Tasty Chomps' Orlando Food Blog

• Taste of Central Florida 2018 – THIS Saturday Sept 8
• Tasty Chomps X Magical Dining Dinner at Everglades – Rosen Centre
• 7th Great Irish Hooley Music Festival at Raglan Road 2018
• Dining in the Dark with Orlando Police Department SWAT
• Guy Fieri & Robert Earl open flagship Chicken Guy! restaurant in Disney Springs
• 4R Cantina Barbacoa Food Truck Ribbon Cutting at Disney Springs

Taste of Central Florida 2018 – THIS Saturday Sept 8

One of my favorite foodie events of the year, Taste of Central Florida! features the area’s most accomplished chefs, brewers, wine purveyors and spirit vendors. Ticket proceeds benefit Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida and Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida specifically for programs that combat childhood hunger. One in four children in Orlando experience hunger issues.

When: Saturday, September 8, 2018 6:45 to 10:00 PM

Where: Orlando World Center Marriott

Attire: Cocktail/Semi-Formal

New restaurants this year include: Big Fin Seafood Kitchen, The Glass Knife, The Old Jailhouse, Pharmacy Orlando, Ravello at Four Seasons Resort Orlando, Tiffins at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Big Top Brewing Company, Dragon’s Milk Bourbon Barrel Stout, Playalinda Brewing Company, and Wild Buck Whiskey & Mermaid Rum.

Tickets are $175, and can be purchased at tastecfl.org.

The full list of food providers includes:

1. 4 Rivers Restaurant Group

2. A Taste of Reunion Resort

3. American Culinary Federation & Nestle Professional

4. Benihana

5. Big Fin Seafood Kitchen

6. Bosphorous Turkish Cuisine

7. Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

8. Canvas

9. Catering for Good

10. CFHLA Food & Beverage Council

11. Chroma

12. Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar

13. Dragonfly Robata Grill & Sushi

14. Eddie V’s Prime Seafood

15. Empress Sissi

16. Florida Nitro

17. The Glass Knife

18. Hemisphere Restaurant at Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport

19. Highball & Harvest

20. JW Marriott Grande Lakes, Whisper Creek Kitchen

21. Marlow’s Tavern

22. The Old Jailhouse

23. Orlando Food Department Co.

24. Orlando World Center Marriott

25. Pharmacy Orlando

26. Raglan Road

27. Ravello at Four Seasons Resort Orlando

28. Red Wing Restaurant

29. Rosen Shingle Creek, A Land Remembered

30. Rosen Shingle Creek, Cala Bella

31. Seasons 52 Fresh Grill

32. SeaWorld Orlando

33. STK

34. Sysco

35. Tapa Toro

36. Taverna Opa

37. Tiffins at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

38. T-REX Café

39. Universal Orlando

40. The Whiskey

41. Yak & Yeti

Beverage vendors include:
1. Acqua Panna & San Pellegrino

2. Big Top Brewing Company

3. Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants

4. Crooked Can Brewing Company

5. Dragon’s Milk Bourbon Barrel Stout

6. Florida Farm Distillers Palm Ridge Whiskey

7. Lakeridge Winery & Vineyards

8. Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Company

9. NOI CAFFE by Mr. Cappuccino

10. Not Your Father’s Root Beer

11. Orange Blossom Brewing Co.

12. Orlando Brewing Co.

13. Playalinda Brewing Company

14. Scavi & Ray

15. Tsing Tao

16. Wild Buck Whiskey & Mermaid Rum

Tasty Chomps X Magical Dining Dinner at Everglades – Rosen Centre

Sunday, September 9, 2018
6:00 p.m. Visit Orlando’s Magical Dining Month dinner.

Everglades restaurant at Rosen Centre Hotel.
9840 International Drive, Orlando, Fla. 32819
$35 per person plus tax and gratuity
All dining guests enjoy complimentary valet parking.

As a member of Tasty Chomps’ Orlando Foodie Forum, you and a guest are invited to an exclusive Visit Orlando’s Magical Dining Month experience. Mix and mingle with fellow foodies and of course, your host Ricky Ly, while enjoying the Everglades’ Magical Dining menu, special presentations of each course by the restaurant’s Head Chef Fred Vlachos and drawings for fun giveaways!

Led by Orlando Magazine Culinary Hall of Fame inductee Head Chef Fred Vlachos, Everglades features an array of steak and seafood dishes that artfully blend Florida traditional flavors with contemporary dishes.

Savor Grilled Angus Filet served with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Baby Vegetables and delicious desserts such as Double Fudge Chocolate Overload and Key Lime Pie.

