Choulala, Winter Park - Moved

I grabbed three chou on my way home on Saturday. They list a place on Park Ave on their lit, but, I stopped at the place on 436 (north of Aloma). I forget when they opened. It can't have been too long ago. They make these little, round, custard stuffed pastries called chou. They taste like eclairs. They are the size of a golf ball. They were brought to France by Catherine de Medici. Choulalala offers twenty four "icings". I had three. Dark Chocolate. Milk Chocolate. Chesnut. I think the fillings were all the same. A brown custard. Probably chocolate based. I ate them too fast to tell. They cost $3 a pop. They were tasty. They push you to sample. I declined. They said it was part of the business model. I'm not sure if they limit you to one, but, that can be considered when you evaluate the cost. The owner says he had a shop in Del Rey. He's ours now. They also serve gelato and coffees. It's a nice change from the macaroon onslaught. If I was more of a sweets guy I would be a regular. I still will be an "occasional". They open at ten am and close at six pm. Also great as gifts. See how long it takes you to "get" the name.

Uncle Julio's, I Drive

I had lunch at this "aspiring" Mexican restaurant under the shadow of the Ferris wheel last Saturday. By "aspiring" I mean they aspire to be high end. And like most "aspire-ers", they have the veneer but not the grace. I forget if it is a chain or not. It might as well be. Let me ask you. If you pay $16 for a salad, should you get more than 4 ounces of tuna and fresh greens? If you answered yes you can skip (or since Blogger does it chronologically - you can re-read) to the next post. I knew a salad was pushing it in a Mexican restaurant, but, I was hung over and had two forms of Mexican the day before. The tuna sounded nice and nonthreatening. As did the avocado. The tuna was without "dental floss'. That was good. Also not embarrassingly pale. But, there was just too little of it in the end. Same with avocado. They even chintzed on the dressing. One ramekin. And I told you that the mixed greens were wilted. My buddy had three lifeless tacos for around $13. These guys opened in July. It looks nice. It's big. They have a guac station. The menu is expansive. The service is fine. The food just isn't "fussed" over. It's a grind it out sort of place. Or at least our meal was. You can "do" at least the same if not better at a number of other places.

Grub Crawl - Disney Springs: Maria & Enzo's Ristorante and The Edison

I tried these new places across from STK last Friday night. The quality of the review will be impacted by the open bar I attended to earlier in the night.

Maria & Enzo's - The place looks great. It recreates the look of an airport from the Golden Age of aviation. Think Pan Am. Howard Hughes. Indiana Jones. Now the dimensions are off. The "waiting room" would never be a sunken, open dining room the size of a small arena. But, the iconography is there. As is a separate pizzeria/cafe (why is a cafeteria called that? Coffee +?) and a cellar dining room. The last one didn't carry out the "airport" design. It was modeled after one of those wine cellars that often get turned into trattorias. We showed up really late. Around 11pm. And in flip flops and shorts. They still seated us. The hostess station is a boarding gate. We were the only ones in the whole place. My buddy just had calamari because he ate at an open bar that we were at before we made it here. It was $16. It was ok. I just had something called Ncasciata for $23. Uncle Google says it's Sicilian. It was basically a lasagna. It was ok. Served in a metal cooking apparatus. I hazily recollect that the menu was small. 4 or 5 entrees. I think my dish was the cheapest. I don't recall any problems with the service. I think they might have been Italian even. At least some of them. And that's all I have to say about that. I wish we hadn't been so tardy to the party. But, that wasn't my doing. We had to wait for the office function (really just the auction results) to transpire. I popped in earlier in the day to peruse and was impressed. If the food is anywhere near as good as the interior design then they will have a great one two punch. If not, you probably can't lose at the pizzeria. They are run by the people who run the Morimoto Asia spot. I applaud the resources they must have expended bringing this place to life. It's hard to recreate without insulting the original. I don't think they have. And that's not the tequila, wine and beer talking.

The Edison - This place is right next door and also just opened. It's "thing" is steam punk. Think The Time Machine. The book by HG Wells or the movie with simian Brad Pitt - Guy Pearce. It looks like a 1800's power plant. A large gear works replica greets you when you enter. The hostess station is on the right. Then you descend steps that lead to various bar areas. We settled on the lowest level because that is where the floor show (and most of the sparse crowd) was. The entertainment is now free, but, I think I read that they are going to charge $10 (after 10pm) at some point. The whole place is "differentingly" impressive from M & E. You also get transported being here. They also spared no expense. The liquor selection is on display and it's pretty impressive. The menu was small and uninspiring. And expensive. I'd do what we did. Go for drinks and maybe the entertainment. My biggest fear for them is that Disney killed all the adult fun from this area when the closed Pleasure Island. We LEFT at midnight because it was empty. If they don't try harder to provide a better culinary product, I fear they won't survive. The bar crowd isn't there.

