Exploring Orlando's Hidden Food Gems: Part 1 -An In-Depth Look at the East End Market
Episode Overview
Orlando may be best known for its rides, resorts, and roller coasters—but there’s another story unfolding in the city’s neighborhoods: a vibrant, locally driven food scene that’s been quietly growing into one of the most dynamic in the Southeast. For personalized help, check out the Visit Orlando Trip Planner for free one-on-one planning with a local expert.
In part one of this special two-part episode, we explore how one place—East End Market—helped catalyze Orlando’s local food movement. David and Tim sit down with John Rife, founder and CEO of East End, to talk about how a converted church became ground zero for culinary creativity, Michelin-recognized concepts, and a community of chefs, bakers, and makers reshaping what Orlando tastes like.
What You’ll Hear in This Episode
- The Backstory of East End Market
- How a neighborhood harvest festival grew into one of Florida’s most influential food halls—home to 20+ small businesses and multiple Michelin-recognized chefs.
- Behind the Booths: Meet the Makers
- Gideon’s Bakehouse: Started as a popup in the market, now famous for cookies the size of your hand—and a 10-hour line at Disney Springs.
- Winter Park Biscuit Co.: Vegan sandwiches so good, they fooled carnivores.
- Hinckley’s Fancy Meats: The city’s sandwich king, known for housemade charcuterie and national tailgate boxes.
- Poppy’s Burritos: Bringing true Colorado-style breakfast burritos—and Hatch green chilies—to Florida.
- Kaikatsu and Domu: Japanese-inspired dining experiences with sizzling stone-grill bento boxes and Michelin bibs to match.
- Not Just Food
- Obon: French chocolates that look like fruit.
- Permanent Jewelry by Carla Palma: Yes—welded to your wrist.
- Freehand Goods & Owl’s Attic: Local dry goods and vintage treasures curated for the neighborhood.
- Secret Slice & Speakeasy Vibes
- Discover the upstairs hideaway spots at East End—from a QR-code pizza machine to mixology classes, drag nights, and neighborhood-themed cocktails at The Neighbors bar.
- John Rife on What Makes Orlando Unique
- Hear how creative professionals from the theme park world are quietly reshaping Orlando into a hub of culinary innovation, and why locals—and chefs—choose to stay and build here.
Featured Places in This Episode
- East End Market – Home to over 20 local vendors and the heartbeat of Orlando’s food movement.
- Otto’s High Dive – Michelin-recognized Cuban-inspired rum bar and cocktail destination.
- Gideon’s Bakehouse – Original location at East End, second spot at Disney Springs.
- Cadence Omakase – Intimate 7-seat sushi experience turned Michelin-starred restaurant.
- Winter Park Farmers Market – One of the region’s most beloved Saturday morning experiences.
- Fleet Farming – A local initiative turning neighborhood lawns into micro-farms—by bike.
Local Tips
- Best Farmers Markets:
- Audubon Park Community Market (Monday nights, local-only)
- Winter Park Farmers Market (Saturdays, on scenic Park Ave)
- Don’t Miss Districts:
- Explore Orlando’s Main Street Districts like Mills 50, Milk District, Audubon Park, and Ivanhoe for distinct, hyperlocal food and retail.
Need Help Planning?
- For personalized help, check out the Visit Orlando Trip Planner for free one-on-one planning with a local expert. And thanks to Visit Orlando for helping support this episode
Up Next
In Part Two, we hit the streets of the Mills 50 District with local food blogger Ricky Lee of Tasty Chomps—one of the city’s top food voices—to explore the flavors and stories behind Orlando’s thriving Asian dining scene. You won’t want to miss it.
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For more behind-the-scenes travel stories and immersive audio guides, visit Voyascape.com.
Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker A:People think of Orlando.
Speaker A:Florida food usually comes a distant second to theme parks or rides, but that's only if you don't know the right places to look.
Speaker A:In this two part episode, we explore the city's surprisingly deep food scene, shaped by immigrant communities, by independent chefs, and neighborhoods that built something special long before anyone was paying attention.
Speaker A:In part one, we sit down with John Riffe, the founder and CEO of East End Market, to talk about how he's built a local food hub that really sparked Orlando's local food movement.
Speaker A:Then in part two, we hit the streets of the Mills 50 district with food blogger Ricky Lee of Tasty Chomps, exploring the flavors and the stories that define one of the city's most vibrant neighborhoods.
Speaker A:Two episodes, one city Orlando's food scene on travel in 10.