For the complete menu, please visit RosenCentre.com/MagicalDining.

This offer is limited to 30 guests — 15 Foodie Forum fans with one guest per fan. Don’t miss out! Contact Ricky Ly at tastychomps@gmail.com to make your reservations for this exclusive event.

7th Great Irish Hooley Music Festival at Raglan Road 2018

This weekend, Raglan Road Irish Pub & Restaurant in Disney Springs celebrated their 7th Great Irish Hooley Music Festival, featuring a colorful live playlist of traditional Irish, Celt grass, folk, blues and soul as well as food and drink.

Many of the new dishes featured “Wild About Ireland” products like Chutneys and dressings, similar to our “Fresh from Florida” labels which help promote “from” Ireland food products.

We were invited for a preview of some of the new dishes on the menu, as well as listen to the very talented Lisa Canny, 7-time All-Ireland champion on harp and banjo, and an emerging Irish force blending pop and hip-hop with traditional Irish rhythms.

The festival runs from Friday August 31 through Monday September 3rd (Labor Day weekend).

Here are some scenes from the event:

Chick n Pea Skewer – a play on chickpeas with chicken (spicy) grilled with rosemary that reminded me a bit of tandoori chicken, and a lovely fried potato ball topped with crispy toasted chickpeas!

The Pork Blah Blaa – shaved pork porchetta, Wild about Celtic chutney, caramelized onions, and crispy crackling chicarrones.

Lusty Lobster – a kind of fun play on avocado toast and lobster rolls – lobster with avocado, egg, mayo, pancetta, and watercress on a multigrain roll

The Chunk Monk featuring beer battered monkfish (the poor man’s lobster) and fried zucchini chips and tartar sauce

Wild about Wild – wild mushroom and fried goat cheese terrene with quinoa, purple beets

Super Cauli Caponata Tasty N Delicious – spiced curried cauliflower, eggplant caponata, with lentil and pumpkin seed dressing.

Stewbaa – braised lamb with root vegetables and herb dumplings

Bangin Bangers and Mighty Mash – guiness and onion bangers, mashed potatoes, onion gravy

Pumpkin Creme Brulee Tart

PRESS RELEASE:

7th Annual ‘Great Irish Hooley’ Music Festival Rocks Labor Day Weekend at Raglan Road Irish Pub & Restaurant in Disney Springs

Central Florida’s high-voltage boutique Irish music festival serves up a colorful live playlist of traditional Irish, Celt grass, folk, blues and soul Aug. 31-Sept. 3 during the 7th Great Irish Hooley at Raglan Road Irish Pub & Restaurant in Disney Springs.

Celebrating Irish song, dance, food and drink over the long Labor Day weekend, the Great Irish Hooley kicked off performances by nine Irish bands and the new Raglan Road Irish Dance Troupe beginning at 3 p.m. Friday, August 31, and continuing all day Saturday through late Monday, Sept. 3, and into the wee hours.

Paired with Orlando’s finest contemporary Irish cuisine, local and national craft beers, new hand-crafted cocktails featuring Wild Irish syrups and day-into-night entertainment, the Great Irish Hooley promises a high-energy music festival for families and revelers alike.

A traditional Irish social celebration, the “Hooley” combines music ranging from trad to rock tunes with entertainment and fun for the whole family (no cover charge). The Hooley also will feature Celtic face-painting throughout the festival. This year’s Hooley entertainment headliners include:

JigJam — The multi-award-winning Irish quartet will bring their captivating brand of “CeltGrass” (a.k.a. I-Grass) – blending the best of traditional Irish music with Bluegrass and Americana. (Friday through Monday)

Lisa Canny – The outrageously talented Lisa Canny, 7-time All-Ireland champion on harp and banjo, is an emerging Irish force blending pop and hip-hop with traditional Irish rhythms. (Saturday through Monday)

Billow Wood – Known as Flat Out when they played Raglan Road in 2016, this male/female four-piece band fuses their unique brand of instrumentation with multi-vocals and harmonies for a blend of Irish and folk music. (Monday)

The Raglan Road Irish Dancers, plucked from the casts and stages of the world’s greatest Irish dance shows, will perform throughout the Great Irish Hooley. And champion Irish dancer Ciaran Keating, Raglan Road’s show choreographer, will host an entertaining workshop that traces the origins of Irish dance from earliest jigs and reels through contemporary times.

Additional music acts throughout the long weekend will include:

Strings & Things — Strings & Things are an original Irish folk/trad crossover four-piece band from Tipperary/Galway. Over the years together they have created their own original sound and produced a variety of crossover songs by putting their own stamp on them.

