Letter from the Editor: A Culinary Odyssey
Exploring the rich opportunities for food quests and crawls.
This month’s cover feature package started out with the working title of “Food Guide.’’
But that sounded so…bland, like scanning the aisles of a grocery store. The more that dining critic Joseph Hayes and I talked, the more we realized that the ideas he was coming up with—drawn from his many years of experience with the local, regional and state culinary scene—constituted much more than a guide. This was, well, an adventure.
And so we give you our “Food Adventures” issue. You could also call it the “I Had No Idea!’’ issue because there are so many dishes, drinks, locations and products you might not even know existed: Culver’s butter burger, lobster ice cream, the 900 Degreez Pizza food truck, Nutpop pickles, multicolored mushrooms, and blueberry brandy from Yalaha Bootlegging Co., to name a few. On the other hand, there are many familiar restaurant names covered, like The Sanctum Café, Soco, The Rusty Spoon and Cask & Larder. It all adds up to a fun journey that will have you out and about quickly. So click here and get started!
Speaking of food journeys, my wife and I are learning the art of the culinary crawl. We created our own tour recently, and it took no great skill (just a healthy amount of moola). We chose Disney Springs and focused on splitting appetizers—sushi at Morimoto Asia, chicken and biscuits at Art Smith’s Homecomin’, and chips and pumpkin seed dip at Frontera Cocina. You should try it. After all, now you have an adventure handbook to help.
Elsewhere in this issue, you’ll find a Home + Garden section full of intriguing profiles and possibilities, including the story of how an architect and his family created their dream home in Audubon Park. We also present a section on fall fashion accessories; a rundown of camping gear with a modern twist; and a primer on fermented foods that are good for your gut. Mark I. Pinsky catches up with Pastor Jim Henry, a fixture for decades on the local ministry scene; Cheri Henderson profiles a crime scene investigator; and Extra Pulp columnist Laura Anders Lee writes about the spooky expectations that Pinterest creates for moms around the holidays (hint: Halloween costumes).
Finally, we are proud to announce that Orlando magazine was honored recently with four awards by the Florida Magazine Association, two of them first-place Charlie Awards:
- Best Design: Cover—Charlie Award for the August 2016 "Best of Orlando" cover (consumer magazines of 20k+ circulation)
- Best Writing: Editorial/Commentary/Opinion—Charlie Award for “Just a Guy,’’ a tribute to Arnold Palmer by Peter Kerasotis, November 2016 issue (all consumer magazines)
- Best Writing: Department—Silver Award for Dining Reviews by critic Joseph Hayes (consumer magazines of 20k+ circulation)
- Best Writing: Feature—Silver Award for “The Road Taken’’ cover story on Interstate 4 by Dan Tracy, February 2017.
And our sister publication, Where Orlando, captured a Bronze Award for Best Visitor Publication
BARRY GLENN
BARRY.GLENN@orlandomagazine.com
