The very nondescript Crystal Lake Plaza on Curry Ford Road has established itself as a bazaar for bon vivants of sorts, and not just because of The Beef People at Winn-Dixie. Over the past few years, Theo s Kitchen, Roque Pub, Papa Llama and JJ s Fresh have all burrowed themselves into the plaza s aging (and affordable) confines, bringing a plurality of flavors to a rapidly diversifying Curry Ford West.
In that mix is Uncommon Catering, the boutique company run by Tara Vernau-Smith and her husband, Travis. It originated at East End Market before the couple moved operations here to Camp Crystal Lake. It s no horror setting, not by a long shot, but I like the thought of a billboard with a hockey-masked Jason Voorhees proclaiming, The food here absolutely slays!
Top Tastes 2020: The 10 best dishes we tried in Orlando this year 2020 was a hell year for many of us. I haven’t sat down to eat in a restaurant since March 7, but I’ve ordered lots of delicious takeout throughout the year, to help support the local restaurants I love. These are some of my favorites among the dishes I’ve enjoyed this year, including several from new restaurants that opened in 2020. They could use your business now more than ever, and you deserve to eat something delicious, now more than ever. Yoko Takagi and her Japanese-Venezuelan family moved to Orlando last year, and they just opened their first restaurant, a small, casual ramen shop in Oviedo. They serve multiple kinds of noodle soups, but their version of tonkotsu ramen, with slices of rich, fatty chashu pork, pickled ginger, scallions, a marinated ajitamago egg, and springy noodles in a creamy pork bone broth, is my favorite tonkotsu in the Orlando a