, they hired Jamie O’Donnell and Kristin Allgire of Phoenix Event Group in Orlando (phoenixeventplanning.com), who were recommended by the Waldorf.

“There are certain things you don’t mess around with, and this is one of them,” says Ginny. “Picking Jamie and Kristin was the best thing we did.”

The planners then orchestrated a classy ceremony with traditional Jewish elements and an adult-only reception with a surprise Halloween after-party for the ultimate wow factor.

“Ginny was adamant about a pinkless wedding,” says

O’Donnell. “So we all agreed on a purple, silver, black and white color scheme, perfect for an elegant affair and an unforgettable reception, especially going into the wee hours of the morning on Halloween. It was a great yin-yang, masterfully constructed to end with a bang.”

Orlando Rabbi Robert Leftkowtiz married the couple on the Waldorf grounds beneath a Chupah, a traditional wedding canopy symbolizing the home the bride and groom will build together.

Lee Forrest Designs in Orlando did the flowers and built the lace-covered Chupah with silver willow branches and pomanders of purple, lavender and white button mums. High and low centerpieces of purple stock lavender hydrangeas, ivory and lavender roses, lavender spray roses and purple lisanthus were arranged in crystal trumpet and bubble vases.

The Chupah was later brought inside and placed around the wedding cake. Ginny’s cake design, a unique five-tier vanilla confection with chocolate crème and Oreo filling, was executed by Lia Fairmont, the Waldorf’s cake designer, under the direction of Executive Pastry Chef Kurtis Baguley.

Ginny also surprised Benji with a custom-made groom’s cake in the shape of a University of Wisconsin Badger. The mascot was, of course, wearing a Packer cheesehead.

A DJ and a band, Skyline 407, were both booked through Day Entertainment and kept everyone dancing all night long at the reception, held in the Waldorf Grand Ballroom. Just before midnight, Michael Jackson’s Thriller blasted through the speakers, signaling the kickoff of the surprise Halloween after-party.

At the stroke of midnight, candy-apple stations and icecream bars rolled out, and masked servers clad in tuxedos and white gloves passed out silver trays of trick-or-treat candy bags.

A late-night buffet included grilled cheese sandwiches, sliders and Halloween cookies.

“The DJ kicked up the music and handed out Halloween masks, boas, sunglasses and tinsel wigs to guests to get them in the spirit,” says Ginny. “The entire dance floor was packed with costumed guests having the best time – and we’ve got the pictures to prove it.”

Videography and photography were provided by Orlando’s Pro One Video and Sunshine Photographics, respectively.

“The month of October has such a special relevance for Benji and Ginny, and we were able to design a wonderfully elegant wedding with a major wow factor,” says O’Donnell. “It was the perfect way for everyone to let loose, have fun and honor Benji and Ginny.”

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PhotoS: kevin keelan

Calvin and Genesis Mickel Wedding Date: March 2010 The stars were aligning, literally and figuratively, when Calvin and Genesis Mickel first met in an online group playing Star Wars Galaxies. The gaming evolved into chatting. Then, in 2007, Calvin journeyed from Minnesota to Florida, a state seemingly light years away, to meet Genesis in person.

Sparks flew and the couple eventually decided to marry.

When it came time to plan their wedding, these two celestial souls opted for an event in tune with nature, the universe and Mother Earth.

Calvin, a computer programmer, proposed to Genesis Humphrey, an environmental consultant, on Valentine’s Day 2009, after a day of snowboarding and what he playfully describes as “a romantic dinner bribing her with chocolates and alcohol – and a family heirloom ring.”

They’re both nature lovers who appreciate organics, sustainability and locally produced products. So choosing a theme for their wedding was simple.

“Our theme expressed a connection with nature fused with organic and spiritual elements,” says Calvin. “We chose March 20, 2010, because it was the equinox – the first day of spring.

We felt it was symbolic of new beginnings and connections to universal cycles.”

But who could pull off such an ethereal event? After searching the Internet for ideas and meeting wedding coordinator Heather Snively, founder of Weddings Unique in Winter Park (weddingsunique.com), everything fell into place beautifully for the couple.

“Heather was the only coordinator we interviewed who really understood what we wanted, and we knew she could deliver it,” says Genesis. “We wanted an elegant, eco-chic wedding – not the typical images of a barefoot hippie with flowers on my head.”

The ceremony and reception were both held at the Winter Park Racquet Club, chosen for its beautiful lakeside setting and WWW.OHLMAG.COM

its central location. The club also customized an organic menu for the Mickels that included organic wine, local organic fruits and vegetables, and entrée choices such as free-range chicken, sustainably harvested salmon and vegetarian dishes.

Calvin and Genesis also wanted to add some Zen-like aspects to the event. Stones, arranged in a galaxial-shaped spiral, served as place cards. On one side was the guest’s name done in calligraphy, while on the other side was an engraved name of the assigned table – Joy, Hope, Faith, Love, Peace, Unity, Wisdom, Honor or Harmony. The engraving was by Dusty Nutz Design in Ormond Beach.

Guests took their escort stones home as gifts, along with beautifully packaged tree seedlings from the Audubon Society – each indigenous to three varying U.S. regions in which their guests resided. “The seedlings also symbolized new beginnings, new life,” adds Genesis.

The flowers, provided by Greenery Productions in Ocoee, were another nod to spring. They included cherry blossoms, orchids and even dogwood blossoms on the wedding cake from Party Flavors Custom Cakes in Ocoee.

“The tables were decorated to incorporate air, fire, water and earth,” says Calvin. “Tall orchids from a greenery in Apopka for air, floating candles for water, and moss and rocks for earth.”

Instead of a traditional guest book, the couple opted for a Wish Tree. Greenery Productions provided a Manzanita branch that was set next to the cocktail area. “Guests were asked to finish a series of unfinished sentences or to offer words of wisdom to us, then hang them on the tree,” Calvin says. “We made a scrapbook out of the cards afterwards.”

Their memories were documented by international wedding photographer Kevin Keelan, who lives in Central Florida but works worldwide.

Calvin and Genesis both note that throwing an organic yet luxurious wedding isn’t as hard as it seems; it just takes a little perseverance and legwork. Adds Genesis: “It’s easier than you think and wonderfully rewarding to make such good-conscience decisions for your big day.”

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Resource GUIDE

rlando Home & Leisure has been a trusted resource for brides and grooms for more than a decade. The following pages list some of the region’s top wedding and event service providers.

CAKES

Anna Cakes 407-792-8096 annacakes.com

Annie Pies Gourmet Bakery 407-831-7288 anniepiesbakery.com

Tim Webber:The Coordinator 407-649-9190 thecoordinatorinc.com

Grand Bohemian 407-313-9000 grandbohemianhotel.com

CEREMONY & RECEPTION LOCATIONS

Hard Rock Hotel 407-503-2000 hardrockhotelorlando.com

The Mezz 407-704-6261 artfulevents.com

Hard Rock LIVE 407-351-7625 hardrock.com/live2

Loews Portofino Bay Hotel 407-503-1234 loewshotels.com

Harry P. Leu Gardens 407-246-2620 leugardens.org

Loews Royal Pacific Resort 407-503-3100 loewshotels.com

Highland Manor 407-886-6210 highlandmanorapopka.com

Orlando Museum of Art 407-896-4231 omart.org

Albin Polasek Museum 407-647-6294 polasek.org

Chocolate Traditions of Orlando 407-388-5471 chocolatetraditions.net

Bella Collina 407-469-4911 bellacollina.com

The Dessert Lady 407-999-5696 dessertlady.com Party Flavors Custom Cakes 407-578-2082 orlandocustomcakes.com

BiCE Ristorante 407-503-1415 bicegroup.com Bohemian Hotel Celebration 407-566-6000 celebrationhotel.com

Publix SuperMarkets Various Locations publix.com/wedding

Caribe Royale 800-823-8300 thecaribeorlando.com

Sprinkles 407-622-7202 sprinklescakes.net

CATERING

Hilton Orlando Hotel 407-313-4300 orlandohilton.com Historic Dubsdread Ballroom 407-650-9558 taproomatdubsdread.com Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress 407-239-3955 hyattgrandcypress.com Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport 407-825-1328 orlandoairport.hyatt.com

Arthur’s Catering 407-331-1993 arthurscatering.com

Disney Fairy Tale Weddings 321-939-4610 disneyweddings.disney.go.com

Puff ’n Stuff Catering 866-849-0805 puffnstuff.com

Gaylord Palms Hotel 407-586-2000 gaylordhotels.com

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Ritz Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes 407-206-2400 ritzcarlton.com

Charles Morse Museum 407-645-5311 morsemuseum.org

Cuisiniers Catered Cuisine & Events 407-975-8763 cuisinierscater.com

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The Peabody Orlando 407-345-4408 peabodyorlando.com

K Restaurant 407-872-2332 kwinebar.com

Rocco’s Italian Grille 407-644-7770 roccositaliangrille.com

Maison & Jardin 407-862-4410 maisonjardin.com

Rosen Centre Hotel 407-996-9840 rosencentre.com february 2011

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4:00:04 PM

Perfect match.

You’ve found the person who completes you. Now find the cake that completes your wedding. Our gi�ed cake decorators will create a masterpiece that exceeds your expectations.

