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36 FEATURES: JUly 2011
INDULGENCES
We track down an array of high-end products and services that can turn everyday experiences such as bath time, pet feeding, telling time and eating cupcakes into outrageously luxurious experiences. by Michael McLeod and the OH&L staff
36 MASTER OF A GILDED AGE
As one of the stars of the Golden Age of illustration, Henry Raleigh was a favorite of F. Scott Fitzgerald, H.G. Wells, Agatha Christie and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. by Michael McLeod
ON THE COVER: Kayla of ModelScout on location at Scan Design Furniture’s Kirkman Road showroom, where we found that form followed fashion. Wardrobe styling by Marianne Ilunga; hair and makeup by Elsie Knab; photograph by Rafael Tongol. 2
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JUly 2011
illustration: courtesy chris raleigh
28 ULTIMATE
DEPARTMENTS 8
JAY BOYAR’S AGENDA The Fringe Festival’s resident performance artist exits stage left; Mad Cow drama bridges time and space; Independence Day offers freedom of choice; boy bands merge at Amway Center; Sade operates smoothly; pinball wizards invade History Center.
18 PAGES
A successful novelist encounters a haunted North Florida house in Connie May Fowler’s How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly, while a family’s Sanibel Island vacation takes some unusual turns in Kevin Henkes’ Junonia. by Nancy Pate
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22 STYLE/design finds
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69 WELLNESS: summer exercise
In case you haven’t noticed, it’s hot out there. Here’s how to stay in shape, indoors and out. by Harry Wessel
72 NATIVE SON
It’s tough saying goodbye to a hard-working, worn-out friend.
Photos: (top) rafael tongol; (center right and bottom) greg johnston; Center left courtesy patek phillippe
flavor
57 SCOTT JOSEPH’S GUIDE TO DINING IN CENTRAL FLORIDA Reviews of Rusty Spoon, 4Rivers Smokehouse, Moghul Indian Cuisine; steak and wine pairing at Prickly Pear; shrimp dipping rolls at Emeril’s Tchoup Chop.
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3
FIRST
Taking Over the Reins of Proper Word Usage
T
hat’s a boldface lie!” said my wife.
As it happened, I wasn’t in the role of the accused, at least this time around. So there was room for the conversation to take a scholarly turn. “Baldfaced lie,” I said, mildly. “Not boldfaced. Baldfaced.” We made a bet on it, but I sought in vain for a definitive answer. “Baldfaced,” according to several wordsmith Web sites, might have originated with the Renaissance custom of a man wearing a beard to disguise his true emotions; thus a “baldfaced lie” would be one that was obvious. But there were just as many arguments in favor of “boldfaced” as the original expression. So I didn’t get the joy of being one up on my wife. But as a minor consolation prize, I learned something. Truth is, trying to figure out how and why words and phrases get jumbled and misused is a cheap hobby of mine. And now that they let anybody write whatever they want to write on the Internet, there’s never any shortage of raw material. I like this one: “He took over the reigns.” It should be “reins,” of course. The expression is a reference to someone who grabs the reins of a horse and thus controls the animal. But I can see the fuzzy logic of inserting “reigns,” which sounds the same and has a similar meaning. I hate to see “reins” go away, though, because I’m fond of expressions that date back to our rural roots. I want them to stick around to remind us of where we came from. I was proud of myself for catching this one in a sentence that nearly made it into this issue: “the bailing wire I jury-rigged to brace them no longer does a bit of good.” It’s not “bailing wire.” It’s “baling wire,” a reference to the wire used to bale hay. Then there’s “notorious.” I often see it used these days as a synonym for famous or wellknown, as in “Mother Theresa was a notori4
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ous do-gooder.” What it actually refers to is someone or something noteworthy mainly for being bad. I don’t want to let this one slide. I think we all need to take up for “notorious.” We want this word to be there. We need this word to be there. Bad people and things show no evidence of going out of style. So it’s an adjective that’s always going to be of use. Here, we’re crossing over from grammar into sociology. It’s not just because our verbal skills are slipping that “notorious” is in danger of losing its identity. It’s also because we live in a culture that awards fame to people who don’t deserve it. Just check out the reality shows. When good or bad doesn’t seem to matter, it’s no wonder words go astray.
Michael McLeod Editor in Chief mmcleod@ohlmag.com
What you CAN WIN Enjoy use of a Mercedes for the weekend and a two-day stay at a luxury Daytona Beach resort, with a total value of $900. Enter to win online at ohlmag.com. What’s ON DECK We’ll explore the frontiers of robotic surgery in our August issue. And we’ll delve into the fascination some people have with Legos, while exploring a new Central Florida attraction devoted to the tiny building blocks. What TO DO Read our story about a master of Golden Age illustration, then stop in to see the exhibit devoted to artist Henry Raleigh at the Maitland Art Center What’s ON FACEBOOK LIKE us on Facebook and get fun updates, sneak previews and cool stuff.
JUly 2011
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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. 7) is published monthly by Florida Home Media LLC, 2301 Lucien Way, Ste 190, Maitland, FL 32751. Periodicals Postage Paid at Maitland FL and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Orlando Home & Leisure Magazine, PO Box 5586, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33310-5586 6
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Agenda •
Performance art:
Feldman serves as a
Exit Brian Feldman, Eccentric Even by Fringe Standards “I’m trying to save my voice,” said Brian Feldman.
I had approached him just to say hello, and his abruptness surprised me. Then I realized he had good reason for preserving those vocal chords. A few minutes later, Feldman would be perched on a platform outside the Lowndes Shakespeare Center in Loch Haven Park, reading aloud every word of the 100-plus pages of the program for the 20th annual Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival.
Plan On It 8
ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
Britney Spears
July 20 Amway Center The resurgent pop princess is set to do it again, this time at the Amway Center with an all-star supporting cast including Nicki Minaj, Jessie and the Toy Boys and Nervo. amwaycenter.com
He wasn’t complying with some bizarre new federal regulation. Feldman is a local performance artist – part actor, part social scientist – who has been connected to the Fringe since 1996. The reading was simply one of nearly a dozen quirky performances he was offering at the festival this past May. A few others: dispensing root beer just across from the festival’s large beer tent; attempting to change the oil in Fringe-honcho Beth Marshall’s car; interrupting 31 festival productions in
Jim Gaffigan
July 23 Hard Rock Live The Indiana native and Comedy Central mainstay brings tales of his tortured Midwestern upbringing and his junk food fetish to town. hardrock.com
American Idols Live
July 24 Amway Center This season’s top 11 performers, including winner and countrymusic singer Scotty McCreery, showcase their vocal skills. amwaycenter.com
JUly 2011
photos: (left) GREG JOHnSTON; (right) courtesy the fringe festival
restroom attendant.
Bitches of the Kingdom
by Jay Boyar mid-performance; handing out small pieces of a vegetarian delicacy called “Bourbon Chick’n;” serving as an attendant inside a Fringe restroom; presenting mock awards to Fringe performers. This year, the slim, balding, thirtyish performer was the festival’s unofficial mascot. Either that or its ubiquitous Zelig. His performances carried a quirky poignancy: He vowed – quite seriously – that they would be his final appearances at the local event for the next 30 years. (Circle 2041 – the festival’s 50th anniversary – if you’re marking your calendar for his return.) “I love the Fringe,” he explains, “but I think I’ve gone as far as I can go, Fringe-wise.” Feldman (brianfeldman.com) will continue to perform locally, in other cities and on the Web. He plans on inviting people to impersonate him on Facebook for a day, and has an ongoing project in which he recites dialogue written and sent to him via Twitter by audience members. Performance art often encourages interactivity: At the Fringe, someone suggested a performance in which Feldman would try on every hat owned by Harriett Lake, the chapeau-centric Orlando philanthropist who sponsored his festival appearances. But for the foreseeable future, the Fringe will have to manage without the slyly conceptual and deliberately deadpan flavor he brings to an event that emphasizes the highly theatrical and absolutely outrageous. Though his performances are sometimes inscrutable, they usually have a point. His “Feldman Awards,” for example, were selected at random and presented before any Fringe shows had even been performed. Absurd, yes, but they could be taken as a calculated commentary on the arbitrary choices and self-serving puffery involved in many conventional awards and award-winners. (A few days later, I actually heard someone bragging about having won a Feldman Award!) Some of Feldman’s pieces appear to be inspired by personal preferences: He is a vegan who doesn’t drink alcohol, which may help to explain his Bourbon Chick’n handouts and the Root
Celebrity Mascot Games
July 28-July 30 Stetson University and Amway Center More than 30 sports mascots for both professional and college teams compete in a variety of games. Proceeds benefit New Hope for Kids. mascotgames.org WWW.OHLMAG.COM
Pink Floyd Tribute
July 30 Hard Rock Live The studio musicians and vocalists of Classic Albums Live recreate the cultish Dark Side of the Moon , one of the greatest rock albums ever recorded. hardrock.com
Jay’s Fringe Favorites
The Orlando Fringe can be a terrific place for performers (including many locals) to showcase the sort of work they do all year long. This year, my favorites included Attention, Please, an engagingly eclectic tribute to the egregious ‘80s, courtesy of Orlando’s Yow Dance; Oral!, a hilarious – and informative! – show about sexuality; Bitches of the Kingdom, a rollicking musical rant performed by Disneyesque diva princesses; and Trash Cinema 101, an entertainingly campy tour of psychotronic films by Orlando’s Logan Donahoo. These monolog shows also stood out: SmartArse, a diabolically clever reflection on childhood from “standup poet” Rob Gee; Any Title That Works, a funny and folksy rumination on life by Paul Strickland; and Superman Drinks, a moving, mock-scholarly treatise on superheroes, family and memory from Orlando’s Chase Padgett.
Beer Tent across from the makeshift beer garden. No one was allowed to see Feldman’s farewell Fringe show. Called Private Dancer, it was performed behind closed doors upon which a “NO ADMITTANCE” sign had been posted. Those of us who gathered outside could hear loud music emanating from within, including, inexplicably, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” But anyone attempting to enter was stopped by a burly, heavily tattooed bouncer. “What would you do if I tried to get in?” someone asked him. “Stop you,” said the big guy, mincing no words. One young woman even got down on her knees and begged. “Please let me in, Mr. Bouncer, sir!” she pleaded. But no dice. “There’s no way to prove he’s doing anything,” one skeptical spectator reflected, apropos of Feldman. “I hope he’s goin’ for it and not just sitting in there,” noted another. Afterward, when I asked the artist what he’d been up to behind those doors, all he would say was, “It was private.” At one point during that performance, a Fringe attendee in pink flip-flops and a shiny headband had come racing along. Spotting the behemoth at the door, she stopped dead in her tracks. “Bouncer? Who gets a bouncer?” she asked, almost indignantly. “Oh!” she finally said with a smile, sizing up the scene, “it’s one of Brian Feldman’s things.” ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
9
AGENDA
Legacy of Light follows the
struggle of two women scientists to balance work and family. Though separated by the Atlantic Ocean and more than two-and-a-half centuries, they have a great deal in common. The play, slated for July 29 through Aug. 28 at the Mad Cow Theater, was written by Karen Zacarias, a Washington, D.C., playwright and mother of three who felt an unlikely kinship with an 18th century French physicist named Émilie du Châtelet. At 42, a pregnant du Châtelet was in the midst of translating Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica from English to French. Her diaries and letters reflected her fear of dying in childbirth and never completing the project she considered her life’s work. The play’s modern-day character, Olivia Brown, is a fictional, mid-career astrophysicist who is unable to conceive and must seek out a surrogate mother. Zacarias herself was pregnant with her
third child when she began writing Legacy of Light and exploring the challenges
she shared with her real-life friends and her play’s protagonist. “I knew immediately that I wanted to write about Émilie du Châtelet,” she said in a telephone interview. “I thought it was interesting that [family versus career issues] resonated with a woman 270 years ago.” Zacarias discovered that du Châtelet was a fascinating character in many respects. A mathematician, physicist, aristocrat and writer, she had a lengthy romantic liaison with Voltaire, who complimented her – if you can call it that – by describing her as “a great man whose only fault was being a woman.” Twenty percent of individual ticket sales for the Aug. 4 presentation of Legacy of Light will benefit PUMPed, an organization that provides breast milk to Central Florida mothers unable to breast-feed their babies. For more information visit madcowtheatre.com. – Rebekah Kubik
Celebrations Abound in Shades of Red, White and Blue You can go red, white and brew.
