OPENINGS & CLOSINGS: KOS, the socially conscious coffee shop on Fairbanks Avenue in Winter Park, will open a restaurant and roastery in Maitland featuring a locally sourced Nordic menu, espresso bar and natural wine program. KOS (pronounced “koosh”) is short for “koselig,” a Norwegian word that loosely translates to coziness. Look for KOS to open in the strip plaza at 449 S. Orlando Ave. (between Athena Roasted Chicken and Jeremiah’s Italian Ice) in late 2022 … Banana Leaf, the city’s first-ever Sri Lankan restaurant, has opened at 2504 S. Alafaya Trail in Stoneybrook. The restaurant joins the Ceylon Hut food truck as the sole purveyors of kottu roti and lamprais in Orlando … Bruno’s Oysters, the oyster bar by Bruno Fonseca (The Foreigner), has opened inside the Plant Street Market in Winter Garden serving East Coast, West Coast and Florida bivalves … Look for Norigami, David Tsan’s sushi bar serving hand rolls, nigiri, sashimi and omakase, to (tentatively) open this weekend, also inside the Plant Street Market … After offering its superb barbecue at the now-shuttered Belicoso Cigars & Cafe in Mills Park, then being a resident food truck at À La Cart, Smoke & Donuts will finally open its brick and mortar restaurant next door to Se7en Bites at 601 N. Primrose Drive on Tuesday, Nov. 1 … The Juan Valdez Cafe has opened inside the Wheelhouse Market Food Hall at Icon Park … Longtime Thai haunt Chai Thai on South Orange Avenue in SoDo has shuttered.
NEWS & EVENTS: Jimotti’s, the notable Sanford Japanese restaurant run by Junichi Takazoe, has launched Jimotti’s Coffee, an online coffee store offering a premium range of beans hand-selected by chef Takazoe. Beans are sourced from family growers worldwide and roasted to order in small batches in California and New York. Visit jimottiscoffee.com for more … Central Florida Veg Fest, the largest vegan festival in the Southeast, goes from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22, at Orlando Festival Park, with more than 200 vendors in attendance. Admission is free … Daawat the Experience, a South Asian/East African–inspired pop-up, will stage a Diwali dinner Saturday, Oct. 22. The dinner includes a mocktail, hors d’oeuvre, appetizers, four family-style mains, dessert and chai. Cost is $85. Visit daawattheexperience.com for more.
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