Top Chef Master and James Beard Foundation Award winner Tony Mantuano will lead a cooking class June 11 at Portobello at Disney Springs from noon to 2 p.m. Guests will learn how to prepare risotto primavera and how to cook a brisket braised in barolo. The class kicks off with an aperitivo hour, and each course is accompanied by Italian wines. Cost is $50; call 407-828-8996 to reserve a spot.
Also at Disney Springs, Mantuano’s fellow Top Chef Master, Art Smith, is hiring for all front-of-house and back-of-house positions at his soon-to-open Homecoming Kitchen. Go to homecomingkitchen.com to download an application.
On the move: Brianto’s Original Hoagies has closed its Avalon Park shop, but they’ve opened a new location in Waterford Lakes.
EVENTS
Sierra Nevada’s Bitchin’ Belgian Beer Dinner is May 25 at the Parkview in Winter Park. Tickets are $50 plus tax and tip; to reserve, call 407-647-9103 … The 2016 Epcot Food & Wine Festival runs 62 days (up from 53 last year), from Sept. 14 to Nov. 14.
OPENINGS
Brandon McGlamery, of Luma on Park and Prato fame, will open a new restaurant in the old SoNapa Grille/Blackfin/Steak & Ale space in Maitland. Look for a formal announcement in the next two or three weeks … STK, the swanky steakhouse chain, opens May 25 in Disney Springs … Elsewhere at Disney, Ample Hills Creamery, a Brooklyn-based ice cream joint, has opened on Disney’s BoardWalk … Mesa 21 will open in Clermont on Highway 50 this June, before opening another location in the former Gargi’s space in Ivanhoe Village … 1921 by Norman Van Aken opens to the public in Mount Dora this July … F&D Cantina, a Mexican gastropub and sister property to F&D Kitchen in Lake Mary, has opened in Waterford Lakes … Look for Pizza Bruno to open in the former Soprano’s Ristorante-Pizzeria space on Curry Ford Road this July … Grape & the Grain, a wine and beer bar from husband-and-wife team Alexie and Christian Arqueros, will open adjacent to Ten10 Brewery this fall … Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, a national Tex-Mex chain known for its all-day breakfast, has opened in Altamonte Springs.
CLOSINGS
DaVi Vietnamese Cuisine on Colonial Drive has closed … After 27 years in business, Ming Court, the I-Drive dim sum mainstay, will close at the end of the month.
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This article appears in May 18-24, 2016.