Choose from our portfolio of styles, and we’ll work with you to customize every detail. Whether it’s textures and shapes inspired by your dress, or flowers and icings to complement your reception.

Go traditional, modern, or uniquely you. And, no ma�er the flavor, it will taste just dreamy.

“Dreams of You & Me” cake design.

Schedule a private tasting at your Publix Bakery or visit publix.com/wedding for more details.

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Wedding } } RESOURcE GUIDE

Rosen Plaza Hotel 407-996-9840 rosenplaza.com

Winter Park Racquet Club 407-644-2226 wprc.net

Wonderful Weddings 407-629-1849 wonderfulweddingsorlando.com

Greenery Productions 407-363-9151 greeneryproductions.com

Rosen Shingle Creek 407-996-9939 rosenshinglecreek.com

Universal Orlando Resort 407-224-5386 universalorlandoweddings.com

ENTERTAINMENT/ DJS

Lee Forrest Design 407-770-0440 leeforrestdesign.com

Universal Orlando Weddings & Celebrations 888-331-9108 universalorlandoweddings.com

COORDINATING & CONSULTING

Day Entertainment 407-601-3962 dayentertains.com

Lee James Floral Designs 407-897-5300 leejamesfloral.com

CCH Marketing & Events 407-228-1901 cchmarketing.com

Fusion Event Group 407-374-1612 fusioneventgroup.com

HEALTH, BEAUTY, & FITNESS

Just Marry!

407-839-3244 justmarry.com

FLORISTS

LeJeune Hair & Make-Up Artistry 407-625-9556 lejeune-pca.com

Waldorf Astoria Orlando 407-597-5500 waldorfastoriaorlando.com Wyndham Orlando Resort 407-351-2420 orlandowyndhamresort.com

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ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE

Phoenix Event Group 321-206-6318 phoenixeventgroup.com Weddings Unique 407-629-7111 weddingsunique.com

Flowers of Winter Park 407-975-4935 flowersofwinterpark.com Flourish Event & Floral Design 407-644-7474 flourishproductions.com

True Envy Salon 407-286-4856 trueenvysalon.com Primera Day Spa & Salon 407-333-3040 wedofaces.com

fEbRUARy 2011

FINDING THE RIGHT PERSON IS DIFFICULT. PICKING THE RIGHT PLACE IS EASY. Enjoy the timeless elegance of our newly expanded property including lush outdoor gardens, sparkling pools, a full-service spa, salon and much more — all complemented by 24 years of tradition and renowned service expertise.

Visit PeabodyOrlando.com or call 407-352-4000 x4408 to see why The Peabody Orlando is the perfect place to begin your life together.

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INVITATIONS

Maureen H. Hall Stationery and Invitations 407-629-6999 maureenhallinvitations.com The Paper Shop 407-644-8700 papershop.com Sarah Hanna Calligraphy 407-539-2586 sarahhanna.com

JEWELERS Be On Park 407-644-1106 beonpark.com Cartier 407-248-9886 cartier.com International Diamond Center 407-629-5531 shopidc.com

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ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE

Jewelers of Maitland 407-628-0615 jewelersofmaitland.com

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Fusion Event Group 407-374-1612 fusioneventgroup.com

Reynolds & Company Jewelers 407-645-2278 reynoldsjeweler.com

John Unrue Photography 407-629-5292 unruephoto.com

Rocks Fine Jewelry 407-226-3100 rocksfinejewelry.com

Katie Meehan Photography 407-574-4852 katiemeehan.com

Tiffany & Co. 407-351-3133 tiffany.com

Allan Jay Images 407-252-8094 allanjayimages.com

Sunshine Photographics 407-481-8425 sunshinephotographics.com

PET COORDINATING SERVICES

Caroline Johnson Photography 800-478-2895 cjphotographer.com

VIDEOGRAPHERS

Bow Wow Vows 321-331-4456 dogwalkingdiva.com

i2eyestudio 407-808-3533 i2eyestudio.com

Cinematique Films 407-810-0627 cinematiquefilms.com Pro One Video 407-852-0788 proonevideo.com

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PROMOTION

Let Prestige International Introductions take you from “How do you do” – to “I do!”

N

ever before has there been more emphasis on healthy relationships, family togetherness and emotional wellbeing as the necessary foundation leading to a road of lifelong success.

Yet with time our most precious asset, it has become increasingly challenging for high achievers to balance work, cultural and academic activities and the time available to invest in loved ones.

With that in mind, it is easy to understand why today’s most intelligent and successful individuals in search of a life partner take the greatest precautions and upmost care when choosing their mate: They seek someone who is not only attractive but whose philosophy of life, core values, key interests and goals complement their own.

For years, we have seen the appearance of practically every fathomable method of pairing individuals and individuals pairing themselves; from wellmeaning friends and family to singles parties to the Internet.

Undoubtedly, however, if you are attractive, successful, relatively private and a selective individual, you have found that the more you have to offer the more difficult it is to find the person who is right for you.

Discerning people today want more out of their lives and relationships.

There is clearly a special focus when it comes to the selection process for finding a potential romantic companion.

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Through our individualized approach, we will provide you with high-level, one-on-one attention during your search. That is what sets us apart. You 54

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“A matchmaker is never off duty... Prestige’s representatives are constantly striving to meet new members by attending functions of all types that specifically cater to the upper social demographic.”

FEBRUARY 2011

PROMOTION

are an individual – not one of thousands of classified ads on a website.

Intuition, experience and instinct are the basis of what we do, and how we do it. Just because you have clicked the same boxes as someone else on a survey does not mean you will connect with that person on a deep level required to fall in love. It is your subtle personality traits and nuances that make you who you are, and stir deep emotions.

We will be with you from the initial consultation and qualification process until the possibility of your wedding day or life long love finally found. Healthy relationships require honesty, commitment and, of course, compatibility. Our goal is to match you with someone who is compatible and ready for commitment. Our staff of highly regarded life and relationship coaches will guide you through the dating process to ensure that both of you remain honest with yourselves, and with one another.

Our reputation continues to blossom as an elite agency poised perfectly to unleash the powers of attraction. Prestige International Connections is firmly established as a sophisticated members club that the relationship-oriented set trusts because of its discretion and its commitment to you.

Prestige International Connections receives 90% of its business through referrals from happy, very satisfied past and current clients. This itself speaks volumes. We are your premier international connection agency offering an exciting, exclusive and discreet introduction service designed to bring you together with the love of your life, your best friend, your soulmate.

Our entire process is focused on revealing your uniqueness to create a solid foundation to grow your lasting relationship. Through our individualistic approach we will work one on one with you steadily during the entire process. Our high level of personalized attention dedicated to your search, we WWW.OHLMAG.COM

feel, is what sets us apart from the vast number of dating websites/services. You are an individual not one of thousands of classified ads on a website.

Prestige International Connections exemplifies each member’s individuality as this is the only way to create honest, healthy relationships. Prestige’s team is committed to work tirelessly until you have experienced destiny and

found the love of your life.

Many years experience creating unwavering connections personifies Prestige’s commitment to you. With one of the highest success rates in the industry, we still strive to hone our skills to better serve you.

New members continue to join us, but only after passing our rigorous qualifying process. In fact, we turn down 23 percent of those who apply, thereby ensuring that our members are the kind of people we are proud to introduce to you.

We are especially proud of our members who have successfully connected, and are now in loving, successful and rewarding relationships.

“Over the years Prestige International has earned a highly regarded reputation in the field of matchmaking by introducing successful and intelligent people to equally discerning life partners.”

“I invite you to call us today for a free consultation with me.”

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www.Piconnections.com

407-951-8801

163 E. Morse Blvd., Winter Park, FL 32789 ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE

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Wedding RESOURcE GUIDE

WEDDING ATTIRE: BRIDAL Brides by Demetrios 407-869-5277 demetriosbride.com

The Collection Bridal 407-740-6003 thecollectionbridal.com David’s Bridal 407-355-9811 davidsbridal.com

ALLAN JAY

IMAGES

Priscilla of Boston 407-374-2515 priscillaofboston.com

WEDDING ATTIRE: TUXEDO John Craig 407-629-7944 johncraigclothier.com

www.AllanJayImages.com - 407.252.8094

Men’s Wearhouse 407-523-7400 menswearhouse.com

COLOR US GREEN

Read Orlando Home & Leisure anywhere, anytime on your iPad, Mac or PC, with nothing left to recycle.

Sacino’s Formalwear 407-240-1515 sacino.com

STYLISTS

Elsie Knab Hair & Makeup 407-463-4528 elsieknab.com

Stylissima Fashion Consulting 407-404-1136 stylissima.com

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fEbRUARy 2011 1/14/11

9:53:29 AM

FLAVOR PHOTO: cOurTesy Disney

SCOTT JOS E PH’S CE NTRAL FLOR I DA DI N I NG G U I DE

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Guide to Top Restaurants

PLUS

Matteo’s, Lowe’s Good Eaton, The Tap Room at Dubsdread

Lovin’ the Lava Cake

California Grill Confection Offers a Recipe for Romance

REVIEWS AT MATTEO’S, IT’S HEARTY ITALIAN, AND PLENTY OF IT Matteo’s, a faMily-style italian

PHOTOS: allan jay imageS

restaurant out of New York, has opened an outpost on International Drive. The “family-style” designation means the food is brought to the table on platters to pass around rather than already plated. But in this case it might be more aptly dubbed “army style,” because you could just about feed a platoon with one order.

