Happy Saturday, LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers!
To get your weekend started right, I would like to share with you one of my favorite restaurants that you should definitely try if you are in or near Central Florida.
In the cozy, charming little city of Winter Garden, Florida is a historic downtown area that I love to visit. In the center of this area is the Historic Edgewater Hotel. On the first floor of the hotel is a fabulous restaurant that has received much acclaim called "The Chef's Table." But my favorite part is the bar/patio of the restaurant which is "The Tasting Room" where you can get Southern-style tapas and incredible cocktails.
Throw this all together and you get the multi-word title of the restaurant which is called "The Tasting Room at The Chef's Table at the Edgewater Hotel."
I have been to this restaurant several times. In fact any time I am near the Orlando area, I try to make time to visit The Tasting Room. And it NEVER disappoints. When the weather is beautiful, I love sitting outside on the patio with friends. Even better is timing it when they are doing a music series in the main square park across from the restaurant. Who doesn't love live music with their al fresco dinner?
The most recent time I have been to The Tasting Room was with one of my foodie partners in crime, Ms. Wrigleyville. We were starving after a busy day of shopping (it's hard work, people) and we knew that a meal at The Tasting Room would make us happy little foodies. We arrived and basically ordered EVERYTHING. Here is a look at all the lovely edibles we sampled ...
First - for me, a jalapeño margarita hold the cilantro. I am one of the select percentage of the population who have the genetic variant that makes them hate cilantro. My sister also has the same gene variation. Our mother, on the other hand, loves it and cannot get enough of it. A childhood of smelling cilantro (or as my Mother refers to it "Chinese Parsley") was enough to turn me off for life.
This Jalapeño Margarita from The Tasting Room (called The Muerto Verde with five pepper infused tequila) is one of my favorites.
Next was a newer item on the Tasting Room's menu - PIMENTO CHEESE. I had never had the Southern staple, Pimento Cheese, until I went to Nashville, Tennessee. (Read my 12 Things to do in Nashville blog post here.) I am now a Pimento Cheese believer. This was not the absolute best Pimento Cheese I have ever had, but I would say that The Tasting Room's Pimento Cheese was in the Top Three. Sharp cheddar, savory pimento and crisp lavash style crackers.
Next up was The Tasting Room Empanadas - slow braised ox tail with a mango cilantro salsa. Even with my sharp distaste for cilantro, these empanadas rocked the house. The ox tail was extremely tender and the salsa gave a nice kick.
If you're a regular LilyOnTheLam.Com Reader, you will know I am known for two things - my 1034 cats and my love for arancini - Italian risotto balls. When I saw that Shrimp Arancini - etouffe risotto balls with Gulf shrimp and a creole aioli were on the Tasting Room's menu - I knew we had to order them. These crisp little deep-fried balls of love certainly delivered.
We noticed that several of our items had the same creole sauce, but since this sauce was crazy tasty we did not mind at all.
I'd like to say we ended our dinner at The Tasting Room at The Chef's Table at The Edgewater Hotel on a light note, but ohhhhh nooooo ... when you're having Southern-style tapas, you need to go whole hog and go for the Fried Green Tomatoes. But not just any fried green tomatoes -- noo, a stack of fried green tomatoes with crab and house cured Bacon Maque Choux (which is usually a corn, onion and tomato mixture).
To get your weekend started right, I would like to share with you one of my favorite restaurants that you should definitely try if you are in or near Central Florida.
In the cozy, charming little city of Winter Garden, Florida is a historic downtown area that I love to visit. In the center of this area is the Historic Edgewater Hotel. On the first floor of the hotel is a fabulous restaurant that has received much acclaim called "The Chef's Table." But my favorite part is the bar/patio of the restaurant which is "The Tasting Room" where you can get Southern-style tapas and incredible cocktails.
Throw this all together and you get the multi-word title of the restaurant which is called "The Tasting Room at The Chef's Table at the Edgewater Hotel."
I have been to this restaurant several times. In fact any time I am near the Orlando area, I try to make time to visit The Tasting Room. And it NEVER disappoints. When the weather is beautiful, I love sitting outside on the patio with friends. Even better is timing it when they are doing a music series in the main square park across from the restaurant. Who doesn't love live music with their al fresco dinner?
The most recent time I have been to The Tasting Room was with one of my foodie partners in crime, Ms. Wrigleyville. We were starving after a busy day of shopping (it's hard work, people) and we knew that a meal at The Tasting Room would make us happy little foodies. We arrived and basically ordered EVERYTHING. Here is a look at all the lovely edibles we sampled ...
