Kona Grill Grand Opening in Winter Park, FL

I was invited to the grand opening of Kona Grill in Winter Park last week. Located in a new shopping center along 17-92, Kona Grill is a welcome addition to Winter Park's collection of restaurants.

Because you want to know, here's what Kona Grill has to say about themselves:

WINTER PARK, Fla. (November 21, 2016) - Winter Park's already outstanding dining scene just got even better with the opening of the new Kona Grill. Located in the Lakeside Crossing shopping center, Kona Grill offers a modern American menu, sushi bar and signature drinks - perfect after a day of holiday shopping along Park Avenue. Kona Grill is sure to be a favorite after-work gathering spot, for its happy hour (Monday-Friday from 3 pm-7 pm) and reverse happy hour (Monday-Thursday from 9 pm-11pm and Friday-Saturday from 10 pm-midnight).

This is the first Kona Grill in Central Florida, and company's fourth location in Florida. The publicly-traded company (NASDAQ: KONA) operates 44 restaurants in 23 states.

About Kona Grill:
Kona Grill features a global menu of contemporary American favorites, award-winning sushi, and specialty cocktails in an upscale casual atmosphere. Kona Grill owns and operates 44 restaurants, guided by a passion for quality food and exceptional service. Restaurants are located in 23 states and Puerto Rico. For more information, visit www.konagrill.com

A sushi buffet was set up for the grand opening where I was able to sample various types of rolls and sashimi. A large ice sculpture was the centerpiece of the sushi table.

There was tuna, salmon, yellowtail, California rolls, spicy tuna rolls, and more. All tasted fresh and delicious.

Yellowtail:

Potstickers were also delicious.

Portobello & Goat Cheese Flatbread - Tomato sauce, parmesan, spinach, mozzarella, sun-dried tomato, red onion, and basil.

Big Kahuna Cheeseburger - caramelized onion, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, brioche, homemade pickle spear.

Macadamia Nut Chicken - House mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables, shoyu cream, and pineapple-papaya marmalade.

Miso-Sake Sea Bass - Shrimp & pork fried rice and pan-Asian ratatouille.

Passion Fruit Creme Brulee:

Carrot Cake:

Spoleto in Orlando, FL

I was invited to try a new Italian restaurant called Spoleto. They are located across the street from UCF in a very new shopping center at the corner of University and Alafaya. This is Spoleto's first location in the United States, with two more stores opening soon in Winter Park and the Florida Mall. They are already a good sized chain with over 380 locations in Brazil, Mexico, and Costa Rica. I always find it interesting when an international restaurant chain chooses Central Florida as its stepping off point into the US market. I wonder how much market research went into deciding that UCF would be the ideal spot to begin expanding into this country?

Spoleto is a quick service style restaurant. You go up to the counter and pick your pasta, sauce, meats, and toppings. Everything was then tossed and cooked together by a chef, and then you pay and bring your food to a table to eat. The same thing goes for flatbreads, salads, or desserts.

I ordered the Potato Gnocchi in pesto with spinach, sundried tomatoes, caramelized onions, kalamata olives, roasted garlic, and an Italian cheese blend. All this was topped with a house-made giant meatball. It seems like restaurants like this find the need to yell something as something happens. At some places you get a "Welcome to Blank" as you enter. Other places get you bad singing if you leave a tip. At Spoleto, the entire kitchen would yell out "Polpette Grande" whenever a meatball was ordered. I enjoyed my gnocci!

Brick Oven Baked Lasagna.

I also tried the Artichoke and Goat Cheese Focaccia. This flatbread was topped with artichoke hearts, tomatoes, red onions, mozzarella, goat cheese, and B&W Farms baby arugula.

I tried the Nutella Bread with fresh strawberries for dessert. Nutella and fruit is delicious, but an entire flatbread of Nutella was overwhelming.

Spoleto was an enjoyable dining experience. I found it to be a notch above some other of the fast food Italian restaurants that have opened recently in the Orlando area, so that's a good sign for them.

Carmel Cafe in Altamonte Springs, FL

I had lunch at Carmel Cafe in Altamonte. Carmel is a chain with several restaurants throughout Florida. They have had locations in the Orlando area for a while now, but this was my first experience with them. This location took over a space formerly occupied by a Friendly's. Carmel put much effort into leaving no trace of which restaurant this building once housed. When you are seated in the restaurant, they bring an iPad to your table which stays there during the duration of your meal. You can use the iPad to see photos of all the menu items. If you're afraid of social interactions with real life humans, you can also order your food on the iPad to avoid talking to your server if you wish. I can't say I'm a big fan of restaurants that push electronics at your table. Much like Chili's and certain Outback Steakhouses, these get annoying. They flash advertisements at you while you're eating and minimize the need for actual servers.

I ordered one of Carmel's Lunch Combos which came with a flatbread and a salad. I tried the Black Olive Caesar as the salad. This was a typical caesar salad, topped with olives and tomatoes.