However, with the quantity comes quality. And most of the food I sampled on a recent visit was at least at the officerclub level.

My guest and I started with the warm mozzarella, made on the premises to order and therefore first-hand warm, not reheated warm, as well as milky white with a perfectly creamy texture. Mozzarella has very little flavor of its own, so the accompaniments of shredded basil and an array of spices added just the right notes.

Baked clams Luciano, so named for the Luciano sauce of plum tomatoes, white wine and garlic, were acceptable, though I might not order them again, especially with so many other appealing choices. I much preferred the Gabriela salad tossed tableside, and its surprising mix of mes-

Chilean sea bass, served on a bed of spinach and smothered in Luciano sauce, is one of the healthy and hearty seafood staples at Matteo’s.

clun lettuces, candied walnuts, dried cranberries and goat cheese, with just a touch of raspberry vinaigrette.

For a pasta course, we sampled the ricotta stuffed rigatoni á la Chris, which featured a sauce – named after Chris, of course – of veal sausage, removed from the casing and simmered in a pulpy marinara. I don’t know who Chris is, but I love his or her sauce.

The veal chop Voldostano was an impressive 15-ouncer, bone-in, pounded thin so that it resembled a large paddle. It was

breaded and fried, then topped with prosciutto and melted mozzarella and finished with a marsala wine sauce with mushrooms.

The quality of the chop was first-rate, but the breading was a bit salty, which was probably exacerbated by the prosciutto.

My friend loved her sea bass Luciano.

Yes, it’s the same Luciano for whom the clam sauce was named. The thick, beautiful fillet was sautéed in the sauce, which was just right this time, and served atop a bed of spinach containing more than a little garlic.

For dessert, I loved the ricotta cheesecake, which was about as good a version as I’ve ever had. The tiramisu and cannoli were also delicious. But the cream Napoleon cake seemed to be essentially all whipped cream, like a big bite of air.

All the desserts are made on the premises, as well as the sauces and many of the other ingredients, which are assembled and cooked to order. This is definitely not a pre-made, pre-packaged sort of restaurant.

Service was acceptable but could have The mozzarella, shown here with roasted peppers and asparagus, is freshly made at Matteo’s and spiced with shredded basil with cracked pepper and roasted red peppers.

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REVIEWS RAISING THE bAR AT DUbSDREAD’S RUSTIC TAP ROOM I’ve been recommendIng the

Italian trio: homemade Napoleon cake, canoli and ricotta cheesecake.

been a bit more polished. Everyone seemed friendly, but they couldn’t manage to address us in any way other than “you guys.” Tables are draped with nice white cloths, but the placement of television screens throughout the restaurant keeps it from being upscale.

I worry that Matteo’s portion sizes will scare off some people. Most items are available in full or half portions, but even smaller orders serve two to three people.

At prices ranging from $15-$20 (half portions) and $22-$30 (full portions), we’re not talking about over-priced food. In fact, it could be viewed as a bargain. But only if you’re in a position to tote leftovers.

Maybe it’s just me, but I hate to waste food. And I hate to overeat even more. It would be nice to have a single portion option.

Locals might be more frightened by the International Drive locale. Don’t be.

It’s just a couple of blocks from the Kirkman Road intersection, so it’s an easy off and back on to I-4.

The addition of hand-cut steaks has beefed up the fare at The Tap Room at Dubsdread, a lodge-style restaurant.

PHOTOS: allan jay ImageS

For dessert, a traditional

Tap Room at Dubsdread for years because of its Tap Room burger, one of the best in town for my money. But the rustic golf-course eatery in College Park also offers more substantial fare. And the menu has been beefed up, if you will, with a newly added line of hand-cut steaks and other items.

We have a number of high-end steakhouses in the area, and plenty of low-end ones, too. But that middle ground – the steakhouse that offers good quality meat without pricing it as though the steers had been hand-massaged with sakè – well, those are harder to come by.

Yet that’s exactly how I’d classify the steaks at The Tap Room. The rib eye I had there recently was $19.95 and included a generous portion of sautéed spinach and a healthy mound of mashed potatoes. No, it’s not the least expensive item on the menu. But we’re definitely talking value, just the same.

Matteo’s WHeRe: 5350 International Drive, Orlando WHeN: Dinner daily HoW MUCH: $$$ WHeRe to CaLL: 407-345-4747 60

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fEbRUARy 2011

REVIEWS The steak was cooked nicely, maybe just a tad beyond the way I think a medium-rare steak should be, but still sufficiently red in the center, melding tenderness with a coarser, steaky texture.

The mashed potatoes were real – with the skins blended in to prove it – and creamy, too. I was also impressed with the spinach; it hadn’t been cooked down to a melting point, with leaves still a bright green and dressed with butter and just enough garlic, including a sliver or two as garnish.

I started the meal with another new menu item, a caprese salad of thickly sliced tomatoes layered with milky white slices of fresh mozzarella. They were garnished with shreds of fresh basil and plenty of cracked black pepper. Wonderful flavors.

For dessert, I had the Key lime pie, which is made on the premises. It was a substantial wedge with a proper yellow color, just the right amount of tartness in the taste and little shreds of lime zest sprinkled on top.

I enjoy the atmosphere of The Tap Room. It’s just such a comfortable place.

The bar is integrally situated in the dining room – it’s called The Tap Room, after all For those still mourning the demise of iconic Johnson’s Diner, the meatloaf and cabbage at Lowe’s affords some consolation.

– so there’s always a good energy level.

If you prefer something a bit more low-key, ask for one of the tables on the verandah. With a beautiful golf-course view, it’s one of the best outdoor dining spots in town. And for those rare days when it doesn’t feel quite like Florida – like the day of my visit – there are overhead heaters.

THE Tap Room aT DubsDREaD WHERE: 549 W. Par St., Orlando WHEN: Lunch and dinner daily HoW muCH: $$ WHERE To CaLL: 407-650-0100

SOUTHERN-STYLE GOOD ‘EATON’ AT SOULFUL LOWE’S those who aRe still lamenting

the demise of Johnson’s Diner, which closed three months ago, should know there are other places to find good Southern cuisine and soul food. No, they aren’t as convenient to downtown, but they’re every bit as good as Johnson’s was in its heyday.

Or in the case of Lowe’s Good Eaton Soul Food Restaurant, even better.

In fact, Lowe’s occupies a small, ramshackle building on Kennedy Boulevard in Eatonville (Good Eaton – get it?) that’s reminiscent of Johnson’s before

WINE AND DINE YOUR VALENTINE When it comes to romantic settings for a Valentine’s Day rendezvous, are you high or low maintenance? Do you require candlelight and soft violins, or are you happy just holding hands in the drivethrough lane? If it’s the latter, you’re on your own. If you are interested in some of the places I recommend, read on, luv, read on.

K RestauRant 1710 Edgewater Drive, Orlando; 407-872-2332 Chef Kevin Fonzo’s broad menu ranges from haute to hearty, and it’s all served in an appropriately cozy setting.

Chez VinCent 533 W. New England Ave., Winter Park; 407-599-2929 Chef/Owner Vincent Gagliano serves classic French cuisine in a small but comfortable restaurant in Winter Park’s West End. Order the steak au poivre in your best accent and watch your Valentine melt.

Chatham’s PlaCe 7575 Dr. Phillips Blvd., Orlando; 407-345-2992 Intimate is the word that best describes the atmosphere here. It’s a small restaurant, and the sound level is conducive to sweet nothings. The food is as good as it’s ever been, which is why this is still one of the area’s best restaurants.

ViCtoRia & albeRt’s Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort; 407-939-3862 This fine-dining mecca is for those who want a quiet restaurant with only the soft tones of a harp in the background. Scott Hunnel and his kitchen crew serve up some of the area’s finest cuisine, and manager Israel Perez makes sure the dining room never loses its romance.

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its ill-fated move to pristine digs on Church Street.

A friend and I stopped in for lunch recently and were greeted warmly by the woman who appeared to be in charge.

Guests order food cafeteria style from the counter, choosing from among the entreés and side dishes on display in the steam tables behind glass.

I had a hard time choosing what I wanted from the baked chicken, smothered pork chops, meatloaf and oxtails, but I did manage to narrow it down to two. So the woman serving the food helpfully suggested a combo. I selected the meatloaf and pork chop with sides of rice and black-eyed peas and collard greens. My friend got the baked chicken and stewed cabbage.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone moan after eating cabbage, at least not in a good way. My friend, however, was in heaven and declared the cabbage the best. Ever. I suspect it was prepared in much the same way as the greens, which were pretty damn good, too, with a bit of fatback added for a meaty flavor.

The side dishes in no way overshadowed the entrées. The meatloaf was particularly tasty and boasted an appropriately firm texture. The pork chop reminded me of the chops I had as a kid.

My companion’s baked chicken wasn’t extraordinary, just tender and juicy, as it should be.