Speaker B:So I'm John Rife, I'm the owner and founder of east end market.
Speaker B: In: Speaker B:It's just a few days before Thanksgiving and the idea was, hey, there's great Florida purveyors.
Speaker B:Buy your Thanksgiving provisions from local people.
Speaker B:So we did that for two years and all of a sudden it's like, there's lots, there are a lot of purveyors and there were a lot of customers, guests, festival goers, like we're onto something, like could we do it more than just once a year?
Speaker B:So this was a former church.
Speaker B:I went to the different purveyors and said, hey, like you know what you can afford per day?
Speaker B:If I can, you can pay that rent per day and I can fill the building with enough people.
Speaker B:Can we make this happen?
Speaker B:I've seen great food halls like Granville in Vancouver and I'm like, what could we do something like that at a neighborhood scale?
Speaker B:So thankfully enough of them said yes to give me the courage to buy this church.
Speaker B:It's a two story church, it's 14,000 square ft. And so all the booths are owner operated.
Speaker B:They were people, they've transitioned over the years, but they were all people that I knew that had been vendors at my festivals and, or just friends that I was, you know, a geek about their product.
Speaker B:You know, they were making great sandwiches.
Speaker B:I'm like, oh, you'd have, you should have your own store.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B: ed, we bought the property in: Speaker B:So we're going into our 12th year of serving this community and we are in the Audubon Park Garden district of Orlando.
Speaker B:Orlando has several Main street districts that Each has a liaison that helps coordinate events and vendor walks and movie nights.
Speaker B:And we are very fortunate to be in a district that has its own sort of vibe.
Speaker B:And a lot of it is these small, owner operated, kind of Main street district type restaurants and eateries and service providers.
Speaker B:So we definitely askew anything that's a franchise.
Speaker B:You can, you can't have another concept and bring it here to Easton Market.
Speaker B:If you're coming to Easton Market, it is your first time doing something.
Speaker B:And I'm kind of the circus master who's helping incubate.
Speaker B:Happy to walk you through and explain what's left.
Speaker B:So on the right, as you walk in the door on the right is Aubon.
Speaker B:It's a chocolatier.
Speaker B:She's a French chocolatier that was working for many years in another local bakery and wanted to have an opportunity to do her own chocolate shop.
Speaker B:So they do bonbons and they do these cakes that look like fruit, you know, oversized fruit, but they look authentic.
Speaker B:But inside it's actually chocolate encrusting a cake.
Speaker B:Super popular.
Speaker B:They're always selling out.
Speaker B:There's Kim there, so that's Obon.
Speaker B:You have Winter Park Biscuit Company on the left here.
Speaker B:They do chicken biscuits and salads and burgers and whatever, but it's all vegan.
Speaker B:So when she came to me, she's like, hey, I want you to try the sandwiches.
Speaker B:And they looked identical.
Speaker B:And I was like, okay, bite, bite.
Speaker B:And she's like, well, which one's chicken?
Speaker B:I was like, oh, I like that.
Speaker B:I can't tell.
Speaker B:Like, that's really cool.
Speaker B:So they're, they're great.
Speaker B:They have a really good crew.
Speaker B:And they're one of the larger spots in the market hall itself.
Speaker B:Very popular lunch spot over here is Hinckley's Fancy Meats.
Speaker B:So he's been one of the original guys that was selling meat out of another market.
Speaker B:Purveyor's Glass Case.
Speaker B:And then when that person moved out, he's like, hey, can I stay?
Speaker B:I'm like, yeah, just build a full concept.
Speaker B:So he's doing great sandwiches, great prepared meats.
Speaker B:He has like a tailgate box that he ships around the country for, you know, the big NFL games and then fantastic sandwiches.
Speaker B:So he's kind of like the premier sandwich guy in the.
Speaker B:In the spot.
Speaker B:There he is himself.
Speaker B:Yeah, all around great man, Nat Hinckley.
Speaker B:So good beer selection.
Speaker B:And also, you know, he makes lot of the stuff himself.
Speaker B:He's not buying it from a third party purveyor.
Speaker B:He's.
Speaker B:He is the artisan purveyor.
Speaker A:And his little pickles, too.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Great pickles.
Speaker B:On the right here you've got Gideon's.
Speaker B:Gideon's is a cookie shop.
Speaker B:The cookies, as you can see, are about the size of your hand.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:When they're open, always, always rotating seasonal flavors.
Speaker B:Very cool.
Speaker B:Like story and merch.