You can have Momma’s homemade apple pie. You can even enjoy an earlybird special. Is this a great country, or what? If you’re looking to exercise your freedom of choice for Independence Day, here are a couple of options. Fireworks over the Fountain at Lake Eola in downtown Orlando will feature two Sam Adams beer gardens set up on opposite sides of the park from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Avalon Park’s pre-fireworks activities, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Founders Park, will include a foodie haven featuring an apple pie bake-off and a hot dog eating contest. 10
ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
If you’re unable to make the 4th this year, you have two chances to celebrate a day early. Altamonte’s Red Hot & Boom! and Mount Dora’s Centennial Independence Day Celebration will be held on Sunday, July 3. Red Hot & Boom!, held at Cranes Roost Park from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., will feature live entertainment sponsored by XL106.7 as well as a 25-minute fireworks display synchronized to current hits and patriotic melodies. The agenda in Mount Dora includes live music, fireworks at dusk and a parade beginning at 10 a.m. – Baileigh Johnson
JUly 2011
poster: courtesy mad cow theatRE
‘Legacy’ Explores Bonds that Bypass Time and Space
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AGENDA
Marquee Merger of Boy Bands Pairs NKOTB, BSB It’s threatening to turn into alphabet soup, this marquee
Winter Park
38th Annual
photo: courtesy orlando venues
merger between New Kids On The Block and Orlando’s own Backstreet Boys. The two supergroup boy bands, who’ll appear together at the Amway Center on July 22, have been calling themselves NKOTBSB since deciding to co-headline a North American tour last summer. The NKOTB/BSB combo came about after an impromptu joint performance at RCMHNYC, otherwise known as Radio City Music Hall in New York City. “We were all on tour, not together at the same time, but we were pretty close on the road,” says NKOTB’s Donnie Wahlberg. “It was a magical moment.” NKOTB was formed in Boston in 1984, disbanded 10 years later and reunited in 2007. The BSB formed in 1993 and became the most successful boy band in history, selling more than 130 million records worldwide. Performing with NKOTBSB as special guest will be Matthew Morrison, leading man on the Fox musical comedy Glee. Perhaps it’s best not to point out that Morrison was once a member of a multicultural boy band called LMNT. For more information visit amwaycenter.com – Michael McLeod
Autumn Art Festival October 8 & 9, 2011
Join the Patron Circle The Patron Circle provides an exclusive experience for art lovers. In addition to art dollars, Patrons meet the poster artist before the festival at the poster unveiling party, gain admission to the VIP Lounge in Central Park and the Saturday Night Artist Party, and receive a membership to Crealde School of Art and passes to local museums. Learn more at www.autumnartfestival.com or call (407) 644-8281. 12
ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
JUly 2011
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Silky-Smooth Singer Sade Back in Operation at Amway operator. Sade Adu, the silky-voiced, Nigerian-born British songstress whose hit, “Smooth Operator,� made her a fleeting ‘80s phenom, will perform on July 17 at the Amway Center. She and her namesake group, Sade (pronounced shah-day), are riding out an American resurgence thanks to the success of Soldier of Love, a comeback album released last year. Like earlier Sade releases, the songs on Soldier of Love are melancholy compositions that make the most of the performer’s ephemeral vocal style. The album has been a bigger success in the U.S. than in the U.K., but then, there has always been a dichotomy in Sade’s popularity. “Smooth Operator� never made it big in Britain, where the group’s most popular hit was “Your Love Is King.� There’s a geographical glitch in “Smooth Operator� that never seemed to bother Sade’s fans: The subject of the song, a jet-set heartbreaker, is said to travel “coast to coast/L.A. to Chicago,�
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the latter locale being four states and one mountain range from the Atlantic. As one stand-up comedian put it: “It’s a good thing she’s a smooth operator, not a tour operator.� Grammy winner John Legend will be sharing the stage as Sade’s special guest. For more information, visit amwaycenter.com. – Hannah Mobarekeh
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photo: courtesy orlando venues
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ninjas, generations of youngsters and not-so-youngsters have been transfixed by electronic games. The development Have questions that you would like to ask? of those games is the subject of “The Submit your questions to Ric at rscovil@ Games People Play: The Evolution of abilitywoodflooring.com or follow me on Video Games,” an exhibit at the Orange twitter.com/abilityflooring County Regional History Center, July Like us on Facebook at facebook. 2-Sept. 10. com/AbilityWoodFlooring The exhibit illustrates historic developments in gaming, such as the rise and fall of the arcade, and delves into how electronic games grew in technological AbilityWoodFlooring.com complexity. Vintage pinball machines, along with more modern gaming systems such as Atari 2600, Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 – some of which are in working order and can be played by visitors – will be on display. The exhibit also includes information about how society in general has reacted to the phenomenon. Some modern social Ability Flooring .5V.indd 1 commentators, for example, decry the violence in first-person shooter games and fret over a generation absorbed by virtual fantasy worlds. Then again, another generation of naysayers was certain that pinball machines were evil incarnate. “They were considered such a bad influence that some cities outlawed them,” says curator Michael Perkins. Visit thehistorycenter.org for more Powered by Zinio information. – Michael McLeod
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4/13/11
July 13 for the eighth annual Orlando Home & Leisure Home of the Year Awards, showcasing the finest in Central Floridaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s residential architecture. A panel of architecture, design and building experts will determine the winners in categories ranging from home and condo of the year to specialty rooms, landscaping and green design. All winners of the coveted awards will be featured in the magazineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s October issue. Last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Home of the Year award recipient was the team of architect Bob 4:15:50 PM Harris and builder6/13/11 Lawrence Custom 10:21:00 AM Builders for a 4,100-square-foot, Craftsman-style lakeside home in Winter Park. It featured a two-story foyer/staircase, a great room, a dining room, a den, an office, and ample porches and banks of windows that evoked the screened porches in Florida homes a century ago.
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Hope and Sweetness in Florida Settings
Fowler, perhaps best known for the award-winning Before drunk, giddy with the sights and sounds and Heroines seek Women Had Wings, reaches smells of Connie May self-discovery, new heights with this tale of one woman’s journey of selfFowler’s intoxicating new one at thirtydiscovery. novel, How Clarissa Burden something, Heard it all before? Hardly. Learned to Fly (Grand Central), another much Elements of magical realism out in paperback this month. younger. – a disgraced angel, a chorus Thickets of roses. Heatof “ovarian shadow voices,’’ blanched sky. A marble tumthe aforementioned ghosts, a bling on a heart-pine floor. carnival of dwarfs, the Poor Spot Cemetery – Faint fiddle music. Ghosts and graveyard dirt. give the story whimsy. A woman standing on the worn planks of an The ending, in which Fowler knots the wanold front porch. A buzzing fly drawn to the dering story lines under a stormy sky, provides faint scent of ripe apples. the necessary “oomph’’ that Clarissa likes in It’s June 21, 2006, and the fictional North her literary heroes. Florida hamlet of Hope steams under the midRiding on the back of a Harley midway summer sun. “But this day was not normal. through the book, “charging through time and It was the solstice, and Clarissa was becoming space,’’ leads Clarissa to “venture that angels undone, and though she was unaware of the prefer flight to heaven.’’ No wonder she longs fact, there were spirits afoot.’’ to fly. Hang on for a wild ride. Clarissa, a successful thirtysomething novelist, is determined to love this day, despite the surly behavior of her indifferent husband of seven years, the writer’s block that has dogged her for months and the self-doubts that have Toddlers jump as the tide tickles their toes. plagued her since her trailer-park childhood. Older kids charge forward into the waves with Even as she envisions gory spousal death a whoop. But every now and then, a little girl scenarios and attacks mundane chores with a stands on a shoreline with arms outstretched, vengeance, her imagination is stirring with the as if to embrace the sweep of sky and water. possibilities of change. That would be the reaction of Alice Rice,
&
by Nancy Pate
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COVERs: (top) grand central; (bottom) HarperCollins Children’s Books
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PA G E S
the beguiling heroine of Kevin Henkes’ Junonia (HarperCollins Children’s Books), a sweet and gentle story set on Sanibel Island. As an only child growing up in Wisconsin, Alice looks forward every year to the weeklong winter vacation with her parents at a beach cottage called Scallop. On a year when she will turn 10 while at the beach, Alice has high expectations as they cross the bridge to the island and spot the first pelican. “The bird was so odd and silly looking, a mysterious, mesmerizing wonder. Alice reached out, pressing her palms flat against the half-opened window. She’d seen pelicans before, every year that she had been here, but when you see something only once a year it’s always new, as if you’re seeing it for the first time.’’
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But some things have changed at Sanibel this year. Not all of the usual neighbors are on hand, and Alice’s beloved “Aunt Kate’’ – her mother’s college roommate – has decided to stay in the cottage next door because she’s bringing her new boyfriend and his 6-year-old daughter, Mallory. Alice reluctantly makes friends with the younger child, taking her shelling and patiently identifying their discoveries. Alice hopes this will be the year she at last finds the rare junonia shell: Now that would be a real birthday present. But Mallory disrupts Alice’s birthday party, and Alice experiences a jumble of emotions. She is growing up, and it’s not quite what she expected. Henkes, who has written and illustrated many best-selling picture books
(Chrysanthemum, Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse) as well as the award-winning Olive’s Ocean for older readers, writes lyrically of natural wonders and childhood feelings. He finds the extraordinary in the ordinary. The deceptively simple illustrations that begin each chapter complement Alice’s small adventures on Sanibel, where Henkes and his family vacation annually. He says it is a special place. And Junonia is a special book. l Nancy Pate is an author of southernthemed 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.
July 2011
Hot Car, Cool Resort Enter to win a weekend at The Shores and use of a Mercedes to arrive in style.
Orlando Home & Leisureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s July giveaway offers
both a stay at a luxury resort and a way to arrive there in style. One lucky reader will win the use of a new Mercedes-Benz for a weekend plus accommodations for two nights at The Shores Resort and Spa in Daytona Beach. The automobile, from Mercedes-Benz of Orlando in Maitland, is a C-class sedan, which offers a sporty driving experience as well as the luxury and safety for which Mercedes-Benz in renowned. The Shores Resort and Spa is the only AAA Four Diamond hotel in Daytona Beach, offering a breathtaking view of the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway. The winner will also enjoy a full-service spa, cordless in-room phones and Italian marble bathrooms.
$1,000 Value Enter to win at ohlmag.com
Your desires. Our design team. Your dream home.
FORM. FUNCTION. FINISHES. Whatever your design project, we have the team to take it from concept to completion. A kitchen remodel or new home design... from Winter Park to North Carolina... we do it all. Residential & Commercial Building Design. New Construction. Renovations. Additions. Interiors. Kitchens & Baths.
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DESIGN STYLE
Form Follows Fashion In fashion and furniture, go for sleek and sexy. by Marianne Ilunga, stylissima.com hair and makeup by Elsie Knab photographs by Rafael Tongol
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We thought our mix-and-match, design-and-fashion photo shoot at Scan Design Furniture’s Kirkman Road showroom brought out the best on both sides – from the colorful, imaginative Scandinavianinspired furniture to the colorful, imaginative couture. Pull up a chair and see if you agree.
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Soothing colors and parallel lines are always classy. Just check out Kayla’s soft pink, pleated, strapless dress with a skinny belt (far left) by French Connection, available at Bloomingdales at The Mall at Millenia, $198. A long, white tweed frill by Les Copains from Saks Fifth Avenue at Florida Mall, $1,445, adds a timeless touch. A rose gold and clear ceramic watch by Michael Kors, $395; rose gold and white topaz bangles, $225-$395; and rose gold chandelier earrings by Ippolita, $395; are also available at Saks, while the Ted Baker snakeskin print shoes with gold brooch are available at tedbaker.com, $320. The sleek Toulouse dining armchair is $1,185.
credits: Kayla courtesy of ModelScout; photographer’s assistant ken lopez; furniture courtesy of Scan Design
Never underestimate the dramatic impact of black and white. The tweed jeweled jacket by Les Copains, $1,915, is available at Saks Fifth Avenue at Florida Mall. The white, sleeveless, button-down shirt by Elie Tahari, $178; black leather Prada belt, $375; faceted quartz beaded bracelet, $175; faceted quartz long beaded necklace, $375; long pear necklace, $375; white topaz and silver necklace by Anzie, $850; and bouquet cuff bracelet, $7,500; are also available at Saks. Black elastic strap shoes by Steve Madden, $189, are available at Bloomingdales at The Mall at Millenia. The BCBG black pleated miniskirt is stylist’s own. The eye-catching lobster chair with walnut base is $4,885.
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DESIGN STYLE
Intriguing angles abound in this white, neon green and black geometric print with tassel belt by DVF, $398, available at Bloomingdales at The Mall at Millenia. The gold and clear cuff bracelet, $350; and studded Lucite bracelets, $185, both by Alexis Bittar; gold Kenneth Jay Lane bracelet, $120; and faceted quartz, long beaded necklace by Anzie, $375; are all available at Saks Fifth Avenue at Florida Mall. The Emma Lee yellow gold and white topaz earrings and Emma Lee white topaz and yellow gold necklace are custommade; pricing available on request from Ginger Boutique in Winter Park. The small white recliner split-back chair is $499. The Treluci three-headed floor lamp is $2,285.
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Playfulness and polish blend in a multicolored, tie-dyed one-shouldered dress by Alice and Olivia, $440. The turquoise drop earrings, $850; turquoise and silver necklace, $950; turquoise beaded necklace, $375; faceted quartz beaded necklace, $375; turquoise and silver ring, $475, all by Angie; and Kenneth Jay Lane neon yellow bracelets, $60; are available at Saks Fifth Avenue at Florida Mall. The nude peep-toe wooden heel pumps, $795, are from bally.com. The Apache red chair is $6,988; red puffballs are $248 each.
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DESIGN STYLE
Dramatic lines highlight a white, brown and black geometric print DVF maxi dress, $575; with Kayla’s Lucky Tribal Wedges, $99; both available at Bloomingdale’s at The Mall at Millenia. The Alexis Bittar gunmetal detail bracelet, $375; wood cuff bracelet from Kenneth Jay Lane, $68; and wood Tribal Statement necklace by Alexis Bittar, $575; are all available at Saks Fifth Avenue at Florida Mall. The Agate Slice Knuckle Duster two-finger ring, $70, is available at chroniclestones.com. The white leather day bed is $1,385, brown pompon throw is $599. In fashion, as in life, it’s always good to stack the odds in your favor. A black pencil skirt by DVF, $210, available at Bloomingdale’s at The Mall at Millenia, is paired with a multicolored blouse by Olive Olivia, $54, available at Ginger Boutique in Winter Park. The cream and gold belt by Raina, $198; white topaz and gold teardrop earrings by Anzie, $1,650; initial pendant necklace by Anzie, $850; purple amethyst and gold necklace by Anzie, $650; gold studded bracelet by Kenneth Jay Lane, $100; are all available at Saks Fifth Avenue at Florida Mall. The amethyst stalactite pendant, $70, is available at chroniclestones.com. The black leather booties with buckle details by Raphael Young, $925, is from raphaelyoung.com. The purple dining chairs are $248 each.
