Orlando Life December 2013

JAY BOYAR: COMEDY WITHOUT A NET ■ MIKE THOMAS: A WATERY APOCALYPSE?

T H E B E S T O F C E N T R A L F LO R I DA

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December 2013

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CONTENTS

december

Volume 14

Issue 12

M TH DEPARTMENTS 8 JAY BOYAR’S LIMELIGHT

Jay looks into the art of improvisation, and gives a shout-out to the Polasek Museum’s new icon exhibit; a theatrical “radio version” of a classic Christmas movie comes to the Shakes, while creatures slither to town for Repticon; Justin Timberlake and Yanni will perform at the Amway and Bob Carr, respectively.

18 NEIGHBORHOODS

Orlando’s Mills 50 district is getting a delightful dose of public art. by Michael McLeod • photographs by Rafael Tongol

26 DESIGN / STYLE

Holiday clothing and accessories this year are both fun and festive. by Marianne Ilunga • photographs by Rafael Tongol

40 FLAVOR

Epcot’s California Grill is back and better than ever. by Rona Gindin • photographs by Rafael Tongol

57 PEOPLE & PLACES

Paula is out and about at Neanderthal Ball and Cabs & Cows. by Paula Wyatt

32

60 WELLNESS

32 RIDING TO RESCUE Orlando’s historic Ben White Raceway is home to Freedom Ride, whose equine-therapy program provides an invaluable service to physically, mentally and emotionally challenged individuals. by Michael McLeod • photographs by Rafael Tongol ABOUT THE COVER: Victoria B of Ab Fab Management takes a fashionforward step toward the holidays. Photograph by Rafael Tongol; hair and makeup

by Elsie Knab.

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64 RESTLESS NATIVE

Florida isn’t in as much peril as some scientists would have you believe. by Mike Thomas

SPECIAL SECTION 51 MEET YOUR REALTOR

As the economy picks up, more people are hopping off the fence and buying or selling homes. But who can you trust to navigate you through the residential real-estate market?

Photos: rafael tongol

FEATURE

A top Orlando surgeon is on a crusade to promote video games as powerful training and education tools. by Harry Wessel • photographs by Rafael Tongol

DECEMBER 2013

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FIRST

from the editor

On Quiet Humility

A

AND WHY PERLMAN ROCKS.

t the risk of sounding like Someone Who Has No Life, I’m going to write — no, gush — about the same thing I went on and on about in last month’s column: The Winter Park Institute’s free lecture series.

And at the risk of sounding defensive, if “free lecture series” sounds boring to you, maybe you’re the one who needs to get a life.

Hmm. Perhaps that was just a little aggressive for a guy who piously expostulated in last month’s column about the appearance at Rollins College of peace activist Arun Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson.

I have to concede that the very word “lecture” is an automatic turnoff. Here.

Watch. If I free associate, I wind up going straight from “lecture” to “mortify,” and from there I’m just a couple of synapses away from the memory of getting chewed out for some window I broke as a kid, or — hold on, here it is, coming in now — the time I climbed our next-door neighbor’s ornamental tree and ruined it. Her name was Higgins. Thelma Higgins.

They had to cut the tree down. I never heard the end of it. Then Thelma died.

Technically, that had nothing to do with me murdering her tree, but still. I was raised Catholic. There’s always more than enough guilt to spread around. I got a couple of looks at the funeral.

Anyway, the first thing I want to say about the latest Rollins lecture is that I’m inducting Itzhak Perlman, the great violinist, into my own personal nice guy hall of fame, which consists of people who manage to be both genuinely humble and incredibly brilliant.

Nice trick if you can do it, and if you do it, show me how — although since I don’t have the latter quality I guess I don’t need to concern myself with the former.

But Perlman has both, and both were in evidence as he sat in between two interviewers and watched as two brief film clips were flashed on a large overhead screen at the Alfond Center. One was a series of scenes from Schindler’s List with its theme music, featuring Perlman playing violin, in the background.

The other was of a televised interview with Perlman many years ago conducted by Rollins graduate Fred Rogers on his classic children’s show, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.

But the high point of the lecture was when someone’s cell phone sounded off as Perlman was speaking. He stopped. He listened intently to the musical ringtone.

Then he spoke.

Everybody thought he was about to deliver a lecture. And in a way, I guess, he did.

He said that he can’t ignore music — any kind of music — because he knows how hard it is to make it. He has to stop and listen. Even in an elevator. Even when it’s just a cell phone.

Michael McLeod Editor in Chief mmcleod@orlando-life.com 4

ORLANDO LIFE

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Take Note What’s SOCIAL

Follow us on twitter: @OrlandoLifeMag and Facebook at: facebook.com/orlandolifemagazine.

We’re on Google+ and Pinterest too: pinterest.com/orlandolife/.

What’s ONLINE Check out our expanded listing of arts organizations and their schedules of events for the upcoming season.

What you CAN DO Take in the third annual Orlando Pottery Festival from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 7 at Loch Haven Neighborhood Center, 610 N. Lake Formosa Drive, near Loch Haven Park. Most of the artists are members of the Downtown Orlando Pottery Studio, a city institution since 1968.

What’s ON DECK In our January issue, we’ll explore some of the best options available at Orlando’s extensive assortment of resorts, and review a tapas establishment that has rooted itself in a rapidly changing neighborhood near downtown.

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Michael MCLEOD Editor in Chief

HARRY WESSEL

Managing Editor

LAURA BLUHM

Graphic Designer, Social Media Director, Style Editorial Director

JAY BOYAR Arts Editor

RONA GINDIN Dining Editor

MarianNe Ilunga, mike thomas, Paula Wyatt Contributors

rafael tongol

Senior Photographer

Ken lopez

Contributing Photographer

Jessica Gilbreath Editorial Intern

Editorial: press@orlando-life.com

Lorna Osborn

Senior Associate Publisher Director of Marketing & Public Relations

KATHY BYRD

Associate Publisher Advertising: LOSBORN@orlando-life.com

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ORLANDO LIFE ISSN: 2326-2478 (USPS 000-140) (Vol. 14/Issue No. 12) is published monthly by Florida Home Media LLC, 2700 Westhall Lane, Ste 128, Maitland, FL 32751. Periodicals Postage Paid at Maitland, FL and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Orlando Life Magazine, 330 S. Pineapple Ave., Suite 205, Sarasota, FL 34236.

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LIMELIGHT

jay boyar

Working Without a Net IMPROVISATION IS A COMEDIC HIGH-WIRE ACT.

Mike Carr, Brett Waldron, Chris Dinger and Adam Scharf, in various combinations, cut loose in free-form skits.

I

magine a play in which everything changes with each

performance, the actors make up the dialogue as they go along, and the audience helps to determine what happens on stage. What I’m describing is not traditional theater. It’s improvisational comedy — the kind of entertainment they’ve been doing at SAK Comedy Lab in downtown Orlando for more than two decades.

Even if you’ve never been to SAK, you’ve probably encountered improv comedy. If you watch Saturday Night Live, 8

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you may know that many of its stars cut their teeth at improvisational showcases such as Second City in Chicago and Toronto. The improv approach is also instrumental in how movies such as Best in Show and TV shows such as Curb Your Enthusiasm and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia are created.

The series Whose Line Is It Anyway? has helped to demystify improv by showing how it all works. One of that show’s stars, incidentally, is Wayne Brady, the Dr. Phillips High School grad who got his start at SAK and, on occasion, makes a surDECEMBER 2013

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PHOTOS: (Left) Natasha Vierday; (right) courtesy albin polasek museum & sculpture gardens

prise appearance there.

“If he’s in town he’ll usually stop by and jump in a show, which is very generous of him,” says Mike Carr, SAK’s artistic director.

Not long ago, I headed down to SAK to see a couple of weekend shows. They were fun in a refreshing, spontaneous way: It wasn’t so different from watching children at play. The shows each featured about a half-dozen men and women. Most wore the standard improv uniform (jeans and an untucked plaid shirt). They all performed on a sparsely decorated stage in front of a faux brick wall.

Props and costumes are minimal to nonexistent in this kind of production, so I had to use my imagination. With little or no warning, the focus shifted from ancient Egypt to Jurassic Park; from a day at the zoo to an intervention for excessive hashtag-ing; from milking a cow to twerking.

Both shows were framed as friendly competitions among the performers, with the audience deciding by applause which cast member or team was the winner. Every now and then, the performers would ask the audience to shout out suggestions for scenes.

“It’s very interactive with the audience,” offers SAK performer Jenni McIntire. “But you don’t have to be scared about not knowing where it’s going. It’s fun not knowing where it’s going.”

Unlike standup comedy, improv doesn’t typically rely on jokes as such. The humor arises naturally (if often surprisingly) out of the interactions among the players — and from a carefree spirit that’s experienced by audience members and performers alike.

“A willingness to have fun and let yourself go,” Carr reflects, is a standard skill set for an improv performer.

SAK has something special planned for the holidays: a Christmas-themed show called Yule of Fools will be presented Dec. 19 through Jan. 1. In addition to its regular public performances, SAK offers year-round comedy classes for people 16 and up, and stages customized shows for corporate events.

Adam Scharf, a local actor who has worked at SAK for about four years, is especially drawn to the evanescence of improv.

Unlike scripted forms of theater, each SAK performance is entirely of its moment — the only time anyone will ever see that specific situation and those particular characters.

“You can’t hold onto it,” he says. In other words, you had to be there.

Visit sak.com for more information. n Jay Boyar, arts editor of Orlando Life, has written about film and travel for the Orlando Sentinel and numerous other newspapers.

He’s the author of Films to Go: 100 Memorable Movies for Travelers & Others and a contributor to Reel Romance: The Lovers’ Guide to the 100 Best Date Movies.

ORLANDO-LIFE.COM

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Damian Barray, Jeffrey Todd Parrott and Sophie Bell.

When Icons Were Icons

Icons are everywhere these days. Brad Pitt is an icon. Beyoncé is an icon. Those hairy dudes on Duck Dynasty are icons. Even the Big Mac is an icon.

Icons of other eras were a bit more selective. For example, in Russia, from the 17th through the early 20th century, the only available icons were depictions of Jesus and other holy figures. They could be painted panels, silver or brass pieces, or carved items. And those icons weren’t considered merely works of art; they were thought to be spiritual guardians, with special powers and mysterious connections to the figures they resembled.

A group of 125 of these icons, which were once found in Russian churches, shrines and ordinary homes, are now on view at the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens through April 13. The exhibit, The Holy Art of Imperial Russia, was assembled by Gary Hollingsworth, a Floridian who’s been collecting and restoring religious art for three decades.

Some may doubt that these icons have the power to cure disease or ward off calamity — but it’s hard to dispute that they carry powerful messages.

“Each icon has a story, a history associated with the particular subject,” Hollingsworth has said. “Many of these original stories have been embellished by miracles associated with praying before the image.”

You don’t see a lot of that on Duck Dynasty.

Visit polasek.org for further information.

ORLANDO LIFE

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plan on it

Valencia Holiday Show

Dec. 5 Valencia East Campus Performing Arts Center

Choral groups and a symphonic band from the Valencia College Music Department celebrate the season with a cornucopia of holiday favorites.

valenciacollege.edu/arts

Clare and the Chocolate Nutcracker

Dec. 14 Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre

Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece gets an Americanized makeover from Orlando Community Arts Inc., with music and dance ranging from classical ballet and jazz to R&B and rock ’n’ roll.

clareandthechocolatenutcracker.net

A Classic Christmas

Knowles Memorial Chapel, Rollins College Dec. 14, 15

The Bach Festival Choir and Orchestra join forces to perform holiday classics in a venue perfectly suited for the occasion.

bachfestivalflorida.org Backstreet Boys

Dec. 17 House of Blues

The world’s top-selling boy band, Orlando’s own Backstreet Boys, aren’t boys anymore. The group celebrated its 20th anniversary earlier this year, and with its members now ranging in age from 38 to 41, it might be more appropriate to use the alternate, abbreviated name, BSB. In any case, the grown boys are bringing their All I Want for Christmas Show to town, with special guests, the Plain White T’s.

houseofblues.com/orlando

The

The Bach Festival Choir and Orchestra

The Nutcracker

Dierks Bentley

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without Clara, Herr Drosselmeyer, the Sugar Plum Fairy, et al — in this case presented by the Orlando Ballet and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra.

Country music star Dierks Bentley, who has notched 10 No. 1 singles and a slew of platinum albums during his decade-long career, rings in 2014 with a special New Year’s Eve performance at the Hard Rock.

Dec. 19-23 Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre

orlandoballet.org

Dec. 31 Hard Rock Live Orlando

hardrock.com/orlando

PHOTO COURTESY BACH FESTIVAL

LIMELIGHT

Nutcracker Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre

December 19th - 23rd

y the

photo- carlos amoedo | focustudios.com

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LIMELIGHT

music

A Kind of a Homecoming Timberlake as just one more Mouseketeer who insists on growing up.

