Author Archives: steve

Protected: Dani Does Wicked

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

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Victoria & Albert’s Anniversary Celebration

On our 33rd anniversary we invited our friends Ron & Bev Siegel to join us at Victoria and Albert’s chef’s table. Ron and Bev just celebrated their 36th anniversary, so it was a dual celebration. Maitre d’ Israel Perez managed … Continue reading

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Colorado Fondue Company

One of our favorite casual restaurants is the independently owned Colorado Fondue Company in Casselberry. Dani started a tradition of going there on or near her birthday when she was ten, and we always take a picture with their moose.

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l’Atelier

We saved the best for last. Having been to Joel Robuchon’s l’Atelier in London, we knew it was good, but I had expected his formal restaurant, Robuchon, to be better. However I actually prefer the honest flavors of the simple … Continue reading

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Backstage at Caesar’s Forum Shops

With our wine group back in Orlando, Linda and I have a few days alone in Las Vegas.  Thursday we met Ron Ford of Simon Malls for lunch at Sushi Roku and a backstage tour of the Forum Shops. There … Continue reading

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Delmonico’s

Delmonico’s was the final restaurant on our Wine Syndicate Las Vegas culinary adventure, and it was easily the best experience. Incredibly attentive and professional wine service by Ryan Anderson made the evening a delight. At last, here was a place … Continue reading

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Lotus of Siam

For lunch we went to Lotus of Siam, regarded by many as the best Thai restaurant in America. It’s in a dumpy shopping center off of Sahara, so I’m sure we looked a bit incongruous piling out of a stretch … Continue reading

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Pinot Brasserie

Monday Linda and I walked up to the Forum Shops and had lunch at Sushi Roku. Our server, Chase, made some great recommendations. It was a beautiful morning, and we stopped to look back at our hotel across the Bellagio … Continue reading

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Robuchon

Today Linda and I explored the area around City Center, including several hotels owned by MGM: The Bellagio, Aria and Monte Carlo. These are connected by a tram, along with the Crystals mall. We had a good lunch of tapas … Continue reading

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Vdara

Today is the first day of our Wine Syndicate getaway to Las Vegas. We took advantage of our membership miles to fly first class on Delta through Atlanta. It took most of the day, but it was a pleasant flight, … Continue reading

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Rachael Sage

Martin and I went to see Rachael Sage, one of my favorite performers. It was no small feat finding this concert, which was inexplicably part of the monthly Orlando Folk Music meeting. It was originally advertised as being at a … Continue reading

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Mystery Fruit

The ugly tree in the backyard has pretty flowers on it. Linda planted this cutting a few years ago, with the promise that each branch would grow a different kind of fruit. Mostly it grows dead twigs. But this branch … Continue reading

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City Fire Oven and Bar

Tonight Linda an I went to a pre-opening test run of a new restaurant by the family that created Pebbles, Harvey’s Bistro and Manuel’s. For a first night, things ran remarkably smoothly. It was fun to try some of the … Continue reading

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Crepes

Linda fixed crepes tonight, what a creative use of frozen leftovers! Spinach Souffle, curry chicken, and ratatouille. Accompanied by two different Adobe Road zinfandels that happened to arrive today, and a BV chardonnay.

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Wine Competition

This was my 20th year judging wines at the Florida State Fair International Wine Competition. There were about 1269 wines from 34 different states, with 25% coming from California. The event begins Wednesday evening, at the judges’ dinner, when we … Continue reading

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1937 Silvertone Model 4587A Refurbished

A couple of months ago I posted about my friend, Jim Carstensen’s project to refurbish his father-in-law’s 1937 Silvertone radio. The project is now complete, and I wanted to post these before and after photos of the assembled console. What … Continue reading

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Raccoons in the Screen Room

Hmmm… not sure how I got in here, but it’s a lot harder to find a way out.

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West Side Story

The touring production of West Side Story visited Orlando this week, and Linda and I saw it on our season ticket subscription to Broadway Across America. Of all the hundreds of musicals we’ve seen, it’s curious that neither of us … Continue reading

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Around the World in 180 Minutes

Everglades Restaurant at the Rosen Centre Hotel hosts a food and wine event about five times each year. We particularly enjoy these events because of their fun and intimate nature, the opportunity to meet interesting people at our table, and … Continue reading

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Barry Manilow

Barry Manilow rarely leaves Vegas these days, but last night he kicked off a new tour at the Amway Center in Orlando. This is the second concert I’ve seen there, and the jury is still out on the acoustics, but … Continue reading

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Ratatouille

The dish, not the movie. Sauté zucchini in organic garlic and grapseed oil spray. Add onions, variety of bell, red and yellow peppers, green onions, fire roasted diced tomatoes, dash of hot sauce, seasoning salt, fresh terragon. Simmer for 20 minutes. Pretty … Continue reading

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Tilapia with Caramelized Apples

This was a weird idea that turned out well. Ingredients: Tilapia filet Apple, sliced Onion, chopped Cup of white wine Splash of milk Seasoning salt Grapeseed oil spray Caramelize the apples and onions, add white wine and milk, reduce, set … Continue reading

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Rock of Ages more like Gravel

For a decade we held season tickets to the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, which hosted some of the best productions in the Southeast, but then they terminated their affiliation with Broadway Across America, and stopped getting the interesting touring … Continue reading

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Christmas 2010

We had a lovely Christmas, leisurely opening our packages all day.  The best gifts were homemade. Dani wrapped up a LOST-themed Dharma pillow in DHARMA “Standard Wrapping Paper” that she made herself, and she also gave us a world map … Continue reading

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Christmas Eve at Victoria & Albert’s

Christmas Eve we went to Disney’s Grand Floridian for our traditional dinner at Victoria & Albert’s. We’ve gone every year for more than a decade. Here, Dani poses in the lobby in front of the jazz band. The enormous gingerbread … Continue reading

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Jean Pierre’s Bistro

For some time I’d been wanting to try Jean Pierre’s Bistro, a French bistro and bakery in Water Tower Place, the cute shopping village in front of Disney’s Celebration. Orlando doesn’t really have any true French bistros, with the possible … Continue reading

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Silvertone Model 4587A Tuning Indicator

My friend Jim Carstensen restores old radios as a hobby. His latest project is one that belonged to his father-in-law’s father. It was made by Sears in the 1930s. He hasn’t yet begun restoring the beautiful wood console, but he … Continue reading

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Theme Park Book PR

Some nice PR from the December 16, 2010 West Orange Times, courtesy of Loren.

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Alcorn McBride Christmas Party 2010

We had a great time at the Alcorn McBride Christmas party last night. This year we hired Puff ‘n Stuff to cater the event, and they did a great job. It was nice to have more time to spend with … Continue reading

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Flight of the Cranes

Linda was up early this morning and happened to notice the sun slanting into the kitchen and lighting our cork crane diorama. She quickly grabbed this shot with my iPhone.

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