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ULTIMATE INDULGENCES Extravagance. We has it. By Michael McLeod and the OH&L Staff
P
erhaps you’ve seen the commercial featuring a preening, nouveau riche Slavic entrepreneur whose motto is: “Opulence. I has it!” and whose lavish possessions include a giraffe the size of a Chihuahua. Sadly, there is no such creature, but that doesn’t stop us from making it our official Ultimate Indulgence mascot. We’ve done our best to track down equally exotic real-life extravagances, from a fountain pen worthy of the Roman Empire to a timetraveling bottle of champagne. 28
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STAR QUALITY The Tiffany Lucida Star diamond necklace, which Anne Hathaway wore to the 2010 Academy Awards, features a total of 94 carats set in platinum. Hathaway, who also wore matching Tiffany 10-carat diamond earrings and a 5-carat diamond ring, was paid $750,000 to wear the jewelry, which is but a fraction of the price of the necklace: $10 million. Available at Tiffany & Co. at The Mall at Millenia. tiffany.com
BATHING BEAUTY
PHOTOs: courtesy of the manufacturers & retailers
Lovers of bubbles and bling will appreciate the Diamond Bathtub: a 19th-century claw-foot tub decorated with 44,928 Swarovski crystals, available in several colors, with a single diamond hidden somewhere among them. It’s $39,000 worth of bath-time fun. There is also a baby-sized version for $5,200. thediamondbathtub.com
WRITE LIKE A ROMAN
INNER CIRCLE
“Maecenas,” a limited-edition fountain pen by Montblanc, is a tribute to Gaius Cilnius Maecenas (70 B.C.-8 B.C.), a Roman aristocrat known as Western culture’s first patron of the arts. A replica of an ancient coin bearing his face decorates the tip of the pen, whose cap is inscribed with a tribute written by the lyric poet Horace. The barrel is fluted, like a Roman column, and the clip is in the shape of a legionnaire’s sword. Available for MMDCCLXXV dollars (for those of you who slept through Latin class, that’s $2,775) at Montblanc at The Mall at Millenia. montblanc.com
It looks like an oversized Christmas ornament, but the spherical Louis Vuitton Monogram Nova Minaudiere was decorating the wrist of ‘80s supermodel Kristen McMenamy when it made its first appearance as part of Marc Jacobs’ 2011 Spring/Summer collection. The $35,000, limited edition handbag, with its LV monogram consisting of hand-applied, black and white Swarovski crystals, has already sold out to a privileged few. louisvuitton.com
Laura Bluhm, Baileigh Johnson, Hannah Mobarekeh and Harry Wessel contributed to this compilation. WWW.OHLMAG.COM
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AN ASTRONOMICAL WATCH Patek Phillipe’s “Celestial” watch is the equivalent of a portable observatory. The watch displays a rotating canopy of the night sky, and it can accurately display not only the phases of the moon but the position of individual stars. You’ll always know your place in the timespace continuum. That’s assuming your application to buy the watch is approved: All would-be purchasers are vetted to ensure that the watch is not sold on the “grey” market. Patek Phillipe stores in Florida include one in Sarasota and two in Palm Beach. Cost of the Swissmade watch is roughly $287,700, with the price fluctuating depending on exchange rates. patek.com
THE $250 TRUFFLE Knipschildt Chocolatier, of Norwalk, Conn., has created what is reputedly the most expensive chocolate delicacy in the world: “La Madeline au Truffe.” A large French Perigord truffle is covered in a ganache made from single-bean Ecuadorian dark chocolate and fresh cream infused with vanilla pods and truffle oil. It’s then rolled in Valrhona cocoa powder, a favorite of many high-end chefs. Available at $250 each, or $2,600 a pound, from local Whole Foods markets. knipschildt.com
CRYSTAL RAIN The whimsical Marie Coquine Chandelier, which designer Philippe Starck says was inspired by a dream he had in which a Baccarat chandelier opened a large umbrella and drifted skyward, will enliven the darkest of days. Available for $29,500. baccarat.com
A CASA FOR CELEBRATION
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PHOTOs: courtesy of the manufacturers & retailers; Arthur’s, gary bogdon; kiki hamaan, UKMCBO
Combine a lovely Spanish-style farmhouse with an elegant country banquet and you have a picture-perfect recipe. Arthur’s Catering in Altamonte Springs has begun offering elaborate but earthy feasts at Casa Feliz, the beautifully restored historic home and museum in downtown Winter Park. The events, suitable for anywhere from 18 to 75 guests, feature dishes drawing on local farms, ranches and bakeries, including artisan breads, grass-fed beef and seafood caught offshore from Florida to the Carolinas. Cost ranges from $150 to $200 per person. arthurscatering.com JUly 2011
EXPRESSO YOURSELF The Expresso Fitness S3u Novo stationary bicycle offers more than 30 virtual rides through either fantasy worlds or realistic mountains, forests, shorelines and cityscapes, as viewed on the bike’s 19inch video screen. The device also physically emulates everything from steep climbs to minor jolts for each ride and features a “Ghost Rider” for virtual competition. Built-in Internet access allows you to send challenges and talk trash to other riders. Available for $6,295 at Gym Source in Orlando. gymsource.com
COOLEST FRIDGE The stainless steel Sub-Zero Pro 48 refrigerator consumes less energy than a 100-watt light bulb. Somehow that’s enough to power a built-in wine cooler, a large freezer and three separate refrigerated areas with external digital temperature controls. A microprocessor allows the fridge to sense your usage patterns and defrost itself accordingly. Available for around $13,800 at local authorized Sub Zero showrooms. subzero.com
PUPPARAZZI Miami designer Kiki Hamaan says she decided to challenge “the standard puppy paws and common, childish colors on items such as dog apparel and collars” and “take on the responsibility to create the latest in high-end canine merchandise.” Yip yip, hooray: Lap dogs can hold up their heads like pampered celebs in carriers such as the hand-made Arctic Handbag, with fauxrabbit fur, crystal appliqué, embossed detailing and four exterior pockets with magnetic clips. It’s a cool $1,400. kikihamann.com WWW.OHLMAG.COM
BREATHE EASY The Riedel Mamba crystal decanter’s snake-like design allows wine to flow freely through multiple twists and turns to “breathe.” The decanting process is particularly important for filtering out sediments and bringing out the aromas of older, red wines. Designed by Liz Arout and available at various retail outlets for $495. riedel.com ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
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DESIGN IN 3-D Let the masses don those dorky plastic wraparound frames to ogle 3-D movies. A fashionista can bedazzle in the dark with these retro aviator 3-D designer glasses by Gucci. Available for $225 at Gucci at The Mall at Millenia. gucci.com
THE HANDS OF TIME British designer Mo Eden has managed to create a gold watch – complete with diamonds, precious gems, a 17jewel winder, a five-jewel quartz movement and an aquamarine crystal – that’s small enough to fit into a ring on your finger. He calls it the “Digit Watch.” The price, as you might have guessed, is in inverse proportion to its size: $16,000. digitwatch.com
A RAINBOW IN THE KITCHEN
THE BIG BANG Just turning on the Bang & Olufsen BeoVision 4 television provides a moment of drama. The monolithic, 85inch, plasma screen 3-D TV, which remains at floor level when not in use, rises up on its pedestal to viewing level. At that point, the exact tilt and positioning of the screen can be adjusted via remote control. Viewers wear “shutter glasses” whose lenses are coated with a liquid-crystal layer that responds to radio signals emitted by the set, creating the 3-D illusion. Available for around $14,000 at Bang & Olufsen at The Mall at Millenia and other Orlando locations. bang-olufsen.com 32
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PHOTOs: courtesy of the manufacturers & retailers
Don’t be misled by the homely name. The HansaCanyon Single-Hole Electronic Lavatory Faucet comes with a dreamlike feature: imbedded, temperature-triggered LEDs illuminate the stream of water in a gradual spectrum of shade ranging from blue (cold) to red (hot). It’s $3,040 or $3,145, depending on whether you want the 8- or 10-inch model. Available at Ferguson Enterprises in Orlando and Broedell Plumbing Supply in Longwood. hansa.us.com
GOOD KARMA The 2011 Fisker Karma is an environmentally friendly, plug-in hybrid car that looks at home among Ferraris and Lamborghinis. So say reviewers of the sleek four-door. It’s a sexy, high-performance vehicle, capable of reaching 60 mph in 7.9 seconds, with a top speed of 125 mph. But it’s also a green machine, with a lithium-ion battery that provides enough power to travel 50 miles, plus a gas-engine-and-generator combination that adds another 250 miles to its range. A photovoltaic roof can cool the car and maintain the battery charge while parked. Base price is $95,000. Available at Fields BMW. fieldsauto.com
ROCKS ON Does a guitar sound better if it’s covered with the skin of an anaconda or a stingray? What if it’s dappled with diamonds, rubies and sapphires? One way to find out: Play one of the instruments from an opulent line of guitars created by Nashville-based King Jewelers, such as a Custom Gibson Les Paul Guitar, featuring diamond-encrusted volume knobs, tuning keys, selector switch and logo. At $125,000, there’s no such thing as a sour note. rockroyaltyguitars.com
CARAT CAKE BONE APPETIT Dog owners who want to see eye to eye with their dog, at least at dinnertime, can provide a seat at the table via a hand-painted, dog-friendly high chair that even includes built-in steps so pups can answer the dinner bell in time to say grace. $900. rockstar-puppy.com WWW.OHLMAG.COM
Jeweler Jonathan Mervis decided to combine two things that make life worth living: cupcakes and diamonds. The cupcake, meant as part of a wedding day celebration, is decorated with a 2-carat, Asscher-cut diamond surrounded by eight round-brilliant-cut diamonds. Just be sure to remove all of it before eating this $30,000 piece of eye candy. mervisdiamond.com ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
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AUDIO ADVENTURE Harman Kardon GLA-55 Audio Speakers look like something Indiana Jones retrieved from a temple. But inside those two alien-looking crystalline forms are the workings of a high-end iPod audio system with a mid-bass driver and metal-domed tweeter, along with pulsing LEDs. Price: $999. harmanaudio.com
Runway Lights
MINI MANSIONS Sweet Retreat Kids offers high-end, custom-designed playhouses that can include electricity, running water, air conditioning, second-story lofts, cathedral ceilings, bay windows, sun rooms, decorative fireplaces, custom furniture, window boxes and even a picket fence. The kids get everything but a mortgage payment. Speaking of which, the price of the playhouse shown here is $36,000. sweetretreatkids.com
PHOTOs: courtesy of the manufacturers & retailers
Be dazzled. Tiny beacons light the way for every step in these Christian Louboutin 6-inch Strass peep-toe platforms encrusted with Swarovski crystals. Available for $4,295 at Saks Fifth Avenue.
DO DUCK IN A rooftop penthouse at the Peabody Hotel Orlando features black travertine Italian marble, two sculpted fountains and its own private swimming pool. But unless your feet are webbed, you can’t make a reservation for this posh enclave. It’s for the hotel’s resident ducks, whose daily march through the lobby is a hotel tradition. Fortunately, the penthouse for human guests is also up to Peabody standards. It’s a 2,000-square-foot retreat featuring a walk-in closet, floor-to-ceiling windows, three widescreen televisions, a dining area with a granite wet bar, a waterfall shower and a jet tub with its own panoramic skylight. It’s a well-feathered, $2,200 per-night nest. peabodyorlando.com 34
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THE ULTIMATE TEST DRIVE There’s a bonus for buying a new high-performance Mercedes such as the 2011 E63 AMG Sedan. The company will pay for a day-long coaching session meant to transform you “from a motorist to a driver.” The program is in partnership with AMG Driving Academies, which operate out of three racetracks across the country: Road Atlanta in northeast Georgia, Lime Rock Park in Connecticut and Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the E63 is $87,600. Available at Mercedes-Benz of Orlando in Maitland and other Central Florida Mercedes dealers. mbusa.com
LUXURY, SUITE LUXURY At its “Suite of Luxury” retreat for couples, Gaylord Palms’ Relâche Spa offers a secluded mini-getaway that includes a Swedish massage, a champagne body drizzle, an oil-infused brown-sugar scrub and oxygen infusion facials, all as part of an intimate, rejuvenating, $637 experience at Gaylord Palms Resort. gaylordhotels.com
A RING OF HOPE For every one of the platinum and black ceramic “Save The Children” rings that Bulgari sells, the Italian jeweler will contribute a portion to support education programs for underprivileged children in more than 100 countries, including the United States. Price: $370, $70 of which is contributed to Save the Children. Available at Bulgari at The Mall at Millenia. us.bulgari.com
BUBBLY BEQUEATHAL Perrier-Jouët, one of the most exclusive champagne houses in the world, is marketing two magnums of “Belle Epoque” vintage 1998 champagne in twin sculpted cradles created by Daniel Arsham. One bottle is for present-day consumption, while the other can be designated as a family heirloom. It will be stored in Perrier-Jouët’s cellars in the Épernay region of Champagne for as long as a century, there to be claimed by one of your descendants for a time-lapse toast – a $10,000 time-lapse toast. perrier-jouet.com WWW.OHLMAG.COM
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A GRANDSON’S TOAST TO A KINDRED SPIRIT
The Saturday Evening Post, September, 1930 36
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Henry Raleigh’s pen-and-ink illustrations captureD Gilded Age grandeur.
O
rlando interior designer Chris Raleigh
is probably best known for creating the high-decibel concept for the Orlando Hard Rock Cafe, a brassy homage to rock ‘n’ roll housed in a structure shaped like a Fender Stratocaster guitar. Raleigh’s specialty is creating themed interiors for restaurants, shops and hotels. But for much of the past year, Raleigh the designer became Raleigh the curator, single-handedly engineering a museum exhibit devoted to the works of his grandfather, Henry Patrick Raleigh. Raleigh was a dapper, wealthy, globe-trotting illustrator who catered to the tastes of another era. The exhibit, which runs through Sept. 11 at the Maitland Art Center, features 103 illustrations drawn from Chris Raleigh’s own collection, which includes 300 original works and more than 5,000 pages foraged from vintage periodicals. Most of the work dates from 1910-1940, decades during which fiction captured the public imagination, not just in books but in periodicals such as McCall’s, Colliers, Vanity Fair, Cosmopolitan and The Saturday Evening Post. Henry Raleigh portrayed the spirit of that fiction so well that writers often asked their editors to commission him to illustrate their stories. He collaborated with such literary luminaries as Agatha Christie, H.G. Wells, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Stephen
Vincent Benét and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald in particular favored Raleigh, who was adept at illustrating the author’s glossy, high-society yarns. “Honestly, I think they’re the best illustrations I’ve even seen!” Fitzgerald wrote after seeing Raleigh’s renderings for a short story of his called “The Russett Witch,” which ran in Cosmopolitan in 1921. (The letter is framed and on display in the exhibit.) “Fitzgerald was the writer who epitomized the ‘Great Gatsby’ era, and he thought my grandfather was the best illustrator at capturing the high society look,” says Chris Raleigh. What Fitzgerald might not have known was how earthy, even grisly, Raleigh’s early career was. One of his tasks as an illustrator for a San Francisco newspaper was to visit the morgue to sketch the faces of murder victims. If the crime was an especially lurid one, the face would then be incorporated into a sketch reenacting the murder. Henry Raleigh’s career would eventually include not only story illustrations but propaganda posters for the government during World War I and, in later years, ad campaigns for perfumes, coffee and other products. Eventually, as photography supplanted illustrations in periodicals, his skills became less marketable. Disillusioned, lonely and suffering from cancer, he committed suicide in 1944 by jumping out of the sixth-floor window of a Times Square hotel. – Michael McLeod
Henry Raleigh in his Manhattan studio, 1928 WWW.OHLMAG.COM
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s letter lauded Raleigh for his illustrations of one of the author’s stories.