The Byrne Brothers — An exceptionally talented traditional Irish music family from Donegal. They are Luca, 13 (button accordion); Finn, 11 (banjo, mandolin and whistle); Dempsey, 8, (whistle and bodhran); and father, Tommy (guitar, Uilleann pipes, fiddle, whistles, bagpipes and bodhran). Their show combines traditional Irish tunes with modern dance beats, and they love to interact with every audience.

Reel Republic –- Hailing from the southwest corner of Ireland, Reel Republic are four seriously talented musicians revving up audiences with a solid spectrum of Irish tunes and songs.

TradGad – Three talented lads from Kerry, Dublin and Edinburgh charm Raglan Road audiences singing and playing guitar, fiddle, mandolin, uileann pipes, tin whistle, banjo and bazouki.

High Road – Three talented musicians hailing from Dublin, Kilkenny and Glasgow meet in the middle to play a crowd-pleasing symphony of traditional Irish tunes and songs.

Aaron O’Grady – An Irish import who will entice and beguile with his eclectic mix of Irish music.

The Raglan Road Irish Dancers — Plucked from the cast and stages of the world’s greatest Irish dance shows, the Raglan Road Irish Dancers perform throughout the Great Irish Hooley. You can even learn some traditional Irish dance steps – no experience necessary!

Throughout the Hooley, guests can step up to one of Raglan Road’s 130-year-old imported-from-Ireland bars or grab a table for authentic contemporary Irish fare. A TripAdvisor Hall of Fame honoree and The Daily Meal’s 2018 “Best Irish Pub” in Florida, Raglan Road is known for its beer-battered fish and chips, Shepherd’s pie with a contemporary twist, delectable seafood and desserts, plus gluten-free entrees.

The complete entertainment schedule will be posted at www.raglanroad.com and www.greatirishhooley.com closer to the event.

Owned and operated by Irish partners John Cooke and Paul Nolan, Raglan Road features traditional Irish dishes and new creations with a Celtic twist. The restaurant’s warm interior of aged walnut and mahogany woods from old Irish bars and churches was built in Ireland and shipped to Orlando. Live entertainment nightly includes the NEW! Rhythms of Raglan 2018 suite of shows featuring Irish bands and dancers. Guests also can enjoy shows during the weekend Rollicking Raglan Brunch. Lunch is served 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; Dinner 3-11 p.m.; Bar menu 11 p.m.-late; Saturday and Sunday Rollicking Raglan Brunch from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Raglan Road Irish Pub & Restaurant is located at Disney Springs in the Walt Disney World Resort, 1640 E. Buena Vista Dr., Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Visit www.raglanroad.com or call 407/938-0300. Follow us @RaglanRoadPub

Dining in the Dark with Orlando Police Department SWAT

Immerse yourself in a world of aroma, taste, sound and texture – all in total darkness!

Featured menu selections from Muddy Waters Orlando, B&A Catering, Oudom Thai & Sushi, Soco Thornton Park & Wildtree.  Guest servers from Orlando Police Department SWAT.

This unique culinary experience is meant to offer a glimpse into the world of vision loss and heighten a sense of empathy toward those who live with blindness or any degree of vision impairment.

Dining in the Dark is a Lighthouse Central Florida original that has grown in scale and popularity since it was first introduced in 2010.

Attendees are treated to a multi-course, gourmet meal prepared by celebrated, local chefs and are served by members of the Orlando police Department’s SWAT team — who navigate the pitch-black room outfitted in night-vision goggles. After dinner the lights slowly come up and diners are encouraged to offer telling, empathetic, testimonials about their experience.

For tickets, please visit the link below:

lighthousecfl.org/DITDtickets

(Source: Lighthouse Central Florida)

Guy Fieri & Robert Earl open flagship Chicken Guy! restaurant in Disney Springs

The official grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony with Guy Fieri, Chef Mickey, and Robert Earl (founder and CEO of Planet Hollywood) at the flagship location of Chicken Guy! yesterday morning at Disney Springs. 

Celebrity chef Guy Fieri and restaurateur Robert Earl’s newest concept, Chicken Guy! is now officially open at Disney Springs!  I was invited by their publicist Maria Wyatt-Uhl to attend their grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony yesterday morning to welcome both owners alongside Disney Executives and Mickey Mouse.  The event was open to the public and a big crowd of fans arrived to show their support.  Following the ceremony, Guy Fieri passed out samples of different menu items to the crowd so that they can get a taste of his newest and tastiest creations.

