Here are some quick tips for food and fun in Orlando, including Oktoberfest, pumpkin parties, and more.
It’s officially fall, so let’s talk about pumpkins. They’re high in antioxidants, full of vitamins and fiber, and good for your eyes and skin. That’s what we tell ourselves every year when we go through the Edible Orlando recipe files for pumpkin and goat cheese risotto, tropical pumpkin butter, and pumpkin pie dip. You can really taste the antioxidants when you spread the dip on graham crackers.)
You also turn to Edible Orlando for all the fun food events coming up around town. Writer John Graham tracks down the best festivals, classes, parties and specials for the next two weeks and bring you just the best. Let’s go!
Thursday, Oct 3: Luke’s in Maitland is hosting a farm-to-table dinner built around a single pig from Groveland’s Zenn Naturals Farm, starting at 6 p.m. The five-course meal includes New Smyrna Beach oysters with bacon mignonette, glazed pork belly, coppa, head cheese croquettes, smoked pork tamale, pork schnitzel, and (probably pork-free) spiced apple tart. Tickets are $125 before taxes and fees. That price doesn’t include beverages, but you can add a wine pairing for $75 more.
Friday, Oct. 4: Jake’s Beer Festival returns at Universal Orlando, 6-9 p.m., outdoors, but under cover, at Loews Royal Pacific Resort. The night will include more than 50 craft and specialty beers and hard seltzers. The all-you-can-eat food menu includes chicken and waffles, grilled prawns, and porter-braised short ribs as well as more vegetarian-friendly options such as pretzels with cheese fondue, butternut squash and ricotta flatbread, and grilled beet and burrata salad. Tickets start at $87.20 after taxes and fees with a VIP option at $144.47. The Beth McKee Band will play live. So who’s Jake? He’s the fictional owner of Jake’s American Bar and pilot of the seaplane in the resort lagoon.
Space Coast bars face off tonight to create the perfect “Marstini” at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Starting at 6:30 p.m. amongst recent spacecraft in the Gateway exhibit, you can sample the Marstini competitors and multiple food stations. Astronauts Mike Mullane and Tony Antonelli will also mingle. Tickets are $176.12 with taxes and fees.
Saturday, Oct. 5: Check out the empanadas, Cuban sandwiches, café con leche and more at Kissimmee’s Ford Taste of Latino Festival, noon to 5 p.m., at the Osceola County YMCA. General admission tickets are free, but do not include food tastings or seating for live music and dance performances. (Bringing a lawn chair is free.) VIP tickets with food and shaded seating are available in advance for $53.63 or $70 at the festival. Empanadas and Cuban sandwiches judged as best will compete in Ybor City on Oct. 20.
For one of the more authentic Oktoberfests around town, the German American Society of Central Florida hosts its annual biergarten blast in Casselberry, noon to 10 p.m. It’s a day of German food, beer on tap, live music, traditional dancing, and flag parade. Admission is $5 (before fees) in advance or at the door with free entry for kids 11 or under as well as active-duty military, veterans, first responders and law enforcement with valid ID. If you can’t make it Oct. 5, they’ll do it again on Oct. 26.
You gotta love a party that combines alliteration and indulgence. The Beer, Bacon, and BBQ Festival hits Cranes Roost Park at Uptown Altamonte, 2 – 7 p.m. Admission is free and you pay as you eat for the barbecue and bacon menu items from local restaurants. For $41.93 (after taxes and fees), a beer sampling pass lets you sample more than 40 craft brews from 3 – 7 p.m. VIP passes start at 2 p.m. for $47.64.
Taste the Hope at Maitland’s Mercedes-Benz of Orlando is a benefit, 5 – 8 p.m., for Petals of Hope Foundation, the local non-profit wing of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Tickets start at $135.23 per person after taxes and fees. The night includes food sampling, live music and performances, and a chance to explore displayed art. After dark, there will be a luminary event to honor lives touched by cancer.
Wednesday, Oct. 9: Former Edible Orlando Editor Katie Farmand will be teaching young cooks to make some spooky Halloween treats, 4 – 5 p.m., at Winter Park’s Center for Health and Wellbeing. Designed for kids eight and older, the hands-on class will cover recipes for Mummy Pizza and Protein “Spider” Bites. The $10 class includes instruction, samples and a take-home recipe booklet. Parents should stay on the Center for Health and Wellbeing campus during the class with children in view.
Thursday, Oct. 10: This year’s Taste of College Park moves to a new location–The Great Southern Box Co. Food Hall & Bar in the Packing District. From 6 – 9 p.m., 19 area restaurants will have food tastings as well as craft beers from Ivanhoe Park Brewing Company and wines by Digress Wine. Tickets are $81.88 after fees. Hosted by The Rotary Club of College Park, Taste of College Park benefits charities including the local Ronald McDonald Houses, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, the Christian Service Center, The Rotary Foundation, and local scholarships.
When there’s no game, you might as well put the tailgating on the field. Feast on the 50 is a tailgating party on the field of Camping World Stadium, starting at 5 p.m., featuring a bunch of local restaurants and beverage distributors, including Raising Cane’s and 4 Rivers Smokehouse to Oley’s Kitchen and Thriving Hospitality. Tickets are $40 for adults with tickets already part of most Florida Citrus Sports memberships. Kids 10 and under are free. Alumni clubs from Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Big 12, B-CU, FAMU, and Rollins will compete for the most spirited tent.
Friday, Oct. 11: The next Orlando Parking Lot Party is at Gnarly Barley, 6 – 10 p.m., with a Halloween theme. In fact, they’re calling it Drunkin’ Pumpkin Party, stray apostrophe and all. Expect food trucks, outdoor bar, Halloween vendors, a visit from the Sanderson sisters (“Hocus Pocus”) and a pumpkin patch from Palmer’s Garden and Goods. No promises, but Gnarly Barley’s new patio may even be open.
For more inspiration, visit our archives.