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Vanity Fair, 1923
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Concept sketch for a story illustration, publication date unknown
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Ivory Soap ad, 1936
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Lithograph print, 1917 42
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1926 ad campaign
1935 ad campaign WWW.OHLMAG.COM
1944 ad campaign ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
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entertainment. In fact, Mandy Moore, currently starring as the or over 44 years, Park Maitland School has been cultivating voice of Rapunzel in Disney’s Tangled, spent her eight kindergarleaders. The independent day school for children in Pre-K ten and elementary school years as a Park Maitland student. She through grade 6 is well-known throughout Central Florida starred as Miss Adelaide in the school’s production of Guys and and beyond for its challenging academic program, its fineDolls during her sixth grade year. Graduate Jesse Wolfe, now a and performing-arts curriculum and its cadre of enrichments that rising filmmaker in Hollywood, was Tevye in Fidhelp to mold the “whole” child. dler on the Roof during his graduation year. His Children who attend the school learn not new film, Eye of the Hurricane, recently wrapped only math and reading skills but also life skills, and will soon be released. manners, study habits and the meaning of All students take part in service to the school, giving. They learn to be leaders. the community and the world. A program called Park Maitland occupies a lushly landscaped “Ten Months of Smiles” finds each grade level in campus on U.S. Hwy. 17-92 in Maitland. The garden-like surroundings and charming Growing Big-Hearted turn sponsoring a charitable cause each month, buildings give children a sense of home, where Leaders of Tomorrow such as collecting long-sleeved shirts for Central Florida’s migrant workers; holding a drive for they feel nurtured and supported. gently worn warm coats for the needy; collecting toys for the U.S. Special distinctions include the departmentalized program, Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots program and much more. small teacher/student ratio and advanced curriculum materials. The school has even taken on a project in Udawad, a small, The academic program is renowned and age-appropriate. poor village in northern India. There, Park Maitland built a Park Maitland’s graduates have continued to be top students in school for children in conjunction with Oprah Winfrey’s “O their higher educational settings, and most have gone on to fine Ambassador” program and the world-renowned network of colleges and universities. In 2010, five valedictorians from Cenvolunteers called “Free the Children” (freethechildren.com). tral Florida high schools were Park Maitland graduates. Among Funds to build the school, furnish it with desks, chairs, and the thousands of graduates over 44 years are professionals in educational materials and hire teachers were raised entirely by health, law, finance, government, business, education, sports and Park Maitland families and teachers and staff. “There are children in the world that have never even had a FACTS ABOUT PARK MAITLAND SCHOOL: book, pencil, or pen,” says Cindy Moon, Head of Park Maitland • Grade Pre-K through grade 6 School. “Just to have this opportunity to go to school is like • Approximately 625 students giving them a lifelong gift.” That gift comes right back to Park • Eighty teachers/staff members Maitland’s own students — bigger, sweeter, kinder hearts. • Fully accredited by The Florida Council of Independent Schools and The Florida Kindergarten Council • Head of School: Cindy Moon
48 46
ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE LEISURE
1450 South Orlando Ave., Maitland, FL 32751 407-647-3038 JANUARY july 2011
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
Since 1968, Park Maitland School has been growing the leaders of tomorrow. We offer a proven foundation of excellence in education and provide children the tools they need to realize their dreams!
Kristine Sorensen Griffin Anchor & Reporter KDKA-TV News, Pittsburgh Park Maitland Class of 1985
1450 South Orlando Avenue Maitland, FL 32751
s &AX
Pa r kMa i t l a n d . o r g
Special Promotional Feature
EDUCATION GUIDE
Why Parents Still Opt to Go Private Appeal encompasses individual attention, academic excellence and an emphasis on social responsibility.
W
ith public education continually on the firing line, Central Florida’s private schools are thriving by doing what they do best: providing top-notch academic programs, personalized instruction and an emphasis on more esoteric factors. What do parents value most about private education? Mary Margaret Bowen, vice president of the Park Maitland School, gives an answer you probably won’t hear from a public school principal. “They value the emphasis we place upon manners and wholesomeness and friendship and love,” says Bowen, who runs the school with her two sisters, Caroline and Liz. Park Maitland was founded by their mother, Nell Cohen, in 1968. “She knew when she started the school that she had a better idea. And those things are still very important in this day and age.” Indeed they are. But a child isn’t too likely to learn those values in a crowded
48
ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
july 2011
classroom in which harried teachers consider the day a success if no one has been injured. Not that there aren’t many excellent public schools; it’s just that private schools can structure their educational programs as they see fit, and enforce rules of behavior and achievement that public schools can’t. “Kindness and friendship provide the setting for children being able to learn,” Bowen says. “You’ve got to have happy children and happy people. The students who prosper here are students whose families support them educationally and provide them with an environment that supports learning.” And in the case of parochial schools, there’s also an emphasis on spirituality and social responsibility. “A school like ours gives a child a foundation within a faith community,” says Elizabeth Cooper, director of development at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School in College Park, where students receive religious instruction and volunteer at food banks, among other community service efforts. “Involvement should go beyond the school walls and into your parish.” In today’s sour economy, however, some parents are struggling to keep their children in private schools. “It’s all about priorities,” adds Cooper. “If you want what we have to offer, then you’ll be here. But a lot of parents are sacrificing.” Unquestionably, local private schools provide an array of intriguing options. There are college preparatory schools with curricula stringent enough to meet the entrance requirements of Ivy League universities. There are faith-based schools for those who want their children educated in a religious environment. There are schools that specialize in tailoring
WWW.OHLMAG.COM
ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
49
Special Promotional Feature
ST. CHARLES BORROMEO CATHOLIC SCHOOL .OW %NROLLING s #ALL FOR A 4OUR Come learn about our strong Academic and Faith Based Curriculum
Nationally Recognized Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education
Serving Preschool through 8th Grade 4005 Edgewater Dr. s Orlando, FL 32804 Located in College Park s 407.293.7691 ext. 249
programs to meet each child’s specific learning needs. “Our school doesn’t have a generic program,” says Jennifer Clary-Grundorf, director of admissions at Lake Mary Prep. “We gear everything toward the individual child. The reputation of the school usually speaks for itself; we’re fortunate to have a great reputation in our community.” So how do parents make smart decisions? It requires homework. “I would say check the quality of the program by making sure it’s accredited and that the teachers are certified,” says Kathy Smith, admissions and marketing director at Foundation Academy in Winter Garden. “There should also be a loving environment.” Although the Florida Department of Education requires non-public schools to respond to an annual survey, the state does not license, approve, accredit or regulate private schools. Nor are private school teachers required to be state Continued on page 54
www.stcharles-orlando.org VPK Provider 50
ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
St Charles School .33.indd
1
july 2011 6/15/11
1:59:56 PM
Student Teacher Ratio
1945
No
Pre-K-12
640
17::1
SACS, NCSA
$7,050-$7,518
Faith Lutheran School 2727 S. Grove St., Eustis, FL 32726
352-589-5683 faitheustis.org
1975
Yes
Pre-K-8
250
19::1
NLSA
Please call
First Academy Leesburg 219 N. 13th St., Leesburg, FL 34748
352-787-7762 firstacademyonline.com
1988
Yes
K-12
298
18::1
ASCI, SACS
$5,886-$6,256
Gateway Christian School 18440 U.S. 441, Mount Dora, FL 32757
352-383-9920 lccafl.com
2000
Yes
Pre-K-8
120
13::1
FAANS, CAPE
$4,400
Lake Montessori & Learning Institute 415 N. Lee St., Leesburg, FL 34748
352-787-5333 lakemontessori.com
1978
No
Pre-K-8
130
17::1
AMS
$2,700-$6,250
Liberty Christian Academy 2451 Dora Ave., Tavares, FL 32778
352-343-0061 lcaeagles.net
1987
No
K3-12
204
maximum
25::1
FACCS
$4,200-$5,000
Montverde Academy 17325 Seventh St., Montverde, FL 34756
407-469-2561 montverde.org
1912
Yes
Pre-K-12
over 800
16::1
SACS, FCIS, SAIS, FKC
$8,900-$32,500
Real Life Christian Academy 1501 Steve’s Road, Clermont, FL 34711
352-394-5575 reallifechristianacademy.net
1982
Yes
Pre-K-12
350
13::1
ASCI (in process)
$3,520-$5401
St. Paul’s Catholic School 1320 Sunshine Ave., Leesburg, FL 34748
352-787-4657 saintpaulschool.com
1961
Yes
Pre-K-8
180
about 17-20::1
FCC
$4,970-$5,668
Azalea Park Baptist 5725 Dahlia Drive, Orlando, FL 32807
407-277-4056 azaleaparkbaptist.org
1961
Yes
Pre-K-8
116
16::1
N/A
Please call
Bishop Moore Catholic School 3901 Edgewater Drive, Orlando, FL 32804
407-293-7561 bishopmoore.org
1955
Yes
9-12
1,150
25::1
SACS
$9,288-$12,864
Central Florida Christian Academy 700 Good Homes Road, Orlando, FL 32818
407-850-2322 cfcacademy.org
1973
Yes
Pre-K-12
250
14::1
SBACS, ACSI
$5,200-$8,500
Central Florida Preparatory School 1450 Citrus Oaks Ave., Gotha, FL 34734
407-290-8073 cfprep.org
1990
Yes
Pre-K-12
300
AISF, SACS, NCPSA, GOLD SEAL
$6,150-$8,950
Christian Victory Academy 4606 Lake Margaret Drive, Orlando, FL 32812
407-281-6244 christianvictoryacademy.org
1998
Yes
K-12
105
12::1
FCCPSA
Varies with program
Faith Christian Academy 2008 Goldenrod Road, Orlando, FL 32807
407-275-8031 fcalions.org
1979
Yes
K-12
450
25::1 or less
FLOCS
$5,525-$6,175
Family Christian School 671 Beulah Road, Winter Garden, FL 34787
407-656-7904 fcs-fl.org
2003
Yes
K-8
135
15::1
ACSI Member
$3,620-$4,720
Forest Lake Academy 500 Education Loop, Apopka, FL 32703
407-772-3707 forestlakeacademy.org
1926
Yes
9-12
343
16::1
Adventist Accrediting Association, SACS CASI, NCPSA, CITA
$10,448
Foundation Academy 15304 Tilden Blvd., Winter Garden, FL 34787
407-877-2744 foundationacademy.net
1958
Yes
K-12
620
14::1
ACSI, SACS
$3,500-$9,500
Good Shepherd Catholic 5902 Oleander Drive, Orlando, FL 32807
407-277-3973 goodshepherd.org
1956
Yes
Pre-K-8
554
18::1
FCC
$5,688
Hampden Dubose Academy 3700 Dohnavur Drive, Zellwood, FL 32798
407-880-4321 hda-lhs.com
1934
Yes
K-12
100
15::1
FACCS
Please call
Holy Family Catholic School 5129 S. Apopka-Vineland Road, Orlando, FL 32819
407-876-9344 hfcschool.com
1977
Yes
Pre-K-8
650
35::1
FCC
$4,930-$7,300
Jewish Academy of Orlando 851 N. Maitland Ave., Maitland, FL 32751
407-647-0713 jewishacademyorlando.org
1996
Yes
K-8
175
7::1
FCIS, FKC
$12,900-$14,500
Accreditations
2011-2012 Tuition
Number of Students
352-383-2155 chbs.org
Grade Range
Uniforms
Christian Home & Bible School 301 W. 13th Ave., Mount Dora, FL 32757
Web Site/Phone
Year Established
School Name/Address
EDUCATION GUIDE
LAKE COUNTY
ORANGE COUNTY
WWW.OHLMAG.COM
10::1, 12::1, 15::1, 20::1
ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
51
Grade Range
Number of Students
Student Teacher Ratio
407-295-8901 kingswaychristianacademy.com
1968
Yes
Pre-K-8
385
20::1
FACCS
$2,750-$4,250
Lake Highland Preparatory School 901 N. Highland Ave., Orlando, FL 32803
407-206-1900 x3343 lhps.org
1970
Yes
Pre-K-12
2,027
13::1