Apart from the Disney connection, the former ’N Sync lead singer has other roots in Central Florida: That particular, highly successful boy band was financed by the infamous Orlando impresario, Lou Pearlman.

Timberlake, touring solo these days, will bring his 20/20 Experience tour to the Amway Center on Dec. 19.

At 32, he’s come a long way from a Disney Channel sitcom and selfmocking comedy shorts. Having ruled the ’90s as a teeny-bopper heartthrob in ’N Sync, he rebranded himself as a debonair solo artist and emerging actor in the 2000s.

Timberlake spent a five-year stretch focusing on film roles, appearing in The Social Network, Bad Teacher, In Time and Friends With Benefits. He let the music slide in the meantime — so this might be considered a comeback tour, of sorts.

An uneven range of multipart, syncopated melodies — with decidedly unDisney like sexual references — have garnered mixed reviews in the two albums he released this year: The 20/20 Experience and The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2.

Visit amwaycenter.com for more information.

— Jessica Gilbreath

photo: Courtesy ORLANDO VENUES

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LIMELIGHT

events

For Lovers of Creatures That Slither and Crawl If you live with an animal, chances are good it’s either a dog or

a cat. But there’s another breed of pet owner that eschews cute, furry mammals in favor of not-so-cute creatures that slither or crawl. If you count yourself among the latter group, listen up: Repticon is coming to town.

The two-day event featuring snakes, lizards, hairy spiders and other such exotics opens on Pearl Harbor Day — Saturday, Dec. 7 — at Orlando’s Central Florida Fairgrounds. But if you’re out of town that weekend, don’t worry. You’ll have more opportunities to purchase that ball python or tarantula you’ve always wanted: Repticon will return to Orlando for three different weekends in 2014 — in February, May and December.

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Winter Haven-based Repticon, which held its first Orlando show back in 2004, stages similar events in 18 other states around the U.S., most of which are south of the MasonDixon line. There’ll be live animal presentations every hour, and scores of vendors — from Adam Chesla Reptiles and Big Fat Geckos to Sunshine Serpents and Zoo Med Labs — will have booths set up selling creatures as well as products needed to keep them alive and creepy.

Visitors are encouraged to bring up to two of their own exotic animals to the show, as long as the critters aren’t “hot” — the industry’s euphemism for venomous.

Visit repticon.com for more information.

— Harry Wessel

DECEMBER 2013

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LIMELIGHT

theater

Those of us with roots up North have a

sentimental acclimation to cold weather, at least for the holidays. Florida’s balmy winters can make our Christmas spirit wilt on the tree.

But there’s nothing like the power of a Frank Capra classic and the old-timey feel of radio storytelling to bring it all back. At least, that’s the theory behind an Orlando Shakes production of It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, which opens for a holiday run Dec. 6.

The ingeniously staged production features five actors, supplemented by a resourceful sound-effects man, working their way through a radio version of the 1946 classic film, It’s a Wonderful Life.

■

Four of the actors are clearly from bygone radio days, while a fifth is a modern-era wayfarer who somehow winds up in the studio with them and finds himself cast in the lead role as George Bailey. He’s the poor, beleaguered fellow — played in the movie by Jimmy Stewart — who’s so close to jumping off a bridge on Christmas Eve that a guardian angel is dispatched to save him.

Prior to each performance, theatergoers will take part in a 1940s-themed holiday singalong, supplemented by telegram boys, popcorn girls and flashbulb-zapping paparazzi.

Visit orlandoshakes.org for more information.

— Jessica Gilbreath

PHOTO: LANDON ST. GORDON

It’s a Wonderful Evening for Holiday Nostalgia

Piper Rae Patterson, Suzanne O’Donnell and Brad DePlanche

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DECEMBER 2013

11/12/13 11:58:57 AM

LIMELIGHT

music

The Ultimate New Age Artist Is Still Making Mystical Musical Magic

POSTER: WHITNEY PADGETT

One thing about Yanni: He endures. He can still pull off the shag-

gy-haired-sex-god look that had become mercifully passé by the late ’90s. And though his jazz-infused, New Age music is annoying to some, a Yanni performance can still make multitudes of middle-aged women — and more than a few men, apparently — swoon.

The numbers don’t lie: He’s notched more than 35 platinum and gold albums worldwide and has appeared before more than 2 million people in 20 countries.

Plus, Yanni gives back to causes near and dear to him — and to his fans. He’s raised more than $13 million for PBS. And he contributed a portion of the proceeds from a 2012 tour to the World Wildlife Fund for a panda adoption program.

So, call this handsome and hirsute Greek “Yawn-ee” if you like, but at 59 he’s a global superstar who has every right to call his latest tour World Without Borders. He’ll make a stop at

the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre on Dec. 10.

Expect old favorites plus selections from Truth of Touch, his first collection of primarily instrumental music since 2003.

“Try to communicate ‘I love you’ without words,” Yanni once said. “If you’ve never felt, love then there’s no chance in hell that you’ll accidentally choose the right notes to describe the emotion.”

Visit orlandovenues.net for more information.

— Jessica Gilbreath

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NEIGHBORHOODS

mills 50

Sculptor Marcos Cruz works from a computer-generated template, opposite page, to create the first project of the Urban Arts Museum — a 10-foot image of a sunflower to cover up a gap between two Mills Avenue stores.

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DECEMBER 2013

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A Revival, in Bloom URBAN ART TAKES ROOT IN FUNKY MILLS 50.

I

By Michael McLeod • photographs by Rafael Tongol

f you’ve been downtown lately you may have noticed the

invasion of the giant sculptures: eight towering metal creations that have materialized, one by one, around or near Lake Eola.

They are urban rock stars, nestled in curried cityscapes and poised for postcard paparazzi. Created by sculptors recruited from all over the country, their mission is to glam up downtown Orlando and help to stimulate a hoped-for renaissance of the arts.

The $1.5 million price tag for the sculptures was covered by big-money donations. The campaign to commission and install them was backed by a public-private cast of civic heavyweights, ranging from Mayor Buddy Dyer to the Devos family, owners of the Orlando Magic. They are very nice sculptures. Breathtaking, even. But it’s hard not to root for the underdog.

That would be a grass-roots, public-art campaign that concurrently took shape, sans fanfare and on a much smaller scale, in Mills 50, a scrappy, well-weathered commercial area just a few blocks to the northeast.

The money to pay for the campaign’s first sculpture was generated by an Internet Kickstarter campaign that raised a modest $4,600. Its artist, Marcos Cruz of Winter Springs, volunteered to create it for free, crafting a 10-foot-tall evocation of a sunflower out of acid-treated aluminum, using hidden diodes to illuminate it with a shifting nimbus of light.

Cruz grew up in the Andulusian city of Cadiz in the southwest corner of Spain. He drew inspiration for the sculpture from his vivid memory of the vast fields of sunflowers he would encounter as he traveled to his parents’ countryside estate in Vejer de la Frontera, which overlooks the Strait of Gibraltar.

As he drove south in the morning, the blooms would greet him with dazzling yellow faces, mile after mile. As he returned home in late afternoon, they had turned their backs on him to follow the sun as it set over the Atlantic.

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NEIGHBORHOODS

mills 50

The Urban Art Museum’s grassroots alliance are, left to right: architect “Wes” Featherston, sculptor Marcos Cruz, curator Coralie Claeyson-Gleyzon, and Jai Gallery owner Dennis Liddy.

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DECEMBER 2013

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However poetic its inspiration, the role of Cruz’s sculpture is largely pragmatic: It is positioned to cover an ugly, trash-filled, 10-foot-wide gap between two nondescript buildings on Mills Avenue. (It had not been installed at presstime, but should be enchanting commuters by the time this story appears.)

Architect Fielding “Wes” Featherston calls the gap “a forsaken space” — of which, he adds, Orlando has no shortage. Hence, the campaign.

Featherston and his partner, James Cornetet, operate out of an office building that was originally home to The Cameo, a small, 1940s-era movie theater on East Colonial Drive.

The two architects have designed a series of sleek, cleverly illuminated, interactive bus stop shelters due to be installed in the district, and have also connected with commercial property owners in the area about other aesthetic improvements.

While working to beautify a stretch of storefronts in the 900 block of Mills Avenue, just around the corner from their office and occupied by Taco Cheena, Educe Salon and Saya Couture & Decor, the architects noticed the debris-filled gap and decided to arrange for an elegant sculpture to hide it.

“We had always had this idea simmering in our heads for an urban art project to bring attention to the area,” says Featherston. “It was just one of those moments when you say to yourself: ‘This is it.’”

The pair sought out Dennis Liddy, owner of Jai Art Gallery, for advice.

Liddy brought the gallery’s curator, Coralie Claeyson-Gleyzon, into the conversation, partly because he knew she’d had experience with an outdoor art project in Manchester, England.

Soon, the collaborators had a broader vision and a name for their nonprofit effort: The Urban Art Museum. The ORLANDO-LIFE.COM

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two architects, who are already in conversation with a property owner about a second Mills 50 sculpture, now have long-range hopes to work in other neighborhoods with blight issues, such as the Parramore district.

In the meantime, Mills 50 makes a perfect candidate for the first batch of sculptures, which they are hoping will eventually number a half-dozen or so.

Business owners have struggled for years to brand the well-traveled area, which won’t win any beauty contests but can lay claim to being the liveliest, most concentrated melting pot in the city.

There’s a gay-friendly vibe highlighted by a retro diner staffed by cross-dressing waitresses. There’s a New Age winery on one corner and an old-school dive bar on another.

The district boasts some of the best places in town to listen to live music and an impressive contingent of Asian restaurants, including Japanese, Chinese, Thai and Korean coupled with a preponderance of Vietnamese. You can

also find a variety of vintage-Orlando retreats, including a hobby store that dates back to the 1950s; the oldest running-shoe store in town; and a car wash that may well have spruced up your grandfather’s Oldsmobile.

Apart from all that there’s new blood, quite a lot of it, on the way. Mills Park, a 14-plus acre development, will eventually add 425 apartments and dozens of stores and offices to the area.

What you have, in the end, is a neighborhood poised for a renaissance.

Whatever the Urban Art Museum’s band of collaborators comes up with for that neighborhood, and any others they tackle, will surely have company in the coming years. With help from a National Endowment of the Arts grant, public sculptures are in the works for Loch Haven Park, Ivanhoe Village and locations along the planned SunRail commuter line.

“We are still such a young city,” says Jennifer Quigley, chairwoman of See Art Orlando, the group that worked to bring the eight sculptures to downtown ORLANDO LIFE

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NEIGHBORHOODS

mills 50

Orlando. “I hope what we are seeing now is just the beginning of establishing our visual personality.”

It’s a personality you may notice the next time you’re battling through the traffic on Mills Avenue, and you find yourself wondering: Was that a glowing sunflower I just saw back there? n

Where and What, Exactly, Is Mills 50?

It’s a commercial and residential neighborhood in a lopsided T-shape, northeast of downtown Orlando.

The vertical in the “T” follows the course of U.S. Highway 17-92, otherwise known as Mills Avenue, which is named for Newton Mills, one of Orlando’s earliest real-estate salesmen.

The cross of the “T” is State Road 50, otherwise known as Colonial Drive. Hence the name: Mills 50.

The district stretches north along Mills all the way to Lake Formosa and south, across Colonial, to Amelia Street. Its eastern boundary is Summerlin Avenue. To the west it ends just past New Hampshire Avenue.

ViMi, an acronym derived from Mills and Virginia avenues, is a sub-district of Mills 50, although the two are sometimes lumped together.

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DECEMBER 2013

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DESIGN STYLE

fashion

Forward and Festive STAY A STEP AHEAD OF THE HOLIDAYS.

by Marianne Ilunga photographs by Rafael Tongol hair and makeup by Elsie Knab

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DEcember 2013

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Opposite page: Victoria B, of Ab Fab Management, makes elegance look easy in an ABS crisscross, cutout mesh gown, $490, and Oscar de la Renta red tassel earrings, $395, both from Neiman Marcus at The Mall at Millenia.

The black lace gown is by ML Monique Lhuillier, $598, from Solutions Bridal at The Shoppes at Millenia. The leaf earrings, $165, and oversized bracelet, $250, are by Kenneth Jay Lane and from Saks Fifth Avenue at The Florida Mall.

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DESIGN STYLE

fashion

The blue metallic dress, $795; black skinny smoking pants, $645; and metallic blue jacquard jacket, $995; are by Les Copains. The chain bracelet, $225; tennis bracelet, $170; and bangles, $100 each; are

by Adriana Orsini. The silver chain necklace, $295, and liquid silver metal drop earrings, $95, are by Nest; and the heels, $845, are by Manolo Blahnik. All are from Saks Fifth Avenue at The Florida Mall.

