Kaiten sushi is finally coming to Orlando. Wasabi, a national chain with similar conveyor-belt sushi concepts in malls across the country, is setting up their largest shop inside the Florida Mall. The menu features 70 assembly-line items, but if you're worried about freshness, take heart: Each gliding plate of sushi, sashimi and nigiri employs a radio frequency chip that sends signals to iPads collecting info such as length of time on belt. Plates will cost anywhere between $2.50 and $5. Expect belts to start spinning at the end of the month.
Hannibal Square's Mi Tomatina has launched Happy to Give Back Mondays – a charitable weekly happy hour with live music, pintxos (Spanish skewered appetizers) and sangria samplings that'll cost you just $15. Twenty percent of all proceeds garnered from 5-8:30 p.m. will benefit the Community Food & Outreach Center, an organization dedicated to fight hunger and prevent homelessness.
TheDailyCity.com's Mark Baratelli is bringing a Night Market to the Waterford Lakes Town Center for an experimental two-event run. The market won't just feature hawkers of artisan foods, like a marshmallow maker and vegan donut maven, but also a mix of vendors from antique dealers to vintage clothiers. The first Night Market is from 6-9 p.m. Sept. 26; the second Oct. 24.
Briefly: La Coquina, one of the city's finest, if not the finest, brunch locales, will serve the midmorning meal no more; they've closed. Will any of Orlando's many hotel brunches be able to pick up their slack? Rocco's Tacos on Sand Lake Road officially opened its doors last Thursday to a packed house – the open bar certainly helped. Through Nov. 11, the Capital Grille is offering up a Wagyu burger along with a glass of Silver Oak cab or Belle Glos pinot noir for $25. Lastly, don't expect olives to be served with your lavash bread at the former Anatolia in Dr. Phillips anymore – the new owners, Bosphorous, nixed the free fruit. Lame.
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