Grub Crawl - New Smyrna Beach: Donnie's Donuts, Ruthy's Kozy Kitchen and Cork Screw

I tried these places last Saturday. The first two are on West Canal ST (44 Business) and the last is in town on Canal St. You get to 44 Business by making a left after the Burger King. Before the bridge.

Donnie's Donuts - This place was a fried chicken place only a year ago. Now they (different people) sell home made donuts and beverages. They have a Food Network sign up front. They said the owner was a judge on a food truck show. I bought an apple cider cinnamon and a chocolate cinnamon. They cost just under $2 each. They were fine. Apple better than chocolate. I don't love these old fashioned, cake-y donuts. I like the airier kind better. They have this level of donut and a kicked up level (ie toppings). They are open Wednesday through Sunday.

Ruthy's Kozy Kitchen - They are a bit closer to town (the train tracks). They have been there for thirteen years. I only noticed them two years ago when they updated their signage. I had the Greek eggs benedict for $9. It was fine. Feta crumbles over too much Hollandaise and eggs on Canadian Bacon and tomato and spinach. No muffin. Home fries. Everything here is under two digits. I believe they close at 2pm. They had a really cheap early morning breakfast at under $2. It was full. They had breakfast and lunch items and special. It seats about eighty. The color scheme was teal, white and gray. Red table tops. Service was good. They take cards. A fine diner type spot.

Cork Screw Bar and Grille- This is about half way in town. It was a post office. It's been this for five years. American cuisine. Lots of red brick. A brick half wall separates the main room into a bar area and a main area. Lots of patio tables. Seats around fifty inside and forty outside. Lots of bric a brac inside. Long bar. sports on the tv. It was full at 2pm. Open for dinner too. I had a gator and sausage po boy for $14. It was very good. Too good. I think they subbed in pork shoulder for gator. If not, it was really seasoned well and tender. The sausage was good as well. Lots of both meats. The bun was glossy and appropriate for a po boy. Fresh too. The lettuce and tomato were also fresh. I usually find po boys more fun to order than to eat. They usually are just bad heros. This was what a po boy is meant to be. The menu was pretty large. Some surprises. I wish I could remember some of them. They had they usual subjects like burgers and fish too. This place seemed to be the most hoighty of the dining options. It was more accessible than I anticipated. Not bad at all. I'd go back. In fact, the only thing preventing it may be the multiplicity of options I've been discovering in town. I'll tell you about three more in two posts from now (I went to them today).

*I read an article on a Turkish chili pepper called Urfa.  It's smoke-y and raisin-y and all the rage.

Bungalow Retreat, Lake Mary - Closed *IT/SWI/Malta

I tried this eclectic spot in the strip mall on International Parkway closest to the Verizon offices on Wednesday at lunch. It has been open for eleven months. I had Ropa Vieja tacos (3) for $13. The meat wasn't like any ropa vieja I have ever been served. That dish is usually stringy. This was more like bits of meat. The flavoring was off too. And it is kind of a stretch to shoe horn this recipe into a taco. They tried to play up the Cuban element by adding little servings of yellow rice and beans. But, the beans were Mexican style and they also submitted to the taco demands by serving sour cream with it. It was all pretty savory (one note). They tried to mix it up with some mild salsa. It needed something hotter. Especially if you added the sour cream. The tacos could be flour or corn. And as I've regurgitated before, Mexicans only eat corn tortillas with their tacos. Which is a long way to tell you, I chose corn. They were coaster sized. They serve these tacos in an "accordion" mold. Not much finesse in the plating. Tacos take up a quarter of the lunch menu. They also serve five versions of mac and cheese (as a main), ten or so burgers and some soups and salads. Not too ambitious. Or cheap. The cheapest burger was $13. Up to near $20. Tacos were all double digits. Even the macs were double digits. The dinner menu added a few expensive offerings like steak and fish and a lot of common Italian dishes. Like I said, it's a hodge podge. It seats about 40 inside and ten on the patio. A hodge podge here too/ I saw a patio table inside. The decoration is also from the shabby chic thrift store collection. The bar area feels more "usual". But, that makes it feel out of place in this context. And the tvs showing sports adds to the disconnect. The crowd represented the incongruity of the décor. Most of the table sitters were female (a large table of what must be Lake Mary's version of ladies who lunch) and a bar of guys who looked like they just played eighteen. The wait staff of one was obviously not enough for what was a full house. The owner was helping a little, but, they could have used an extra set of hands. However, my service wasn't effected (except for no refill on a soda that was half ice cubes).. The food came out as fast as a scoop of meat tossed into a shell should. It wasn't an unpleasant experience, but, it wasn't memorable either. The capacity crowd begged to differ. It seems to be in harmony with the tastes of the area. And staying in business is a precept that many restauranteurs seems to forget. I didn't check if they had TP for their Bung-holi-low.

*Travel Notes - Italy/Switzerland/Malta:

Italy: Turin - shrimp tartare (only saw this on a menu), salsiccia di bra (a raw veal sausage), cacao e pepe inside a fried pastry shell, Penguin (a chocolate covered vanilla ice cream pop), grilled eggplant and brie sandwich.

Milan - Cheese flowing over the pizza crust like icing, bread dough laced up with string so when it baked it looked like a pumpkin or other gourd, scamorza cheese, scamorza and zucchini pizza (served by the gram). I had focaccia too, but, you've heard of that. That and panini and pizza and cured meats get tiresome sooner than you'd expect.