The Lowe’s Good Eaton dining room won’t win any prizes for design or décor, but it was comfortable. And everyone we had contact with was friendly and welcoming. When we finished our meal, they thanked us for visiting and invited us to come again. Which I certainly will.

Lowe’s Good eaton wHeRe: 429 E. Kennedy Blvd., Eatonville wHen: Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily How MUCH: $ wHeRe to CaLL: 407-647-7955

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DRINK LOCAL IN ORLANDO, IT’S JUST A SHORT HOP TO A bROAD ARRAy Of LOCAL bREWS Ordinarily, when i talk abOut

local eats in this space, it’s just that – eats. I’m all about the kind of locally produced sustenance that you can bite, tear and chomp. This month, however, I’m addressing locally produced sustenance that you can drink, sip and gulp.

That is, assuming you consider beer to be sustenance, as I do.

Orlando Brewing has been turning out local beers for nearly five years.

You can stop by any day at 6 p.m. for a tour of the brewery, which occupies a space across from the Amtrak station south of downtown Orlando. Or you can just sit and sip any time after 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday and noon Friday through Sunday.

Brewery president John Cheek says what makes his beers and ales special is that they are all certified organic, using only ingredients grown without pesticides, bioengineering or sewage sludge.

He’s loyal to local water sources, though. “They’re made with OUC water, which is the best water in the world for making beer,” says Cheek.

The brewery produces 19 beers plus specials. Some of the brews include: Blackwater Porter, Eagle Stout, European

Pilz, Olde Pelican and Pompous Ass. On February 26 the annual “Brewer’s Release” will be tapped. That’s a special creation from a recipe concocted and handcrafted by the brewer.

While the liquid produced there is local, the ingredients that go into it – other than that good ole OUC water – are from elsewhere. That’s because, says Cheek, barley is not grown in Florida and hops must be shipped in from northern states.

Besides the brewery itself, you can find Orlando Brewery beers and ales at 120 locations around Central Florida, a number that’s certain to increase in light of a recent distribution deal with Schenck.

Some of the restaurants that serve the brewery’s offerings include Del Frisco’s Steak & Lobster, K restaurant, Funky Monkey Wine Company, Portobello, Raglan Road, Seasons 52 and Hillstone (formerly Houston’s).

Also check out package stores, such as ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, as well as Harmoni Market and Whole Foods.

fEbRUARy 2011

LABELS: COURTESY ORLANDO BREwiNg; phOTO COURTESY DiSNEY

REVIEWS

CHEF’S KITCHEN CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKE CERTAIN TO IGNITE PASSION EVERY ValEntinE’s DaY, ouR

thoughts turn to corny cards, beautiful flowers, romantic settings and chocolates. Ah, yes. Glorious chocolates.

Sure, you can turn up with a nicely wrapped box of sweets or send one in the mail. But how much more impressive would it be to concoct something delectable yourself?

This chocolate lava cake recipe from the California Grill is a veritable lovebomb. If you serve it, don’t use the good china. Chances are, the combination of your thoughtfulness and the aphrodisiac properties inherent in the dish will inspire your significant other to sweep away the table settings and grapple with you then and there – either for purposes of passion or to decide who gets the larger portion.

If you decide to forego the doit-yourself approach and take your Valentine to California Grill, keep in mind it’s at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. There are children around. Get a room.

California Grill’s chocolate lava cake is worth

RECIPE FOR ROMANCE Serves 6

inGREDiEnts

8 1-ounce semisweet chocolate squares, chopped, or 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 2 sticks butter 5 egg yolks 4 whole eggs 3/4 cup sugar 1/3 cup all-purpose flour MEtHoD

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Lightly butter sides of 6 individual (3/4 cup) ramekins. Lightly coat with sugar, shake out excess.

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a trip to Disney’s Contemporary Resort. But, with a bit of skill and derring-do, you can make it yourself.

2. Melt chocolate and butter in top of double boiler set over simmering water. Stir until smooth. Remove from over water and cool 10 minutes.

3. Beat egg yolks and whole eggs together in large bowl; add sugar and beat until thick and light, about 2 minutes.

4. Fold in chocolate mixture.

5. Sift flour, then fold into batter, mixing until smooth.

6. Divide batter among prepared cups, filling each 3/4 full.

7. Place on baking sheet and bake about 35 to 40 minutes or until sides

of cake are set and middle is still soft.

Do not over-bake.

8. Using a small knife, cut around sides of cakes to loosen. Invert onto plates and serve with your favorite ice cream.

CooK’s notEs

You can also use muffin tins; recipe makes 12. Bake for 15 minutes or until set and middle is still soft.

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WHAT’S MY WINE — ER, COFFEE COffEE KLATSCH: bARNIE’S DEbUTS ‘POUR-OVER’ JAVA wine pairings here. But here’s a new twist: coffee and dessert pairings.

That was the premise of a tasting I had recently at the Barnie’s Coffee & Tea Company in Baldwin Park. It was the Orlando-based company’s way of announcing a new filtered coffee program, which will be part of a planned remodeling of all company-owned Barnie’s coffee shops.

The process – which is new to the Barnie’s operation – involves slowly pouring boiled water over grounds in a paper filter into a small carafe. Barnie’s is calling it, appropriately enough, “pour over” coffee.

Anne Valdez, vice president of coffee and tea (now there’s a title for you), conducted the tasting for me. She says the new way to brew takes a while to perfect.

But the result, she believes, is a more robust cup of coffee.

One secret to this process is to pre-wet the filter before adding the grounds. That way, when the water is poured over the grounds, it isn’t squandered by moistening the filter and gets straight to the grounds unimpeded.

Then, when pouring, it’s key to keep moving the stream slowly so as not to cause any bubbling or allow the water to burrow into the grounds. You want to make sure the water is distributed evenly.

To demonstrate the process, Valdez prepared a number of coffees for me and paired them with desserts selected from the pastry list of Citrus restaurant.

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The Orlando-based chain is introducing a new way to brew which involves slowly pouring boiled water over grounds in a paper filter. The result? A more robust cup of coffee, made even better when paired with the right dessert.

With the Java Kalisat, which is actually from the Indonesian island of Java and so comes by the name legitimately, she offered pumpkin pie. The Galapagos peaberry, which is described as the sauvignon blanc of coffee – presumably for its citrusy notes and not because it should be served chilled – was paired with apple cobbler. The Viennese blend was matched with a chocolate cup cake while French vanilla coffee was presented with pecan pie.

The coffee and dessert pairings were a cute gimmick. After all, who doesn’t like to end a great meal with a good cup of coffee and dessert? Instructing people on how to appreciate the flavor components of each and to contemplate the right match is an intriguing notion.

I liked the coffees very much – and for the record, the filter drip system does produce a terrific brew, though I’m more of the “give me my coffee now” type.

And I thought the desserts brought over

by Ashley Brown of Citrus were all very good, too.

But there was never an epiphany of the sort that happens when you taste the just right wine with just the right food.

If anything, the sweets tended to cancel out the flavor components I had tasted in the coffees.

Not that I’m really complaining. How can I, after a good cup of coffee – or, better still, a few of them? fEbRUARy 2011

PHOTOS: (lefT) cOurTeSy barnieS cOfee & Tea cOmPany; (rigHT) c. JOrdan HarriS

We usually deal With food and

DINING LISTINGS COMpILED by SCOtt JOSEpH fEAtURED LIStING

ADRIATICO

WHAT: A neighborhood restaurant in Orlando’s College Park.

WHERE: 2417 Edgewater Drive, Orlando WHEN: Lunch Monday-Friday; dinner Monday-Saturday WHY: For some reason, I always think of the restaurant scene from Lady & the Tramp when I dine at Adriatico. You know, the scene where the two dogs start slurping on both ends of the same pasta noodle and end up in a kiss. It isn’t nearly as stereotypically Italian as in the movie, but I like to think of this as the sort of place Tramp would take his purebred paramour to impress her, even on his limited means. There’s plenty of charm, and the food is good, too. Order the short pasta.

CONTACT: 407-428-0044

AFRICAN

Jiko The Cooking Place $$$ Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, Orlando, 407-939-3463 Jiko is the Swahili word for cooking place. Therefore, the full name of the restaurant translates to The Cooking Place The Cooking Place. Whatever. Jiko’s food may not be entirely authentic African cuisine, but it’s good. Be sure to try the ostrich schnitzel and the lamb shank, which, on my visit, was rubbed with a sauce spiced with berbere, a mixture of spices used in Ethiopian cooking. Service was about as good as I’ve seen at Disney restaurants. Menu knowledge was first-rate, and all the servers were attentive and prompt. Even more impressive was the servers’ grasp of the wine list, which boasts the largest collection of South African wines in North America.

Sanaa $$$ Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, Lake Buena Vista, 407-939-3463 The menu is African with Indian influences, but not to the point of excluding beef or pork. Look for those touches in the spicing. The food may be a bit more exotic than most people are willing to try, but it’s almost all done expertly. And you can’t beat the atmosphere, with a ground-level view of the grazing area where you’re likely to see giraffes galloping by.

AMERICAN

The Boheme $$$ Grand Bohemian, 325 S. Orange Ave., Orlando, 407-581-4700 The Boheme has grown into a more consistent finedining experience but now is trying to position itself as more accessible. Try the Kessler calamari, a silly name for a delicious appetizer, and follow with the lamb duet or the Chilean sea bass. The kitchen also has a way with scallops.