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DEcember 2013

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The dress, $495, is by DKNY; while the gold bracelet, $195, gold earrings, $95, and necklace, $225, are by Adriana Orsini. All are from Saks Fifth Avenue at The Florida Mall.

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DESIGN STYLE

fashion

The PJK red leather top, $248; Alice + Olivia floral skirt, $688; Oscar de la Renta earrings, $395; Jose Barrera snake bracelet, $615; and Valentino shoes, $1,045; are all from Neiman Marcus at The Mall at Millenia.

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DEcember 2013

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The ruched tulle dress, $298, is by ML Monique Lhuillier from Solutions Bridal at The Shoppes at Millenia. The earrings, $290, and necklace, $775, both by Jose Barrera, are from Neiman Marcus at The Mall at Millenia.

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DECEMBER 2013

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Four-legged Therapy ORLANDO’S HISTORIC RACEWAY SURVIVES AS A PLACE OF HEALING. BUT FOR HOW LONG?

by Michael McLeod • photographs by Rafael Tongol

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T

he sharp right turn onto the narrow

gravel road comes up so suddenly you could miss it. But if you manage to duck out of the suburban scrum on Lee Road without getting rearended, your reward is instant salvation.

One moment, city. Next moment, country.

To the right, a broad field and a thick buffer of oak and palmetto mask the traffic on Edgewater Drive just north of College Park. To the left is a sunlit pasture, occupied this morning by a pair of grazing horses and a few solitary shade trees.

Long white ribbons of fencing stretch out across the pasture, dipping down in a distant corner to accommodate the natural slope of the land. Just ahead and around a bend is a sturdy, well-weathered stable with 20 green-shuttered stalls.

If the wind is right, the distinct barnyard aroma of moistened hay will reach you before the sight of them does. And if you’re fatalistic about what passes for progress, you might find yourself wondering how long an oasis such as this is going to last around these parts. Because surely, somewhere, a clock is ticking.

And you’d be right.

The 20-acre oasis is a vestige of the Ben White Raceway, which for half a century was a thriving commercial enclave filled with horses and the people who loved them.

Thousands of harness-racing yearlings from all over the country wintered here, training for summer racing up North.

But the facility, built in 1947 and owned

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by the city of Orlando, fell on hard times and was closed 13 years ago after interest in harness racing ebbed and competing tracks elsewhere drew away whatever business was left.

Now the red clay tracks and most of the stables are long gone, replaced by baseball diamonds and soccer fields that occupy the majority of the 100-acre complex. All that remains of the rich history of the place is its name, Trotter Park, and this 20-acre tract.

Half of the property is occupied only by weeds and the occasional concrete shack where farriers once shoed racehorses.

The other half was leased by the city in 2003 for a token sum of a dollar a year to Freedom Ride, a nonprofit facility for equine therapy, which gives people with injuries or disabilities the chance to ride horses as a way to improve their health and well being.

For someone unable to walk or even sit up straight, the simple, repetitive rhythm of staying on a slowly walking horse not only calls for concentration but stimulates what therapists call “the body brain” — the part of our consciousness that manages posture and balance.

There’s another, less tangible benefit that comes of setting wheelchairs aside for a measure of mobility through the fresh air while connected, however briefly, with a 1,000-pound, able-bodied animal. Perhaps Angela Reddish, head instructor at Freedom Ride, says it best: “Horse aren’t mean. Horses don’t judge. They just give you unconditional love. Nobody accepts you just as you are the way a horse does.”

Weather permitting, an average of nearly 100 riders per week spend 30 minutes astride one of Freedom Ride’s 10 working horses.

Roughly three-quarters of the riders are under 18 and have physical or developmental disabilities. The rest are adults who either have disabilities or have been injured, often in traffic accidents. A small group of military veterans, many of whom are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, also visit once a week.

Despite its benefits, the riding is categorized as recreation, not medical therapy. So in most cases, health insurance does not cover the cost of $45 for a private session, $35 as part of a small class.

Meredy Jenkins connects with Ginger, her regular horse, before a therapeutic session at Freedom Ride, opposite page.

When they aren’t working, the horses are free to graze, sometimes sharing the pasture with Marshmello, a miniature horse. Cherokee, 15-year-old thoroughbred paint, is the strongest horse in Freedom Ride’s lineup.

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Kaylee Griffin is a 6-year-old rider with a rare disorder that causes curvature of the spine and problems with coordination. Bob Rooney, opposite page, is a retired harness racing jockey who still lives above a maintenance shed in Trotter Park. In observance of a horse-racing tradition, he hasn’t laundered his racing silks.

Freedom Ride stays financially afloat with the help of donations from foundations and individuals, which help cover the cost of maintaining the facilities, caring for the horses and paying the salaries of four full-time staff members.

Volunteers, most of them high-school students, muck out the stables and help care for the horses and the grounds. All 10 of the animals have been donated. Most are enjoying second careers in their mid- to late 20s — retirement years for most horses.

In theory, Freedom Ride is an ideal match for the property the city set aside. The stalls, built for spirited horses bred for speed and trained for the high-stepping gait of sulky racing, now shelter animals chosen for mellow temperaments and charged with a different mission altogether.

But in the latest of several disagreements with the city over 36

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the years, the facility has been unable to draw at least half of its riders from within Orlando’s city limits, as mandated by its lease. And though horses helping disabled people on a storied stretch of land may be the sentimental choice, some city officials have argued, quite logically, that the property might be better used for additional softball and soccer fields that would serve a larger number of city residents.

With two years left on its most recent lease, Freedom Ride may have to saddle up and head elsewhere. “We’d like to stay here, but we’ve been looking at other possibilities,” says Marianne Gray, the facility’s executive director.

If Rick Walsh has anything to say about it, that may not be necessary.

Walsh, a former Darden executive, has developed a reputation as a trouble-shooting civic volunteer. He straightened out the scandal-ridden Florida Blood Centers, and did the same with Workforce Central Florida.

A horse aficionado who lives in College Park but has a working ranch in Wisconsin, Walsh has taken an interest in Freedom Ride. He recently began working with Gray to develop a business plan that will persuade city officials to let the organization stay put.

“I told Mayor Dyer this is the kind of place we want in DECEMBER 2013

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Two “sidewalkers” and a trainer escort riders as they make their rounds at Freedom Ride. Blankets, rather than saddles, are used with most riders to maximize the connection to the horse. our community,” Walsh says. “If I were a CEO looking to relocate my business to Orlando, what do you think would impress me more — a couple of extra soccer fields, or a premiere equine-therapy destination for veterans and sick children?”

While Walsh confabs with Dyer, life goes on at Freedom Ride.

Now and then the staff gets a visit from Bob Rooney. Rooney is a retired Ben White trainer and jockey who has an informal agreement with the city to live on the grounds near Freedom Ride. In exchange for staying in an apartment just above an old maintenance shed, he keeps an eye on the place.

There could be no better guardian. Rooney is a walking, talking compendium of harness-racing history. He fell in love with horses when he was 4 — the riders rounded a snowy track not on sulkies, but sleighs — and came to Orlando from his home in Boston at the age of 17.

Like many other jockeys, he shuttled back and forth between Ben White and tracks up North throughout most of his career. The racing silks he wore are in a closet, still dusty from his last race. It’s an old tradition among jockeys. You 38

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don’t launder what you love.

The blanket on his bed is a horse blanket. The decorations on his mantle and on his coffee table — an old cast-iron bank, a team pulling a wagon — feature horses. All the photos on the walls of his apartment are of horses. He had more, but most of them were destroyed in a barn fire — he still pronounces it “bahn” — years ago.

Rooney spent the better part of his career working with horses from 4 in the morning until late at night. He never married; there was never time. He is fairly certain that, in his life, he has spent more time with horses than with human beings. He still can’t believe his luck.

It was a good life, and he misses it. Now he rides around in a four-wheeled motorcycle that’s as close to a sulky as a motorized vehicle can get.

It’s not hard to guess what Rooney’s opinion is about the prospect of Freedom Ride being replaced by soccer fields.

“Horses built this country,” he says. “People have forgotten that. They brought you your food. They took you where you wanted to go. When you died, they took you to your grave.”

Down the gravel road from Rooney’s apartment/horse racing museum, 6-year-old Kaylee Griffin looks very small but very happy astride Cherokee, one of Freedom Ride’s largest horses, as she circles in one of the fenced enclosures just outside the stables.

Kaylee has a rare genetic disorder called Prader-Willi syndrome, whose symptoms include cognitive deficits, eating disorders and curvature of the spine that can become so seDECEMBER 2013

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vere that the standard treatment has been to keep the patient in a body cast for months.

But on the advice of Dr. Jennifer Miller, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of Florida, Kaylee’s parents brought her to Freedom Ride as part of an exercise regimen that has helped her maintain her muscle tone, minimize the curvature and avoid being immobilized.

Miller, who says she often suggests equine therapy to such patients, notes a side benefit: “It gets these kids talking, improves their speech production. They get around these horses and suddenly they’re talking up a storm.”

As Kaylee and Cherokee slowly circle, two “sidewalkers” do just that: walk on either side of the horse, ensuring that the youngster stays safely astride. An instructor, certified by the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship, talks her through the trip around the stables and various small detours along the way.

Though the Freedom Ride staff is dedicated, the horses are the stars.

Lucky, who is blind in one eye, is gentlemanly and affectionate, the type that might just come up to you and lay his head on your shoulder.

Bella is the sassy beauty in the bunch — long lashes, sweet face, keenly aware of how gorgeous she is.

Cherokee is the muscle man with the smoothest, surest gait, but Ginger, who’s been with Freedom Ride the longest, is the steadiest.

Ivan, formerly a trail horse at a resort’s equestrian center, ORLANDO-LIFE.COM

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Ginger, a therapy horse, poses with a few members of the Freedom Ride staff, left to right: Lisa Kessler, barn manager; Angela Reddish, head instructor (standing); Cera Hoffman, assistant barn manager; Marianne Gray, executive director; and Carolyn Schulke, volunteer coordinator.

is the silvery aristocrat of the fold, the one that is called upon for public appearances.

As the day progresses, other riders come and go. Their reasons for coming to Freedom Ride vary dramatically.

Barrett Dorn, a 36-year-old former Marine from Miami Shores who suffered neurological damage in a car accident, rides as part of therapy to help him relearn how to make simple, everyday decisions and observations — which way to turn, where he is.

Ronnie Strom, a sixth-grader from Orlando with attention-deficit (hyperactivity) disorder, rides because his mother, Stacy Strom, a special-education teacher at Boone High School, believes it helps him to focus.

Meredy Jenkins, a 65-year-old Orlando resident who has muscular dystrophy, says her sessions at the facility lift her spirits and keep her body more flexible.

“I used to ride when I was younger, so I decided to try this,” she said. “At first I thought, ‘Just find me a gelding, and I’ll ride off into the sunset.’ It’s not that simple. But I look forward to it all week. It’s the one time when I feel free.” n ORLANDO LIFE

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DECEMBER 2013

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FLAVOR

rona gindin photographs by rafael tongol

A Classic, Reimagined CALIFORNIA GRILL’S MAGICAL MAKEOVER.

W

e’ve heard the term “Disney World’s signature

restaurant” as an adjective for California Grill since it first opened in 1995. While the food has always been good, over time we started wondering why this particular dining room still held that distinction.

After all, the African-themed Jiko, the seafood-focused Flying Fish and the ultra-lux Victoria & Albert’s seemed fair contenders for the “signature” title.

While the question remains legitimate, California Grill has recently gone all out to distinguish itself from typical hotel restaurants, in theme-park complexes or elsewhere.

The 15th-floor space at Disney’s Contemporary Resort has been entirely reimagined. It was closed for seven months, gutted and redesigned from the carpet to the kitchen equipment — except for the beloved wood-burning oven, which remains and is now used to infuse smoky flavor to meatballs, bone marrow, prawns and many more offerings.

During the shutdown, Chef de Cuisine Brian Piasecki took it upon himself to transform the entire menu. “We’re paying a lot more attention to detail now,” he says. “We break down every single component of every single dish to see how we can make it better, and then we enhance it.”

Everything is more upscale and sophisticated, Piasecki says. “If the home cook can prepare the dish, we reason, the menu item needs to have some other elements to add more of a wow factor,” he adds.

With the term “wow factor,” Piasecki sums up the particular brand of pixie dust that helps him achieve his magical goals for the California Grill experience.

An evening there begins with a check-in on the hotel’s 2nd

California Grill’s midcentury modern interior features plenty of sleek white, highlighted by bold splashes of color in the fabrics and flooring. Opposite page, top to bottom: a playful chandelier; Manager and Sommelier Michael Scheifler; Chef de Cuisine Brian Piasecki.

