If you've had enough casual theme-park fare or just want a date night during your vacation, a new crop of upscale restaurants have turned Orlando into a legitimate fine-dining destination.
Many of the places that are tops for noshing are in neighboring Winter Park. Kim Orlando says gastropub The Ravenous Pig has been such a hit that its James Beard Award-winning owners are opening a second Winter Park eatery this summer. Called Cask & Larder, it plans to combine craft beer, Southern culinary traditions, and locally-sourced ingredients. In Orlando proper, The Rusty Spoon is another gastropub that attracted attention and positive reviews when it opened last year for serving well-executed pub grub.
Luma on Park also gets thumbs-up from local foodies and bloggers for sourcing ingredients from local purveyors, turning them into terrific dishes and serving them in an upscale, trendy setting on Winter Park's main drag.
Even some hotels are getting in on the act: Primo, at the JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes, has James Beard Award winner Melissa Kelly behind the stove and an organic garden out back that provides produce like tomatoes, peppers, squash and herbs that wind up on diners' plates