Chicken Guy! is located on the right side of Planet Hollywood in Disney Springs.  They are a fast-casual chain dedicated to serving delicious, succulent chicken tenders paired with a wide variety of flavorful sauces, 22 different dipping sauces to be exact, meant to please all palates and all for a great value.  Every single menu item is under $9.  The chicken tenders are all-natural, antibiotic free, never frozen, hand-pounded to maximize crunch and breaded fresh every day.  The chicken tenders are then soaked in lemon juice, pickle brine and buttermilk, and infused with a house blend of herbs and spices to deliver flavor and texture.

The innovative packaging at Chicken Guy! makes the food portable and easy to carry-out so you can trek around Disney Springs and explore all that it has to offer but you can also take advantage of their indoor/outdoor seating too if you’d like.  The interior of the restaurant is fun and spunky, just like Guy!

This is Guy Fieri and Robert Earl’s first Chicken Guy! location, their flagship location, as they plan on opening more Chicken Guy! restaurants across the country.  Their Las Vegas location is opening soon!

(Source: Chicken Guy)

There are 22 different sauces at Chicken Guy!

So many choices of sauces!

Southwestern Sandwich – Pepper jack, special sauce, avocado crema, cumin lime mojo, charred corn, roasted peppers, black beans, lettuce, tomatoes, & crispy tortilla strips

Big Bite B.L. A.T. – Crispy smoked bacon, lettuce, avocado crema, tomatoes & buttermilk ranch

Tasty sides include: Mac Daddy Mac n Cheese & Loaded Fries smothered in SMC (super melty cheese) and topped with chopped grilled chicken, bacon, and green onions.

Flavortown Frozen Treat: Triple Double Mint – Hand-spun mint chocolate soft serve, crushed Oreo© cookies, chocolate mints, chocolate syrup & fresh whipped cream

The Sauce Slinger!

Robert Earl, founder of Planet Hollywood and co-owner of Chicken Guy!

Be sure to check out Chicken Guy! the next time you are at Disney Springs!

Chicken Guy!
1506 E Buena Vista Dr suite a, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
(407) 560-8180
chickenguy.com

4R Cantina Barbacoa Food Truck Ribbon Cutting at Disney Springs

I was invited to hang out with John Rivers, Founder/CEO 4 R Restaurant Group, at an exclusive grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony for the newest 4 Rivers’ concept – 4R Cantina Barbacoa Food Truck!  Following the ceremony I got to enjoy a taste of the 4R Cantina Barbacoa signature dishes.

The Mexican-inspired eatery offers a variety of new signature dishes, including Taco Cone, Tacos, Burrito Bowl and Nachos filled with choice of meats such as Brisket Barbacoa, Nana’s Pork Sofrito, Chicken Tinga or Grilled Tri-Tip Steak.

Each signature dish can be made vegetarian-friendly using Black Beans and Cilantro Rice as the filling.  The 4R Cantina Barbacoa Food Truck also offers a Squash Blossom Quesadilla as a standout vegetarian option.  Decadent desserts such as Chocolate Hazelnut Spread Nachos are available as well.  Seasonal specials can also be found on the menu.  During September and October, food truck patrons can enjoy the limited-time-only Pumpkin Spice Churro Balls.

The 4R Cantina Barbacoa Food Truck at Disney Springs is the only 4 Rivers location to offer service seven days a week – including Sundays.  Following in the philanthropic footprints of the 4R “Barbecue Ministry,” all net proceeds from sales every Sunday support The 4R Foundation, which in 2017 helped more than 950 local schools, churches and charitable organizations.

4 Cantina Barbacoa Food Truck is located in the Marketplace at Disney Springs, next to Ghirardelli Ice Cream & Chocolate Shop.

(Source credit: 4 Rivers Smokehouse)

I love a good nacho trio!

Dulce de Leche Churro Balls

Chocolate Hazelnut Spread Nachos.  Great dessert!

Squash Blossom Quesadilla – Fresh squash blossom, zucchini, tomato, onion, refried beans, chihuahua cheese, and queso fresco served with a side of pico de Gallo.  It was delicious!

Taco Cone – Choice of Brisket Barbacoa, Chicken Tinga, Nana’s Pork Sofrito, Grilled Tri-Tip Steak, Black Beans and Rice, plus shredded lettuce, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, queso, cilantro, jalapeño, and a lime wedge.  I had so much fun eating this!

Chicken Tinga

John Rivers being interviewed by Christina Thomas, voted one of the best bloggers in Orlando!

Congratulations John Rivers and welcome to Disney Springs!!  Be sure to check out the 4R Cantina Barbacoa Food Truck next time you are at Disney Springs!

4R Cantina Barbacoa Food Truck
Disney Springs, Buena Vista Dr, Orlando, FL 32830

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