The first time that I ever had Giordano’s famous stuffed pizza was when I was nine years old. I was on vacation with my family in Chicago, and since then I have been fan of their pizza. When I found out that Giordano’s recently opened a location in the Orlando area, I had to go! It had been ten years since I had their pizza, and it was about time to experience the authentic Chicago-style pizza once again.

Spencer’s is the fine dining option out of the five full-service restaurants at the Orlando Hilton. As its name suggests, Spencer’s falls into the Steak House category, though offering items other than just steak. Their dining room is spacious and elegant, perfect for a romantic evening or special occasion dinner. Spencer’s offers a wide variety of wines, Scotch and Whiskey rivaling that of places such as The Capital Grille.

Pearleen and I were invited to a private event at Spencer’s late last year. The event featured a four course dinner with beer pairings for each course, served in one of Spencer’s private dining room. Our meal began with a bite sized Ahi Tuna Crudo paired with Bell’s Oberon, a nice combination of delicate flavors from the tuna with citrus from the beer.

Next up was a Maple Sous Vide Pork Belly served with sugar braised stone fruit and chocolate port demi paired with Cigar City Maduro. By employing the Sous Vide technique when cooking the pork belly it allowed the meat and fat portions of the pork belly to maintain a uniform consistency, resulting in a very different take on the typical pork belly and the most interesting dish for the evening.

While the pork belly was the most interesting, this next dish was my favorite. Scallop Souffle served with fennel, local clementine salad and parsley pesto paired with Estrella Damm Inedit. A feather light, savory soufflé with delicate flavors of scallop and pesto, this dish was truly amazing and a favorite among many diners present that evening. Unfortunately it isn’t always on the menu.

Our fourth and last course at Spencer’s was Poussan and Lemon Thyme Waffle served with candy cane beets, compressed cherries and Fois Gras gravy paired with Oskar Blue’s Mama’s Little Yella Pills. Waffles is a perfect companion for poultry, in my opinion. Add the rich and meaty flavor of Fois Gras gravy and you have an amazing, mouth watering dish. Mama’s Little Yella Pills was a perfect match for this course offering a crisp, clean and refreshing flavor.

Although this was a special occasion and we were at the mercy of the chefs, we had a wonderful time sampling some of the most talented chef’s creations. We will have to make arrangements to return for a steak dinner. If you have a special diet, let your server know and the chef can cater to your special request.

As always, guests of The Capital Grille can customize their lunch, choosing from nine “plates” offerings – three soups or salads, three sandwiches and three sides – all for $18.

Beginning on January 9, The Capital Grille’s winter “Plates” menu will debut three new selections:

1. Wagyu Cheeseburger with Fried Egg with Crisp Onions
2. Roasted Pepper Soup 
3. Roasted Root Vegetables

According to Executive Chef Matthew Price, the Wagyu Cheeseburger with Fried Egg and Crisp Onions features premium Japanese Wagyu beef blended with the right amount of seasoning, and is the kind of fresh twist on an American classic The Capital Grille is known for.  Root vegetables are at the peak of their flavor in the winter, which makes our Roasted Root Vegetables a hearty addition to any of our lunch entrée selections.  And speaking of cold weather, guests can warm up deliciously with a generous bowl of either Roasted Pepper Soup or our popular Clam Chowder, which combines New England’s finest, freshly shucked clams and tender potatoes.

For guests with a limited amount of time at lunch, The Capital Grille ensures they can enjoy the personalized service and mouth-watering cuisine that characterize a Capital Grille dining experience and still be on their way in about 45 minutes.

In addition to its main dining room, The Capital Grille also features private dining rooms for up to 36 guests, as well as a Chef’s Table accommodating up to 10 guests, with a frontline view of the open kitchen.  Chef is pleased to create special menus for private dining events.

Content & Photo provided by Samantha Bruno  |  sbruno@jgordonassociates.com

We were invited to spend a day at the Hilton Orlando. This was our first time at Hilton Orlando and our first time dining at David’s Club; we were quite impressed with the overall experience!

David’s Club features spacious design with a relaxed atmosphere. The tables spaced far enough apart where you don’t feel cramped, but not too far where you feel secluded. The bar area provides ample amounts of seats with TVs for the sports fans to enjoy. They also have a  couple of pool tables to fit their sports bar theme.

We started our experience by having dessert at David’s Club after an amazing dinner at Spencer’s, their upscale steak house. Our dessert was a chocolate souffle filled with pretzels served with Blue Moon sorbet and garnished with liquid-nitrogen frozen pretzel crumbs. The Blue Moon sorbet was very unique and apparent that the flavor carried a strong Blue Moon taste without a trace of alcohol.