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FLAVOR

rona gindin

The short rib is cooked gently for 24 hours so it’s tender and firm, like filet mignon. It’s served with olive oil-whipped potatoes, caramelized root vegetables and a sauce of red wine butter.

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floor. You’re given a pager and sent to the 15th floor, where the elevator opens to an illuminated glass wine rack holding 1,600 bottles.

An oil painting of the Napa Valley, with its vine-covered hills, spells out “California” visually. If your table isn’t ready, grab a cocktail at the curved bar and take a seat in the carpeted cocktail lounge, which boasts views of Bay Lake,

Cinderella’s Castle and Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort.

The occasional stroller diminishes the suave factor a bit, yet the restaurant has enough of a quiet roar to absorb any untoward toddler racket.

You’ll be busy taking in the ambience anyway. Piasecki describes it as midcentury modern, with a background palette in a range of whites accented by pops of color in squares and rectangles.

There’s a Mad Men-esque feel to the place, although the TV show has a dark aura while California Grill is considerably more upbeat.

In fact, the restaurant’s designers borrowed from classic Disney artists, especially Mary Blair, a contemporary of Walt’s who’s known for, among other projects, the cheerful It’s a Small World ride.

The first time around, California Grill was revolutionary for Orlando in its focus on menu items built around seasonal foods — even if those foods were grown in California. Today, Piasecki still has to bring in some items from other states, yet he has managed, to a large degree, to make this massive restaurant a farm-to-table operation.

It’s so hot in summer that local tomatoes are scarce, he says, so he’ll order them from farms elsewhere until autumn, when local growers have heirloom tomatoes ready. As he can, he snaps up Zellwood corn, squash and cucumbers with Plant City strawberries and Florida grouper, flounder, swordfish and snapper.

Then, Piasecki has the challenge of preparing dishes in ways that add that “wow” while keeping longtime regulars content. For example, from Day 1 of the original California Grill, a grilled pork and goat cheese polenta entrée had been a staple. “We know our guests love it,” he says. “At the end of the day, it’s a tasty dish. It has great components.

So how could we make it different, new DECEMBER 2013

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and exciting?”

He met that challenge by adding another element of pork. In addition to the grilled tenderloin is a house-cured, smoked and lacquered pork belly, along with the braising liquid in which the pork belly is cooked. The liquid is reduced to become the glaze, then the lacquer.

And he’s not done yet, adding slices of caramelized apples, country Dijon applesauce and fried parsnips. The result? “The dish has become a little sexier, a little more complex, a little more representative of what the California Grill is — sophisticated and upscale, offering a quality dining experience.”

In the first five weeks since reopening, three dishes stand out as quick successes. One is carrot and cilantro soup, a complex, almost mystifying starter that’s sure to be a keeper.

“Everyone loves lobster bisque,” Piasecki says. “I did a version with all vegetables. It’s flavored with carrots.

In fact, it doesn’t have any thickening agent except for the carrots, yet it has the viscosity of bisque. We add paprika oil for spiciness as well as citrus zest.”

Blackened halibut and cilantro add complementary flavors.

Before we get to the entrées, let’s take a break here, as my dining companion and I did during our meal. It was time for the Magic Kingdom fireworks to begin.

The sky through the floor-to-ceiling windows was dark, and fellow diners scurried out of the dining room to two balconies, one brand new, so they could enjoy a bird’s-eye view of the night sky as the colorfest took place. We sat contentedly at our table, where we watched the show and heard piped-in music. Who doesn’t like a bit of Jiminy Cricket while wishing upon a star?

Back to the meal. Piasecki labels the 24-Hour Short Rib Filet a “superstar — because it really is different.” It took the chef four months of testing to perfect this recipe. “The challenge is ORLANDO-LIFE.COM

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to cook the meat for 24 hours and still have it come out medium,” he notes.

The key? Using a cooking technique called sous vide, which heats foods very slowly over low temperatures.

“It’s a short rib but it eats like a filet,” Piasecki says. “It’s not mushy; it doesn’t fall apart.” It’s seasoned with herb salt, kosher salt, sage, rosemary, thyme and garlic. It’s then seared,

For a New Age touch, the scallops are topped with Parmesan foam. The grilled mollusks are accompanied by gnocchi, smoked pork, grilled onions and baby Brussels sprouts.

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FLAVOR

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A simple but tastily elegant salad is made with heirloom tomatoes, grilled bread and ricotta cheese, then tossed with shisito (sweet Japanese pepper) vinaigrette.

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cooked with the sous vide method and seared again before being plated with olive oil-whipped potatoes, roasted organic mushrooms, root vegetables and red wine butter sauce.

“It has that really cool, sophisticated twist,” he says. Indeed it does.

The scallops, an adaptation of a previously popular gnocchi appetizer with bacon and edamame, are just as satis-

fying. Piasecki wanted to accommodate returning guests looking for that particular dish without simply repeating it.

So, in the reimagined version, he chooses to crisp the scallops on a flat grill, and to weave a bit of smoked bacon into a rich, thick cream sauce. It’s served with grilled onions and baby Brussels sprouts and topped with a foam of Parmesan cheese.

Should those items be too American for you, consider reserving one of eight seats at the sushi bar. At 8 p.m. nightly, the seats are dedicated to an omakase meal. Essentially, the chefs cook up 10 to 14 small dishes, depending on what’s fresh in the kitchen that day. The menu, as you might expect, is quite sushi heavy, but it begins with a pork potsticker and has some other meat elements.

The staff never sits still, it seems.

From four bakers who work overnight creating all the restaurant’s breads and desserts (lavender focaccia, lemon meringue pie), to the five people prepping salads, vegetables and sauces in the morning, to the 17 people on stage once the doors open for dinner, this is one bustling place.

California Grill was among the first in Orlando to offer an extensive wine list with a wide variety of American labels.

Today, Manager and Sommelier Michael Scheifler carries on the tradition. Guests can choose from among 250 wines, 80 by the glass. Nearly three-quarters are from California, but Europe and South America are represented too, along with sakés from Japan.

At once contemporary and classic, the newly reimagined California Grill is no ordinary restaurant. n Rona Gindin, dining editor of Orlando Life, has written about Orlando’s restaurants for Fodor’s and Zagat, among many other publications. She’s the author of The Little Black Book of Walt Disney World.

DECEMBER 2013

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FLAVOR LISTINGS

rona gindin

AFRICAN Nile Ethiopian

7048 International Drive, Orlando, 407354-0026 / nile07.com. Locals willingly navigate International Drive to dine at Nile, a family-owned restaurant specializing in the exotic cuisine of Ethiopia. Order a few dishes to share and scoop up the intriguing concoctions with the eatery’s signature spongy bread. End with a strong cup of aromatic, brewed-to-order coffee. $$

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Sanaa 3701 Osceola Parkway, Lake Buena Vista, 407938-7400 / disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/sanaa. Sanaa, one of Disney’s most interesting restaurants, offers dishes based on cuisine from the Spice Islands, a coastal African area rich with Indian influences. Flavors are intense, but spicy only upon request. (Curry, the chefs insist, is a melding of flavors, not one particular spice.) The marketplace-style dining room boasts picture windows overlooking the Animal Kingdom Lodge’s savannah, so you might spot zebra or wildebeest while lunching on tandoori chicken or a vegetarian platter with stewed lentils and a vegetable sambar (stew). $$

AMERICAN Bananas

942 N. Mills Ave., Orlando, 407-480-2200 / bananasdiner.com. Bananas has a split personality. It’s a wholesome, family place to grab higher-quality versions of such classics as burgers, shakes and pancakes (the Buffalo Benedict is a surprise pleaser). Other times, it’s a delightfully outrageous experience for more adventurous diners who enjoy the antics of cross-dressing servers. The Sunday drag gospel brunch (“Sinners welcome!”) is like no church service you’ve ever attended. $$

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Cask & Larder 565 W. Fairbanks Ave., Winter Park, 321-280-4200 / caskandlarder.com. Billing itself as a “Southern Public House,” this casual Winter Park eatery serves up modern twists on traditional favorites. Look for a three-ham platter with pepper jelly; pimento cheese; and seasonal favorites such as grilled pork belly and chicken-and-biscuits.

Many beers are made on the premises. $$

ranges from performance art to trivia contests. Watch for daily happy-hour specials. $

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Hillstone 215 S. Orlando Ave., Winter Park, 407-7404005 / hillstone.com/hillstone. Formerly known as Houston’s, this Winter Park mainstay is part of a high-end chain. Still, it grows its own herbs, bakes its own bread, grinds its own meat, cuts its own fish and whips its own cream. In nice weather, guests relax with a cocktail in Adirondack chairs overlooking Lake Killarney. Many proposals have been popped during dinners for two on the boat dock. $$$ Jernigan’s 400 W. Church St., Orlando, 407-440-7000 /

amwaycenter.com. Watch a Magic game in style at Jernigan’s, a well-appointed buffet restaurant located on the Amway Center’s exclusive club level. The reservations-only eatery, open to ticket holders, serves wholesome meals for about $40. The menu of the day might offer slow-smoked barbecue ribs, grilled rib-eye steak, pasta pomodoro and Chinese chicken salad. Jernigan’s is run by Chicago’s Levy Restaurants, the team behind Downtown Disney’s Portobello Yacht Club, Fulton’s Crab House and Wolfgang Puck Grand Café. $$$

Maxine’s on Shine 337 N. Shine Ave., Orlando, 407-6746841 / maxinesonshine.com. Strangers become friends at this eclectic neighborhood restaurant, where the namesake owner and her husband, Kirt Earhart, greet guests warmly.

The menu is unassuming, the beer and wine selections shine, and live music plays regularly. A former chapel in the back serves as a private dining room. $$

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Rusty Spoon 55 W. Church St., Orlando, 407-4018811 / therustyspoon.com. Foodies flock to this Church Street gastropub, a warm and welcoming space in which meals are described as “American food. European roots. Locally sourced.” Your salad will consist of über-fresh greens, your sandwich will be filled with slow-braised lamb, your pasta will be hand-rolled and your meat will be robustly seasoned. $$-$$$

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407- 345-2992 / chathamsplace.com. For an old-fashioned dining experience — a subdued dining room and doting personalized service by a longtime staff — dine at this hidden Restaurant Row establishment. Locals return regularly for Chef Tony Lopez’s classic dishes such as black grouper with pecan butter, rack of lamb and filet mignon. $$$

Seasons 52 7700 Sand Lake Road, Orlando, 407354-5212; 463 E. Altamonte Drive, Altamonte Springs, 407-767-1252 / seasons52.com. Business dinners, ladies’ luncheons and date nights abound at these ever-popular restaurants, big bustling spaces with satisfying food and comprehensive wine lists. It seems incidental that the food happens to be healthful and low in fat, with no menu item topping 475 calories. So if you want that clam chowder, go for it. It will be cleverly produced without cream, butter or roux. $$-$$$

Citrus 821 N. Orange Ave., Orlando, 407-373-0622 /

Tap Room at Dubsdread 549 W. Par St., Orlando, 407-

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Chatham’s Place 7575 Dr. Phillips Blvd., Orlando,

citrusorlando.com. A clubby yet stylish restaurant in a convenient downtown Orlando location, Citrus features modern American cuisine with a nod toward regionally grown and produced ingredients. International influences also highlight the menu, from smoked chili aioli complementing herbmarinated chicken to balsamic rum glaze topping juicy pork chops. $$$

Dexter’s 808 E. Washington St., Orlando, 407-648-2777;

558 W. New England Ave., Winter Park, 407-629-1150; 950 Market Promenade Ave., Lake Mary, 407-805-3090 / dexwine. com. Central Florida has three Dexter’s locations, and each has become a neighborhood magnet, drawing diners of all ages for hearty portions of creative American fare (at fair prices), good wine and, in some cases, live music. Casual dress is the rule. The brunches, and the pressed duck sandwiches, are especially popular. $$-$$$

Emeril’s Orlando 6000 Universal Blvd., Orlando,

407-224-2424 / emerils.com. Get a taste of New Orleans at Emeril’s, a fine-dining restaurant at always-bustling Universal CityWalk. You’ll find classics from celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse, including the signature barbecue shrimp, andouille-stuffed redfish, double-cut pork chops and banana cream pie. The service, of course, is superb. Consider sharing appetizers at the bar area. $$$$

Graffiti Junktion 900 E. Washington St., Orlando, 407-

426-9503; 2401 Edgewater Dr., Orlando, 407-377-1961; 950 Market Promenade Ave., Lake Mary, 407-732-6943; 3100 Alafaya Trail, Oviedo, 407-542-5902 / graffitijunktion.com.