First - for me, a jalapeño margarita hold the cilantro. I am one of the select percentage of the population who have the genetic variant that makes them hate cilantro. My sister also has the same gene variation. Our mother, on the other hand, loves it and cannot get enough of it. A childhood of smelling cilantro (or as my Mother refers to it "Chinese Parsley") was enough to turn me off for life.
This Jalapeño Margarita from The Tasting Room (called The Muerto Verde with five pepper infused tequila) is one of my favorites.
After I had my cocktail in hand, Ms. Wrigleyville and I ordered the Muffaletta Sliders - mini muffaletta sandwiches. I looooooove Muffaletta sandwiches. I believe the secret is in the olive salad and the bread. The best olive salad (in my opinion) comes from Central Grocery and Deli in New Orleans, Louisiana. But as I am not rich enough to fly to New Orleans whenever I want a good olive salad, locally I go to Mazzaro's Italian Market in St. Petersburg, Florida. Their olive salad is not as good as Central Grocery's, but it is still pretty darn tasty.
These mini muffalettas were toasted which gave a nice crunchiness to the bread and an oozy juicy savoriness to the fillings. This was the perfect start to our Tasting Room experience.
Next was a newer item on the Tasting Room's menu - PIMENTO CHEESE. I had never had the Southern staple, Pimento Cheese, until I went to Nashville, Tennessee. (Read my 12 Things to do in Nashville blog post here.) I am now a Pimento Cheese believer. This was not the absolute best Pimento Cheese I have ever had, but I would say that The Tasting Room's Pimento Cheese was in the Top Three. Sharp cheddar, savory pimento and crisp lavash style crackers.
Next up was The Tasting Room Empanadas - slow braised ox tail with a mango cilantro salsa. Even with my sharp distaste for cilantro, these empanadas rocked the house. The ox tail was extremely tender and the salsa gave a nice kick.
If you're a regular LilyOnTheLam.Com Reader, you will know I am known for two things - my 1034 cats and my love for arancini - Italian risotto balls. When I saw that Shrimp Arancini - etouffe risotto balls with Gulf shrimp and a creole aioli were on the Tasting Room's menu - I knew we had to order them. These crisp little deep-fried balls of love certainly delivered.
We noticed that several of our items had the same creole sauce, but since this sauce was crazy tasty we did not mind at all.
I'd like to say we ended our dinner at The Tasting Room at The Chef's Table at The Edgewater Hotel on a light note, but ohhhhh nooooo ... when you're having Southern-style tapas, you need to go whole hog and go for the Fried Green Tomatoes. But not just any fried green tomatoes -- noo, a stack of fried green tomatoes with crab and house cured Bacon Maque Choux (which is usually a corn, onion and tomato mixture).
I am not a stranger to the fried green onion stack and this was definitely one of my favorites of all that I have tried. I would have liked the tomato to have been cooked about a minute less, but otherwise it was sheer gastronomic gluttony in a tower formation. The crab was big puffy chunks of seafood deliciousness that "lightened" up the fried tomato. A great combination.
Other items that I love from The Tasting Room menu from my previous visits are: the Mini Beef Wellington Trio (soooo freaking good!), the New Orleans BBQ Shrimp and Heirloom Cheese grits (this was the ONLY time I have not ordered them, it is a Lily Must Order), the Smoked Fish Dip, the Duck Fat French Fries, the Fish Tacos and the Pan Seared Scallops.
I had ordered the onion and potato galette once. The potatoes were undercooked and it had the rare distinction of being one of the only dishes I did not enjoy at The Tasting Room.
I have never had dessert at The Tasting Room - as you can see from what Ms. Wrigleyville and I ordered, there simply was no room. They do have mini desserts for those who have a mini amount of room left. They look quite lovely and maybe one day I will experience them.
Lucky for us, Winter Garden's historic downtown area is the perfect place for an after dinner walk. We window shopped and tried to burn off a couple of the calories after the great Southern-style tapas feast we devoured. It makes for a lovely evening - dinner and a stroll.
The Historic Edgewater Hotel also has a Thai restaurant called Thai Blossom that I vow one day I will try, but it is simply difficult to go anywhere else in Winter Garden when The Tasting Room is just sooooo good. If you're in Central Florida, you must check it out!
Have a great weekend!
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