The chocolate souffle was also excellent, but as you would expect, the pretzel bits in the souffle had absorbed enough moisture and become soggy by the time it was served. Our dessert was accompanied by an apple cider made by Crispin, called The Saint. What’s special about this cider is that it’s made from with Trappist beer yeasts and maple syrup resulting in a truly unique cider that paired very well with our dessert.

We ended the night enjoying the hotel’s outdoors fireplace chit chatting the night away with drinks and good company.

We return to David’s Club the following day for lunch with Ricky and May from Tasty Chomps. Being that there were four or us we decided to order several items and share so that each of us could have a chance to try a variety of items. We ordered the Fried Mac & Cheese and Korean BBQ Wings, Waygu Burger, Margarita Flat Bread, Surf and Turf and B.L.T.E with a side of Sweet Potato Truffle Fries.

I had a chance to try most of the items before I was completely full. My favorites were the B.L.T.E., a twist to your standard B.L.T. made with bacon, lettuce and green-fried tomatoes this sandwich was truly unique and delicious. They certainly didn’t skimp on bacon here, the entire width of this sandwich was covered in thick, delicious bacon packed on top of fresh, crisp, fried-green tomatoes and (some sauce) served with truffle flavored, sweet potato fries, which was the most popular item on our table.

Overall experience was excellent and will be returning to dine with them again!

Option A: Eat out at a restaurant and go Downtown?

Option B: What about a hotel?

Option C: Or I can check into a hotel and call it a day of relaxation?

I sometimes forget or do not associate Capital Grille with lunch. During my recent and first lunch visit to Capital Grille, they were introducing their lunch “Plates” menu  which is a three item, fixed price menu for $18.

The “Plates” menu choices are Porcini Bisque, Clam Chowder (New England) or Field Greens for the first item; (2) Mini Tenderloin Sandwiches, Lobster Roll or “Knife and Fork” BLT for the second item; Truffle Fries, Fresh Vegetables or Roasted Butternut Squash with Cranberry Chutney for the third item. I decided to dive right in and order items from the “Plates” menu. I chose to have the Porcini Bisque and a Lobster Roll with Truffle fries.

It’s not often that you will find restaurants serving dishes with Porcini mushroom; Being a huge mushroom fan I had to try the Porcini Bisque and I’m glad I did because it was excellent. The Bisque was savory with a “meaty” flavor; the Porcini maintained their slightly chewy texture which turned out perfect. Following the bisque, came the lobster roll and truffle fries. I was a bit surprised by the temperature of the lobster meat in the roll as I bit into it, it was very cold, I just had to give it a few minutes to warm up a bit to allow more flavor to be revealed. The lobster roll was very well seasoned and not drowning in the usual mayonnaise-based dressing usually present in lobster rolls. The result, a well toasted roll overflowing with chunks of real lobster meat and lettuce. Truly delicious! I enjoyed my lobster roll with the truffle fries. The two made a great combination. The fries were crispy and not oily. The presence of truffle was immediately noticeable, but not overpowering, a very good combination of flavors.

After our meal we got a “small” desert sampler. At this point I was quite full, but tried at least one bite of each of the deserts. My favorite was and will (quite possibly) always be the flour-less chocolate cake. The recipe is a secrete, but the end product is a dense, creamy and very chocolaty desert. It’s rich, but not overly sweet.

Their lunch menu is a great way for someone who’s wanted to try their menu without paying the full dinner prices. It has great value, delicious dishes. If you’re ever in the area and in the mood to treat yourself for lunch I would highly recommend the Capital Grille.

This quaint establishment is tucked away in a Gooding’s plaza between International Dr. and Universal Blvd. My first visit was with Ricky and his girlfriend and we all ordered ramen and I am not talking about that instant stuff where you just add water. I am talking about the real deal! Traditional ramen usually consist of flavorful broth made from either pork, chicken, beef, or fish stock, noodles, vegetables like bean sprouts, scallions, seaweed, bamboo, spinach and other greens  and a  protein like pork belly, egg, chicken, fish cakes, and or shrimp.

Shio Butter Ramen

My bowl of noodles was comprised of Ramen noodles in salt base hot soup with roasted pork belly, fish cake, poached egg, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts topped with scallions. This clear and pale yellow broth was made with pork bones, fish and seaweed. The salt from the seaweed is what makes the broth taste much lighter and slightly sweet than those similar noodle soups seen in Chinese or Vietnamese cuisine. The process of building this bowl of ramen is different from what I am use to. Normally, I put all the toppings on top of the noodles and then pour the boiling hot broth over top. In the case of Japanese ramen, they pour the hot broth over the noodles first, toss the noodles in the broth so that it swims freely, then they finish the bowl with all the toppings. The result is a much neater and cleaner presentation. Since the broth does not contain much fat, the richness of the broth relies heavily on the protein i.e. roasted pork belly. The roasted pork belly adds just enough fat and flavor to the broth as it warms up from the broth. It is a heavenly combination that would leave a feeling satisfaction. Noodles soups are my comfort food and this bowl of ramen is a cure for all my noodle cravings. This place is an awesome recommendation by Tastychomps! I will be returning to Hanamizuki for more!

