NEWS: Congratulations to chef Kevin Fonzo for being the first BITE Award recipient for his outstanding contributions to Orlando's culinary community. Thank you, chef! ... And another Orlando institution, Beefy King, celebrates its 49th birthday of making sandwich happiness this month. Happy beefday!
OPENINGS: Foxtail Coffee Co. will open a second location inside DoveCote Brasserie in the Bank of America building downtown ... Hubbly Bubbly Falafel Shop has opened its second location at 131 N. Orange Ave. downtown ... Indonesian joint World's Magic Restaurant has opened near Nile Ethiopian Restaurant on I-Drive ... Selera Singapore will open on Plant Street in Winter Garden in time for the Fourth of July weekend ... Vietnamese bakery K2P Délices has opened in the 1st Oriental Supermarket plaza ... AJ's Press will open in the Train Depot Shoppes in Longwood in early August ... Sonny Nguyen is exploring the idea of opening a second Domu in Jacksonville.
CLOSINGS: Bavaro's Pizza Neapolitana & Pastaria in Winter Springs will close by the end of the month. Owner Chirag Kabrawala has no immediate plans to relocate his well-received pizzeria.
EVENTS: Ceramist LeAnn Siefferman and the Dinner Party Project host "Making Conversations," a series of dining events based around controversial topics ranging from mental health to race and privilege. Facilitators from the Peace and Justice Institute will moderate conversations, while guests eat meals off Siefferman's handmade dinnerware designed with topical illustrations. The first dinner is at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 29, at 1010 W. Church St.; cost is $75 ... Holler & Dash hosts Biscuits & Brews June 29 from 5-7 p.m. Guests get three servings of biscuit sandwiches along with craft beer, wine and house-made sodas, all for $20 ... Dining in the Dark, in support of Lighthouse of Central Florida, is at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 27, at the Second Harvest Food Bank. Dishes by Kevin Fonzo (K Restaurant), Kathleen Blake (Rusty Spoon) and Jill Holland (Catering for Good) will be served to night-vision-goggled guests. Cost is $150.