FCIS, SACS, NAIS, FKC
$9,000-$16,500
New School Preparatory 130 E. Marks St., Orlando, FL 32803
407-246-0556 newschoolprep.org
1995
Yes
Pre-K-8
140
15::1
FCIS
$9,700
Orangewood Christian School 1300 W. Maitland Blvd., Maitland, FL 32751
407-339-0223 orangewoodchristian.org
1980
Yes
K-12
700
13::1
CSF, SACS, NCPSA
$8,750-$10,680
Orlando Christian Prep 500 S. Semoran Blvd., Orlando, FL 32807
407-823-9744 orlandochristianprep.org
1960
Yes
Pre-K-12
400
6::125::1
FACCS
$3,400-$7,700
Orlando Junior Academy 30 E. Evans St., Orlando, FL 32804
407-898-1251 oja-sda.com
1901
Yes
Pre-K-8
220
17::1
SACS, AdvancEd
$4,000-$7,000
Park Maitland School 1450 S. Orlando Ave., Maitland, FL 32751
407-647-3038 parkmaitland.org
1968
Yes
Pre-K-6
610
10::1
FCIS, FKC
$9,000-$11,950
Pathways School 1877 W. Oak Ridge Road, Orlando, FL 32809
407-816-2040 pathwaysorlando.com
1996
Yes
Pre-K-8
280
20::1
FISA
Please call
Pine Castle Christian Academy 7101 Lake Ellenor Drive, Orlando, FL 32809
407-313-7222 pccaeagles.org
1983
Yes
Pre-K-12
213
11::1
SACS, ACSI
$6,000-$9,200
Providence Academy 1561 S. Alafaya Trail, Suite 200, Orlando, FL 32828
407-282-1006 theprovidenceacademy.com
2004
No
K-12
40
4::1
N/A
$18,000
St. Andrew Catholic School 877 N. Hastings St., Orlando, FL 32808
407-295-4230 standrewcatholicschool.org
1962
Yes
Pre-K-8
350
16::1
FCC
$4,700
St. Charles Borromeo School 4005 Edgewater Drive, Orlando, FL 32804
407-293-7691 x249 stcharles-orlando.org
1955
Yes
Pre-K-8
300
20::1
FCC
$5,700-$8,000
St. James Cathedral School 505 E. Ridgewood St., Orlando, FL 32803
407-841-4432 stjcs.com
1928
Yes
Pre-K-8
480
16::1
FCC
$5,700-$7,380
St. John Vianney Catholic School 6200 S. Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, FL 32809
407-855-4660 sjvs.org
1962
Yes, K-8
Pre-K-8
600
17::1
FCC
$3,200-$4,800
The Christ School 106 E. Church St., Orlando, FL 32801
407-849-1665 thechristschool.org
1995
Yes
K-8
330
11::1, 20::1
CSF
$8,615-$9,115
The Crenshaw School 2342 Hempel Ave., Gotha, FL 34734
407-877-7412 crenshawschool.com
1999
No
Pre-K-12
N/A
12::1
AISF-NA, SACS-CITA, AdvancEd
$8,000-$10,000
The First Academy 2667 Bruton Blvd., Orlando, FL 32805
407-206-8602 thefirstacademy.org
1986
Yes
Pre-K-12
1,115
12::1
SACS
$7,000-$13,500
The Parke House Academy 1776 Minnesota Ave., Winter Park, FL 32789
407-647-3624 theparkehouseacademy.com
1986
Yes
Pre-K-6
203
12::2, 15::1
FCIS, FKC
$4,900-$9,999
Trinity Christian School 1022 S. Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, FL 32703
407-886-0212 tcsapopka.org
1974
Yes
Pre-K-8
350
18::1
ASCI, SACS, SBACS
$5,300-$5,840
Trinity Lutheran School 123 E. Livingston St., Orlando, FL 32801
407-488-1919 tlsdowntown.com
1953
Yes, K-8
Pre-K-8
250
12::1
NLSA
$7,094-$7,200
Trinity Preparatory School 5700 Trinity Prep Lane, Winter Park, FL 32792
407-671-4140 trinityprep.org
1966
No
6-12
830
12::1
FCIS
$16,800
West Orange Montessori 227 S. Main St., Winter Garden, FL 34787
407-654-0700 westorangemontessori.com
2007
No
Pre-K-1
35
8::1
AMS
$2,750-$7,350
Windermere Preparatory School 6189 Winter Garden-Vineland Road, Windermere, FL 34786
407-905-7737 windermereprep.com
2000
Yes
Pre-K-12
975
16::1
FCIS, SACS, IB World School, FKC
$8,960-$15,510
52
ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
Accreditations
2011-2012 Tuition
Uniforms
Kingsway Christian Academy 4161 N. Powers Drive, Orlando, FL 32818
Web Site/Phone
Year Established
School Name/Address
EDUCATION GUIDE
july 2011
Uniforms
Number of Students
Student Teacher Ratio
407-847-5184 cityoflifechurch.com
1991
Yes
Pre-K-12
385
12::1
ICAA
Please call
First United Methodist School 122 W. Sproule Ave., Kissimmee, FL 34741
407-847-8805 fums.org
1967
Yes
Pre-K-6
245
15::1
SACS CASI, FACCS
$1,500-$4,400
Heritage Christian School 1500 E. Vine St., Kissimmee, FL 34744
407-847-4087 heritageeagles.org
1974
Yes
Pre-K-12
550
15::126::1
N/A
$3,050-$3,350
Holy Redeemer Catholic School 1800 W. Columbia Ave., Kissimmee, FL 34741
407-870-9055 hredeemer.org
1994
Yes
Pre-K-8
263
13::1
FCC
$5,200
Life Academy 2269 Partin Settlement Road, Kissimmee, FL 34744
407-847-8222 allaboutlife.us
1999
Yes
Pre-K-12
271
22::1
FLOCS, SACS
$4,459-$4,720
North Kissimmee Christian School 425 W. Donegan Ave., Kissimmee, FL 34741
407-847-2877 nkcschool.org
1995
Yes
Pre-K-12
160
20::1
SBACS
$3,350
Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic School 800 Brown Chapel Road, St. Cloud, FL 34769
407-957-1772 stacschool.com
1989
Yes
Pre-K-8
280
11::1
FCC
$4,795-$6,045
Southland Christian School 2901 17th St., St. Cloud, FL 34769
407-891-7723 southlandchristianschool.us
1996
Yes
Pre-K-12
300
20::1
FACCS
$3,300-$3,800
Trinity Lutheran School 3016 W. Vine St., Kissimmee, FL 34741
407-847-5377 trinitychurchandschool.com
1981
Yes, K-8
Pre-K-8
155
16::1
FL-Georgia District The Lutheran Church-MS
$4,700-$4,950
All Souls Catholic School 810 S. Oak Ave., Sanford, FL 32771
407-322-7090 allsoulscatholicschool.org
1954
Yes
Pre-K-8
270
14::1
FCC
$1,860-$6,984
Altamonte Christian School 601 Palm Springs Drive, Altamonte Springs, FL 32701
407-831-0950 altamontechristian.org
1966
Yes
K-12
200
17::1
FACCS
$4,100-$4,600
Annunciation Catholic Academy 593 Jamestown Blvd., Altamonte Springs, FL 32714
407-774-2801 annunciationacademy.org
1995
Yes
K-8
510
18::1
FCC
$6,000-$7,250
Center Academy 470 W. Central Parkway, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714
407-772-8727 centeracademy.com
1968
Yes
6-12
60
10::1
SACS
$11,000-$13,000
Champion Preparatory Academy 721 W. Lake Brantley Road, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714
407-788-0018 championhomeschool.org
1995
Yes
K-12
300
9::1
NPSAA
Varies with program
Forest City S.D.A. 1238 Bunnell Road, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714
407-299-0703 fcsdaschool.com
1986
Yes
K-8
108
13::1
SACS
$4,150-$5,250
Holy Cross Lutheran Academy 5450 Holy Cross Court, Sanford, FL 32771
407-936-3636 thehcla.org
1999
Yes
Pre-K-8
325
15::1
AISF, SACS, NCPSA
$6,100
Lake Forrest Preparatory School 866 Lake Howell Road, Maitland, FL 32751
407-331-5144 lakeforrestprep.com
1991
Yes
Pre-K-5
200
18::1
AISF, SACS, NCPSA
$8,600-$13,005
Lake Mary Montessori Academy 3551 W. Lake Mary Blvd., Suite 205, Lake Mary, FL 32746
407-324-2304 lmma.net
1995
Yes
Pre-K-6
105
11::1
AMS, SACS
$8,512-$11,000
Lake Mary Preparatory School 650 Rantoul Lane, Lake Mary, FL 32746
407-805-0095 lakemaryprep.com
1999
Yes
Pre-K-12
650
18::1
FCIS, FKC
$7,750-$12,500
Liberty Christian School 2626 S. Palmetto Ave., Sanford, FL 32773
407-323-1583 liberty-patriots.org
1973
Yes
K-12
220
14::1
ACSI
$3,250
Markham Woods Christian Academy 1675 Dixon Road, Longwood, FL 32779
407-774-0777
1987
Yes
Pre-K-8
100
7::118::1
FLAGS, FLOCS, FANNS, ACTS
Please call
Pace Brantley Hall School 3221 Sand Lake Road, Longwood, FL 32779
407-869-8882 mypbhs.org
1972
Yes
1-12
128
10::1
FCIS
$13,385-$13,855
Accreditations
2011-2012 Tuition
Year Established
City of Life Christian Academy 2874 E. Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy., Kissimmee, FL 34744
Grade Range
Web Site/Phone
School Name/Address
EDUCATION GUIDE
OSCEOLA COUNTY
SEMINOLE COUNTY
WWW.OHLMAG.COM
markhamwoodschristianacademy.com
ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
53
Number of Students
Student Teacher Ratio
1908
Yes
Pre-K-8
150
7::1
AISS, NCPSA, AI
Please call
St. Lukes Lutheran School 2025 W. S.R. 426, Oviedo, FL 32765
407-365-3228 stlukes-oviedo.org
1947
Yes, K-8
Pre-K-8
730
15::1
NLS
$2,700-$6,900
St. Mary Magdelen Catholic School 869 Maitland Ave., Altamonte Springs, FL 32701
407-339-7301 smmschool.org
1961
Yes
Pre-K-8
550
17::1
FCC
$5,720-$9,460
Sweetwater Episcopal Academy 251 E. Lake Brantley Drive, Longwood, FL 32779
407-862-1882 sweetwaterepiscopal.org
1984
Yes
Pre-K-5
200
8::1
FCIS, FKC
$7,900-$9,888
The Geneva School 2025 S.R. 436, Winter Park, FL 32792
407-332-6363 genevaschool.org
1993
Yes
Pre-K-12
470
10::1
FCIS, FKC
$4,750-$10,070
The Master’s Academy 1500 Lukas Lane, Oviedo, FL 32765
407-971-2221 mastersacademy.org
1986
Yes
K-12
905
17::1
ASCI, SACS
Varies with program
Tuskawilla Montessori Academy 1625 Montessori Point, Oviedo, FL 32765
407-678-3879 tuskmont.org
1986
No
Pre-K-8
180
12::1, 15::1
AISF-SACS, AMS
$5,578-$8,285
Lighthouse Christian Academy 126 S. Ridgewood Ave., DeLand, FL 32720
386-734-5031 x332 delandlighthouse.org
1973
Yes, 6-8
Pre-K-8
230
15::1
FCCPSA
$2,520-$3,340
St. Barbabas Episcopal School 322 W. Michigan Ave., DeLand, FL 32720
386-734-3005 sbesyes.org
1971
Yes, K-8
Pre-K-8
378
18::2, 18::1, 22::1
FCIS, FKC
$2,300-$5,750
St. Peter Catholic School 421 W. New York Ave., DeLand, FL 32720
386-822-6010 stpeter-deland.org
1952
Yes
Pre-K-8
262
25::1
FCC
$4,559-$5,841
Trinity Christian Academy 875 Elkam Blvd., Deltona, FL 32725
386-789-4515 trinitychristianacademy.com
1986
Yes
Pre-K-12
625
11::125::1
ACTS, FLOCS
$4,300-$6,750
2010-2011 Tuition
Grade Range
407-324-1144 pageschool.com
Accreditations
Uniforms
Page Private School 100 Aero Lane, Sanford, FL 32771
Web Site/Phone
Year Established
School Name/Address
EDUCATION GUIDE
VOLUSIA COUNTY
Continued from page 50 certified. Therefore it is up to parents to investigate thoroughly a private school’s curriculum, standards and credentials. Since most colleges require applicants to have a diploma from an accredited high school, public or private, it’s a good idea for parents to investigate whether the private school they’re considering is accredited – and by whom. If a regional accreditation is not specified, the school must be approved by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), which is the accrediting body for all schools and universities in 11 southeastern states. SACS, one of the most prestigious accreditations and one of only six regional
54
ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
accrediting bodies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, evaluates academic programs, extracurricular activities, staff qualifications and financial stability, among other factors. Including SACS, there are just 13 accrediting organizations officially recognized by the Florida Association of Academic and Nonpublic Schools (FAANS), including the Florida Council of Independent Schools (FCIS), which represents more than 72,000 students in 153 member schools. FCIS uses criteria similar to SACS and evaluates only secular private schools. In addition to asking about accreditation, parents may also want to ask what
qualifications the school expects of its instructors. Do all teachers hold fouryear college degrees? Does the school provide continuing education programs for teachers? To get a read on how well the school’s students have been performing academically, you may ask the school for a seniorclass profile, which should show what colleges have accepted students from the school and how many of the students go on to college. Talk to friends and neighbors who have children in private schools about their school choices. Then visit the schools that seem to meet your requirements.
july 2011
Central Florida Christian Academy
EDUCATE INSPIRE
EQUIP
A Christ-Centered Preparatory School Educating, Inspiring & Equiping Students for College and Life
700 Good Homes Road, Orlando, FL 32818
407.850.CFCA www.cfcaeagles.org
Cent FL Christian Academy_July11.indd
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Serving Grades PreK4-12 6/14/11
4:44:41 PM
ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
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Believe in opportunity. We believe in opportunity – the opportunity for every child to learn, grow and succeed. We believe students thrive in a Christian environment where security inspires confidence and parent participation breeds success. We believe opportunities in fine arts, music, athletics and foreign language are integral, not optional. High-level academics U Fine arts U Music Technology U Field trips UÊForeign language Development of critical thinking skills Athletics UÊCommunity outreach
2025 W. SR 426 U Oviedo, Florida 32765 Phone: (407) 365-3228 U school.stlukes-oviedo.org
For private tours, call 407-365-3228 56
ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
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FLAVOR SCOTT JOS E PH’S CE NTRAL FLOR I DA DI N I NG G U I DE
PHOTO: greg johnston
Rusty Spoon Really Shines
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Guide to Top Restaurants PLUS
Moghul Indian Cuisine 4Rivers Smokehouse Winter Garden With Cowboy Steak What’s My Wine?