Slow Food Orlando in conjunction with The Peabody Orlando recently had a benefit event at the Napa Restaurant located inside the Peabody. Napa is one of the few restaurants in Orlando that uses organic and local ingredients as much as possible when preparing their meals. For this event, the chefs at Napa got to use all local ingredients from surrounding farms to prepare the different cold and hot meals. The event was $65/person and, as expected, the food was fantastic. Wine and beer were included in the price.

Here was the menu, with links to the local farms and markets as available:

Cold Stations

Heart of Christmas Farms

Organic Gem Lettuces, blueberry vinaigrette, local honey, winter park blue, candied pecans / Asian Greens, watermelon vinaigrette, radishes, pickled green beans

Healthy Living Produce

Heirloom Romaine, Anchovy Caper Emulsion, Brioche Crumbs, Boqueróne

Winter Park Creamery

Tomme Panna Cotta, Goldenrod apiary orange blossom honey, blueberries, tangerine gem

Hot Stations

Wild Ocean Seafood

Sautéed BBQ Rock Shrimp, Heirloom Grits, cherry tomatoes, chives, celery

Bear Wolf Ranch

Cavatelli, tomato and chicken confit, local bacon and green endive

Deep Creek Ranch

Braised Lamb Meatballs, pepperonata and Turtle Creek Goat Cheese and Mint Fondue

Lake Meadows

Torta de Spagna, red pepper coulis and local arugula

I want you, the reader, to understand how good the salads were. I’m about the second to last person you would expect to eat a salad. I don’t like salads. I don’t eat salads. At this event, I ate salad. I got the salad made with ingredients from Heart of Christmas Farms, and it was fantastic. Ron Swanson would have eaten this salad and enjoyed it. The mixture of the blue cheese and candied pecans really was something special. My wife had the salad from Winter Park Creamery and said it was also incredible. I had reached my fill of salad for several years by this point, though, having had one small plate.

The hot stations really shined. This was a highlight for me because they were full of meat of all kinds. To give you an idea of how fresh the food was, it was probably slaughtered the previous day. You could still taste the hopes and dreams of the animals in the flavors of the food. The deep creek meatballs were cooked to perfection and the goat cheese and mint fondue brought out an incredible combination flavor between the two. The portions were small and I had two and a half plates. The chicken from lake meadows was also great

The highlight for me had to have been the BBQ Rock Shrimp and grits from Wild Ocean Seafood. I’m not generally a fan of grits but they complemented the Rock Shrimp perfectly. The shrimp was spicy but not too spicy and the barbecue flavor was not overwhelming either. I went back for thirds of this without shame. I sent my wife in for another helping, though, having barely retained any dignity by that point.

The desserts were not advertised earlier. They were all mini desserts. This was a smart move since most people (read: pretty much only me) were full from the main courses. There was a mini cheesecake, chocolate cake, apple cobbler, and more. They were all well done and not overwhelmingly sweet. All in all, a good finish to the food.

If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend attending a Slow Food Orlando event. The food is very tasty and is generally all locally (and ethically) grown. I also recommend checking out Napa if you’re in the area.

For the Foodspotting event with Droolius.com, we choose to sit at a conventional table. We were a fairly large group of 20 so sitting on the floor would be a little awkward!

Some people decided to order their own plate while others, like me, wanted to indulge on the family style meat platter. We chose to have the Yebeg Tibs Special which are cubes of fresh lamb sautéed with onions, garlic, and herb butter. As for our second choice, the Nile Meat Combination which is composed of Chicken Doro Alicha, Beef Key Wat, Beef Alichea, Beef Cubes and Collard Greens all served in a single and very large dish over a mega piece of Injera (Ethiopian bread).

For those who have not had the pleasure to experience Ethiopian dining, allow me to explain.
The menu encompasses a wide variety of meats as well as vegetarian dishes served family style. Unique to their cuisine is their seasoning and sauces, which I would describe to someone who’s never tasted Ethiopian food before as being somewhere between Indian and Lebanese cuisine. It is good but it is an acquired taste.

How to Eat Ethiopian Style!

Food is served family style and no utensils are used (or supplied). Instead there is a huge dependency on Injera, a thin, crepe-like bread made from teff flour is used to pick up the food.

The process is simple, tear off a piece of Injera, use it to grab some food from the plate, roll the bread around the food and eat.

