OPENINGS: Eggs and Oats, a breakfast and brunch cafe (they even serve an Impossible Burger and waffles!), has opened on Plant Street in Winter Garden … Vinia Wine Bar hopes to open sometime this week in Hannibal Square … Dixie Chix Southern Kissed Chicken, a venture with Top Chef Season 5 contestant Fabio Viviani as one of the partners, will open in Kissimmee early next year … Look for Susuru, a retro-themed, ramen-driven izakaya by Jade New Asian’s Lewis Lin, to open any day now at 8548 Palm Parkway in Lake Buena Vista … Manzano’s Deli has, at long last, opened on Fairbanks Avenue next to Little Blue Donut Co. in Winter Park … Indian resto 5th Element has opened on Rinehart Road in Sanford … Foxtail Coffee will open two new cafes – one in the former Hubbly Bubbly space in College Park, the other on Collegiate Way near University Boulevard. The latter will feature a drive-thru … Orlando’s first Taco Bell Cantina has opened and, yep, it serves beer, wine and boozy bevs.
CLOSINGS: Crafted Block and Brew, a gastropub I called “uninspired” when I reviewed it in 2014, has shuttered in MetroWest.
EVENTS: Chef Tara Vernau-Smith of Uncommon Catering joins Melissa McAvoy of the Swirlery Wine Bar for an eight-course wine dinner Thursday, Oct. 4, at 6:30 p.m. in the Dr. Phillips Mansion at the Courtyard at Lake Lucerne. Cost is $125, with proceeds going to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank … World-renowned mixologist Tony Abou-Ganim comes to the Edison at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9, for a vodka tasting and cocktail class. Cost is $50 and includes a signed copy of Abou-Ganim’s book Vodka Distilled … 1921 by Norman Van Aken hosts a wine dinner featuring Napa Valley’s Fisher Vineyards Oct. 16 at 6:30 p.m. The five-course dinner costs $235 … Proper & Wild, the vegan venture by the Sanctum’s Chelsie and Jamie Savage, will pop up at East End Market Oct. 24 for a special dinner with wine pairings. Two seatings will take place at 6 and 8 p.m. Cost is $100.
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This article appears in Oct 3-9, 2018.