REVIEWS
The Rusty Spoon is an unfor-
tunate name for a restaurant, but let’s just let that go. It occupies some premium real estate on the ground floor of 55 West, an apartment complex on Church Street in the heart of downtown. It’s a cool corner space with lots of windows looking out onto what had once been an Orlando entertainment mecca. The bar area – notice I didn’t say pub area – is spacious and comfortable. The kitchen is casually visible through a large doorway, almost as if it’s just another room in a comfy, spacious house. Indeed, you could fit a family room next to the prep area, which left me wondering if guests were welcome to drift in and watch. The menu is under the direction of Kathleen Blake, who also is associated with the nearby Pine 22 burger bar. Blake was previously at Melissa Kelly’s Primo at Grande Lakes Resort, where she honed her sensibility for fresh, homegrown products. So she makes certain that 58
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The gypsy goulash (above) and lamb haystack (below) are two of The Rusty Spoon’s standout dishes, although the latter is a better value. The new Church Street eatery is difficult to categorize, but the menu offers some intriguing options.
PHOTOs: greg johnston
A SPOON FULL OF INTERESTING VIEWS, CUISINE
The Rusty Spoon uses local vendors as well. The restaurant wants to be known, sigh, as a gastropub. But I would be hardpressed to come up with a menu theme that truly fits the cuisine. You’ll find fish and chips (more pub than gastro), croque monsieur (bistro?) and pappardelle with Bolognese (trattoria?). Hard to categorize, perhaps, but there are some intriguing options, and, as usual with Blake, some tasty results. I liked my gypsy goulash, a sort of stylized pulledpork dish that featured tender, slow-roasted meat in a tomato sauce nesting on creamy grits. Scrumptious, though I question the $21 charge. I also liked the flavors of my friend’s slow-braised lamb haystack, which boasts the distinctive taste of lamb complemented with a generous sprinkling of tangy ricotta. It was served on delicious Moroccan bread and accompanied by a stack of thin-cut fries at a more reasonable cost of $12. On a lunch visit, I had mundane fish
JUly 2011
REVIEWS and chips, plus a steak tartar appetizer that was a bit too moist. Service was serviceable; the bartenders accommodating. The décor, apart from that glimpse I had of the homey kitchen area, is a bit austere, and perhaps ever so slightly creepy. It’s a vast area with very high ceilings. The wood floor is beautiful, though – perhaps that’s where most of the renovation budget went. A few bare-bulb lights hang in clusters here and there. Tables are covered with cloths but mostly unadorned. The walls hold black-and-white photos that I suppose are meant to emphasize the farm-fresh aspect of the restaurant. But among them are close-ups of farm animals that seem to be staring dolefully at the diners, as if to ask, “Are you going to eat me?” Made me wonder if the decorator had a veganistic agenda. I do think The Rusty Spoon is headed in the right direction, and its style of food and atmosphere is a welcome addition to the cluster of restaurants on Church Street.
The Rusty Spoon
PHOTOs: allan jay images
Where: 55 W. Church St., Orlando When: lunch Monday through Saturday and dinner daily How much: $$-$$$ Where to call: 407-401-8811
MOGHUL BRINGS TASTES OF INDIA TO A humble SITE Well, what a nice thing to have
happen to an erstwhile Krystal outlet. It’s been turned into a pleasant little Indian restaurant. Oh, don’t worry – not every Krystal burgerie is going Indian. Just this particular one on Semoran Boulevard, between University Boulevard and Aloma Avenue. That’s where you’ll now find Moghul Indian Cuisine. On the outside, it still pretty much looks like a Krystal. But in-
Moghul’s vegetarian malai kofta combines meatless “croquettes” with a multiflavored cream sauce. In a clash of culinary cultures, the welcoming little Indian restaurant is located in what had been a Krystal outlet.
side you have to look closely to see any sign that tiny steamed burgers were once sold here. Instead, there’s carpeting, low lighting, and tables and booths adorned with burgundy tablecloths and cloth napkins. (There are paper napkins, too, for some reason.) The word Moghul refers to a member of the Muslim dynasty from Mongolia that ruled India until the 19th century. Mughlai cuisine influenced much of what we recognize as typical fare in most Indian restaurants in America, so you probably won’t find much on the menu that will be unfamiliar. Kofta is a typical Mughlai dish, and the
The mixed pakora features vegetable fritters deep-fried to crispy perfection in a wonderfully peppery batter. The dish is served with complimentary papadum wafers. WWW.OHLMAG.COM
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malai kofta was the best item I sampled. Kofta are, simply, meatballs. But this was a vegetarian dish with meatless balls fashioned from paneer, a housemade cheese. The meatballs, deceptively described on the menu as croquettes, had a firm but giving texture, and the creamy sauce, flavored with cumin, coriander and garam masala, was multilayered. It was good with the basmati rice but even better with the paneer naan. Lamb rogan josh featured hefty hunks of meat in a sauce that must have contained dozens of spices, all of which exploded in the mouth with each bite. The gravy was thick, and tempered with yogurt and tomatoes. The mixed pakora showcased vegetable fritters in a chickpea batter, deftly deep-fried to a perfect crispiness. The seasoning in the batter had wonderful peppery notes. I enjoyed the pakora with the holy trinity of chutneys – onion, mint and tamarind – served with complimentary papadum wafers. One operational detraction: Moghul employs the annoying habit of asking “mild, medium or hot” for each dish ordered, with no regard as to how the dish should traditionally be prepared. Even if you ask the server whether the dish is normally mild or spicy, you’ll be told that it’s up to you. Well, it’s not. Some dishes should be mild, some dishes should be spicy, and that’s how they should be presented. If the guest wants the kitchen to make a spice adjustment, that’s fine, but at least give the diner the option of authenticity. That said, the service otherwise was lovely, and several staffers thanked us as we were leaving.
REVIEWS
BOTTOM LINE: NEW 4RIVERS IS WORTH THE WAIT The original 4Rivers Smoke-
house on Fairbanks Avenue in Winter Park is known for the long lines that snake around the former gas station. Some time ago John Rivers told me that the long line was something he built into the design. With little space inside, and only one cash register, there was almost always a line visible from the road. And although most people complain about lines, many will feel the need to go stand in one just to see what the fuss is about. When I arrived at the new 4Rivers,
which occupies the former Taco Tico building on the corner of U.S. Highway 50 and Dillard Street in Winter Garden, I smiled knowingly: A line trailed out the front door. However, the queue this time around isn’t orchestrated. It’s a result of the reputation that 4Rivers has earned by serving high-quality barbecue.
The new 4Rivers in Winter Garden offers the same terrific barbeque as the original version in Winter Park, but with more space to eat inside and out – and better parking, too.
PHOTOs: courtesy 4Rivers smokehouse
REVIEWS
Moghul Indian Cuisine Where: 401 N. Semoran Blvd., Winter Park When: Lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday How much: $$ Where to call: 407-599-9001
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CHEF’S KITCHEN
PHOTO: greg johnston
That tradition continues here. Brisket is still the house specialty, both the lean end and the fattier version, depending on your preference. But there are also delicious ribs with meat that leaves the bone without coaxing. And sliced pork, and Texas sausage, and tri-tip steak sandwiches, and prime rib with a smoky note – all wonderful. The side dishes aren’t given short shrift. There are collard greens with ham and a bit of sweetness to cut the astringency; lettuce salad with crumbled cornbread; macaroni and cheese; smokehouse corn; baked beans; sweet potato casserole; and baked cheese grits – you really must try those. The Winter Park location has no indoor seating and only a small covered slab in back with some picnic tables next to a too-small gravel parking lot. The Winter Garden location has ample indoor seating at booths and communal tall tables, all in air-conditioned comfort. But surprisingly, most people seem to choose to sit outside here, too. Maybe it’s just part of the barbecue experience. It should be noted that instead of a small, gravel lot, this patio overlooks the large, ample parking lot of the strip mall in which 4Rivers is located. Another neat feature of the design here is a smoker grill behind the counter. Rivers uses it for “finishing off ” the meats just before slicing. Some sausages hang over it, too, soaking up the smoke. The tall ceiling is finished with metallic tiles. All very attractive, very comfortable and clean. All very attractive, very comfortable and very clean. Maybe too clean for purists who contend that the best barbecue joints are invariably dives. If they’re willing to endure a short wait, 4Rivers will prove them wrong.
4Rivers Smokehouse Winter Garden Where: 1047 S. Dillard St. When: Lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday How much: $ Where to call: 407-474-8377
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EMERIL’S SHRIMP DIPPING ROLLS FROM TCHOP CHOP
10 leaves of fresh mint Lemon juice DIRECTIONS
cuisine at Emeril’s Tchoup Chop at Loew’s Royal Pacific Resort at Universal, shared this recipe for lemongrass shrimp summer rolls, plus dipping sauce. (In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s summer!) He says these are great for a family or even dinner guests to prepare together, with everybody helping to roll them up. The recipe below serves 10.
Cook the shrimp in a shrimp boil or in salted water with lemon juice and lemongrass, and some pickling spices if you have some. Cook for 11/2 to 2 minutes. Once all the ingredients for filling are assembled and prepared, get ready to roll! Dip the wrappers in warm water for a few seconds. Lay flat, and put a small amount of each item on rice paper. Roll them up as you would a burrito: Fold the bottom up first, then bring in the sides and fold over the top.
SHRIMP ROLLS
DIPPING SAUCE
INGREDIENTS
INGREDIENTS
8 ounces shrimp (size 21-25), peeled, deveined and cut in half lengthwise 10 pieces rice-paper wrappers, medium size 4 ounces bean thread noodles, boiled and cooled 1 cup red cabbage, shredded 3 pieces Romaine lettuce, shredded 1 cucumber, julienned 1 stalk fresh lemongrass, minced (reserve half for dipping sauce) 10 leaves of fresh Thai basil, or regular basil
1/2 cup water 2 tablespoons fish sauce 1 lime, juiced 2 tablespoons sugar 2 cloves garlic, minced 4 stalks scallions, sliced Reserved lemongrass from above 1 piece red Thai chili pepper, minced 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Gregory Richie, the chef de
DIrections
Mix all ingredients for sauce in bowl, whisk well. ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
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WHAT’S MY WINE STANDING UP TO PRICKLY PEAR’S COWBOY STEAK
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PHOTOs: greg johnston
Prickly Pear, which opens this
month in the former Graze space in the Sanctuary condominium building in downtown Orlando, features the cuisine of the American Southwest. That’s not to be confused with Tex-Mex – very different. But more on that another time. One of Prickly Pear’s signature items, according to co-owner Eddie Nickell (Funky Monkey, Bananas diner) is a 22ounce cowboy steak. The dish is more than just a substantial slab of meat. It gets additional flavor from a dry rub and a sauce that includes tomatoes and garlic. The rub is made with pasilla chilies, which are pan-roasted and then ground. The sauce is made by reducing fresh tomatoes and seasoning with garlic, fresh herbs, and black and white pepper as well as some more of the pasilla chilies. Mushrooms sautéed in butter are added to the mix, which is then served over the steak. “The sauce is robust, very full of rustic garlic and tomato flavors along with touches of spice from the pasilla chili,” says Nickell. So the 22-ounce cowboy steak is definitely my dish. What’s My Wine? “I would suggest pairing Cline Ancient Vines Mourvèdre with this dish,” says Nickell. Prickly Pear currently stocks the 2009 vintage from the Contra Costa County vintner. “Cline Ancient Vines Mourvèdre offers a hint of eucalyptus on the nose, distinct chocolate characteristics and a luscious, deep plum flavor,” says Nickell. The wine has a substantial mouthfeel that is followed by soft tannins in the aftertaste, which complements the forward spicing on the steak and also stands up to the juiciness of a wellcooked piece of beef.
DINING LISTINGS
Compiled by Scott Joseph
featured listing
CHEZ VINCENT
What: A charming French bistro owned by Vincent and Teri Gagliano Where: 533 W. New England Ave., Winter Park, at Hannibal Square When: Lunch and dinner daily Why: July 14 is La Fête Nationale in France, or, as it’s more commonly called, Bastille Day: a national celebration commemorating the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789. Have dinner at Chez Vincent, and then go stroll Park Avenue and pretend it’s the Champs-Elysees. CONTACT: 407-599-2929
AFRICAN
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 $$$ Grand Bohemian, 325 S. Orange Ave., Orlando, 407-581-4700 The Boheme has grown into a more consistent finedining experience but now is trying to position itself as more accessible. Try the Kessler calamari, a silly name for a delicious appetizer, and follow with the lamb duet or the Chilean sea bass. The kitchen also has a way with scallops.
PHOTO: courtesy chez vincent
Circa $$$ 358 Park Ave. N., Winter Park, 321-972-3926 Chef Anukul Hampton calls on his Thai heritage to influence what is largely a menu of American fare. His tuna tower appetizer and tamarind braised beef short ribs are two of his signature dishes. Chatham’s Place $$$$ 7575 Dr. Phillips Blvd., Orlando, 407-345-2992 Chatham’s Place has gone through some changes but retains a continuity, even though there are no longer members of the Chatham family involved. Many of the dishes that became signatures back in Louis Chatham’s days remain on the menu, including the Florida black grouper, which has been one of my favorite Central Florida entrées for many years. It features a fresh fillet, thick and white, lightly sautéed and topped with pecan butter and scallions dusted with just a soupcon of cayenne pepper. The pecan butter places the dish firmly in the south, and the pepper points it towards New Orleans. But with the use of Florida black grouper, I think we can just claim this one as one of our native dishes, don’t you? Emeril’s Tchoup Chop $$$ 6300 Hollywood Way, Royal Pacific Resort, Orlando, 407-503-2467 Chef Gregory Richie has turned Emeril Lagasse’s trouWWW.OHLMAG.COM
bled 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. Funky Monkey Pointe Orlando $$ 9101 International Drive, Orlando, 407-418-9463 A second location for the popular Mills-50 original, this Monkey is less funky — at least from the outside — but still has all the good food and wine inside that has made it a local favorite. Although you wouldn’t get it from the name, sushi is a forte. But you’ll also find more substantial fare, such as bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin — ah, nothing like pork products garnished with more pork products. You may also find entertainment here with the occasional show of drag. Houston’s $$ 215 S. Orlando Ave., Winter Park, 407-740-4005 Houston’s is one of the better examples of how a chain restaurant should operate. It does what it does well, and the food is consistent. But one of the draws of this particular location is its lakefront view – every table has a perfect vantage point. One negative: the chain’s no-reservations policy – waits can be long, especially on weekends. HUE Restaurant $$$ 629 E. Central Blvd., Orlando, 407-849-1800 A centerpiece of Orlando’s vibrant Thornton Park neighborhood, Hue has been an important part of downtown Orlando for more than seven years. Although the name is pronounced hyoo and not the Asian hway, the menu adds confusion with its Asian touches. The fried oysters served in ladle-shaped spoons are a good starter. There are more elaborate entrées, but I think the burger is one of the best in town.
