NEWS + EVENTS: Some patio-friendly news to impart: Luke's Kitchen in Maitland has installed a retractable awning on their patio, and the Ravenous Pig has installed heaters in their recently opened beer garden ... Speaking of, the Pig will host a pig roast and movie night in said beer garden Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 15 and 16. Dinner will be served between 5-6:30 p.m. with the movie, Elf starring Will Ferrell, starting at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $35. Visit theravenouspig.com for tickets ... Knife & Spoon, the new steakhouse fronted by Top Chefs John Tesar and Gerald Sombright, will offer a to-go Christmas meal serving four to six people for $450 highlighted by a 60-day aged prime rib. Add $75 for winter black truffles. Orders must be placed before Dec. 22 and picked up at the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Christmas Day. Call 407-393-4034 to order.
OPENINGS: Mexican food comes to Thornton Park: The owners of the burgeoning F+D chainlet (F+D Woodfired Italian, F+D Kitchen and Bar, F+D Cantina Lake Mary, etc.) announced intent to open another F+D Cantina in the old Baoery space on Central ... Mamak Asian Street Food has opened its second location in the old Pei Wei spot on Technological Avenue near UCF ... Island Fin Poke has opened an outpost in Windermere. Look for another to open in the former First Watch space on West State Road 434 in Longwood in the new year ... Aurora Restaurant, inside the newly opened Celeste Hotel on North Alafaya Trail, is now serving an ambitious menu of global fare ... A new Mexican restaurant will move into the short-lived 6 Cafe & Lounge building in Altamonte Springs ...
Blue Star, the godmother of the local burlesque scene, has opened HÄOS on Church, a two-story restaurant/performance venue in the old Lion's Pride space on, you guessed it, Church Street. Chefs Michael Magonigle and Andrew Jones of Kres Chophouse man the kitchen. Check their Facebook and Instagram pages for a schedule of events ... CFS Coffee, the Colombian coffee house that started off in Hannibal Square, has opened their fourth location in the old OK, But First Coffee space at the Fountains Plaza on West Sand Lake Road. Look for a fifth cafe to open in Lake Nona next year ...
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