Eat Your Way Across O-Town: MyCityEats Restaurant Awards

Story by Ryan Fitzgerald / Photos by Michele Erdman
Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009

Ever wondered where the best place for casual dining is in Orlando? How about best waterfront restaurant? Best steakhouse? Best cigar selection? These are important questions for a city to answer and MyCityEats.com is trying to do just that with their recent restaurant awards that featured over 60 categories. I showed up at the MyCityEats Restaurant Awards at the Blue Martini to cocktail and hobnob with the nominated.

Blue Martini is an upscale lounge with a half-mooned bar lit up by lights that shine devil's red. Behind the bar are compartmentalized cubbies that house the booze. The bar itself spills into a cocktailing zone that is dotted with satellite tables. Tonight the bar has been retrofitted with a small stage where WKMG Local 6's chief meteorologist Tom Sorrells and newly-crowned Miss Florida Megan Clementi pass out the awards.

Sorrells is a foodie and he is also kind of hilarious so this was a perfect late night gig for him. He just got back into town and was welcomed with a severe storm warning. "Don't blame me," he said, "I just got back from vacation." Sorrells says he loves food. "I'm a big eater. Some eat to survive. I survive to eat."

Sorrells says he's dined at most of the places nominated tonight. He mentioned the Palm Restaurant as one of his favorite restaurants in town. The Palm was nominated for best fine dining.

One way Orlando is amping up its culinary bona-fides is with more and more chef's tables. So what's a chef's table? A chef's table is usually located in or near the kitchen. Generally, it is different from all the other tables in the restaurant because usually a special tasting menu is served that features special dishes prepared by the chef exclusively for the chef's table. The winner of the chef's table category is a little place called The Chef's Table at the Edgewater. Owned and operated by Kevin and Laurie Tarter, the Chef's Table has only 8 tables in the whole restaurant, each with a view of the kitchen. Each night they serve a three course tasting menu with items like foie gras creme brulee and pan seared duck breast with red wine risotto.

You might not have even known that The Chef's Table existed, but it is one of the best places to eat in all of Orlando.

Check out MyCityEats.com to see if your favorite place to eat was nominated. Cast your own ballots and see how MyCityEats.com sized up to your own palette. Go to Lago, Cantina Laredo, and Johnnie's Hideaway -- all were nominated for best new restaurant. Check them out. Play critic. See how they size up to the rest of the city's offerings. Then go back to some of your old favorites -- see if they've slipped. Who would you give 3 stars to? The restaurants in town are as good as ever -- don't miss out.

Check out photos from the 2009 MyCityEats Restaurant Awards -- including Miss Florida USA Megan Clementi, emcee and local meteorologist Tom Sorrells, Hollis Wilder, the OTownStyle.com crew and more!

Find more photos like this on OTownStyle.com