Editor-at-Large Scott Joseph has been reviewing Central Florida restaurants for more than 20 years. He is a past winner of the James Beard Award for food writing and also presides over a dining-oriented website, scottjosephorlando.com.
K Restaurant $$$ 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 so many other things on the ever-changing menu are too. You can scarcely go wrong. LUMA on Park $$$ 290 Park Ave. S., Winter Park, 407-599-4111 Under the direction of Chef Brandon McGlamery, this stylishly chic restaurant on trendy Park Avenue has become a real jewel in Central Florida’s culinary corona. The dining room can be a bit noisy. The decor is still modish, even after four years. And the automated restrooms with their sliding glass doors and confusing washbasins still annoy me. A fun thing to do here is make a feast of small plates, but if you want to have a full entrée try the flank steak or the black grouper. Norman’s $$$$ Ritz-Carlton, 4000 Central Florida Parkway, Orlando, 407-393-4333 Owner Norman Van Aken is one of the founders of Floribbean or New World Cuisine and arguably one of Florida’s most celebrated chefs. Van Aken and the Ritz-Carlton have teamed up to present the sort of fine-dining experience seldom seen in Orlando. The menu changes regularly, but if it’s your first visit, ask your waiter for some of Van Aken’s signature dishes. A dinner at Norman’s is pricey — it’s the Ritz for crying out loud! — but it’s worth an occasional splurge. The Ravenous Pig $$$ 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 $$ 7700 Sand Lake Road, Orlando, 407-354-5212 The original conceit of the restaurant was that something somewhere was coming into season ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
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DINING LISTINGS every week of the year. The kitchen has gotten away from following that concept too closely but continues to offer entrées with lots of flavor and fewer calories. You won’t notice a difference when you taste the grilled pork with polenta or the filet mignon. If you start feeling too goody-goody, go crazy and order all the mini desserts. There is a second location at 463 E. Altamonte Drive, Altamonte Springs (in front of Altamonte Mall), 407-767-1252. Shula’s 347 Grill $$ Westin Lake Mary, 2947 International Parkway, Lake Mary, 407-531-3567 This is a new concept from the folks at Shula’s Steak House, the high-end eatery that bears the name of the legendary Miami Dolphins coach. He’s legendary for the number of wins to which he led his team: 347. There are a few steaks on the menu, but there are other items, too, including crab cakes, seared Ahi tuna sandwiches and other fare. The atmosphere is that of an upscale sports bar with requisite televisions and casual seating arrangements. Toojay’s $-$$ Various locations, including: Colonial Market Plaza, 2400 E. Colonial Drive, Orlando, 407-894-1718 Whenever I feel a cold coming on, I head right for Toojay’s for some chicken soup. The rich golden broth, with or without noodles, may not cure the cold, but it doesn’t hurt. Others go here for the big overstuffed sandwiches, potato pancakes and blintzes. The Tap Room at Dubsdread $$ 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 $$$$ Caribe Royale Hotel, 8101 World Center Drive, Orlando, 407-238-8060 This fine-dining holdout is pricey, but Chef Khalid Benghallem’s French/American food is very good. I enjoyed the appetizer of foie gras, which had two seared lobes layered in an alternating stack with cakes made with smoked polenta. My favorite among the entrées was the tenderloin of beef – two thick slabs of seared meat served with marrow, barley, rhubarb, chard, fennel strudel and red-wine reduction sauce, tinged with black truffles. For dessert, share the soufflé. Victoria & Albert’s $$$$ Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Lake Buena Vista, 407-939-3862 This not only is one of the best restaurants in Central Florida, it’s one of the best in the Southeastern United States and could easily hold its own with some of the top-rated restaurants in the world. The cuisine, under the direction of Chef Scott Hunnel, is creatively American with classical roots. V&A now offers two dining experiences: the main dining room, with its quiet elegance and six-course menu; or the chef’s table, with its own menu offering at least twice as many courses. The chef’s table, previously available only in the kitchen, now is offered in the newly christened Queen Victoria Room.
Vineyard Grill $$$ 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
4 Rivers Smokehouse $ 2103 W. Fairbanks Ave., Winter Park, 407-474-8377 Open a good barbeque joint and the world will beat a path 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.
BRAZILIAN
Nelore $$$ 115 Lyman Ave., Winter Park, 407-645-1112 A Brazilian churrascaria where the buffet comes to your table! Go hungry, pace yourself, just nibble until you find something you love and keep calling the gaucho (that’s what the servers are called) back until you’re full. Here’s how it works: Diners are given a little disk to put next to their plates. One side is green and the other side is red. Green go; red stop. As long as the green side is facing up the servers will offer you meats. When you’ve had enough or just need a breather turn the red side up. Don’t miss the caipirinha and mojito.
CHINESE
Ming’s Bistro $$ 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 a Park Avenue mainstay, surviving the iconic thoroughfare’s slump in the ‘90s and prospering during its recent revival as one of the
THE KEY
$ Cheap eats, most entrées under $10 $$ Moderate, dinner entrées $15-20 $$$ Pricey, most entrées over $30 $$$$ Many entrées over $30 Full review at scottjosephorlando.com
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area’s premier dining destinations. Locals love the quaintness of its small dining room and the charm of its hostess and owner, Dominique Gutierrez. Though not everything on the menu is strictly French, the ingredients are always fresh and specials change daily. Chez Vincent $$$ 533 W. New England Ave., Winter Park, 407-599-2929 Chez Vincent continues to serve classic French dishes in pleasant, if slightly worn, surroundings. Chef/ owner Vincent Gagliano is a master with soup, and the coquille St. Jacques is one of the better seafood entrées. Steak au poivre is a good choice for a meat dish. The waiters here allow the guests to dictate the pace of the meal. If Chez Vincent has survived over the years, it’s because there is an appreciation among Central Florida diners for a quiet place to enjoy a good classically prepared meal. Le Coq Au Vin $$ 4800 S. Orange Ave., Orlando, 407-851-6980 New owners Sandy and Reimund Pitz are continuing to serve some of the area’s best food regardless of cuisine type. The namesake dish is one of the best, but the menu changes with the seasons. In winter the cassoulet is a treat. I really like that Coq Au Vin offers half portions of most of its entrées. It’s a smart thing both nutritionally and, in the current financial climate, economically. And the half-portions here are ample enough to satisfy.
GERMAN/ EASTERN EUROPEAN
Chef Henry’s $$ 1831 W. State Road 434, Longwood, 407-331-4836 It’s technically a 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. Steak & Salad $$ 1326 N. Mills Ave., Orlando, 407-898-0999 Eateries don’t get a lot more eclectic than this. As the names suggests, steaks and salads are a focus of the menu. But so is an array of authentic Turkish dishes that represent the owners’ native cuisine. And it’s those items that should get your attention when you visit. JUly 2011
DINING LISTINGS GREEK
Greek Corner $$ 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 melitzanosalata, a dip made with roasted eggplant, and followed with a bowl of tangy argolemono, 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 béchamel. 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 $$ 2401 W. State Road 434, Longwood, 407-788-9095 Mykonos was part of a small Greek revival in 2000 when Central Florida, previously Greek deficient, finally started to get good Greek restaurants. Mykonos is one of the best, and was a recipient of multiple Critic’s Foodie Awards on my watch. Have the patatokeftedes or chargrilled squid appetizer, avgolemono soup and entrées of chicken Mykonos or the combination platter of moussaka, pastitsio and stuffed grape leaves. Even if you can’t pronounce it, order the galaktoboureko for dessert.
INDIAN
Memories of India $$ 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 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 Flamma $$$ 611 S. Orlando Ave., Maitland; 407-645-1035 When Greg Gentile opened this massive two-story restaurant in a renovated family steakhouse, everyone thought he was crazy and that the place would close in one year. That was about two decades ago. Why did it succeed? Simple: good food, good service and an atmosphere for everyone; fine dining upstairs and a casual deli down. The upstairs has recently been expanded to include patio dining. Antonio’s Ristorante $$$ 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 $$$$ Portofino Bay, 5601 Universal Blvd., Orlando 407-503-1415 Dinner at BiCE is not an inexpensive night out. But when you consider cost vs. quality, you’ll find that BiCE is not overpriced. Just consider the restaurant’s signature dish, ravioli stuffed with beef short ribs and spinach. The pasta was delicately thin and tender, and the braised meat inside had a rich, fatty mouthfeel that blossomed with the sauce of mushrooms and Marsala wine. Absolute heaven. Desserts are worth lingering over. Café d’Antonio $$$ 691 Front St., Celebration; 407-566-2233 A smaller version of Greg Gentile’s flagship restaurant Antonio’s La Fiamma, Café d’Antonio is a consistently good choice for residents and visitors in Celebration. Primo $$$-$$$$ JW Marriott, 4040 Central Florida Parkway, Orlando 407-393-4444 A second restaurant for celebrity chef and James Beard Award winner Melissa Kelly. The food is only ostensibly Italian, with more creative touches menuwide. Kelly was one of the first to promote the use of local ingredients. Most of the herbs used in the restaurant are grown outside the kitchen door. The lamb is good, and so was the pork saltimbocca. Have the banana Napoleon for dessert. The décor is upscale, and although jackets are not requested, you wouldn’t feel out of place wearing one.
A FRESH DINING EXPERIENCE
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We feature USDA Prime Steaks, Australian Cold-Water Lobster Tails and an Extensive Collection of Single Malt Scotch. At Del Frisco’s, it’s great food, great service and great to have your business!
DINING LISTINGS Rocco’s Italian Grille $$$ 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 was brilliant. Fritto misto alla Ligure was a terrific appetizer of lightly 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
729 Lee Road, Orlando, 2 blks W. of I-4, Exit 88. Open 5 PM. Closed Sundays. Coat/Tie Optional. Major CC’s. Valet Parking.
RESERVATIONS RECOMMENDED 407.645.4443 www.delfriscosorlando.com “Open Table” Reservations and Directional Map
Hanamizuki $$ 8255 International Drive, Orlando, 407-363-7200 Hanamizuki’s menu features Kyoto-style cooking, which tends to be more elegant and formal than many of the dishes served in most American Japanese restaurants. It also focuses more on fresh vegetables and seafood other than sushi, although that’s also available. Don’t be surprised to find a predominantly Japanese clientele here. No small wonder when the restaurant’s website is written in Japanese (you can opt into a translation). Wa $$$ 5911 Turkey Lake Road, Orlando 407-226-0234 Ostensibly a Japanese restaurant, Wa could pass for a French Bistro. Some of its daily specials include such things as truffle fries and bacon-stuffed quail. A very stylish space, but one that is difficult to locate.
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MEXICAN
Cantina Laredo $$ 8000 Via Dellagio Way (one block west of Dr. Phillips Blvd.), Orlando, 407-345-0186 The menu isn’t exactly authentic Mexican – the nachos, fajitas and crepes wouldn’t be found on many menus south of our border, unless it was a restaurant specializing in Ameri-Mex cuisine. But the food done here is very good, especially the guacamole, prepared tableside. The chile relleno is a menu standout, but the chicken enchilada is pretty good, too.
MIDDLE EASTERN
A LOT CHANGES IN 30 YEARS BUT A
CLASSIC REMAINS THE SAME.
Smartphone 2011 featuringTooJay’s Classic Corned Beef Sandwich
Polaroid camera 1981 featuring TooJay’s Classic Corned Beef Sandwich
Bosphorous $$ 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 sautéed 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. Cedars $$ 7732 Sand Lake Road, Orlando, 407-351-6000 Cedar’s represents itself as a fine dining restaurant, and indeed the atmosphere is a bit more upscale than you’d find in the average Middle Eastern restaurant. The cuisine is above average, too, with a menu that goes well beyond the basic hummus spreads and falafel sandwiches. You can put together a lovely meal with the mouhamara dip, a bowl of lentil soup and the fish tajine entrée. Other entrées may seem repetitive, but they are good, especially the lamb.
SEAFOOD Orlando Colonial Marketplaza (407) 894-1718 Southwest Orlando The Marketplace at Dr. Phillips (407) 355-0340 East Orlando Waterford Lakes Town Center (407) 249-9475 Altamonte Springs Palm Springs Shopping Center (407) 830-1770 Lake Mary Lake Mary Centre (407) 833-0848 Ocoee Shoppes of Ocoee (407) 798-2000 66
ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
Cityfish $$ 617 E. Central Blvd., Orlando, 407-849-9779 The people at Urban Life Management Restaurant Group have always appeared to have a goal of bringJUly 2011
DINING LISTINGS ing 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 $$$ Pointe Orlando, 9101 International Drive, Orlando, 407-363-4801 The promise of a good seafood restaurant has sailed into Central Florida aboard The Oceanaire. The Oceanaire Seafood Room is meant to take you back in time with an interior that suggests a 1930’s ocean liner. Sample some of the fresh fish selections after you enjoy the crab cake appetizer. It’s a bit pricey, but quality is worth paying for. Winter Park Fish Company $$ 761 Orange Ave., Winter Park, 407-622-6112 Chef George Vogelbacher has teamed up with area restaurateur Craig Tremblay for this casual, orderat-the-counter fish market that has Winter Parkers packing it in. Bouillabaisse is about the most ambitious item, but everything is undoubtedly fresh and delicious.