This expanding homegrown chain features restaurants that are loud and purposely grungy looking, hence “graffiti” in the name. But the ultra-casual concept dishes up great burgers, wings and zucchini fries. Live entertainment

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650-0100 / taproomatdubsdread.com. One needn’t play golf to dine at this historic course-side tavern, a College Park icon offering a varied menu — and a reputation for fine burgers. Options other than the famous half-pound patties include steaks, salmon, tequila-citrus chicken and a dandy Reuben sandwich. $$

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The Table Orlando 8060 Via Dellagio Way, Orlando, 407-900-3463 / thetableorlando.com. For special occasions, book a place at The Table, a tiny restaurant that serves a five-course gourmet meal with wine pairings. Up to 22 guests at a time share the repast around an oversized table. The New American menu changes regularly and is comprised in large part of locally sourced foods. The price is a set $100 including tax and tip. Groups can host private events here. $$$$ TooJay’s Various locations / toojays.com. When it’s time

for a taste of Jewish Brooklyn — pastrami on rye, latkes, blintzes, knishes — the six local outlets of this South Florida-based chain have it all. You’ll also find diner foods such as omelets, sandwiches and pot-roast dinners. Take home some black-and-white cookies. $

THE KEY

$ Inexpensive, most entrées under $10 $$ Moderate, most entrées $10-20 $$$ Pricey, most entrées over $20 $$$$ Very expensive, most entrées over $30 indicates the restaurant is a Silver Spoon winner (Judges’ Choice).

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ASIAN Anh Hong

1124 E. Colonial Drive, Orlando, 407-999-2656.

You’ll receive a bundle of fresh herbs to tear into your soup at this Mills 50 Vietnamese eatery, and another bunch for a roll-your-own entrée that’s like a DIY summer roll. Asian classics, such as grilled meats and scallion pancakes, are done exceptionally well here, which makes Anh Hong a top choice for local Vietnamese-Americans longing for a taste of home. $

Dragonfly 7972 Via Dellagio Way, Orlando, 407-370-3359 / dragonflyorlando.com. Stylishly attired 30-somethings regularly pack this oh-so-hip restaurant, where groups share sushi, grilled “robata” items, and tapas-style Asian foods such as soft-shell crab tempura, crispy black pork belly and shiso-wrapped spicy tuna. $$

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Hawkers Street Fare 1103 N. Mills Ave., Orlando, 407-237-0606 / facebook.com/hawkersstreetfare. This Mills 50 mainstay, named for street vendors of Asian fare, serves up generous tapas-size portions of curry laksa (an aromatic Singaporean soup), roti canai (Malaysian flatbread with a hearty curry sauce), five-spice tofu, chilled sesame noodles, smoky mussels and sensational beef skewers with peanuty satay dip. $$

Ming Bistro 1212 Woodward St., Orlando, 407-898-9672.

Enjoy perhaps Orlando’s best dim sum for dinner or, on a weekend morning or afternoon, select shrimp dumplings, beef balls, turnip cakes, sticky rice, barbecue pork buns and egg tarts one small dish at a time from carts that roll between tables. The a la carte menu features Hong Kong-style staples from stir-fry beef to chicken feet. $ Sea Thai 3812 E. Colonial Drive, Orlando, 407-895-0985 /

seaorlando.com. Start with a green papaya salad and beef yum, then feast on steamed whole fish with garlic chili sauce, pad Thai and green curry chicken. But you can’t go wrong with any of the Thai classics offered at this welcoming East Orlando eatery. $$

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Seoul Garden 511 E. Horatio Ave., Maitland, 407599-5199 / orlandokorearestaurant.com. Seoul Garden is so Asian-focused that the “about us” section of its website is written in Korean. That authenticity extends to the food.

Barbecued meats are grilled to order in the dining room.

Be sure to try the marinated beef short ribs and the soft tofu stew. $

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Sushi Pop 310 W. Mitchell Hammock Road, Oviedo, 407-542-5975 / sushipoprestaurant.com. Oviedo is an unlikely location for this cutting-edge restaurant, a popular spot for sushi. The food is serious and often experimental, as chef-owner Chau uses molecular gastronomy to create some of the fusion fare. The aura is fun: Asian anime on the walls, playful colors, and servers who dress in outrageous themed outfits. $$

Tasty Wok 1246 E. Colonial Drive, Orlando, 407-896-8988 / yelp.com/biz/tasty-wok-orlando. True, it’s a humble spot, but Tasty Wok offers an array of satisfying dishes, among them roast duck and steaming soups. Try the beef chow fun, eggplant with minced pork, and salt and pepper ribs. A smaller menu of American-style Chinese dishes is also available. $

BARBECUE 4 Rivers Smokehouse

1600 W. Fairbanks Ave., Winter Park; 1869 W. S.R. 434, Longwood; 1047 S. Dillard St., Winter Garden / 407-474-8377, 4rsmokehouse.com. A diverse array of barbecue specialties — from Texas-style brisket to pulled pork, smoked turkey and bacon-wrapped jalapeños — has gained this rapidly growing homegrown concept a large following. The newer outposts even include a bakery and an old-fashioned malt shop featuring homemade ice cream. $

BURGERS Hamburger Mary’s Bar & Grille

110 W. Church St., Orlando, 321-319-0600 / hamburgermarys-orlando.com.

A colorful crowd is part of the fun at this Church Street hotspot, where bingo games, trivia contests and cabaret shows are among the events that vie for guests’ attention beside the enormous and creatively topped burgers. $

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Johnny’s Fillin’ Station 2631 S. Fern Creek Ave., Orlando, 407-894-6900 / johnnysfillinstation.com. Neighbors gather for hearty burgers, along with wings, subs and wraps, at this homey spot in a residential downtown neighborhood. Beer flows, TVs broadcast big games, and families love the pool tables and dart boards. $

CONTINENTAL Venetian Room

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8101 World Center Drive, Orlando, 407-238-8060 / thevenetianroom.com. Walk though a run-of-the-mill convention hotel to reach the AAA FourDiamond Venetian Room, an elegant, domed-service, continental restaurant that hearkens to the heyday of unapologetic, butter-and-cream-enhanced fine dining. The lobster bisque is an absolute must. After that, try the filet mignon, duck a l’orange or Dover sole. $$$$

CREATIVE/ PROGRESSIVE Chef’s Table at the Edgewater Hotel

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99 W. Plant St., Winter Garden, 407-230-4837 / chefstableattheedgewater.com. Husband-and-wife team Kevin and Laurie Tarter are your personal servers at this intimate Winter Garden hideaway, where Kevin prepares the evening’s threecourse, prix-fixe meal and Laurie helps choose the wine.

Both stop by every table to chat with guests. Adjacent, the Tasting Room offers tapas-size portions of international dishes and a full bar. $$$

With Cantina Laredo gift cards you can treat friends & family to gourmet Mexican cuisine. Right now,

get a $10 GUEST CARD* for you when you purchase $50 in gift cards.

DELLAGIO & SAND LAKE ROAD

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NEW-HOME TRENDS: SMALLER, SMARTER, MORE BELLS AND WHISTLES

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Funky Monkey 912 N. Mills Ave., Orlando, 407427-1447; 9101 International Dr., Orlando, 407-418-9463 / funkymonkeywine.com. These twin eclectic eateries are known as much for sushi and intriguing wine lists as for creative American cuisine and an ever-changing menu.

FMI Restaurant Group also owns Bananas and the Funky Monkey Vault, a wine shop that also sells gifts, apparel and furniture. $$

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Let us make the holiday gathering perfect.

Reserve our PRIVATE DINING ROOM or let us CATER the celebración.

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K Restaurant 1710 Edgewater Drive, Orlando, 407872-2332 / krestaurant.net. Kevin Fonzo, the go-to chef in College Park since 2001, owns this homey eatery, which is, in fact, located in an erstwhile residence. The menu is mostly creative-American, along with Italian favorites celebrating Fonzo’s heritage. Casual wine tastings and themed special dinners, along with a constantly changing menu, bring back regulars for singular experiences. $$-$$$

Le Rouge 7730 W. Sand Lake Road, Orlando, 407-370-

0909 / lerougewinebar.com. This Restaurant Row hot spot is a sexy lounge with backlit lighting, a long bar and comfy sofas. It also features fine food. Guests can choose from among three-dozen tapas, including garlic shrimp and sautéed wild mushrooms. $$$

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Luma on Park 290 S. Park Ave., Winter Park, 407599-4111 / lumaonpark.com. If there’s pancetta in your salad, the salumi was made in the kitchen, by hand, starting with a whole pig. Most herbs are from local farms, fish from sustainable sources, pickled vegetables jarred in house and desserts built around seasonal ingredients. Luma’s progressive menu, which changes daily, is served in a sleek and stylish dining room in the heart of Winter Park, under the passionate direction of Executive Chef Brandon McGlamery, Chef de Cuisine Derek Perez and Pastry Chef Brian Cernell. $$$

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Norman’s 4012 Central Florida Parkway, Orlando, 407-393-4333 / normans.com. Celebrity Chef Norman Van Aken’s restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton, Grande Lakes, turns out artistic New World cuisine combining the flavors of Latin America, the Caribbean, the Far East and the United States.

The dining room is dramatic, the food astounding and the service polished. Be sure to begin with a Norman’s classic: foie gras “French toast.” And you’ll be delighted with the Mongolian veal chop. $$$$ Park Plaza Gardens 319 S. Park Ave., Winter Park, 407645-2475 / parkplazagardens.com. After 30-plus years, Park Plaza Gardens is practically an institution on Winter Park’s tony Park Avenue. People-watchers gather at the small bar and sidewalk tables to linger over casual meals and cold beers, while those looking for an indulgent experience dine in the garden-like back dining room, which boasts atrium windows and plush décor. The menu features a melding of American, European and Asian flavors and cooking techniques. $$$-$$$$ DECEMBER 2013

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Ravenous Pig 1234 N. Orange Ave., Winter Park, 407-628-2333 / theravenouspig.com. After leaving their hometown for serious culinary training, Winter Park natives James and Julie Petrakis returned to open the region’s first genuine gastropub. Dinner reservations have been tough to snag ever since. The ambitious menu changes daily based on the fish, meat and produce that’s available, and it’s executed by a dedicated team that abhors shortcuts.

Besides daily specials, The Pig always serves up an excellent burger, soft pretzels, shrimp and grits, and a donut dessert called Pig Tails. $$$

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Victoria & Albert’s 4401 Floridian Way, Lake Buena Vista, 407-939-3862 / victoria-alberts.com. Indulgent, multicourse prix-fixe feasts are served in the serenely elegant main dining room, accompanied by live harp music, while yet more courses are offered in the more intimate Queen Victoria’s Room and the private Chef’s Table. Chef Scott Hunnel, Maitre d’ Israel Pérez and Master Pastry Chef Erich Herbitschek travel the world to seek out impressive food and service trends, then adapt the golden ones locally.

That’s why V&A, at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, is Orlando’s only AAA Five Diamond restaurant. $$$$

EASTERN EUROPEAN Hollerbach’s Willow Tree Café

205 E. 1st St., Sanford, 407-321-2204 / willowtreecafe.com. If you like to indulge in a good schnitzel with a liter of hearty beer, head to Sanford. There you’ll find Theo Hollerbach overseeing the gemütlichkeit while serving up authentic German foods from sauerbraten to a wurst sausage platter. Live music on select evenings gets the whole dining room swaying together in a spirit of schunkel abend. $$

Yalaha Bakery 1213 N. Orange Ave., Orlando, 321-

800-5212; 8210 County Road 48, Yalaha, 352-324-3366 / yalahabakery.com. Fans of hearty German breads and scratch-made German pastries can drive to this homey outpost in rural Lake County, or they can pick up their loaves and sweets at an Ivanhoe District storefront. The Yalaha unit also sells sandwiches and hot lunches. $

Roy’s 7760 W. Sand Lake Road, Orlando, 407-352-4844 / roysrestaurant.com. Hawaiian-fusion flavors enhance familiar and exotic fish dishes at this Restaurant Row pioneer, a link in a Honolulu-based chain owned by namesake chef, Roy Yamaguchi. $$

5748 International Dr., Orlando, 407-370-9830 / aashirwadrestaurant.com. Begin with kashmiri naan, a slightly sweet bread stuffed with nuts, coconut and raisins, and continue with chicken biryani, cauliflower in exotic Manchurian gravy and a mixed tandoori grill. Whole spices are roasted and ground daily on site, further enhancing the cuisine’s authenticity. $$

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IRISH Raglan Road

1640 E. Buena Vista Drive, Lake Buena Vista, 407-938-0300 / raglanroad.com. Irish foods go a wee gourmet at this raucous Downtown Disney megapub, where watching Irish dancers and tasting imported beers are all part of the family fun. $$

ITALIAN Antonio’s

611 S. Orlando Ave., Maitland, 407-645-5523; 691 Front St., Celebration, 407-566-2233 / antoniosonline. com. Fine Italian fare comes in three price ranges at Antonio’s, proprietor Greg Gentile’s trio of culinary homages to his ancestors. In Maitland, the upstairs Ristorante is somewhat formal, although the open kitchen provides peeks of the chefs in action. Its downstairs counterpart, Antonio’s Market & Café, is a more casual spot that doubles as a market and wine shop. And in Celebration, the casual, lake-view Cafe d’Antonio hits that center sweet spot. $$-$$$

Bice 5601 Universal Blvd., Orlando, 407-503-1415 / orlando. bicegroup.com. Bice, with 50 locations around the world,

❖

Celebrate NEW YEAR’S EVE at Rocco’s!