Citrus $$$ 821 N. Orange Ave., Orlando, 407-373-0622 The kitchen has improved greatly since the restaurant first opened and is now turning out some pretty tasty dishes. There’s a very popular citrus salad named for Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. Skirt-steak flatbread and the bacon cheddar burger are other favorites.

Dexter’s $$ 558 W. New England Ave., Winter Park, 407-629-1150 808 E. Washington St., Orlando, 407-648-2777 WWW.OHLMAG.COM

950 Market Promenade Ave., Lake Mary, 407-805-3090 There are three distinct Dexter’s, but all offer the same basic menu, which is un-ambitious but functional. Much more emphasis is placed on producing a lively atmosphere, which often includes live music.

For food, the pressed duck sandwich is a classic.

And the chicken tortilla pie, a tall, layered affair, is one of those things you feel guilty for liking but keep ordering each time you go.

Emeril’s Tchoup Chop $$$ 6300 Hollywood Way, Royal Pacific Resort, Orlando, 407-503-2467 Chef Gregory Richie has turned Emeril Lagasse’s troubled restaurant around. The menu now has more focus — and the food is consistently good. Try the grilled oysters or the salmon Napoleon appetizer. The scallops entrée is good but the shrimp risotto that comes with it is better. The grilled filet of beef is a study in tenderness. Manager and wine expert Jeff Kundinger keeps the dining room running smoothly.

HUE Restaurant $$$ 629 E. Central Blvd., Orlando, 407-849-1800 A centerpiece of Orlando’s vibrant Thornton Park neighborhood, Hue has been an important part of downtown Orlando for more than seven years. Although the name is pronounced hyoo and not the Asian hway, the menu adds confusion with its Asian touches. The fried oysters served in the sort of ladleshaped spoons served with Vietnamese soups are a good starter. There are more elaborate entrées, but I think the burger is one of the best in town.

K Restaurant $$$ 1710 Edgewater Drive, Orlando 407-872-2332 Kevin Fonzo, who turned this College Park eatery into a nationally known destination restaurant, recently combined K and his second restaurant, Nonna Trattoria, into one. The towering presentation of three fried green tomatoes layered with crab and corn salad is wonderful. The filet mignon is still a good choice, but

EDiTOR-AT-LARGE SCOTT JOSEPH HAS been reviewing Central Florida restaurants for more than 20 years. He is a past winner of the James Beard Award for food writing and also presides over a dining-oriented website, scottjosephorlando.com.

so many other things on the ever-changing menu are too. You can scarcely go wrong.

La Coquina $$$$ Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, 1 Grand Cypress Blvd., Orlando, 407-239-1234 La Coquina has been relegated to use only during Sunday brunch. But oh what a brunch it is, with a wall full of awards and accolades to attest to it. The various food stations are set up in the kitchen, where guests enter to load up on salads, soups, cold seafood, salumi, cheeses and such. When you’re ready for your entrée, step up to the chef’s station and place your order from among the day’s options. The chef then prepares it for you on the spot. No steam tables here.

LUMA on Park $$$ 290 Park Ave. S., Winter Park, 407-599-4111 Under the direction of Chef Brandon McGlamery, this stylishly chic restaurant on trendy Park Avenue has become a real jewel in Central Florida’s culinary corona.

The dining room can be a bit noisy. The decor is still modish, even after four years. And the automated restrooms with their sliding glass doors and confusing washbasins still annoy me. A fun thing to do here is make a feast of small plates, but if you want to have a full entrée try the flank steak or the black grouper.

Norman’s $$$$ Ritz-Carlton, 4000 Central Florida Parkway, Orlando, 407-393-4333 Owner Norman Van Aken is one of the founders of Floribbean or New World Cuisine and arguably one of Florida’s most celebrated chefs. Van Aken and the Ritz-Carlton have teamed up to present the sort of fine-dining experience seldom seen in Orlando.

The menu changes regularly, but if it’s your first visit, ask your waiter for some of Van Aken’s signature dishes. A dinner at Norman’s is pricey — it’s the Ritz for crying out loud! — but it’s worth an occasional splurge.

Park Plaza Gardens $$$ 319 Park Ave. S., Winter Park, 407-645-2475 Once upon a time, Park Plaza Gardens was one of the few fine-dining places in the area. The food was superb and the setting — an indoor dining room that had an outdoor appeal — was special and elegant.

Then it sort of lost its way. But now Park Plaza Gardens seems to be on a path leading back to its original splendor. The kitchen is helmed by chef John Tan, and he’s doing some wonderful things. Steak and fish are both highlights, but the crab-stuffed grouper is a stunner.

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DINING LISTINGS The Ravenous Pig $$$ 1234 N. Orange Ave., Winter Park, 407-628-2333 The Ravenous Pig calls itself “an American gastropub,” gastropub being a British term for a pub that serves more than a basic bar menu. This wonderful restaurant goes way beyond that. Chef/owners James and Julie Petrakis met while attending the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, and they obviously learned a lot while there. The menu changes regularly, but everything is worth trying. Have the pork belly if it’s available.

Seasons 52 $$ 7700 Sand Lake Road, Orlando, 407-354-5212 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 entrées with lots of flavor but fewer calories. 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. There is a second location at 463 E. Altamonte Drive Altamonte Springs (in front of Altamonte Mall); 407-767-1252.

Toojay’s $-$$ Various locations, including: Colonial Market Plaza, 2400 E. Colonial Drive, Orlando, 407-894-1718 Whenever I feel a cold coming on, I head right for Toojay’s for some chicken soup. The rich golden broth, with noodles or not, may not cure the cold, but it doesn’t hurt. Others go here for the big overstuffed sandwiches, potato pancakes and blintzes.

The Tap Room at Dubsdread $$ 549 W. Par St., Orlando, 407-650-0100 Finally, a good restaurant at Dubsdread. It’s Sam Snead’s-like (the owners here were involved in developing the Sam Snead’s Tavern concept) with an emphasis on simple foods. The pot roast and filet mignon are standouts, and if you get the Buffalo shrimp ask the kitchen to make them spicy. The rustic dining room is fronted by a wraparound porch that overlooks the Dubsdread Golf Course. It’s a lovely spot to enjoy Sunday brunch, and as luck would have it, the Tap Room serves an excellent one.

The Venetian Room $$$$ Caribe Royale Hotel, 8101 World Center Drive, Orlando, 407-238-8060 It’s one of the last holdouts to the not-so-distantlypassed era of fine dining. It’s pricey, too, but Chef Khalid Benghallem’s French/American food is very good. I enjoyed the appetizer of foie gras, which had two seared lobes layered in an alternating stack with cakes made with smoked polenta. My favorite among the entrées was the tenderloin of beef, two thick slabs of seared meat served with marrow, barley, rhubarb, chard, fennel strudel and red-wine reduction sauce, tinged with black truffles. For dessert, share the soufflé.

Victoria & Albert’s $$$$ Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Lake Buena Vista, 407-939-3862 This not only is one of the best restaurants in Central Florida, it’s one of the best in the Southeastern United States and could easily hold its own with some of the top-rated restaurants in the world. The cuisine, under the direction of Chef

Scott Hunnel, is creatively American with classical roots. V&A now offers two dining experiences: the main dining room, with its quiet elegance and six-course menu; or the chef’s table, with its own menu offering at least twice as many courses.

The chef’s table, previously available only in the kitchen, now is offered in the newly christened Queen Victoria Room.

Vineyard Grill $$$ Ritz-Carlton, 4012 Central Florida Parkway, Orlando, 407-206-2400 A hidden gem among the jewels, the Vineyard Grill does a better than expected job with its American cuisine of steaks and seafoods. Its Sunday brunch is developing a loyal local following.

BARBECUE

Blackwater Bar-b-q $ 3405 Edgewater Drive, Orlando, 407-447-9511 I prefer the College Park location to the South Orlando spot, but that’s just me. Blackwater does a little bit of everything. You’ve got pulled pork. You’ve got sliced beef or sliced chicken. There are baby back ribs and St. Louis style ribs. I liked most of everything I sampled at Blackwater. The pulled pork was especially good, moist and tender with a taste of smoke that made extra sauce superfluous. And the baby back and St. Louis style ribs were pretty tasty too. I especially liked the spiciness of the dry rub on the ribs.

4 Rivers Smokehouse $ 2103 W. Fairbanks Ave., Winter Park, 407-474-8377 Open a barbeque joint and the world will beat a path

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DINING LISTINGS to your door. And in the case of Four Rivers Smokehouse, they will then line up outside that door and wait more than 20 minutes to be served, with a minimum of complaining. Brisket is the specialty here, but spice rub tends to be a bit salty. The pulled pork is moist and comes in generous proportions.

CHINESE

Eastern Pearl $$ 5749 T.G. Lee Blvd., Orlando, 407-373-6888 This is the second location for the acclaimed Altamonte Springs Chinese restaurant, winner of more than a few Foodie Awards, including several Critic’s Choice nods. The atmosphere is more stylish and the food is more creative than at many other local Chinese restaurants. The decor is pleasant and so is the staff.