Speaker B:Like, he's all the arts custom to his company.
Speaker B:They started here.
Speaker B:He had $800 in his pocket and was working in an Apple store.
Speaker B:And I had a vacancy.
Speaker B:We had a popup opportunity.
Speaker B:I'm like, why don't you come for a month and see if it works?
Speaker B:And the line was out the door.
Speaker B:I'm like, hey, you want to stay?
Speaker B:He's like, hey, can I stay?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I'm like, you can stay.
Speaker B:So they've been great.
Speaker B:They actually are, I would say, a mainstay.
Speaker B:They had a new cookie release on Sunday, and the line was out the door.
Speaker B:But very cool, Quirky, on trend.
Speaker B:Sort of this goth, you know?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Very vibe.
Speaker B:Their store at Disney Springs is like, the full manifestation with, you know, cobwebs and smoking red lights at the register or whatever.
Speaker B:But that line can be 10 hours long.
Speaker B:And so people go, hey, here's the secret one.
Speaker B:Go to the original store.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And like.
Speaker B:Like at Pike's Market in Seattle, like, that's where you go to get the original Starbucks.
Speaker B:This is the original Gideon's.
Speaker B:And they're always doing great and innovative stuff.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Ryan's Ocean Room here is a traditional Hawaiian poke.
Speaker B:So not American style, but, like, truly Hawaiian.
Speaker B:If you've been there, like, and you order this, you're like, oh, that's like what it's like when you order it in in Hawaii.
Speaker B:So it was founded by the same people that own Domu, which is our ramen restaurant here.
Speaker B:And I'll explain that in a minute.
Speaker B:But it's a sister concept to the one here called gaikatsu rose.
Speaker B:Kakatsu Rose is kind of like.
Speaker B:You can see it's sort of like a bento box, but you get a stone grill.
Speaker B:And so you take your wagyu beef and you grill it on your little stone grill.
Speaker B:They've got great sake selection.
Speaker B:I think it's like, every weekend or every other week, they have like, a kind of like a family dinner.
Speaker B:You can order ahead.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I mean, family dinner, like, as in a restaurant family dinner.
Speaker B:Like, you know, before service, most restaurants will provide a family meal for the staff.
Speaker B:So they go, hey, this is what our staff would be eating.
Speaker B:But now you have access to that if you order ahead of time and come pick it up.
Speaker B:So that's Kaikatsu.
Speaker B:Are they a Michelin bib gourmand or.
Speaker B:They are, yeah, they are Michelin.
Speaker B:Michelin bib.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Same with Domu across the way here.
Speaker B:And we've I think there's total 15 Michelin concepts that came out of this market in Orlando.
Speaker B:No way.
Speaker B:So we're for sure an incubator and love, you know, knowing all these really cool chefs and seeing them flourish.
Speaker B:And across the way here, we also have some retail in the hall.
Speaker B:This is the Owl's Attic and Carla Palma.
Speaker B:So a jewelry store, handmade jewelry and curated.
Speaker B:Same thing with the vintage.
Speaker B:Owl's Attic is, you know, we got a cool neighborhood and it's always fun to find something unique that she goes, ooh, my neighbor is going to love this.
Speaker B:And she's spot on.
Speaker B:She's a great curator.
Speaker B:Freehand Goods is like a local dry goods store.
Speaker B:T shirts, leather candles, all sorts of stuff that are unique for this area.
Speaker B:They have a couple great artists that uniquely do things for them.
Speaker B:So a lot of the art is C word commissioned work.
Speaker B:So there's a lot of commissioned work here.
Speaker B:He works with some really great artists and it's given them a bigger platform, to be honest.
Speaker B:He started this out of a trailer and then had a small store across town and this came up again as a pop up.
Speaker B:He popped up and was like, hey, this is great.
Speaker B:Can I stay?
Speaker B:I said, yes, please stay.
Speaker B:Been in business for a lot of years here and always gotten something cool and trendy on the shelf.
Speaker B:20 total small scale businesses here.
Speaker B:Everything from food to retail and then even more in our kitchen, which I'll show you that people clock in by the hour to make food.
Speaker B:Lineage Coffee Roasting.
Speaker B:Small scale coffee roaster that got started in a little coffee cart at a farmer's market.
Speaker B:This was their first store.
Speaker B:They now have three across town and are one of the area's premier third wave coffee roasters.
Speaker B:So always a popular place.
Speaker B:There's generally a line.
Speaker B:So we always good baked goods as well.
Speaker B:So they do all their own baked goods at one of their stores and bring them in here.
