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Spotlight: Scott Joseph's Foodie Year In Review

Photo of Wine Bar George courtesy of Scott Joseph's Orlando Restaurant Guide
Photo of Wine Bar George courtesy of Scott Joseph's Orlando Restaurant Guide

This review is abridged for broadcast. Find the full version of the review at Scott Joseph’s Orlando Restaurant Guide on this page.

It’s been a busy year for Central Florida restaurants, with dozens of openings, not as many closings and all sorts of newsy tids and bits. The “flog” (Scott Joseph’s Orlando Restaurant Guide food blog) published 425 articles this year. More than 100 of them were restaurant reviews, and half of those I shared with you on 90.7 WMFE.

Here are some highlights.

Notable Openings:

Maria & Enzo’s, Enzo’s Hideaway, The Edison, Terralina Crafted Italian, Chicken Guy, and Wine Bar George – they all helped to keep Disney Springs the center of high-profile restaurant openings

The Hangry Bison – New Winter Park Villager with killer burgers and cocktails

The Glass Knife – Upscale cakery

Claddagh Cottage Irish Pub – Long-awaited rebirth of the popular pub in the unofficially designated Hourglass District

Taste of Chengdu – Hot, hot, hot…and I don’t mean just in popularity

Inay’s Kitchen – Filipino food served by nice people

Meza – Cafe Annie fans rejoiced when the owner reopened this Mediterranean restaurant in Baldwin Park

Selam Ethiopian & Eritrean Cuisine – Wash your hands and try out this latest African restaurant

Muzzarella Pizza and Italian Kitchen – All locals pizzerias should be on notice: the pizza game is on!

Notable Closings:

Cafe Madrid

Carmel Kitchen Wine Bar

Winnie’s Oriental Garden (which, in its 23 years, never seemed to have macadamia nuts in its Macadamia Nut Shrimp dish)

Bauern-Stube German Restaurant, after a three-decade run

And last but not least, Emeril’s Orlando, which went out with a whimper…not a “bam.”

This critic’s Foodie Wish List for 2019:

1. Let’s find something other than street food for a restaurant concept.
2. Does everything have to be a taco?

For 2019, we already have numerous restaurants lining up for your approval. We’ll start with them next week.

Nicole came to Central Florida to attend Rollins College and started working for Orlando’s ABC News Radio affiliate shortly after graduation. She joined WMFE in 2010. As a field reporter, news anchor and radio show host in the City Beautiful, she has covered everything from local arts to national elections, from extraordinary hurricanes to historic space flights, from the people and procedures of Florida’s justice system to the changing face of the state’s economy.