Ming’s Bistro $$ 1212 Woodward St., Orlando, 407-898-9672 Ming’s Bistro not only serves good Chinese food but also does a full complement of dim sum, including traditional cart service on weekends. Be adventurous and point to something you’ve never had before.

I had some very nice entrées from the main menu, none better than the ginger scallion fish fillets.

CUBAN

Padrino’s Cuban Bistro $$ 13586 S. John Young Parkway, Orlando, 407-251-5107 I’m prepared to call this the best Cuban restaurant in Central Florida. It’s really that good. A family operation out of South Florida, Padrino’s features both traditional Cuban dishes and some more stylized bistro items, and they’re served in a pleasant bright dining room. The owners are usually at the restaurant tending to the customers and making sure that everything is first-rate. And it usually is.

FRENCH

Café de France $$ 526 Park Ave. S., Winter Park, 407-647-1869 Café de France is one of the long mainstays of Park Avenue, lasting through its slump in the ‘90s and into the Avenue’s current revival as one of the area’s premier dining destinations. Locals love the quaintness of its small dining room and the charm of its hostess and owner, Dominique Gutierrez. The menu is less traditional French, but has some good points.

Le Coq Au Vin $$ 4800 S. Orange Ave., Orlando, 407-851-6980 Consistently one of the area’s finest restaurants.

New owners Sandy and Reimund Pitz are continuing the traditions of this venerable restaurant to serve some of the area’s best food regardless of cuisine type. The namesake dish is one of the best but the menu changes with the seasons. In winter the cassoulet is a treat. I really like that Coq Au Vin offers half portions of most of its entrées. It’s a smart thing both nutritionally and, in the current financial climate, eco-nomically. And the half-portions here are ample enough to satisfy.

THE KEY

$ Cheap eats, most entrées under $10 $$ Moderate, dinner entrées $15-20 $$$ Pricey, most entrées over $30 $$$$ Many entrées over $30

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DINING LISTINGS GERMAN/ EASTERN EUROPEAN

Chef Henry’s $$ 1831 W. State Road 434, Longwood, 407-331-4836 It’s a technical reincarnation of the former Chef Henry’s Café. Henry is in the kitchen and his wife, Estera, is still making the sort of strudel you’d commit a felony to taste. But this time it’s their daughter Simone who is the owner. Most everything rises to the level of the strudel, so it doesn’t matter what you have as long as that’s how you finish.

Polonia $ 750 S. Highway 17-92, Longwood, 407-331-1933 You don’t have to be Polish to admire Polish food.

You need only an appreciation for hearty fare whose origins come from the necessity to make do with what the earth and the seasons give you.

This is farmland food, Eastern European style, where root vegetables like beets and carrots and cured meats like kielbasa are used in abundance.

And simple ingredients like flour, water and potatoes can be turned into something as splendid as pierogi. This is the sort of establishment where something with a reputation as unflattering as a stuffed cabbage can be made into a delicacy that will change your mind about it forever. The small dining room is rather plain with white walls decorated with a couple of colorful Polish costumes and undistinguished paintings. No, this is not a fancy dining experience. But for those who enjoy Polish food it’s as fine as it gets.

GREEK

Greek Corner $$ 1600 N. Orange Ave., Orlando, 407-228-0303 It’s Greek, and it’s on the corner; you can’t get more succinct than that. But no corners are cut on the quality. All your Greek favorites are here served in a small unassuming space. I supped on the melitzanosalat, a dip made with roasted eggplant, and followed with a bowl of tangy avgolemeno, the chicken soup thickened with a lemony egg sauce. For my main course I had the moussaka, a big brick of seasoned beef, eggplant and potatoes topped with a fluffy bechamel. Substantial and delicious. If it’s a warm day — it’s Florida; the odds are in your favor — sit on the patio across the street from Lake Ivanhoe.

Mykonos $$ 2401 W. State Road 434, Longwood, 407-788-9095 Mykonos was part of a small Greek revival in 2000 when Central Florida, previously Greek deficient, finally started to get good Greek restaurants. Mykonos is one of the best, and was a recipient of multiple Critic’s Foodie Awards on my watch. Have the patatokeftedes or chargrilled squid appetizer, avgolemono soup and entrées of chicken Mykonos or the combination platter of moussaka, pastitsio and stuffed grape leaves. Even if you can’t pronounce it, order the galatobutoko for dessert.

INDIAN

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Memories of India $$ Bay Hill Plaza, 7625 Turkey Lake Road, Orlando, 407-370-3277 Memories of India is a delightful place with wonderful food served in a pleasant atmosphere. One of my favorites among the many entrées was the chicken saagwala, which featured tender chunks of chicken breast meat plus potatoes in a creamy curry made of spinach and spices. I also liked the lamb vindaloo, cubes of lamb marinated in a vinegary gravy and fEbRUARy 2011

DINING LISTINGS cooked with potatoes and pearl onions in freshly ground spices. Be careful: hot means hot. Order accordingly. And be further warned: food comes out of the kitchen at a snail’s pace. Slow means slow.

ITALIAN

Antonio’s La Fiamma $$$ 611 S. Orlando Ave., Matiland; 407-645-1035.

When Greg Gentile opened this massive two-story restaurant in a renovated family steakhouse, everyone thought he was crazy and that the place would close in one year. That was about two decades ago.

Why did it succeed? Simple: good food, good service and an atmosphere for everyone; fine dining upstairs and a casual deli down. Gentile is currently adding space to the upstairs bar.

Antonio’s Ristorante $$$ 7559 West Sand Lake Road, Orlando; 407-3639191.

Think of it as Antonio’s La Fiamma without the deli downstairs. The Restaurant Row outpost offers an elegant Italian dining option.

BiCE $$$$ Portofino Bay, 5601 Universal Blvd., Orlando 407-503-1415 Dinner daily. Dinner at Bice is not an inexpensive night out. But when you consider cost vs. quality, you’ll find that Bice is not overpriced. Just consider the restaurant’s signature dish, ravioli stuffed with beef short ribs and spinach. The pasta was delicately thin and tender ,and the braised meat inside had a rich fatty mouthfeel that blossomed with the sauce of mushrooms and Marsala wine. Absolute

heaven. Desserts are worth lingering over.

Café d’Antonio $$$ 691 Front St., Celebration; 407-566-2233 A smaller version of Greg Gentile’s flagship restaurant Antonio’s La Fiamma, Café d’Antonio is the consistently good restaurant for residents and visitors in Celebration.

Enzo’s on the Lake $$$ 1130 S. Highway 17-92, Longwood, 407-834-9872 Enzo is gone, but his restaurant continues on. Let your server put together an antipasti selection from the table in the dining room. One of my favorites is bucatini alla Enzo; costaletta di vitello, was as good a veal chop as you’re likely to find anywhere in town.

Go before sunset and enjoy the gardens before going inside.

Rocco’s Italian Grille $$$ 400 S. Orlando Ave., Winter Park, 407-644-7770 This old space, which has held Italian restaurants for decades, has been re-imagined into a beautiful restaurant. The menu is classic, and some things are done very well. The veal Milanese is brilliant. Fritto misto alla Ligure was a terrific appetizer of lightly

THE KEY

$ Cheap eats, most entrées under $10 $$ Moderate, dinner entrées $15-20 $$$ Pricey, most entrées over $30 $$$$ Many entrées over $30 Full review at scottjosephorlando.com

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floured calamari and shrimp and spears of zucchini.

The breading was crisp to a precision point and the sun-dried aioli — from Sardinia in the other direction from Liguria — was a nice complement.

JAPANESE

Hanamizuki $$ 8255 International Drive, Orlando, 407-363-7200 Hanamizuki’s menu features Kyoto-style cooking, which tends to be more elegant and formal than many of the dishes served in most American Japanese restaurants. It also focuses more on fresh vegetables and seafood other than sushi, although that’s also available. Don’t be surprised to find a predominantly Japanese clientele here. No small wonder when the restaurant’s website is written in Japanese (you can opt into a translation).

MEXICAN

Cantina Laredo $$ 8000 Via Dellagio Way (one block west of Dr. Phillips Blvd.), Orlando, 407-345-0186 The menu isn’t exactly authentic Mexican – the nachos, fajitas and crepes wouldn’t be found on many menus south of our border, unless it was a restaurant specializing in Ameri-Mex cuisine. But the food done here is very good, especially the guacamole, prepared tableside. The chile relleno is a menu standout, but the chicken enchilada is pretty good, too.

Paxia $$ 2611 Edgewater Drive, Orlando, 407-420-1155 Paxia touts itself as “alta cocina,” which is Spanish for haute cuisine. The food is a little more upscale than

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Celebrate Love the Entire Valentine’s Day Weekend at K restaurant

DINING LISTINGS the average Mexican restaurant, at least in presentation, but we’re talking fine dining in relative terms.

For an appetizer, try the queso fundido, a cheesy dip topped with cubes of spicy chorizo sausage and served with warm flour tortillas. Just scoop the deliciously greasy cheese and sausage into the tortillas and gobble the whole thing down. For entrées, have the tamales or skirt steak fajitas.