I have been to Nile Ethiopian Cuisine before and I wanted to make sure the group got to see and experience the Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony. Before they serve you coffee, they conduct a roasting ceremony. They take the raw coffee beans and roast the coffee in a small pan. The air is filled with incense and strong coffee! Here is a video which to summarizes the Foodspotting at Nile Ethiopian which highlights the Traditional Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony:

For $25 with dinner, guests may sample all nine wines or they may choose to have multiple tastings of one or more of their favorites from The Generous Pour. Which means you can either purchase a dinner and pay the additional $25 for the Generous Pour in the dining room or you can seat at the bar, purchase an appetizer and pay the $25 for the Generous Pour.

We were invited to their exclusive, by-invitation-only preview sampling with a five-course dinner created by The Capital Grille Executive Chef Matthew Price to best complement the flavor of each featured wine. The evening also featured a live, interactive webcast from George Miliotes in one of their state-of-the-art private dining rooms. It was really live because he was taking questions through Twitter. I asked him what was his favorite wine region and he said it was like asking him which of his kids was his favorite. But he mentioned that his new favorites are wines from a region of Spain.

The Generous Pour Wine Event introduces guests to some of the season’s newest wine trends and also offering hard-to-find varietals as well as known favorites. The collection of whites and reds are:

Marquis de la Tour, Cremant de Loire Brut
“This sparkling “bubbly” hails from a vineyard in France’s Loire Valley, which has been producing excellence since 1885.”

This sparkling wine was paired with our Hors d’Oeuvres: Smoked Salmon on Onion Pita Crisps, Fresh Tomato & Mozzarella Crostinis, and Wild Mushroom & Bousin Crostinis.

Chateau St. Jean, Belle Terre 2008
“An expectional Chardonnay that has been sourced from a single Alexander Valley vineyard for over 35 years.”

These two whites were paired with our appetizers:
Pan-Fried Calamari with Hot Cherry Peppers
Prosciutto Wrapped Mozzarella with Vine Ripe Tomatoes

Freemark Abbey, Cabernet Bosche, 2003
“Perfectly aged Cabernet from one of Napa’s greatest vineyards.”

Tarima Hill Monastrell, 2009
“Making its U.S. debut at The Capital Grille this summer, this spectacular varietal is setting a new standard for Spanish medium-bodied red wine.”

These two reds were paired with the entrees. Al picked the Bone-In Kona Crusted Dry Aged Sirloin with Shallot Butter.

I picked the 10 oz. Filet Mignon. They provided a side of Sauteed Spinach and Lobster Mac ‘N’ Cheese.

RL Buller, The Portly Gentlemen, Port
“An Australian take on the classic Port dessert wine.”

As for this Port dessert Wine, we had a choice of two desserts: Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake or Strawberries Capital Grille.

Sous Chef Jason O’Neill did a beautiful job executing on the 5-course meal. We both really enjoyed the Bone-In Kona Crusted Dry Aged Sirloin with Shallot Butter and how it was paired with Freemark Abbey. It was not the best cut of meat but it had the best flavor in comparison to the filet mignon. I wonder what the Kona Crusted rub would taste on the the filet mignon. Their accompaniment of Lobster Mac ‘N’ Cheese was the main topic at the table. Everyone was raving about Lobster Mac ‘N’ Cheese! -It was so full of flavor. Sous Chef Jason mentioned that the sauce is made from reducing heavy cream by half and it contains cheeses like cheddar, marscapone, havarti, and then finished off with more cheeses. I pretty much looked the other way when consuming this super delicious Lobster Mac ‘N’ Cheese.

Between the two desserts, we preferred the Capital Grille’s Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake. It was rich, creamy with the consistency of fudge but yet the chocolate was not overwhelming. We asked Sous Chef Jason how to make it and apparently we are not allow to know…. sorry guys no recipe blog on this flourless cake.

It was a special night of food, wine and education with great company with James of eatingorlando.com, Sharyn Lewis of restaurantmom.blogspot.com, Christi Ashby of OrangeAppeal.com, Ricky Ly of TastyChomps.com, and Chris Roberts of EatLocalOrlando.com. Special thanks to The Capital Grille’s Orlando team: Randy Cook, Shannon Niedenthal, Mark Kaminski, Jason O’Neill, and our wonder servers Anthony and Carrie.

Much gratitude to Samantha Bruno of Janine Gordon Associates for inviting us to this special sneak preview of the Generous Pour Wine Event. We were really impress with the presentation and we look forward to seeing The Capital Grille with their team and Executive Chef Matthew Price present at the Share Our Strength’s  Taste of the Nation Orlando this year at the Marriott World Center on August 6, 2011. Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation is one of the hottest food and wine event which helps end childhood hunger in America. 100% of ticket sales support Share Our Strength’s efforts to end childhood hunger.