Speaker B:Another pop up that's now become permanent is Poppy's Burritos.
Speaker B:It's Colorado style breakfast burritos.
Speaker B:The owner has family in Colorado and so she's always out doing R D and coming back with new chilies and sauces and things to accompany the burritos.
Speaker B:I can do it.
Speaker B:Well, this is Ashley, she's the proprietor of Poppies.
Speaker C:Breakfast burritos are like a thing in Colorado.
Speaker C:You can get them everywhere.
Speaker C:And I've been missing it since I moved here, so thought that I needed to share them with Florida.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker C:Yeah, keeping it.
Speaker A:So what is unique about Colorado?
Speaker A:Breakfast burritos?
Speaker C:Yeah, so we do green chili.
Speaker C:So green chili is very well known in Colorado and New Mexico.
Speaker C:So southern Colorado, you've probably heard of like hatch green chilies out of New Mexico.
Speaker C:So that's like the big name of that region for chilies.
Speaker C:But they're also produced in like southern Colorado as well.
Speaker C:We do chili festivals, chili competitions.
Speaker C:They make beer with chili like it's a thing.
Speaker C:We want it and everything.
Speaker C:So I wanted it in Florida, and so I'm bringing the burritos here, keeping it simple.
Speaker C:So I have my Federal, which is gonna be the classic, and it's named after Federal Boulevard in Colorado, which is kind of known for the best Mexican restaurants.
Speaker C:We do Mexican style chorizo in there.
Speaker C:It's our own blend.
Speaker C:And then we do seasoned potatoes, scrambled eggs, and then the green chili and cheese.
Speaker B:I think everyone calls us the OG we were the first.
Speaker B:We were the first food hall in Orlando.
Speaker B:So on the weekends, there's always some type of event happening here, either one that we're doing or the tenants are doing, from live music to trivia to sketchbooks to sword fighting with baguettes on Bastille Day.
Speaker B:You know, it's always something.
Speaker B:So the cheese shop, La Femme has a tasting room up here.
Speaker B:She has a lot of wine and cheese pairings, you know, curated dinners.
Speaker B:She travels a lot in Europe for wine and cheese.
Speaker B:And so it's.
Speaker B:She'll come back from a trip and it's like, you know, showcasing all the things that she discovered.
Speaker B:The jewelry shop downstairs has a studio upstairs.
Speaker B:So Carla Palma, she specializes in permanent jewelry.
Speaker B:So that's a welding machine.
Speaker B:And so you.
Speaker B:You buy a piece of jewelry and she welds it to you.
Speaker B:So it's permanent.
Speaker B:Permanent until it falls off or you get frustrated and cut it off.
Speaker B:So it's kind of a fun thing.
Speaker B:It's like a, you know, less skin, invasive tattoo.
Speaker A:And then you weld these shut.
Speaker D:Yes, sir.
Speaker D:So I put you here under the machine, I sit you down, and within a second, all I have to do is just turn on my machine and with this little ground and that is it.
Speaker D:I make your permanent jewelry.
Speaker D:You can take it off?
Speaker D:Yeah, definitely.
Speaker D:If you decide side.
Speaker D:But we have to cut it off.
Speaker B:David was telling me he wanted a piece that went from his nostril to his ear.
Speaker D:I can make it possible.
Speaker D:I got you.
Speaker D:I can make you a body.
Speaker D:That's basically it.
Speaker B:Good.
Speaker B:Thank you so much for your time.
Speaker B:Very much.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's very cool.
Speaker B:It's not often you see something completely different that you haven't seen anywhere.
Speaker A:You've had it.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker B:Morning.
Speaker B:This is our little kind of a speakeasy.
Speaker B:It's our.
Speaker B:We host a lot of.
Speaker B:We do host classes in here for like mixology.
Speaker B:It's a great place.
Speaker B:Yeah, great, great venue for just like mastermind groups, happy hours, you know, baby showers, whatever.
Speaker B:Yeah, just got its own cool, unique vibe and feel.
Speaker B:People come in here all the time just for doing photograph shoots and stuff, which is great, but just gives us a place to.
Speaker B:We used to have this space across the way before COVID was a big event venue and we hosted a ton of stuff there.
Speaker B:And then obviously no one wanted to do events during COVID so we pivoted and now have this great concept called the Neighbors and that'll be our last stop.
Speaker B:The Neighbors was created to pay homage to the main street districts of Orlando.
Speaker B:You can see all the names of them here on the board there, the cocktail menu.
