Here are some quick tips for food and fun in Orlando, including Easter dining, beekeeping, wine dinners, and more.
We’ll get to all the Easter Sunday dining-out options in a second, but if you’re staying in, consider whipping up an Easy Easter Pie from the Edible Orlando recipe archives. Just like Mardi Gras is a splurge before Lent, Easter Pie is a celebration that Lent is over, and butter and cheese are back! (If you call it pizza rustica, you can serve it any time of the year.) Edible Orlando writer John Graham is always hunting for fun food events around Central Florida and he’s back with your best bets for the next couple weeks.
Saturday, March 30
Every beekeeper has to start somewhere and, today, it’s at Oviedo’s Black Hammock Bee Farms. From 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., the Beginning Beekeepers Class will teach you the basics for your backyard. That included getting into a hive, and yes, if you don’t have a bee suit, the farm has extras. Your $87.61 ticket also gets you a catered lunch and, at day’s end, a honey tasting.
Sunday, March 31
Chefs are working on all kinds of Easter Sunday buffets, brunches, lunches, and dinners but reservations are always a good idea.
Rosen Plaza has buffet seatings with wine and mimosas from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Adults are $75.05 (after tax and fees) and kids 4-11 at $30.18. Rosen Shingle Creek is going 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., also with wine and mimosas. Adults are $119.18 and kids are $50.28. Café Gauguin at Rosen Centre has its buffet 11 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at $69.95 for adults and $27.95 for kids before taxes and fees. (Rosen Centre didn’t post what those costs will be.) There are also Easter buffet options at Rosen Inn Lake Buena Vista and the Plaza Garden restaurant inside Rosen Inn at Pointe Orlando. 
AVA MediterrAegean in Winter Park is adding a special dessert to its usual Sunday brunch menu. A partnership with Choulala Bakery, the AVA Blossom Easter Macaron ($25) includes hazelnut cream and candied orange jam.
JW Marriott Bonnet Creek Resort and Spa will have a Peter Rabbit Easter Brunch at the UnReserved Food Bazaar, 12:30 – 3:30 pm with mimosas, live entertainment, and a visit from the Easter Bunny. Sear + Sea Woodfire Grill is offering an Easter four-course prix fixe brunch for $155 per adult and $65 per child (4-12). At Illume, brunch from 11:30 am – 2:30 pm features an à la carte menu, Japanese inspired breakfast specialties, and signature sushi rolls. Illume is also doing special spring cocktails including both Carrot Ginger and Easter Bunny Chocolate martinis.
Tropicale at Caribe Royale Orlando has an Easter brunch, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m., with ham, lamb, and swordfish carving stations and made-to-order omelets. The meal is $80 for adults and $25 for children 4-10 (plus tax).
Mills 50’s Bites and Bubbles offers Easter brunch seating indoors, on the patio, and on the rooftop with seatings at 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 2 p.m. The $49 meal includes beverages, tax and gratuity.
The new Conrad Orlando hotel is hosting Easter brunch inside Sophia’s Trattoria, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Expect a menu of Easter classics with a southern coastal Italian twist. Through the weekend, Conrad Orlando will also host morning egg hunts and Easter Bunny photos. Costs may apply to some activities.
STK Orlando is celebrating Easter Sunday with some recent additions to the brunch menu, including Dungeness crab deviled eggs, peppercorn crusted lambchops, and lobster benedict. Guests will get Easter eggs filled with prizes and surprises.
Taverna Opa at Pointe Orlando is giving away a glass of wine with the order of any lamb entrée on Easter Sunday.
Kavas Tacos at Pointe Orlando will be cooking up a special Easter brunch, 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., with items including empanadas, made-to-order omelets, coconut tres leches French toast, carnitas, and churro doughnut holes. The buffet is $49 (plus tax & tip) with kids ten and under at $18. Kavas will also add a $26 special to the ala cart menu – lamb queso birria tacos.
La Hacienda at Mission Resort + Club is plussing up its Sunday brunch for Easter with carving stations for beef, ham, and turkey as well as extras such as lamb stew, baked crab stuffed sole with lobster-sherry cream, jambalaya, and tandoori chicken. Brunch is $68 per guest (before tax and fees) and $30 for children 5 – 12.
Columbia Restaurant in Celebration will be serving its dinner menu all day with a few Easter additions including roast leg of lamb Adela (marinated in red wine, garlic, lemon and oregano), baked ham, and flan for dessert.
Monday, April 1
If you’re not still full from all the Sunday buffets, Wine Bar George at Disney Springs has a Spanish wine dinner with Mikel Eguren (Eguren Family Wines) and Master Sommelier (and restaurant namesake) George Miliotes. For $251.98, you get a multi-course menu paired with wines from Sierra Cantabria in Rioja and Teso La Monja in Toro.
Thursday, April 4
Taste of Baldwin Park lands in Harbor Park, 5:30 – 9:30p.m., with more than 30 local restaurants serving up small bites alongside craft beers, wine, and spirits. Advance tickets are $71.78 for adults and go up $20 for “day of” sales. A VIP option is also available with early admission and exclusive areas. You must be 21+ to attend.
Saturday, April 6
Dinner on the Avenue returns to Winter Park and Park Avenue, 6 – 10 p.m. Your $175 gets you a table and chairs for up to eight – and a tablecloth – but it’s up to you to bring the food, drink, and decorations. With more than 160 tables along Park Avenue, you’ll have competition for most colorful, most elegant, most original, best TV/movie-themed, and honorable mentions. Some proceeds from the night will benefit the Splash, Float, Swim initiative, providing basic water safety and swimming instruction for kids.
Sunday, April 7
The new Judson’s Live venue, inside Orlando’s Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, is hosting a wine tasting workshop with (yep, him again) local master sommelier and restauranteur George Miliotes. Starting at 1:30 p.m., Miliotes will take attendees through three red wines and three white wines (three ounces each) as well as a shareable charcuterie board. The workshop is designed to teach about varietals and the art of blind tasting. With fees, tickets are $153.40 per person. If you miss the tasting, Miliotes will be back May 5 and June 2.
Thursday, April 11
Why buy mushrooms when you can grow them? UF IFAS Extension Orange County on S. Conway Rd. will be teaching students about fungi, including how to make a grow bag for oyster mushrooms. The class is $23.18, starts at 10 a.m., and is taught by Urban Residential Horticulture Agent Calvin Gardner.
Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse is cooking up a five-course dinner featuring wines from South America and, specifically, Chile. The night’s menu includes Peruvian sashimi and oysters on the half shell, Chilean sea bass with chorizo and corn, sous vide pork tenderloin, dry-aged cacao- and coffee-rubbed prime ribeye, and salted caramel budin de pan (bread pudding with tres leches sauce). Tickets are $225 per diner.
For more inspiration, visit our archives.