MIDDLE EASTERN

Bosphorous $$ 108 Park Ave. S., Winter Park, 407-644-8609 Bosphorus is a delightful restaurant with stylized Turkish classics. My favorite from the list of entrées was the hunkar begendi or sultan’s delight, a classic Ottoman dish. It featured hunks of seasoned beef sauteed with onions and tomatoes in the center of the plate surrounded by a moat of creamy-textured puree of smoked eggplant. The etli guvec, a meat casserole with cubes of lamb mixed with green beans, was good, too. The desserts are worth sampling.

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SCOTT JOSEPH’S 2011 ORLANDO RESTAURANT GUIDE From the most trusted food critic in Central Florida.

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SEAFOOD

Cityfish $$ 617 E. Central Blvd., Orlando, 407-849-9779 The people at Urban Life Management Restaurant Group have always appeared to have a goal of bringing a bit of big city life to downtown Orlando. After all Urban Life is part of the company’s name. They’ve hit it just right with Cityfish. Why? Instead of trying to emulate a city like New York or Miami, they’ve created an urban environment for Orlando. Seems fitting, doesn’t it? Cityfish offers a variety of seafood options in a pleasant atmosphere. Try the shrimp and bacon poppers or some freshly shucked oysters to start. Fresh fish options are good, and the lobster roll is authentically prepared.

The Oceanaire Seafood Room $$$ Pointe Orlando, 9101 International Drive, Orlando, 407-363-4801 The promise of a good seafood restaurant has sailed into Central Florida aboard The Oceanaire. The Oceanaire Seafood Room is meant to take you back in time with its interior that suggests a 1930’s ocean liner. Sample some of the fresh fish selections after you enjoy the crab cake appetizer. It’s a bit pricey, but quality is worth paying for.

STEAKHOUSE

Bull & Bear $$$$ Waldorf Astoria, 14200 Bonnet Creek Resort Lane, Orlando, 407-597-5500 The first Waldorf Astoria to be built outside of Manhattan also features a steakhouse called Bull & Bear, just like New York. Well, not exactly like New York.

The decor here is less dark and clubby; it’s actually quite an attractive room with windows overlooking the resort’s pool area (and Disney fireworks in the distance). The menu features steak, of course, but also does some fine fish, including a lovely Dover sole filleted tableside. Also performed tableside is a traditional Caesar salad. Curiously, there is no Waldorf salad. And the veal Oscar (another invention of the New York hotel’s) is a stylized version.

Del Frisco’s Prime Steak & Lobster $$$$ 729 Lee Road, Orlando, 407-645-4443 The steaks here are always high quality. The atmosphere isn’t quite as posh as some of the other topdrawer steakhouses, but it at least rises to meet the price point, which is high. Since you’ll probably be having meat for your main entrée — and if you’re not, why are you here? — have the fried oysters for your appetizer. What, you’re worried about the cholesterol? Again I have to ask: Why are you here?

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DINING LISTINGS SUSHI

Izziban $$ 1700 W. Sand Lake Road, Orlando, 407-850-5088 Really good sushi if somewhat unorthodox. For something really special, try the restaurant’s namesake Izziban roll. It has tempura shrimp and asparagus with cream cheese rolled in rice. The cream cheese alone would be enough to give sushi purists the shudders. But then the chef topped the sliced sushi coins with a sauce of sorts comprised of mayonnaise, fish eggs, crab and cheese baked so the cheese was melted and the sauce hot. Unusual and amazingly delicious. If you’re a purist, you’ll find the traditional items just as satisfying.

Seito Sushi $$ 510 N. Orlando Ave., Winter Park, 407-644-5050 4898 New Broad St., Orlando, 407-898-8801 8031 Turkey Lake Road, Orlando, 407-248-8888 671 Front St., Celebration, 407-566-1889 It’s becoming its own little local chain, but it keeps its quality high, both in terms of the sushi and the elegant surroundings.

THAI

Chai Thai $ 2447 S. Orange Ave., Orlando, 407-898-1181 This new location is in a small, nondescript strip mall across from SoDo. The inside has a fresh newness about it, from its slate-like flooring to the highly polished dark wood tabletops. There is a sincere friendliness from the staff, and the food is always top notch.

Orchid Thai $$ 305 Park Ave. N., Winter Park, 407-331-1400 A splashy and elegant restaurant with a hip vibe that befits its Park Avenue milieu. Short rib massamam featured a large beef short rib braised and then sautĂŠed with potatoes and small pieces of sweet bell peppers with a chili sauce and a bit of roasted peanuts. And part of the enjoyment of this entrĂŠe, and indeed most every dish served here, was the elegant presentation, which almost invariably included luminous purple orchid blooms as plate garnish. (Yes, orchid petals are edible, but, frankly, I enjoy looking at them much more than ingesting them.)

VEGAN/ VEGETARIAN

CafÊ 118º $$ 153 E. Morse Blvd., Winter Park, 407-389-2233 If veganism can be defined as extreme vegetarianism, the raw food movement could be classified as extreme veganism. The 118 in the restaurant’s name refers to the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit to which some of the foods here are heated. I stew myself in temperatures higher than that in the steam room at the Y. Going above that temperature, aficionados of raw cuisine profess, saps foods of their vitamins, enzymes and minerals. Raw foods, they assert, aid in digestibility and cell reconstruction, among other things, according to information on CafÊ 118’s menu. I can’t attest to any of that. But I can tell you that the food I had at CafÊ 118 was all quite delicious, and presented in a stylish and even (dare I say?) gourmet fashion.

VIETNAMESE

Lac Viet Bistro $$ 2021 E. Colonial Drive, Orlando, 407-228-4000 Lac Viet Bistro isn’t exactly fine dining but, relatively speaking, it’s finer than you’ll find at most other area Vietnamese restaurants. The menu features dishes from all over Vietnam, but its Northern specialties might be less familiar to even those who frequent area Vietnamese restaurants. Try one of the banh cuon or the vermicelli soups. And start with one of the crispy shrimp cakes.

Pho Vinh $ 657 N. Primrose Drive, Orlando, 407-228-0043 Like most of the other Vietnamese restaurants in the area, Pho Vinh’s menu is larger than you would think it would need to be. With over 180 items, the menu is a lot to take in and, well, digest. I selected the bun mang vit, or what is more commonly referred to as ol’ number 72. It was a beef-based soup with slender rice vermicelli noodles the meat of a duck leg (sans bones) and miniature planks of bamboo shoots. A good filling soup — especially nice on cold days.

The decor is pleasant, bright and tidy. Service was friendly and welcoming.

THE KEY

$ Cheap eats, most entrĂŠes under $10 $$ Moderate, dinner entrĂŠes $15-20 $$$ Pricey, most entrĂŠes over $30 $$$$ Many entrĂŠes over $30 Full review at scottjosephorlando.com

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WELLNESS

Five-year-old Susie Blanchard is a little freer to express herself, thanks to Darryl Armstrong’s gift.

For preemies and their parents, Darryl Armstrong will always be a superstar.

S

routine. It goes like this: Susie (urgently): “Mom!” Mom: “What?”

Susie (nonchalantly): “Oohhhhh, nothing!”

For a certain age range, that’s pure comedy gold, and Susie certainly isn’t the first 5-year-old to mine it. But no matter how often the youngster reprises the well-worn routine, it will always have the sound of a small miracle to her parents. And Jacque and Jason Blanchard will always know who to thank: a skittering 6-foot dynamo who was one of the best point guards the Orlando Magic ever had.

Because of complications with Jacque’s pregnancy, Susie has long-term neurological issues that impair her fine motor skills, making simple things like picking up a pencil with her fingers or shaping words with her lips a challenge.

by Michael McLeod

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A Magic Man’s Assist

usie Blanchard has a favorite comedy

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Former Orlando Magic point guard Darryl Armstrong maintains a home and a heartfelt connection to Orlando via his foundation, which assists parents with children who were born prematurely and have developmental issues that require ongoing therapy not covered by their family’s health insurance.

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But it is not an insurmountable challenge, the Blanchards soon discovered – at least, not with the help of therapy, which began for Susie when she was 18 months old. At the age of three, however, she encountered a roadblock.

“Suddenly our medical insurance started kicking back our claims,” says Jacque. “We were devastated. We battled for months.”

After a certain age is reached, many insurance policies restrict coverage for conditions such as Susie’s. Eventually, the Blanchards began paying for therapy on their own. Soon, they were thousands of dollars in debt and realized they couldn’t continue.

That was when they got a timely assist from the man who doled so many of them out in his eight years with the Magic: Darryl Armstrong, whose youngest daughter was born prematurely.

Armstrong, who witnessed the financial struggles of friends and relatives caring for so-called “preemies,” counted himself fortunate. He had the resources to get his daughter the help she needed. But he made it his mission to help those who didn’t, forming the Darryl Armstrong Foundation for Premature Babies in 1999.

In 2003, the foundation and the hospital partnered to open the Darrell Armstrong Child Development Center at Florida Hospital East. The center immediately began providing free diagnostic services and intensive treatment programs to assist families like the Blanchards.

Susie was accepted as a patient at the center and has made remarkable progress, thanks to the therapists with whom she works for an hour and a half each week.