W inter Park 400 South Orlando Avenue s 407-644-7770 Reservations online at www.roccositaliangrille.com ORLANDO LIFE

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Book Now for your Roccos_Dec13 .5.indd HOLIDAY PARTIES!

ragarestaurant.com. From its stylish décor to its inspired, somewhat global menu, Raga is a step above most local Indian restaurants. $$-$$$

6300 Hollywood Way, Orlando, 407-503-2467 / emerils.com. Emeril Lagasse’s Polynesian-fusion fare is executed within a dramatically decorated space.

Diners enjoy tropical cocktails, steamed dumplings and creative entrées such as pan-roasted duck breast with gingered pear chutney and umeboshi (pickled) plum glaze. $$$$

“BEST ITALIAN” — 2013 Silver Spoon Awards

LIKE us on Facebook for a chance to win dinner for two.

407-370-3277; 3895 Lake Emma Road, Lake Mary, 407-8040920 / memoriesofindiacuisine.com. Exceptionally good Indian fare draws diners in Dr. Phillips and Lake Mary to these twin restaurants, where dishes such as palek paneer (creamed spinach) and lamb masala in rich ginger-garlic gravy always satisfy. $$

Raga 7559 W. Sand Lake Road, Orlando, 407-985-2900 /

HAWAIIAN/ POLYNESIAN Emeril’s Tchoup Chop

INDIAN Aashirwad

Memories of India 7625 Turkey Lake Road, Orlando,

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has a local outpost of ambitious Italian cuisine at the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal. Homemade egg pasta is used for several dishes, such as spaghetti Bolognese; other choices include veal piccata and steak with a Gorgonzolademi sauce. $$$$

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The holidays are upon us, the lists are being made.

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Enzo’s on the Lake 1130 U.S. 17-92, Longwood, 407834-9872 / enzos.com. Long before Orlando became a serious foodie town, Enzo’s was serving up lovingly prepared Italian specialties inside a converted Longwood home. Little has changed. Split a bunch of antipasto to begin your meal.

After that, you pretty much can’t go wrong, but standout dishes include homemade ravioli stuffed with chicken and spinach, veal with artichoke-caper-white wine sauce and possibly the best spaghetti carbonara in town. $$$

Parties at home and the office, family in town, all celebrating the joy of the season.

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O’Stromboli 1803 E. Winter Park Road, Orlando, 407-

Take a break at TooJay’s. Buy your gift cards and order your catering while relaxing over lunch or dinner.

REFR

ESHING SALADS

647-3872 / ostrombolis.com. This innocuous neighborhood eatery isn’t fancy, but the food is filling and fresh. That’s why it has become a favorite of residents of Merritt Park, Rose Isle and Baldwin Park. The carbonara is particularly hearty and the fettuccini Alfredo is rich, buttery and more than you should eat in one sitting. The homemade soups are always a dependable starter. $$

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Peperoncino 7988 Via Dellagio Way, Orlando, 407-440-2856 / peperoncinocucina.com. The menu changes every night at this cozy Dr. Phillips Italian, where chef-owner Barbara Alfano puts out plates of fried pecorino drizzled with honey, pear and four-cheese pasta, and fish steamed in parchment paper. $$$

*Open Christmas Day 6 ORLANDO AREA LOCATIONS

TOO AY’S

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Prato 124 N. Park Ave., Winter Park, 407-262-0050 / prato-wp.com. This is one of Orlando’s very best Italian restaurants, but don’t expect a classic lasagna or chicken parmigiana. Executive Chef Brandon McGlamery and Chef di Cucina Matthew Cargo oversee an open kitchen in which pastas are made from scratch, pizzas are rolled to order, sausages are stuffed by hand and the olive oil is a luscious organic pour from Italy. Try the chicken liver Toscana, a satisfying salad Campagna with cubes of sizzling pancetta tesa, shrimp tortellini and citrusy rabbit cacciatore. Begin with a Negroni cocktail; it’s possibly the best around. $$-$$$

Rocco’s Grille & Bar 400 S. Orlando Ave., Winter Park,

407-644-7770 / roccositaliangrille.com. Calabria native Rocco Potami oversees this romantic Italian eatery, where fine authentic fare is presented in an intimate dining room and on a secluded brick patio. Classics include carpaccio (raw, thinly sliced beef with white truffle oil and arugula), ricotta gnocchi and a breaded veal chop topped with a lightly dressed salad. It’s easy to miss, tucked away in a Winter Park strip center, but once you find it, you’ll be back. $$$

LATIN Mi Tomatina

433 W. New England Ave., Winter Park, 321-972-4881 / mitomatina.com. This eatery bills itself as a paella bar, and indeed guests share a half-dozen varieties of the signature Spanish rice dish. Yet others come for a mellow meal over tapas (garlic shrimp, potato omelet, croquettes) and sangria, enjoyed while seated within a small contemporary dining room or outdoors overlooking Hannibal Square. $$-$$$

Pio-Pio 5752 International Drive, Orlando, 407-248-6424

/ mypiopio.com; 2500 S. Semoran Blvd., Orlando, 407-207-2262 / piopios.com; 11236 S. Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, 407438-5677. Latin American-style marinated roast chicken is a mainstay at this trio of Peruvian-Columbian restaurants, where families fuel up on heaping platters of pollo along with garlicky salad, fried plantains (sweet and green), and rice and beans. $$

MEDITERRANEAN alFresco

146 W. Plant St., Winter Garden, 407-654-5889 / alfrescowintergarden.com. Locally sourced foods take on a Mediterranean bent at this upscale-casual restaurant hidden behind downtown Winter Garden’s charming Plant Street. $$

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Bosphorous 108 S. Park Ave., Winter Park, 407-6448609; 7600 Dr. Phillips Blvd., 407-352-6766 / bosphorousrestaurant.com. This is the place for flavorful Turkish fare in either a white-tablecloth setting or alfresco along Park Avenue or Dr. Phillips Boulevard. Many couples fill up on the appetizer sampler with oversized lavash bread. For a

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Dueling Pianos and Live Jazz

heartier meal, try the ground lamb “Turkish pastry,” a shish kebab or a tender lamb shank. Outdoor diners can end their meals by smoking from a hookah. Or not. $$

The Falls Lounge

Taverna Opa 9101 International Drive, Orlando, 407-

351-8660 / opaorlando.com. The food is excellent, but that’s only half the reason to visit Taverna Opa. On busy nights, the place is festive indeed: Some guests join a Zorba dance around the dining room while others toss white napkins into the air, joyously shouting “Opa!” Then there’s the belly dancer. $$

MEXICAN/ SOUTHWESTERN Border Grill Fresh-Mex

5695 Vineland Road, Orlando, 407-352-0101 / bordergrillorlando.weebly.com. The flavors are crazy-fresh at this tiny little Mexican restaurant near Universal, where Veronica Starling and her mother, Esther Fragaso, run the kitchen and dining room with the help of assorted relatives. $

Elegant and romantic dinner

The Venetian Room

Cantina Laredo 8000 Via Dellagio Way, Orlando, 407345-0186 / cantinalaredo.com. Modern Mexican cuisine in a spiffy setting draws lovers of cilantro, jalapeño and pico de gallo to this Restaurant Row eatery, where the margaritas flow, the guacamole is made tableside and the portions are generous. The spinach enchilada is a vegetarian-friendly treat. $$

Orlando’s best New Year’s Eve buffet

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Cocina 214 151 E. Welbourne Ave., Winter Park, 407790-7997 / cocina214.com. Tex-Mex food is top quality here (214 is the Dallas area code), with salsa, savories and even margarita flavorings made from scratch. The spinach-mushroom quesadilla and tacos are especially noteworthy. $$

Tropicale

El Tenampa 11244 S. Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando,

407-850-9499. Many Orlandoans make El Tenampa part of their Costco shopping ritual, since the restaurant is located only a block from the OBT warehouse store. This authentic eatery features fresh fruit juices, spicy chicken chilaquiles (a Mexican breakfast, available all day long, made with fried tortilla pieces and a green sauce) as well as a satisfying shrimp quesadilla in addition to the standard enchiladas and fajitas. $

SEAFOOD Cityfish

THE CARIBE ROYALE IS THE EASY PLACE TO HAVE A PERFECT NEW YEAR’S EVE EVE.

617 E. Central Blvd., Orlando, 407-849-9779 / cityfishorlando.com. Feast on slabs of grilled, blackened or fried fresh fish at this hip Ts-and-flip-flops Thornton Park hangout. The atmosphere is ultra-casual and the sidewalk seating is great for people-watching. $$

CALL 407.238.8060 (THE VENETIAN ROOM) OR 407.238.8020 (THE TROPICALE) FOR RESERVATIONS

Flying Fish Café 2101 Epcot Resorts Blvd., Lake Buena Vista, 407-939-2359 / disneyworld.com. Creative seafood — and some great steak — are on the menu at this upbeat restaurant in the Disney’s Boardwalk Resort. It is themed after Eastern Seaboard summer spots of yore. For a special experience, enjoy a five-course Chef’s Tasting Wine Dinner while seated at the food bar. $$$$

* All guests to the Caribe Royale may enjoy the New Year’s Eve Fall Lounge entertainment and champagne toast at no charge.

cariberoyale.com

Ocean Prime 7339 W. Sand Lake Road, Orlando, 407-7814880 / ocean-prime.com. Designed to evoke the ambience of an old-time supper club, Ocean Prime’s white-jacketed servers offer sensational steaks and fish dishes along with creative options such as sautéed shrimp in a spectacular Tabasco-cream sauce, crab cakes with sweet corn cream and ginger salmon. End with the chocolate peanut butter pie. $$$$

Todd English’s bluezoo 1500 Epcot Resorts Blvd., Lake Buena Vista, 407-934-1111 / thebluezoo.com. Creatively prepared seafood is served in an over-the-top undersea setting at this fine-dining restaurant, located in Disney’s Swan and Dolphin hotel. The fashion-forward choices might be a miso-glazed Hawaiian sea bass or fried lobster in a soy glaze. The desserts are among the best in town. $$$$ Winter Park Fish Co. 761 Orange Ave. Winter Park, 407-

622-6112 / thewinterparkfishco.com. Fish and seafood dishes are fresh and well-prepared at this humble Winter Park spot, where a counter service format helps keep the prices reasonable. Crab cakes, lobster rolls, mahi-mahi sandwiches and more ambitious dishes such as grouper cheeks in parchment and stuffed grouper are among a day’s assortment. $$

NEW-HOME TRENDS: SMALLER, SMARTER, MORE BELLS AND WHISTLES

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LET’S MEET MONTHLY.

December 2012

12/14/12 4:50:14 PM

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FLAVOR LISTINGS

rona gindin

STEAK Bull & Bear

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14200 Bonnet Creek Resort Lane, Orlando, 407-597-5500 / bullandbearorlando.com. Orlando’s Bull & Bear looks similar to New York’s legendary steakhouse (except for the pool and golf course views), but ours has its own ambitious menu. Guests of the Waldorf Astoria’s finedining spot can feast on traditional items such as veal Oscar and prime steak that’s dry aged for 21 days, and intriguing ones like appetizers of gnocchi and escargot with crescents of black garlic, and shrimp and grits presented under a dome that, when removed, introduces a waft of aromatic smoke. The chocolate and lemon desserts are superb. $$$$

ingssteakhouse.com. Fleming’s puts a younger spin on the stately steakhouse concept, featuring sleek décor and 100 wines by the glass along with its prime steaks and chops.