Speaker B:There is a drink for each Main street district kind of themed around their own sense of self, if you want to call it that, or the businesses that are kind of popular in those areas.
Speaker B:Out of the kitchen comes pizzas as well as just kind of a general bar menu.
Speaker B:The kitchen before was serving the event space and when Covid hit, we.
Speaker B:We converted it into a chef's table.
Speaker B:So a couple Michelin concepts have come out of here.
Speaker B:So Camille, which is a French Vietnamese fusion, started a chef's table here and now is one of Orlando's Michelin stars.
Speaker B:And then now the Neighbors operates this venue.
Speaker B:So all Florida based retailers here in the corner, they have, you know, local musicians, poetry slams.
Speaker B:They think they had a Halloween drag night last night.
Speaker B:So it's always something fun and funky happening up here.
Speaker A:Beyond here in the market.
Speaker A:What are some other like key things you would say are kind of the camp misses here in.
Speaker A:In town?
Speaker B:Well, I'd say you've.
Speaker B:You've done some.
Speaker B:As far as the natural beauties of Orlando, of the area are not just the beaches.
Speaker B:Like everyone thinks, oh, you're landlocked, you're like, no, we have beautiful springs, we have beautiful lakes, we have, you know, alligators and airboat rights and all that.
Speaker B:Around here there is a really fantastic dining scene.
Speaker B:Really, really Exceptional small scale, owner operated.
Speaker B:And I think those are the ones that make any place unique because they're locally distinct.
Speaker B:You're not going to see them someplace else.
Speaker B:So that's great.
Speaker B:The Winter Park Boat tour.
Speaker B:So the, like out the back door here is the city of Winter Park.
Speaker B:We are the city of Orlando.
Speaker B:There's a chain of lakes and so there's this really fun boat tour that you can go around, hear all the stories of this, of the town in Orlando and Winter Park.
Speaker B:So that's a great one to see for sure.
Speaker B:At the end of this is Lou Gardens.
Speaker B:It's a beautiful, you know, city garden and a place where they host a lot of events and stuff as well.
Speaker B:So just getting outside things to do.
Speaker B:We have a great science center, but I think a lot of towns have great science centers, but most of my world is cuisine.
Speaker B:So yeah, there's just so many great places, great farmers markets, and we do produce a ton in the state.
Speaker B:So I think, you know, we are, I think, the third largest vegetable exporter in the country.
Speaker B:So we do have a really long growing season, as you can imagine.
Speaker B:Yeah, we're the reverse of up north.
Speaker B:You know that our summers are a little too hot for some things.
Speaker B:They're not greenhouse grown.
Speaker B:But the rest of the year, like right now we're hitting our peak.
Speaker B:So out front we have the garden that's there is run by two different groups, one of which is called Fleet Farming, which is a program I started with a couple other people.
Speaker B:They now farm 15 different backyards in the area by bicycle.
Speaker B:So on Sunday morning everyone comes here, they get on their bicycles and with a trailer, with tools and compost and they go and service these front yard gardens all around the district because we are the Audubon Park Garden district.
Speaker B:So just trying to get people to convert their lawns into, you know, farms is kind of what we're going for.
Speaker B:But it's been great.
Speaker B:So we're just trying to, you know, I think the main street districts of Orlando would be another tip for people visiting the area is that the districts really try to be unique and serve their neighborhood really well.
Speaker B:Which means that each district is going to feel a little different.
Speaker B:Like when you guys went to Otto's, there's a couple other spots around that.
Speaker B:Which one of the districts is that in?
Speaker A:Is that.
Speaker B:That's in the Mills 50 district.
Speaker B:Mills 50 or sorry, that's Milk district.
Speaker B:So right behind otto's is the T.G.
Speaker B:lee Milk Plant.
Speaker B:And that's why they call it the Milk District.
Speaker B:So you're in Audubon Park.
Speaker B:I mean, Ivanhoe is just down the street.
Speaker B:Baldwin's just down the street here.
Speaker B:Mills50 is where most of the Asian concepts in town are congregated.
Speaker B:I have.
Speaker B:We have a part investor and restaurant called Kaya.
Speaker B:It's a Michelin green star restaurant.
Speaker B:It's Filipino food.
Speaker A:Michelin green star.
Speaker B:So we are noticed above just the normal star of saying it's sustainable.
Speaker B:So we buy predominantly from local farms.
Speaker B:All the practices are highly sustainable and it was definitely something that we've been pushing hard.