Naples - Il cuoppo (a paper cone that they fill with almost anything to go), fried pizza, sfogliatalab (thin strings of pastry wound around an object (usually ricotta in the past but now anything goes) and fried.

Rome - Deer salami (in a great sandwich with caciottina cheese, pecorino cheese and fresh raw mushrooms served at Lost Food Factory near the Pantheon for 6E), Toma Maccagno cheese.

Switzerland: Lausanne - Pato soleil bread, Tomme de Savoie cheese (Fr), Gruyere, steak tartare at the Coop supermarket (and it was better than 95% of the ones I've had), mango and paprika potato chips, pretzel shaped donut, Cannibis Iced Tea, Camembert Bites at BK.

Malta: Black ink arancini, pesto flavored potato chips (actually English brand), rabbit liver (and rabbit in general) with tagliatelle, black ink ravioli, chicken and cous cous wrap with sweet chili sauce.

I also loved a clothing store (big one near il duomo called Mooseknuckles. In English. And yes they were racing semi trucks like we race pick ups at some Nascar events. Wild.

And I know some loyal readers are juicing my page views whenever I bitch about them. Thanks. I will suspend disbelief.

Grub Crawl - International Drive: Garden Bistro and Sodie Doces

I tried these places Wednesday at lunch. If we break down I Drive into thirds with the middle being between Universal Blvd and Sand Lake Blvd, the first place is on South I Drive after the Ferris wheel near Mia's and the second is in the strip mall at North I Drive on Universal.

Garden Bistro at Castle Hotel - This was to be a review of their Antler Lodge. It isn't open at lunch. They said the menu is the same as the Bistro's. Plus it was just a tiny, unimpressive bar/lounge area anyway. So, I ate here. The bistro was by the pool. It was a hotel restaurant. Pricy and boring. I had a bacon cheese burger because I was told (on my way in) it had won awards and nothing else beckoned me. It was actually pretty good. One point of confusion was the cheddar cheese. The just laid a slice of it (raw) over the bacon. I'm not sure if that was their intent or a miscue. The burger was pretty large and cooked to my absent minded request of medium. The bacon was thick, but, seemed kind of chewy. Like it had been laying around. The lettuce and tomato were fairly fresh. The Russian dressing was ok. The bun was large. Brioche. I didn't love the butter/grease treatment they gave it. A bit rancid tasting. It came on a bread board. With a basket of fries. They were plentiful and fried well. Warm too. They also served the burger with tiny bottles of ketchup, mayo and mustard. It almost justified the $17 price tag. The waiter was also a maniac on the refills. So, that evened out the value proposition ($3 soda). The rest of the menu was close to $30 for things like pasta or $9 minestrone. I saw both and was not impressed. I believe this ownership (Marriott) of the hotel began three years ago. I can't tell you to seek this out, but, if you are staying here then this is an option. They do their breakfast service here too. Unclear if it is open for dinner.

Sodie Doces - Not sure what it means, but, they have 300 cake shop locations (largest) in Brazil. This one just opened a month ago. It's in the rear corner of that strip mall. Next to where that nightclub was. Kind of hidden. It has a clean look. The cake cases greet you as you enter. Two dozen chocolate varieties and sixteen or so vanilla and seven sugar free and four "homemade" and four "American favorites". Plus a host of little pastries. You buy the cakes whole or by the gram. I had two milk chocolate  walnut bom boms at $3 a piece. They were terrific. Like walnut marzipan. I thought it would be éclair like. This was way better.

And that is all I have to say about that because only four of you read the last post. And you will have to wait to read about all the strange things I tried on my latest trip for the same reason. And I saw semi-truck (Nascar like) racing. Wild.

Nic & Luc Scratch Kitchen, Longwood

I tried this brunchy type place in a perpetually under tenanted strip mall near the intersection of 17-92 and 434 (across from an Indian Spice store) yesterday at breakfast. I'm on European time. I had a mushroom and provolone omelet for $9. It came with two strips of sourdough, a portion of their home made jam and a teeny salad/ It was fine. They used two colors of carrot in the salad. The jam was good. The omelet wasn't life changing. I had higher hopes. It didn't help that I entered in on a conversation about cooking at the James Beard house. I was expecting magic.

They had a limited breakfast selection. Maybe ten things. Nothing out of the ordinary. some egg combos and toasts for example. I was more interested in the lunch menu (shrimp or chicken salad), but, they won't serve that before 11am. That lunch menu is also limited to around ten things. There was nothing wrong with the experience and the owner was seemed to have high end experience, but. I'm not sure how or why it rated one of the review slots for the Orlando Weekly. They did, however, pop in and give it a thumbs up a few months ago. The place opened in August.

The owner was at the register. One cook. No wait staff. They close at 2pm. I think the Weekly article said they were closed on the weekends. The owner spoke as if that is not the case now or never was. The place has around seven tables of four. Modern. White and light blue color scheme. Open kitchen. Big window in front. Lots of light. Lots of elbow room. You order at the counter. I was the only customer. The owner is from New Orleans via Miami. He seemed to be a vet as I mentioned. Luc and Nic are his kids. They just moved here. Parking is no problem. Give it a shot. You won't have to wait in line. I'll go back soon and try the lunch menu. And their jars of jam are a unique feature.