“The biggest improvement we’ve seen in Susie is that she’s begun to speak much more clearly,” says Jacque. “Before, she would often get frustrated and cry. Now, she can express what’s inside her head, trying to get out. She’s got a great sense of humor. It’s a joy for us now to hear all the funny little things she says.”

Armstrong, now a coach with the Dallas Mavericks, maintains a home and a connection to his cause in Orlando. When the Mavs came to town to play the home team last month, he took time out to meet with an appreciative group of parents and a raucous cluster of their children in a small conference room at Florida Hospital. All had benefitted from services provided by the center.

The Blanchards were there. So was Glory Pabon, who was with her 5-year-old son, Diego Vargas. Theirs had been a longer journey than most: A year ago, after hearing of the center, she gave up her job as a high-school principal in Puerto Rico to come to Orlando. She hoped to find help for Diego, who weighed just over 3 pounds when he was born and whose bones are still so fragile that he wears leg braces.

The child was accepted as a patient. Subsequently, Pabon and her husband, Edgardo Vargas, have managed the difficult fEbRUARy 2011

Photos: greg johnston

WELLNESS

Darryl Armstrong with Glory Pabon and her son, Diego Vargas.

Diego and his parents recently moved to Orlando from Puerto Rico after Diego, who was born prematurely, qualified for assistance from the Darryl Armstrong Child Development Center at Florida Hospital East.

task of relocating with the help of family, friends – and Armstrong, who hugged Glory, then waggled a finger at her when he walked into the room. “Last time I heard you tell your story, it made me cry,” he said. “Don’t you do that to me again!”

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WELLNESS

A few moments later, Armstrong had slipped away from the hubbub of the conference room to a quiet hospital hallway. “She touches me because she knew what she needed to do for her child, and she had the faith to do it,” he said.

“That’s the way I’ve always been. I had a vision for this center. It looked like it was impossible when we started out. But we just had faith and kept going.’’ l

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Premature newborns often have health issues from the outset, including respiratory problems and bleeding in the brain. Then, during childhood, they’re more prone to learning problems such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and autism.

Obviously, children who were born prematurely need ongoing assistance. At the Darryl Armstrong Child Development Center, each child is evaluated by a team encompassing a developmental pediatrician, a neuropsychologist, a physical therapist, a speech therapist and an occupational therapist.

When the evaluations are complete, the team meets to identify the child’s strengths, weaknesses and underlying disorders and to create a treatment plan.

The Center provides scholarships to children three years of age and older who were born prematurely and are either uninsured or have insurance that doesn’t provide rehabilitative services. In addition to the main center at Florida Hospital East, children are also seen at the hospital’s Celebration Health Facility.

407.894.1910 orlando@bmgmodels.com

fEbRUARy 2011

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sEEn

Ronald McDonald House ShareA-Night Reception Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Florida encourages members of the community to “Share-ANight” by sponsoring family stays. This year’s reception event was held at the Ronald McDonald House location on the campus of the Walt Disney Pavilion at Florida Hospital for Children.

1. Debbie DePierrio, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Florida; Meredith Sand, Barnie’s Coffee & Tea Company; Laura Heidrich, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Florida.

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BRIO Tuscan Grille Breakfast with Santa

2. BRIO Tuscan Grille General Manager Tito Pina, Manager James Cartee,

BRIO Tuscan Grille Winter Park collected nearly 300 toys at its annual

Executive Chef Bryan Thoman, Marketing Coordinator Michele Mitchell and

Breakfast with Santa event in support of Toys for Tots.

server Karen Gofphin.

1. U.S. Marines Sgt. Moore and Sgt. Smith with BRIO Tuscan Grille

3. U.S. Marines Sgt. Moore and Sgt. Smith with BRIO Tuscan Grille General

General Manager Tito Pina.

Manager Tito Pina, Executive Chef Bryan Thoman and Chef Colin Pate.

Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children The Dr. Phillips Rotary Club pledged $25,000 in support of the Kids Kidney Center at the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children.

1. Scott Wellington, tournament director, Arnold Palmer Invitational; Michael Hanley, Dr. Phillips Rotary Club; Arnold Palmer; Bill Barillo, Dr. Phillips Rotary;

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and Jorge Ramirez, M.D., Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. fEbRUARy 2011

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2 Rollins College at 125 A yearlong array of events celebrated the college’s 125 years of academic excellence.

1. The Rollins Club of Central Florida kicked off the 125th anniversary celebration with an alumni mixer.

2. Jim Herhardt, vice president for institutional advancement at Rollins College, with students at the alumni mixer.

3. The Rollins community brought the 125th anniversary celebration to a close with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park and Rollins College Concert Choir’s collaborative concert event, Music Under the Stars.

4. Rollins faculty, staff, students and visiting parents gathered on the Mary Jean Mitchell Green Plaza to recognize members of the Rice family for their generous gift of the Rice Family Bookstore and Dianne’s Café.

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5. The Rice family: Dan Rice, Dianne Rice (Class of 1961) and David Rice (Class of 2014).

6. Rick Foglesong, Rollins professor, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Lewis Duncan, Rollins president, at the Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. reception.

7. Five recipients were recognized with the inaugural “Winter ParkRollins Community Recognition Award” during a luncheon with local dignitaries and representatives from Rollins College and the City

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of Winter Park.

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N AT I V E S O N

A Memory of Promising Waters, Drawing Us Both Downstream

I

t was only our third date, and

some high ground above a sliver of white sand.

Little did I know “There,” she said, in a tone of finality that we decided to test the waters, quite literthat Debbie made me steer straight for it. ally, by taking a weekend canoe trip.

We unloaded the canoe. We pitched the tent.

On our first date, we went to a play, was not the We congratulated ourselves for finding this perwith cocktails afterwards. Second date camping-trip fect spot along the river. We christened it Ju-Bob was a fancy dinner, followed by a long kind.

Bluff. And then we set out to gather firewood. walk on the beach. I was smitten – “smitten” As I remember it now, we didn’t talk much. I think it was the being a verb used only by those who are goopy in love – and I result of a strange mix – nervousness and anticipation, along thought a weekend spent together would be the ideal progreswith the ease that comes from being in the company of somesion for our budding romance. Just the two of us. Alone. Padone with whom you can be quiet. dling down the river, figuring out where this thing between We walked along, through slash pines and scrub oaks and cabthe two of us was heading. bage palms, picking up wood to burn. I was stepping over a log Little did I know that Debbie was not the camping-trip kind. when my foot almost came down upon it – a deer’s antler. It was “So, there’s a nice motel along the river?” she asked when I half of a rack, four points worth, shed by a buck getting ready for first suggested the outing. a new set. I picked it up and held it out for us to admire.

“No,” I said. “I have a tent.”

“Let’s take it back to camp,” I said.

The way she looked at me, I might just as easily have said: “I “You go ahead,” Debbie said. “I want to walk around some more.” have cholera.” But she signed on for the trip.

I stacked the wood. I made a fire. I got stuff out for a dinner.

That first day went well. She wasn’t much of a paddler, did not Twenty minutes or so went by. I kept looking toward the trees, seem to grasp the idea that her bow position was meant mainly for wondering where Debbie might be. propulsion and that I, at the stern, was in charge of steering. But we And then she appeared, both arms filled with firewood. She found our rhythm soon enough, compensated where we needed to was carrying something else, too. I couldn’t make it out until compensate. There wasn’t all that much work involved. We were she got closer. going with the flow of the river. It kept pulling us along.

It was an antler. But not just any random antler. The matchIt was spring and everything was in blossom as only it can ing antler. be in Central Florida. The air was filled with white, cottony “I was just wandering around, about a quarter mile away from wisps, millions and millions of them, as if someone had blown where we found the first one, when I came across it,” she said. on God’s own dandelion. Light would hit the little fluffs, and I held up my antler. Debbie held up hers. We placed them side they would sparkle. It was like snow on a 70-degree day. by side above the tent door, eight points now, a perfect set.

“What are all those things?” Debbie asked.

That was April. I proposed in August. We got married in “The flower of the Ju-Bob bush,” I said. “It blooms only one October. Some folks said we were rushing things, but really, day of the year and only along this particular stretch of this parcould it have played out any other way? ticular river. I planned this trip just so we could see them.”

Thirty-three years later, those antlers hang on the wall of my She stopped paddling. den. Still a perfect match.

“You’re making that up, aren’t you?”

And as for the river? It keeps pulling us along... l “I am,” I said.

She smiled. It melted me.

Bob Morris is an author and fourth-generation Floridian. He The afternoon wound down, and we started looking for a place to lives in Winter Park and teaches at Rollins College. make camp. We rounded a bend in the river and Debbie pointed to

by Bob Morris

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fEbRUARy 2011

Each Heart is Precious.

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Health Central’s mission is to “improve the health of the community” by providing safe, quality healthcare services in an atmosphere of caring. In times of medical crisis, our Emergency Department shines as an example of how we fulfill our mission every day.

The team of devoted board-certified specialists is available 24 hours a day and utilizes the most state-of-the-art technology to deliver complex cardiac care, right here in West Orange County.

Advanced cardiac care and superior service are the heart of the matter.

Health Central HEALTHCARE BEGINS WITH CARING.

10000 W. COLONIAL DRIVE OCOEE, FL 34761 407.296.1000 www.healthcentral.org

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