Cafe Rio, Winter Park - Closed

Ok I'll tell you about my primary destination on Friday. even though I missing out on some exhilarating women's speed skating by doing so. Plus I want to brag about my ski trip to Utah. I saw this place driving down North Orlando Ave about a month ago. I said "Great another mediocre (I used another term) Mexican place I have to suffer through". However, when I was in Utah, I saw that this place is a Utah (original is in St George) fast food chain. So, at worst it won't cost much. If I hadn't already stopped at Tamale Co, I would have gone for the burrito meal. Ninety percent of their menu is composed of five Mexican staples (ie quesadilla) served with rice and beans. I already had a full lunch awaiting me. I went with two tacos ala carte. Even that was too much. These guys are big. They serve them in a soft tortilla that they make right in front of you. They had salmon in Utah. Not here. Just pork, beef, chicken and vegan. I settled on barbacoa pork and roasted beef. Both were flavorless. The beef came in a cloying sweet sauce that isn't appropriate for Mexican food. Another mistake centered on the cheese. They melt it into the tortilla. There is no contrast. It's soft warm cheese on a soft warm tortilla. I want cold cheese. For texture and contrast. You can also get pico, lettuce and sour cream for free. The pico was gutless. No zing. I tried adding bottled hot sauce from my purse. Hah! Caught you. I don't have a purse or yell in movie theaters. They provide. That just made it worse. The tacos cost $3.50. The tortillas were a little thick and buttery for my taste. The place was packed. I think they opened in July. It has a fast food look. You move along an assembly line. They said they are opening up a dozen or so in the area soon. Most meals cost $10. The same as Chipotle. I'll go back for a smothered burrito. That can be "all hot and mushy" in my mind for some reason. I like their approach to a ubiquitous dining option. I even think these recipes are how they do Mexican in Utah. I've had a few Mexican meals (ie Red Iguana) in Utah and they had "weird" sauce toppings on the menu. It's worth a trip to see them make tortillas. I wonder if the name will confuse people. Will they think it's Brazilian? Will people say "I got Dia-rio"?

Tamale Co, Altamonte Springs - Moved

I stopped here looking to knock out a new bacon place (Sugar Sow) one my way to my primary destination. This was at lunch on Friday. I found this. The "here" in question is that sketchy Citgo station aside the train tracks on 436. The "this" is a brick and mortar outpost of the titled food truck. I sacked up and ordered a real meal for you people. I had the mole tamales (also for you people and because it is called Tamale Co) with rice and beans for $11. They give you two tamales. I think a single was $7 or $9. You can't avoid the rice and beans. They were pretty good. A little too fluffy and white corn for me. I like a denser (lard) tamale made of yellow corn. The filling was shredded chicken. It was a bit dry. Fairly liberal portion. The sauce was pretty good. A dark mole. A bit too much burnt flavor for me. The rice (orange) was moist and fluffy. A tiny scoop. The black beans were soft and creamy. I usually want to throw the rice and beans away, but, these were not just cheap filler. The tamales were served atop the corn husk they were steamed in. They also serve breakfast items, tacos, sincronizadas, nacho style fries and a surprising list of other items. The pricing is food truck ambitious. I think a taco was $3.50. The place is closet small. No indoor seating. This place has been a host of things and they usually put a counter between you and the kitchen. These guys threw up a wall. So, the place is half as big as it ever was. They decorated it artistically. It looks cute. The food came out fast. It seemed to be a destination already. Two groups of young urban professionals (foodie types) book ended my order. They were not there by accident. They sought this place out. Which is promising because they have been there for only one month and there is precious little signage attracting you from the street. I'd guess they get updates from the food truck's social media accounts. I almost went back on Saturday. I chose to give 4 Rivers another chance. Big mistake.

*That Sugar Sow place was emptied out and had a notice from the inspectors office citing violations. I'm not sure if they ever opened (the citation was dated that day) or if they did and were immediately shut down. They were supposed to open this month. Like I said, the place looked cleaned out. I'm not sure if they came or are coming back.

Pizzeria Roberti, East Curry Ford Rd Area - Closed

I tried this NY Style pizza parlor at dinner last week. It is in a strip mall behind a gas station that is at the intersection of Curry Ford Rd and South Chickasaw Trail. I grabbed a regular pie to go for $13. It was good. A bit too Americanized (mostly because of the cheese), but, better than most. The base was thin. The crust was restrained. The chew was good. No bubbles. The cheese was distributed evenly. The sauce was a bit salty. The pie was large. The owner/chef told me he uses a flour (not double zero) from some manufacturer that I can't remember. It was a good sign that he knew. He said he uses San Marzzano tomatoes for the sauce. I would guess he uses canned SMs. I would have preferred that he left them as is. No seasoning. I would also have liked a better quality of cheese. And maybe a little basil and olive oil. However, that is more of a European style. I think pizza is all the do. They had a few interesting combos/riffs. However they started approaching the $20 mark. They sell slices at under $3. I was going to go that route, but, I figured I owed it to you to try a fresh pie. The place is small. it seats about a dozen. It is new. It looks trendy enough. The chef/owner is a young kid from suburban Queens. His last name is Roberti. The place has been open for around seven months. It's the sort of pizza that I think most people would really enjoy. My shuttle driver at the airport did. I couldn't eat it all myself. I tried. They are closed on Sunday and Monday.