STEAKHOUSE
Bull & Bear $$$$ Waldorf Astoria, 14200 Bonnet Creek Resort Lane,
Orlando, 407-597-5500 The first Waldorf Astoria to be built outside of Manhattan also features a steakhouse called Bull & Bear, just like New York. Well, not exactly like New York. The decor here is less dark and clubby; it’s actually quite an attractive room with windows overlooking the resort’s pool area (and Disney fireworks in the distance). The menu features steak, of course, but also does some fine fish, including a lovely Dover sole filleted tableside. Also performed tableside is a traditional Caesar salad. Curiously, there is no Waldorf salad. And the veal Oscar (another invention of the New York hotel’s) is a stylized version. Capital Grille $$$$ The Pointe Orlando, 9101 International Drive, Orlando, 407-370-4392 One of Darden Restaurants’ most recent acquisitions and easily their most upscale. The steaks here are very good, and the service is attentive if not downright solicitous. I had the Delmonico that had a flavorful, well-seasoned crust and beautiful red center. Atmosphere is clubby and posh. Del Frisco’s Prime Steak & Lobster 729 Lee Road, Orlando, 407-645-4443
$$$$
THE KEY
$ Cheap eats, most entrées under $10 $$ Moderate, dinner entrées $15-20 $$$ Pricey, most entrées over $30 $$$$ Many entrées over $30
The steaks here are always high quality. The atmosphere isn’t quite as posh as some of the other topdrawer steakhouses, but it at least rises to meet the price point, which is high. Since you’ll probably be having meat for your main entrée — and if you’re not, why are you here? — have the fried oysters for your appetizer. What, you’re worried about the cholesterol? Again I have to ask: Why are you here?
SUSHI
Izziban $$ 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 $$ 510 N. Orlando Ave., Winter Park, 407-644-5050 4898 New Broad St., Orlando, 407-898-8801 8031 Turkey Lake Road, Orlando, 407-248-8888 671 Front St., Celebration, 407-566-1889 It’s becoming its own little local chain, but it keeps its quality high, both in terms of the sushi and the elegant surroundings.
Full review at scottjosephorlando.com
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11:16:08 AM
DINING LISTINGS THAI
Chai Thai $ 2447 S. Orange Ave., Orlando, 407-898-1181 This new location is in a small, nondescript strip mall across from SoDo. The inside has a fresh newness about it, from its slate-like flooring to the highly polished dark wood tabletops. There is a sincere friendliness from the staff, and the food is always top notch. Orchid Thai $$ 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 sautéed with potatoes and small pieces of sweet bell peppers with a chili sauce and a bit of roasted peanuts. Part of the enjoyment of this entrée, 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
SCOTT JOSEPH’S 2011 ORLANDO RESTAURANT GUIDE
Café 118º $$ 153 E. Morse Blvd., Winter Park, 407-389-2233 If veganism can be defined as extreme vegetarianism, the raw food movement could be classified as extreme veganism. The 118 in the restaurant’s name refers to the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit to which some of the foods here are heated. I stew myself in temperatures higher than that in the steam room at the Y. Going above that temperature, aficionados of raw cuisine profess, saps foods of their vitamins, enzymes and minerals. Raw foods, they assert, aid in digestibility and cell reconstruction, among other things, according to information on Café 118’s menu. I can’t attest to any of that. But I can tell you that the food I had at Café 118 was all quite delicious, and presented in a stylish and gourmet fashion.
VIETNAMESE
From the most trusted food critic in Central Florida. Now in paperback, available at Amazon.com
scottjosephorlando.com
Lac Viet Bistro $$ 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 needed 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 entrées under $10 $$ Moderate, dinner entrées $15-20 $$$ Pricey, most entrées over $30 $$$$ Many entrées over $30 Full review at scottjosephorlando.com 68
ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
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WELLNESS
The RDV Ice Den in Maitland is a perfect place to exercise and avoid the summer heat.
No Sweat, No Tears Summer Workouts
Staying in shape during the sweltering summer months calls for common sense and creativity.
C
Photo: greg johnston
entral Floridaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s summer heat is tough on
everyone, but particularly for outdoor exercisers. The onetwo punch of heat and humidity makes open-air workouts not just uncomfortable, but potentially dangerous. Your pulse goes up 10 beats per minute for every 1 degree your body temperature rises, cardiologists tell us, and hearts already pumping extra-hard for exercise have to do so even harder to shunt blood for cooling. When it comes to the heart, some stress can be very good. But too much can be very, very bad. You likely already know the standard advice for exercising in
the heat: Stay hydrated, avoid the hottest part of the day, and cut back on duration and intensity. For walkers and runners, this usually means stepping out near or before dawn, and either carrying a water bottle or following a route with water stops. The same goes for cyclists, although they at least get the benefit of a self-propelled breeze. Swimmers might seem unaffected, since they work out in water, but pool temperatures in Central Florida typically climb into the high 80s and even low 90s in summer. That may be comfortable for bathing, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decidedly uncomfortable for
by Harry Wessel
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ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
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Central Florida’s natural springs offer bracingly cool, 72-degree water for summer workouts.
rigorous lap swimming. What to do? Here’s a trio of alternatives for working out in cool, even cold conditions during Orlando’s hottest summer days.
FOR SWIMMERS Hit the Springs Central Florida is home to several natural springs that offer swimmers clean, clear and bracingly cool 72-degree water for their summer workouts. Wekiwa Springs State Park in Apopka and De Leon Springs State Park north of DeLand both have large open swimming areas. They attract a regular group of swimmers, who usually get their laps done during the first hour after the parks open, before the places get crowded. Blue Spring State Park in Orange City also has a regular group of swimmers. Although the main swimming area is smaller than Wekiwa’s or De Leon’s, it’s a couple of hundred yards from the spring’s boil, which daily pumps out more than 100 million gallons. Swimming upstream toward the boil means using nature’s version of an endless pool, with much better scenery. 70
ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
(Blue Spring is closed to swimming during winter months, when manatees are given the run of the place, but humans take over in summer.) The daily entrance fee at Blue, De Leon and Wekiwa springs is just $2 if you’re on foot or on a bike; $4 if you’re in a car by yourself, and, if you’ve got passengers, $6 for the bunch. If you plan to be a daily regular, you’ll save money with a $60 season pass.
FOR WALKERS Hit the Mall OK, so it’s not outdoor exercise. But mall-walking is the next best thing if you’re heat averse, bored with treadmills, but still bent on getting in your daily constitutional. Indoor malls offer wide, high-ceilinged corridors that are almost like being outside – with air-conditioning and without vehicular traffic. Several malls, including the Altamonte Mall, Seminole Towne Center and Osceola Square Mall, have free, formalized mall-walking programs that are mostly aimed at seniors and new moms, but anyone can join. If you’re not a joiner, you can still per-
ambulate in these and other enclosed air-conditioned malls. The best time to go? Shopping malls typically open their doors an hour before their stores do, giving store employees time to prepare for shoppers and providing walkers with a golden hour to put in their miles without having to contend with crowds.
FOR RUNNERS AND CYCLISTS Hit the Ice This is the ultimate solution to summer heat – skating on ice in sub 40-degree air. The Orlando area offers four yearround ice rinks in two different places. The Ice Factory of Central Florida in Kissimmee and the RDV Ice Den in Maitland each have large, adjacent indoor ice rinks that are open year-round. They not only offer daily public skating sessions in which runners and cyclists can skate laps around the perimeter, both host weekly practices for speed skaters. Yes, there really is ice speed skating in Orlando. It mostly involves kids and teens, but adults participate, too. Dan Green, a Windermere insurance broker who turns 61 this month, is a JUly 2011
WELLNESS
competitive cyclist who typically rides more than 200 miles per week on his bike. He cross trains in the summer with the Sunshine State Speedskating Club (sunshinestatespeedskating.com), which alternates practices between the Ice Factory and the Ice Den. “Skating offers a great alternative workout on hot days,” Green says. “And it’s so low-impact – it’s easy on the knees and back.” Speed-skating practices typically cost about $10-$15 per session, while most public skate sessions run around $10, including skate rental. l
HOT WEATHER EXERCISE TIPS • Avoid outdoor workouts between 11a.m. and 4 p.m., and stay in shade as much as possible. • Slow your normal exercise pace. • Drink water all day long, not just before or after exercise. Stay hydrated with water, not coffee and soft drinks. • Twenty to 30 minutes prior to exercise, drink 8 to 12 ounces of water, plus an additional 6 to 10 ounces every 30 minutes during exercise. Unless your workouts exceed an hour and your fluid and electrolyte loss is extensive and chronic, sports drinks add unnecessary sodium and calories. • Wear lightweight clothing that provides coverage from the sun and allows sweat to evaporate, and a visor (instead of a hat) to keep the sun off the face while allowing heat to dissipate from the top of the head. * Wear sunscreen with at least a 30 SPF rating. Sources: The University of Florida’s Living Well Program; Cleveland Clinic
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If you’re a runner, get an earlier start than usual.
TOUGH IT OUT, But use common sense While some dedicated exercisers yearn for cool relief in the summer months, others just grit their teeth and bear it. Kim Streit, a long-time competitive runner who has completed 11 Boston Marathons, has backed off a bit the past few years but still runs 6 miles every day after work – rain or shine, winter or summer. An executive with the Florida Hospital Association, Streit says she makes minor adjustments when it’s really hot. She delays her usual 5:30 p.m. start by a half-hour or so, slows her running pace and drinks extra water beforehand, sometimes adding a popsicle to her pre-race intake. Summers are tough, but you battle through them, says Streit, 52, who’s always on the lookout for climatic relief: “If you can run right after a thunderstorm but before the sun comes out, it’s not too bad,” she says. “If it’s overcast and there’s some wind, it’s actually sort of pleasant. But once the sun comes out, it’s miserable.” No matter how miserable it gets, it’s unlikely to deter Orlando’s Beth Stone, who earlier this year ran a 50-mile ultramarathon in the Florida Keys. The temperature for nearly the entire race was in the high 80s, but Stone – a certified paramedic, personal trainer, yoga instructor and licensed massage therapist – finished in under 10 hours. “I knew it was warm, but I didn’t focus on it,” Stone says. “I took it one mile at a time.” She insists she enjoyed the experience, and plans to return to the Keys next year to run a 100-mile ultramarathon – from Key Largo to Key West. Stone, who turned 40 last month, says she runs whenever her busy schedule allows her, which often means running at noon. “My pace slows when it’s hot, and if it’s really hot I may shorten the run or go even slower. But what’s most important is not the weather, it’s how I feel.” If she’s going out for more than an hour, Stone carries a 20-ounce water bottle. For training runs that take three hours or more, she carries enough cash to stop at convenience stores for cold drinks. Stone and Streit agree that even supremely fit athletes need to acclimate to heat before exercising in it. Running outdoors year-round is one way to do it, although injuries can get in the way. More than a decade ago, Streit had to stop running for nearly two months after a Boston Marathon injury. She still remembers how difficult it was to resume her training regimen that summer. Stone sees the effects of heat from her duties as a paramedic. She regularly works at Orlando theme parks, and during the summer she treats at least one heat-stroke victim a day – usually an out-of-shape out-of-towner. “Most people who are active,” Stone says, “are fairly aware about taking care of themselves in the heat.”
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N AT I V E S O N
Forging a Fond Farewell to a Longtime Grill Friend
T
he ritual will begin early in
ing then you know the best way to do it is to invite no fewer than a dozen people the morning. I’ll set out the pork, let it She’s worth over. But just try cooking ribs aplenty for come to room temperature, toss some spilling good a group that size on some dinky gas grill hickory nuts into a tub to soak and beer over or even a lesser charcoal variety, like those uncork the jug of homemade barbeany day. ubiquitous kettle-shaped cookers. You will cue sauce. Then I’ll go out back to either spend the whole evening cooking beget her ready. She still has spirit, the old cause there just isn’t enough room for all the want-to, but the years have not been kind. ribs at once, or you will try to hurry things along, in which Truth is, it hurts just to look at her now. case the ribs will be carcinogenic on the outside, raw on the Her legs are wobbly, and the baling wire I jury-rigged to inside, and your friends, if they are serious barbecue people, brace them no longer does a bit of good. Her grate is rusted will start averting their eyes in your presence and whisper through, so I have to line her with foil or risk setting the about ordering pizza. deck on fire. Her built-in serving tray is shot, corroded and But her? She could take four slabs at once without crowdtipsy. The other weekend, while preparing burgers, I forgot ing them and still have room for roasting the corn. Set her her frailty and rested a beer on her. She buckled and the rack up high, on that fifth position, and she would cook bottle slid off, shattering on the concrete. She was embarthem slow and easy as you please. I do believe pigs were rassed. I could tell. So I patted her with my asbestos mitt. proud to sacrifice themselves for her. She’s worth spilling good beer over any day. No, there won’t ever be another one like her. I know that Let’s see, how long have we been together now? Has it refor a fact because I called Meco Inc., the outfit up in Greenally been nine years? I can remember the day I bought her – a eville, Tenn., that built her. $49.95 special at the local hardware store. She was a pretty “No, sir. We stopped making that model a couple years thing: snappy green lid, shiny black bottom, two ventilator ago,” said the woman I spoke to. “Tell you the truth, they lids atop and four cross-ventilators both front and back so weren’t selling well. Too big. Plus, most people seem to want you could shut her up tight and recycle the charcoal. Real gas or electric these days. Now, we do have this nice, new wood knobs, lacquered. Easy to grab hold of so you could electric model and if you would like I can...” adjust her just right. I’m talking five different positions. She Thank you, no. I’ll keep looking. was something else. For a farewell number I’ll present her with a couple of BosBut you could tell even then that her kind had seen its ton butts. Let her slow cook them all day long. When they’re day. That a new breed had seized control. done I’m going to leave her lid up and her vents wide open, “You sure I can’t interest you in one of the gas models?” the and let her keep on cooking until she burns out. salesman asked. I let my sneer answer for me. When it comes to And come the next morning I’ll wheel her out by the curb, barbecuing, if you ain’t charcoaling, then you ain’t cooking. so the garbage truck can haul her away. Not much of a partOh, but she was good. Took anything I threw on her ing ceremony, I know. I wanted better for her. But my wife and asked for more. She could steam two to three bushels wouldn’t let me bury her out back by the begonias. l of oysters, then be ready to bubble the grease and fry the fish. And if we wanted to set some marshmallows aflame Bob Morris is an author and fourth-generation Floridian. He lives for dessert, then she would still have plenty of oomph left in Winter Park and teaches at Rollins College. for that too. Ribs? Let’s put it this way: If you are into serious rib eat-
by Bob Morris
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ORLANDO HOME & LEISURE
JUly 2011
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