The tempura lobster “small plate” with soy-ginger dipping sauce is a worthy pre-entrée splurge. For a taste of the oldfashioned, visit on Sunday, when prime rib is served. $$$$

Disney World’s Swan and Dolphin resort, is a dark, tastefully sports-themed steakhouse where the menu is painted on a football. Offerings include Premium Black Angus beef as well as barbecue shrimp, wedge salad and crab cakes. Up in Lake Mary, Shula’s 347 Grill is more of a sports bar with ambitious food. $$-$$$$

Linda’s La Cantina 4721 E. Colonial Drive, Orlando, 407894-4491 / lindaslacantina.com. An Orlando icon, this stylefree, windowless restaurant is always packed, and that’s because it serves top-quality steak dinners at wallet-friendly prices. Namesake Linda’s daughters Karen Hart, Debra Tassoni and Lori Coley run the establishment today. $$-$$$

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Capital Grille 4200 Conroy Road, 407-351-2210; 9101 International Drive, 407-370-4392 / thecapitalgrille.com. Capital Grille tries to one-up its upscale steakhouse competitors by dry-aging its beef, an expensive process that results in especially flavorful meat. Try a beautifully unadorned chop or a more creative dish, such as citrus-glazed salmon or Kona-crusted sirloin. The setting is clubby; the wine selection is generous. $$$$

Nelore Churrascaria 115 E. Lyman Ave., Winter Park,

Christner’s Prime Steak & Lobster 729 Lee Road, Orlando, 407-645-4443 / christnersprimesteakandlobster.com. Locals have been choosing this prototypically masculine, dark-wood-and-red-leather enclave for business dinners and family celebrations for more than a decade.

Family-owned since 1993 yet under the Del Frisco’s banner until mid-2013, Christner’s features USDA Prime, corn-fed Midwestern beef or Australian cold-water lobster tails with a slice of the restaurant’s legendary mandarin orange cake.

And there’s a loooong wine list (6,500 bottles). On select nights, Kostya Kimlat hosts magic shows along with a prixfixe menu in a private dining room. $$$$

Ruth’s Chris 7501 W. Sand Lake Road, Orlando,

Fleming’s 8030 Via Dellagio Way, Orlando, 407-352-5706; 933 N. Orlando Ave., Winter Park, 407-699-9463 / flem-

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407-645-1112 / neloresteakhouse.com. This is one of two Nelore Brazilian all-you-can-eat steakhouses — the other one is in Houston — where the servers, or “gauchos,” come to your table as often as you’d like bearing skewers of premier beef, chicken or pork. There’s a world-class salad bar and Brazilian cheese bread to keep you happy between meat courses. $$$$ 407-226-3900; 610 N. Orlando Ave., Winter Park, 407-6222444; 80 Colonial Center Parkway, Lake Mary, 407-8048220 / ruthschris.com. With three stately steakhouses and corporate headquarters by Winter Park Village, Ruth’s Chris, a native of New Orleans, has become an Orlando specialoccasion mainstay. Its service-oriented restaurants specialize in massive corn-fed Midwestern steaks served sizzling and topped with butter. $$$$

Shula’s 1500 Epcot Resorts Blvd., Orlando, 407-934-1362;

2974 International Parkway, Lake Mary, 407-531-3567 / donshula.com. Coach Don Shula, who led the Miami Dolphins through a perfect season in 1972, is now in the restaurant business. One of his Orlando outposts, located in

153 E. Morse Blvd., Winter Park, 407-389-2233 / cafe118.com. Raw foods — none cooked past 118 degrees — are the focus of this crisp Winter Park café, attracting raw foodists, vegans and vegetarians. The spinach and beet ravioli stuffed with cashew ricotta is an impressive imitation of the Italian staple. Thirsty Park Avenue shoppers might stop by for a healthful smoothie. $$

Dandelion CommuniTea Café 618 N. Thornton Ave.,

Orlando, 407-362-1864 / dandelioncommunitea.com. Longtime leaders in Orlando’s local-foods movement, the owners of this colorful counter-service restaurant plate up bowlfuls of meals prepared with veggies — predominantly organic — from area farms. Wraps, salads, a vegan granola raspberry parfait and The Giddyup, a tempe chili, are all terrific. $

Ethos Vegan Kitchen 601 S. New York Ave., Winter

Park, 407-228-3898 / ethosvegankitchen.com. Ethos is a vegan restaurant with a menu that also satisfies open-minded carnivores. Fuel up on pecan-crusted eggplant with red wine sauce and mashed potatoes or a meat-free shepherd’s pie, if salads, sandwiches and coconut-curry tofu wraps won’t do the trick. $-$$

Infusion Tea 1600 Edgewater Drive, Orlando, 407-9995255 / infusionorlando.com. College Parkers have umpteen options for lunch and dinner, yet Infusion Tea always has a buzz. It sells tea, sure, but also healthy, flavorful, meat-free paninis, pizzas, salads, wraps and quiches. $

DECEMBER 2013

11/11/13 10:58:15 AM

MEET YOUR REALTOR

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n the increasingly complex and competitive world of buying and selling homes, it’s more important than ever that you have a professional in your corner. That means a Realtor. Only real estate licensees who are members of the National Association of Realtors are properly called Realtors. They are committed to treating all parties in a transaction honestly and subscribe to a strict code of ethics.

Real estate transactions are the largest most of us will ever make, usually exceeding $100,000. If you had a $100,000 income tax problem, would you deal with it without the help of a CPA? If you had a $100,000 legal question, would you deal with it without the help of an attorney? Considering the small upside cost and the large downside risk, it would risky, at best, to consider a entering into a real-estate transaction without the professional assistance of a Realtor.

A Realtor can help you determine your buying power, assess the value of the home you’d like to buy or sell, explain financing options, implement a marketing program and make certain the closing process goes smoothly. The Realtors on the following pages are among the region’s most savvy and customer-focused professionals. For more information about hiring a Realtor, check out the Orlando Regional Realtor Association (ORRA) at orlandorealtors.org.

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MEET YOUR REALTOR SALLY ANDY Impeccable Style, Unwavering Integrity Leads to Sales Success.

In the highly competitive real estate industry, it takes takes an experienced professional who understands every aspect of the process, from effective marketing to a smooth and stress-free closing. It takes someone like Sally Andy of Stirling Sotheby’s International Realty. Sally, who has more than 30 years of successful local real estate experience, enjoys a reputation for impeccable style and unwavering integrity, and has been a top producer throughout her career. Further bolstering her legendary client and customer service, Sally created a successful partnership in 2005 with her son, David Warren. “We approach our business relationships as joint ventures with our clients,” says Sally. “We work with our valued clients and utilize all of our creative marketing tools to obtain optimal global exposure to attract buyers for their properties.” Prior to becoming a fulltime Realtor, Sally managed several companies as a broker/owner and had a successful residential construction business. As a result, she enjoys a special relationship with local custom builders. During rare down time, Sally and her husband, Mark, enjoy fine dining, concerts and quality time with family and friends.“ I believe in focusing on what one loves and doing it the best one can,” says Sally.”I can’t wait to start the day. Every day is a new adventure.”

Sally Andy Trusted Real Estate Advisor

Direct: (407) 687-7295 E-mail: sally@sallyandy.com Web: www.sallyandy.com

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DECEMBER 2013

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MEET YOUR REALTOR KIM ARENA A Can-Do Attitude Paired With Award-Winning Professionalism.

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Kim Arena’s reputation is built on dedication to excellent customer service.

Her can-do attitude, combined with years of experience and market knowledge, have led her ranking among the top 1% of all Coldwell Banker associates worldwide. Kim’s attention to detail, strong negotiation skills, impeccable ethics and professional manner make her consistently successful. “As a customer, I expect the highest quality of service and expertise,” she says. “So in return, I give only the highest quality of service and expertise to my clients.” In addition to being listed among the Top 100 Realtors in Orlando, Kim is one of an elite few to be honored with a prestigious Five Star rating for customer satisfaction. Always committed to increasing her knowledge and honing her business skills, Kim has earned the titles of Certified Negotiation and Marketing Specialist, Accredited Luxury Home Specialist, Accredited Home Staging Specialist and Certified Relocation Specialist. “I work very hard to earn the trust and confidence of my clients, showing them that I treat each sale or purchase as if it were my own,” Kim says.

“To all my wonderful clients, thank you for entrusting me with the sale or purchase of your home. To all my future clients, I can’t wait to help you.”

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(407) 701-1621 KimSellsOrlandoHomes.com ORLANDO LIFE

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11/12/13 11/12/13 10:14:49 10:01:48 AM AM

MEET YOUR REALTOR SANDRA CASH JONES It’s About Life, Dreams, and Relationships.

Sandra Cash Jones, who grew up in Winter Park, has enjoyed a successful 26-year career in residential real estate.

Her background includes new homes and resales, ranging from spectacular sevenfigure custom estates to onsite sales for major national production builders. She’s done it all with a consistently positive attitude and a laser focus on customer service.

Sandra’s success speaks volumes. She achieved “Top Club” status with Arthur Rutenberg Homes and for nine years was a Top Producer for Windsong in Winter Park. Through economic ups and downs, she’s been a consistent million-dollar-plus producer, one year topping $14 million in sales. Sandra specializes in Winter Park, Baldwin Park, College Park and Maitland.

She enhances her insider market knowledge through involvement with the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce, graduating from its prestigious Leadership Winter Park program. “As I reflect on my journey, it is much more than real estate,” says Sandra.

“It’s about life and dreams and relationships built by trust — doing the right thing and working toward a common goal with my customers.” For Sandra, every day is a blessing and opportunity to work with friends — both her colleagues and her customers: “I cherish them all and am very grateful to be in this business right here, right now.”

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(407) 256-5521 Email scashjones@gmail.com DECEMBER 2013

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MEET YOUR REALTOR

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VICKY MCVAY-FROOM A Passion for Celebrity-Level Service for Discerning Clients.

Vicky McVay-Froom is an International Luxury Home Specialist at Stirling Sotheby’s International Realty’s Orlando/Dr. Phillips Marketing Center. She’s earned a reputation as a dynamic and hardworking Realtor with a passion for quality and a knack for providing “celebrity-level service” to with both buyers and sellers of upscale properties. And it works — more than 75 percent of the business handled by Vicky’s team is a result of repeat business or referrals.

Vicky knows that focus will get the job done. A native of St. Petersburg, Vicky has lived in Central Florida since 1967and attended the College of Nursing at the University of Florida. She later attended graduate school at Rollins College, and her prior career was in pediatric nursing.

She has also worked in manufacturing and sales, commercial and residential real estate and futures and options trading in the stock market, so her breadth of knowledge is vast. For relaxation, she’s a sailing and Harley motorcycle enthusiast. She also enjoys skiing in Colorado and Utah, summers in Highlands, N.C., physical fitness training, golf and even competitive ballroom dancing. Vicky loves animals and has always owned dogs. She’s well known and respected locally, nationally and internationally, and has forged an expansive network of partnerships. She is driven by a discipline of hard work including commitment, ethics and civility.

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(407) 620-0952 vmcvay@stirlingsir.com ORLANDO LIFE

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10:15:01 AM 11/12/13 10:03:55

MEET YOUR REALTOR MARIA VAN WARNER It Comes Naturally to Always Put Her Clients’ Need First.

For more than a decade, Maria Van Warner has earned a reputation as a Realtor who always puts her client’s needs first. A former social worker and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), she brings this same spirit of helping others to her real estate career. “My background taught me how to really listen and learn about peoples’ needs and desires,” she says. “And then I can help them find exactly what they’re looking for.” Whether she’s working with relocators, first-timers, investors or wellestablished sellers facing difficult real estate decisions, Maria, a consistent multimillion-dollar producer, understands how to help her clients achieve their goals. It’s an approach that has earned her five consecutive Five Star ratings for exceptional service and overall satisfaction. Five Star recipients are among the top 2 percent of Realtors in any given market. Maria’s extensive knowledge of the schools and neighborhoods throughout the Winter Park, Maitland and Orlando areas is based on personal experience. She has raised four children locally, attending countless sporting, musical and other activities enjoyed by her kids. She’s also involved in the community, graduating from the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce Leadership Winter Park program. Said one past client: “Maria was personable, knowledgeable and persistent — I would follow her anywhere.”

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(407) 256-8066 maria@fanniehillman.com

DECEMBER 2013

11/12/13 10:04:41 10:15:07 AM AM 11/12/13

PEOPLE & PLACES

with paula

Let’s Get Primitive

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A NEANDERTHAL NIGHT AT THE SCIENCE CENTER.

rum roll, please! No, wait. Let’s imagine the sound

of a big stick on a flat rock, instead. That’s more appropriate to introduce the winners of the Harriett Lake Caveman Couture & Costume Contest at the Orlando Science Center’s annual Neanderthal Ball.

The competition was as hot as a spouting volcano this year as more social spelunkers than ever donned prehistoric apparel to go faux-Flintstone. You like the leopard-skin look?

Well, the scene inside could have passed for a National Geographic special.

Except we didn’t have to chase down our food. Let’s make up an award right now, shall we, and hand it out to the Cave Inn restaurant for the Most Appropriate Food Option. Far be it from me to dispute the eatery’s claim that it served up “Tyrannosaurus Ribs.” Still, let’s not forget the other vendors: Puff n’ Stuff, Orlando Brewing, Darden, and Gigi’s Cupcakes.