*There is also a little gastro pub in this mall.

Grub Crawl - College Park: Zeytin, Tornatore's and Mee Thai

I was in the area for a supposed birthday celebration at a local bar (the only reason I'd be there), but, one should never trust pot heads. Therefore, I ended up trying these places instead. The first is on Edgewater Dr between Lee Rd and College Park. The next is a little closer to CP. The last is on Lee Rd (ex Colombian place) in between Edgewater and I-4 (the obstacle course).

Zeytin Turkish Cuisine - The guy/girl at Orlando Weekly put them on a best list. I have some standards. It stunk. The wine was spoiled. The lamb was overcooked. The menu was cliche. The neighborhood is bad. The venue is unappealing. The main problem is probably lack of staff. The food took a while to come out. There were only thirty or so (40 max) people at dinner (their only service). I would wager that one guy (Zeytin?) is cooking everything. Not only can't he keep up (people were complaining about the wait), he can't oversee his own dishes. My Lamb Beyti (some kind of enchillada-like minced lamb kebab wrap that I've never heard of) was way over cooked. Not much flavor. Only one kebab at $18. I've never had less than three kebabs at this price point. It came with mushy rice and a bowl of raw onion and a bowl of tomato and cucumber salad. That must be the trade off. The rest of the menu is a too typical mix of cold sides/apps and skewered options. They offer one fish (the very Turkish salmon) that I overheard was AWOL. The decor is just hookahs and plates and rugs nailed to the wall. It still has the yellow paint job from the last place (Woodys?). There is a lame fish tank in the corner. Everyone gets a view of the kitchen/staging area. There was little reason to seek this place out (especially for dinner) other than good food at good prices. It has neither. The guy/girl at the Weekly has an Arab sounding name. Now either he/she is a total "homer" graded on a curve or he/she has got special attention or he/she has no business recommending restaurants. This is not the first dog he/she has approved of. Skip. Not even good if adjusted for the type of cuisine it is.

Tornatore's Cafe and Pizzeria - I grabbed a medium pie to go after being stiffed by my "buddies". I didn't want to have to come back to this area for a while, so, I tried anything that seemed undone. I believe I ignored it when it was Cafe Positano (because I had been to others). The partners split and they renamed it this. Apparently, they were on Restaurant Impossible with the 'roid monster and terrible talk show host Robert Irvine (who probably has a small penis because of his over sized corpus and Asian wife). Whatever they did (you see the interior design redo - wood paneling, paint job and salad tongs on the wall), didn't stick. The pizza was bad. Cheap cheese. Very salty. Almost no sauce. The sauce was salty and garlic-y. Uneven topping distribution. Too much crust. Bubbles. Too chewy. Slightly under cooked. No surprise. I watched them bake it in a basic steel box. They moved it around once. And that was once more than most of the other pizzas they made. They have been there for 8 years (3 under this name). The locals who came in seemed to like it. I'd bet that that is less of a certification than an indictment of their sophistication. Maybe another meal would be good. A rigatoni alla massimo sounded nice. The menu looked ok. It is a little expensive though. The medium pizza cost $10. A full Chicken Parm sandwich (most sandwiches) cost $11. I don't see a second seating in my future. Hard to be worse than Cafe Positano. Mission Possible.

Mee Thai - Somehow this bad smelling basic Thai restaurant ended up crafting the best meal of night. I had your basic Red Chicken Curry with rice to go at $11. It was very sweet and not hot (or very red) at medium. The chicken was fresh and white and plentiful. Zucchini, carrots, basil and peppers rounded out the components. The rice was mushy. It really was no different than any other Thai place in town. Same prices. Same dishes. But, the neighborhood stinks and the place is ugly. I mentioned the smell? I don't see them surviving. Too expensive for the 'hood. Too drab to attract outsiders. A shame because the kitchen isn't the issue. They have been open for three months. People seemed nice. They say that the are "the best Esan Thai food". I searched it and there are some "Esan" Thai restaurants but no Esan regions. There is a Isan language near Laos. Now I'm missing something or this is one of the most wonderful ESL mistakes (Asian?) that I've come across on a menu. Maybe they should work for the local news? I saw a "Pheonix" spelling two nights ago.

*I do have to compliment the Weekly for the list they compiled of restaurants that are opening in 2018. Great work.