I picked the Grilled Lemon Chicken and Artichoke Flatbread. Parmesan and arugula also topped the pizza. The chicken had a nice, strong lemon flavor. The artichokes were few and far between. I did enjoy the warm arugula over the flatbread. It gave the pizza a bit more character. I was also getting hints of cinnamon with certain bites. I was not expecting this, but I did enjoy the random bursts of flavor.

Carmel Cafe was an okay eating experience. Not the best, not the worst. I'd be willing to give them another try eventually.

Krazy Greek Kitchen in Lake Mary, FL

I was in Downtown Lake Mary and was going to give the relatively new Flipper's Pizza a try since it had been years since I had been to any of their locations. Once I parked, I noticed that Delano on the Park was no longer in business and a new restaurant called Krazy Greek Kitchen was there in it's place. I always enjoy good Greek food, so I decided to forgo pizza for the afternoon and ventured into Krazy Greek Kitchen...

I ordered the Gyro Pita. The sandwich was filled with plenty of thinly sliced meat, lettuce, onions, tomatos, and lots of tzatziki. The meat was very flavorful and the sandwich was kept nice and moist from the tzatziki.

 

Another food item that I was considering, but decided to get my gyro pita instead when someone else at the table ordered it was the Gyro Flatbread.  This pizza-like creation was something I haven't seen elsewhere. It consisted of a pita piled high with a layer of gyro meat, then a layer of peppers, onions, tomatoes, and then melted cheese. All this was served over a Greek salad. I tried a slice of the flatbread and it was delicious! Next time I come back to Krazy Greek Kitchen, I know what I'm ordering.

Lake Mary has a couple other Greek restaurants, but I think Krazy Greek Kitchen has the potential to be my favorite. I need to return to see if they hold up well!

Cadillac Ranch in National Harbor

When I knew I was making the trip up to DC, I started asking around for places in the area that I haven't seen. The two big suggestions that I was given was going to see Alexandria's Old Town and the National Harbor. Alexandria was done when I ate at La Madeleine Country French Cafe and the National Harbor happened two days later. The National Harbor was basically a large outdoor shopping center with hotels, condos, and convention centers isolated along the Potomac river. The whole place was a bit too clean for my liking, perfect for some people who are terrified of visiting actual cities, but I'd prefer to see other parts of the DC area. While at the National Harbor, I had lunch at a restaurant called Cadillac Ranch. This chain reminded me of a Hard Rock Cafe on the inside for some reason. The mechanical bull at the bar was pretty different from most restaurants though. The menu consisted mostly of steaks, burgers, sandwiches, and flatbread pizzas.

I had the sausage florentine flatbread. This wasn't exactly what I was expecting. The florentine part of the pizza wasn't topping the pizza. Instead, the spinach was present in the spinach and artichoke dip that made up the pizza's sauce. Lots and lots of cheese covered the dip, topped with sliced sausage and tomato. The flatbread was a bit soggy and I wasn't a fan of the spinach and artichoke dip.

The food at Cadillac Ranch didn't do much for me. If I come across another location of this chain, I don't think I'd eat here again.

Brick & Fire Pizza & Pasta Parlor in Winter Park, FL

I had dinner at the Brick & Fire Pizza & Pasta Parlor in Winter Park. I had heard good things about the restaurant, so I was looking forward to giving them a try. The meal started with a Parmesan Flatbread appetizer.


A half meatball/half cheese pizza came next. It was an okay pizza. Not the best, but not the worst either. There was a bit too much cheese on the pie for my personal taste, but it didn't have the messy look that pizza with a lot of cheese sometimes gets. The pizza seemed well made, just very cheese heavy. Their crust had a lighter, more airy consistency compared to most other pizzas and was really good. I'm not sure what they did differently with this crust to make it light and fluffy like this, but I liked it...


If I return to Brick & Fire, I think I'm going to have to try a pizza other than plain cheese. On their website, they have pictures of their specialty pies that look really good. Based on those pictures, I'd try either a Greek Pizza or a Goat Cheese Pizza.

Harmoni Market in College Park, FL

I ate lunch at Harmoni Market in Orlando's College Park neighborhood during an unexpected detour caused from an I-4 closure. The service was a bit weird when we entered, the group of employees standing at the bar ignored us for a few minutes until someone finally told us to sit anywhere. This awkwardness was followed by a drink being served in a cup covered in lipstick stains, but after the initial weirdness, the food and service were good.

I ordered the Rockin Goat Flatbread. It consisted of rock shrimp, arugula, goat cheese, homemade mozzarella, and tomato sauce all on a whole wheat flatbread (baked by the Olde Hearth Bread Company). Although they called it a flatbread, it was technically a variation of a pizza. Seafood and pizza combinations always seem strange to me, but I liked this a lot. I'd gladly get it again! My only real complaint was that Harmoni was really stingy with the goat cheese. For a flatbread with goat in the name, I was expecting less mozzarella and more goat cheese crumbles.

When looking over Harmoni Market's menu, it seemed to be somewhat overpriced (especially on the sandwiches). Since I shared the flatbread and there were plenty of rock shrimp on it, what I ordered wasn't too bad. It came out to about $5 a person and filled me up.