Everything was delicious and nothing tasted prehistoric.

Anyway, the Caveman Couture winners: Maria Ruthkowski, Eva Krzewinski, Wendy Wallenberg, Josh Garrick and Jim Hennessey.

But don’t think we were all about just looking good. One of the nice things about the Neanderthal Ball — the motto, by the way, is “600,000 years in the making,” which presumably makes it the oldest ball in town — is that many of the museum’s displays are manned by volunteers more than willing to tell you just how old that big scary prehistoric shark tooth is. Makes you appreciate the food-chain options being served all the more.

The event raises money for the center’s youth-education programs.

So enjoy, all you dear little nerdlings.

And a big, monosyllabic mmmmmwwwwaaaa! and a chorus of “Wild Thing, You Make My Heart Sing” to eponymous philanthropist Harriett Lake, who wasn’t feeling well that night and could not attend.

1. Emily Ellyn, Sunshine Baker 2. Orlando Science Center exhibits provided the setting for the Neanderthal Ball

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3. Mark Armstrong, Flora Maria Garcia, JoAnn Newman 4. Wendy Wallenberg, Maxine Earhart, Josh Garrick 5. JoAnn Newman, Dr. Ann Manley, Robert Finfrock 6. Dennis Lind, Rita Simaan

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HOW NOW, CABS AND COWS?

Ye haw! I left my ball gown at home and put on some over-

priced leather pants that I’ve been looking for an excuse to wear and headed out to join more than 400 friends in Central Park’s West Meadow for the third annual Cows ’n Cabs event.

Let there be pig! And you know, when John Rivers of 4 Rivers Smokehouse is at the head of the table, there’ll be lots and lots of it.

I enjoyed chatting it up with the folks from the short list of invitation-only local restaurants, who dished up everything from chocolate-covered bacon to lobster. I lost count at around 200 wines, spirits and craft-beer samplings provided

by Florida Distribution Company, Beam, Southern Wine & Spirits and ABC Fine Wine & Spirits.

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I played Wine Ring Toss (yes!) with some spirited cigarsmoking friends who were explaining the nuances of the new signature series of cigars provided by event partner Drew Estates.

I put the barbecue down just long enough to catch up with Andrea Massey Farrell and her friends in the Spraker Wealth Management VIP area, where I got to meet some new friends from title sponsor, Stella Artois. Great to see Jamie McFadden, owner of Cuisiniers Catered Cuisine & Events and Chris Hughes from Christner’s Prime Steak & Lobster.

Good night, great cause, with 100 percent of ticket sale proceeds and auction items benefiting the Community Food & Outreach Center and Elevate Orlando, which assists with fighting hunger and mentoring at-risk youth. n DECEMBER 2013

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1. Chefs and friends convene in the West Meadow 2. Jill’s Cashbox Band 3. Gabriela Diaz, Evan Done, Katarina Coumbaros 4. Eman Alosaimi, C. Major, Chloe Grandin, Samantha Lieberman, Alea Zubkin 5. Dave Larue, Amy and Tyler Chandler, Tina Larue

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THERE’S MORE ONLINE

Using your mobile device, scan the QR code or go to orlando-life.com and see more pictures and stories from these and other events held throughout Central Florida.

Native Floridian Paula Wyatt is an Orlando event planner, socialmedia expert and entrepreneur whose companies include Posh Able Events, Posh Able Image Builders and the nonprofit Posh Abilities.

You can reach her at paula@poshableevents.com.

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gamers

DECEMBER 2013

11/11/13 4:15:34 PM

Video Games? Seriously

One Surgeon’s Cutting-Edge Approach to Better Medicine.

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By Harry Wessel • photographs by Rafael Tongol

urgery is serious business. Even a small mistake can

end a life, or ruin it. Few people know this better than Orlando’s Dr. James Rosser, a nationally known surgeon and educator who likes to warm up for the operating room by playing a video game suitable for 6-year-olds.

Prepping for surgery by playing Super Monkey Ball may sound like a Saturday Night Live skit, but Rosser — who works at Florida Hospital Celebration Health and its adjacent Nicholson Center surgical training facility — seriously believes in the power of video games to reduce surgical errors. And he has plenty of scientific data to back himself up.

Over the past two decades he has conducted peer-reviewed research showing strong correlations between facility with video games and improved surgical outcomes, including a recent study that found a six-minute video-game warm-up before surgery was enough to significantly reduce medical errors.

Celebration Health was impressed enough with Rosser’s research to recently dedicate space in its surgeon’s lounge for pre-surgical video-game practice.

But not just any video game will do. “We tested 150 video games, and only three had a scientific correlation with improving surgical performance,” says Rosser, who specializes in minimally invasive, “laparoscopic” surgery. The three that passed muster were Super Monkey Ball Deluxe, a puzzle game; Star Wars Racer Revenge, a racing game; and Silent Scope (practice mode), a shooting game.

“Video games have gotten a bad press,” says Rosser, 59, a lifelong video-game aficionado who lists Call of Duty, Tetris and even “old-school” Space Invaders among his favorites.

“We can use video games for the greater good,” he adds, and not just for improving performance among surgeons. He has bigger fish to fry: “With proper scientific due diligence

Dr. James Rosser, laparoscopic surgeon at Florida Hospital Celebration and its Nicholson Center surgical training facility, is a video-game crusader with plenty of solid research showing the power of gaming to improve the surgical skills of physicians.

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we can engage kids in ‘stealth learning,’ because [with video games] they’re learning while they’re having fun.”

In his own case, as a black kid growing up in the 1960s and early ’70s in tiny Moorhead, Mississippi, video games “cultivated my creativity. I was able to escape what people would say I would otherwise become by being able to dream — by reading comic books, watching cartoons on TV and playing video games.”

Video games were particularly important to his childhood dream of becoming a man of science, says Rosser, pointing out that the high-tech games didn’t come with written instructions.

Instead, “you look at a game and make an hypothesis on how you think it’s played. Once you test it, you then debrief and look at the results of your initial hypothesis. Then you reconfigure another one and you try it again. You know what that is? The scientific method, and it served as a foundation for me to be a scientist.”

The hulking Rosser certainly didn’t look like a scientist when he attended the University of Mississippi, where he played offensive guard for the Rebels. “I played football because it was fun, but that wasn’t my first priority,” he recalls.

“I always wanted to be a doctor.”

Zipping through his courses, he earned an undergraduate pre-med degree at age 19 and walked away from his football scholarship to go to medical school.

The size that helped him in football would cause trouble for him later, but after earning his medical degree and completing his residency, he established a reputation as one of the nation’s most influential laparoscopic surgeons.

He pioneered several minimally invasive procedures, secured two patents for surgical tools he invented, wrote more than 50 peer-reviewed articles, published 11 digital books and created the “Rosser Top Gun Laparoscopic Skills and Suturing Program,” which has been taken by more than 6,000 surgeons since its 1991 launch.

A father of five known to family, friends and colleagues as Butch, Rosser has reached a wider audience with his 2008 hardcover book, also out in paperback and audio versions, Playin’ to Win: A Surgeon, Scientist and Parent Examines the Upside of Video Games.

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Rosser and his physician’s assistant, Robyn Gardner, take a practice spin with Super Monkey Ball Deluxe in the Florida Hospital Celebration surgeon’s lounge. Rosser’s research has found that just six minutes of practice daily can make a positive difference in surgical outcomes.

Rosser’s academic credentials are equally impressive. He has held professorships at Yale Medical School, Einstein College of Medicine and Morehouse College of Medicine.

But his medical, scientific and academic achievements came at a price: By his mid-40s the former scholarship athlete had become morbidly obese. Tipping the scales at 460 pounds, he underwent laparoscopic gastric-bypass surgery — the same kind of surgery he had performed many times before and has performed many times since.

The August 2001 surgery “saved my life,” says the 6-foot4-inch Rosser, who now weighs in at 290. “I’m still a big unit, but I’m a healthier big unit.”

He’s also a happier one. He moved with his wife, Dana, and their two youngest children — 17-year-old twin girls — from 62

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traffic-snarled Atlanta to Lake Nona’s Medical City a year ago. From there it’s an easy 20-minute drive to and from his Celebration office, time he uses to relax and unwind.

“I have my top down. I have my music on. It’s amazing what 20 minutes will do to get you prepared for the day, and it’s amazing what 20 minutes will do for you going home. I’ll usually say a prayer going and a prayer coming back. I love that time.”

Rosser plans to retire here, but with plenty of productive years left he views the Celebration Health campus — with its focus on high-tech medical education, training and simulation — as a perfect playground.

“We need to go to simulation, or more sophisticated video games that emulate exactly what you’re going to do in surgery, and we need to see which combination of those two works best,” Rosser says. “That to me is when the dog is going to hunt: when you can combine an over-the-counter video game with a specialized simulation that works symbiotically.”

In other words, video games are here to stay, folks; don’t fight them. As one healthy big unit puts it: “Harness them for the greater good.” n DECEMBER 2013

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Winter Park Health Assessment The skill to heal. The spirit to care.ÂŽ ORLANDO LIFE

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RESTLESS NATIVE

mike thomas

Does Doom Loom?

T

MAYBE CLIMATE CHANGE IS A POCKETBOOK ISSUE. he headline reads: “South Florida Faces Ominous Pros-

pects From Rising Water.” This most recent tale of watery doom comes from the New York Times.

A coastal geologist told the Times that the ocean was rising another 5 or so feet this century. That would take out the Everglades, then the Florida Keys, and so on until Miami transitioned into Kevin Costner’s Waterworld.

Given the moral state of affairs in South Florida, particularly South Beach, one might surmise that God is revisiting the Noah’s Ark solution.

Unfortunately, Miami won’t submerge in isolation. Much of Tampa Bay will go down as well, along with Brevard and Volusia. Every five years I-4 would get about a mile shorter, and Lake County would grow by 15 million residents by the year 2100.

Professor Harold Wanless, from the University of Miami, told the Times we must prepare for this calamity by stopping coastal development and forcing residents to move inland.

As expected, few of those interviewed for the story expressed any alarm. The general consensus was this: Yeah, yeah, wake me when I’m drowning.

I’ll get to the solution later on, but this raises an issue about environmental marketing, one that must be resolved if the greenies are going to succeed in having us live the rest of our lives in fear.

The problem boils down to this: The environment is a very complicated thing, with all kinds of scientific subtleties. And nowhere is that more true than with the issue of climate change.

But rather than try to explain things like ocean currents and cloud cover to people and have their eyes glaze over, the greenies sent Al Gore out on a roadshow with his Chronicles of Doom PowerPoint.

Hell on earth was near. Burning more dinosaur remains meant more greenhouse gasses, which meant hotter and hotter and hotter.

Floods. Famines. Pestilence. Wars. Mass migrations.

Greenland falling into the sea and drowning half the planet.

And meanwhile, the actual planet isn’t getting any hotter.

I know you won’t believe me, so again, from the New York Times: “The global warming crowd has a problem. For all of its warnings, and despite a steady escalation of greenhouse gas emissions

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into the atmosphere, the planet’s average surface temperature has remained pretty much the same for the last 15 years.’’

Yes, it is true. I could cite you any number of sources. The reason, scientists explain, is that there are variations in weather patterns caused by things like ocean currents. These variations temporarily mask the impact of our burning things.

I believe this explanation. Climate change is real. But I think all the constant doomsday projections undermine it.

The scientists and environmentalists don’t want nuance in this debate. They fear that sowing any doubt in the doomsday storyline means the anti-carbon agenda comes under suspicion — not a good thing, because going green is expensive.

People need a compelling reason to do so. We must be afraid.

This is why you see hurricanes, super storms and tornadoes linked to climate change, when in fact, such connections are, at best, a stretch. I don’t think people actively keep score of all this. But I think it all somehow sinks in along the lines of: “I don’t feel any hotter.’’

That is why public surveys show climate change is far down the list of things people worry about.

There is only one force that will temper enthusiasm for living and building on the coast. It’s not the force of nature, nor the doomsday predictions of the Professor Wanless crowd.

The solution is property insurance.

Federal flood insurance premiums are set to skyrocket over the coming years, which in Florida will be piling on when combined with hurricane insurance. The market is responding to risk, even if we are not.

Everybody is attacking the insurers, most notably politicians and the media, when the actuaries are the only ones with a message that gets people’s attention — rates.

If we are to prepare for the inundation to come, if we are to move people out of harm’s way, there is a simple way to do it.

Eliminate the federal flood insurance program and Citizens Property Insurance.

And let the market do the rest. n Native Floridian and longtime Orlando columnist Mike Thomas is a freelance writer. You can reach him at miket@orlando-life.com.

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