Speaker B:So it was nice to be noticed for that.
Speaker B:And we weren't doing it for an award, but doing it for all the right reasons.
Speaker B:So, yeah, a bunch of other, like College Park, Thornton park, they all have their own unique feel.
Speaker B:And I think that would be a great way for someone to bounce around these Main street districts when they're in town and see what the locals are actually doing.
Speaker B:There's plenty of big box stores, but you're gonna have those in your own towns.
Speaker B:So, you know, why go do that when you can eat someplace unique?
Speaker A:And what.
Speaker A:What's the best farmers market in town?
Speaker B:Well, so two blocks from here is the Audubon Park Community Market.
Speaker B:And it has to be local.
Speaker B:They can't have anything that's not produced or procured or curated from the local community.
Speaker B:That's a great one.
Speaker A:And when was that?
Speaker A:When?
Speaker B:That's Monday nights.
Speaker B:Monday nights.
Speaker B:And they.
Speaker B:And it's attached to a Stardust, which has a coffee and cocktail program.
Speaker B:So you walk around having a cocktail and eating from all these local purveyors.
Speaker B:I'm biased because I grew up in Winter Park.
Speaker B:The Winter Park Farmers Market is fantastic.
Speaker B:It's open air, it's on a beautiful drag of retail and flat food and whatever.
Speaker B:So Park Avenue of Winter park is for sure a place to see.
Speaker B:It's not one of Orlando Main Street's districts, but it is kind of a quintessential New England town.
Speaker B:Like the train comes through town, there's a park.
Speaker B:The whole downtown half of it's a park.
Speaker B:So it's a really lovely place to stroll.
Speaker B:And when's that?
Speaker B:That's Saturday.
Speaker B:Yeah, Saturday morning.
Speaker B:But those are the main ones.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's been going that.
Speaker B:That is really what seeded this, that the market manager for that Gabby helped me curate for those festivals.
Speaker B:And then I'm like, hey, we could do this permanently.
Speaker B:And I was like, but I need someone to help.
Speaker B:So she was our first general manager here and she's still involved in the scene.
Speaker B:So it's been a cool, cool evolution in the area.
Speaker B:Actually right across from it.
Speaker B:I don't know if you'll be able to get reservations, but there's a Omakase style sushi restaurant called Cadence.
Speaker B:It was one of Orlando's first Michelin stars.
Speaker B:And it started downstairs.
Speaker B:Yeah, as a city 7 seat sushi restaurant back when Omakase was not a thing.
Speaker B:This is a place that really celebrates anything new and authentic and on purpose.
Speaker B:Like, we all want to see more cool, unique stuff happen.
Speaker B:And so we all support each other.
Speaker B:And like tonight I'm going to.
Speaker B:There's a place called the Kitchen House and it's like six or seven of the top chefs in town just loving on each other, doing great food, and we're all supporting it.
Speaker B:And it's about culinary education for kids that are underserved.
Speaker B:And so it's a neat culinary scene.
Speaker B:Everyone's very supportive and it continues to evolve.
Speaker B:So what's great about Orlando is so many creative people come to work at the theme parks and then they realize it's a lovely place to live.
Speaker B:And so what's happened is those people have stayed and by staying, they're adding their creativity to the area.
Speaker B:And so over 25 years of Disney being here and the theme park's growing, so many creative people have come to call Orlando home.
Speaker B:But when they're not at work, even if they're still working at theme parks, they want to do and be involved in cool things that are trendy and innovative.
Speaker B:And so it has become a very unique place because we have a feeder program.
Speaker B:You're not some, you know, Midwest town that was an old steel town that's falling apart.
Speaker B:Like, this is always bringing in new talent.
Speaker B:And the talent goes, oh, this is a really cool place.
Speaker B:I want to stay.
Speaker B:And so obviously that they become people that start businesses.
Speaker B:They become people that get hired in cool, local, unique businesses.
Speaker B:So there is a really thriving ecosystem for locally distinct things in Orlando, thanks to the theme parks.
Speaker B:It's definitely a symbiotic relationship.
Speaker B:We, we love, we have annual passes, we go all the time.
Speaker B:We love the theme parks, but we also love that we have the local diner that is not like anything else on the planet.
Speaker B:And all those people love it too.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:So as you can hear, Tim and I really had an incredible day with John Rife exploring the local food scene throughout Orlando.
Speaker A:The East End market is somewhere.
Speaker A:I think it's really a must stop on a trip to Orlando if you really want to get immersed in that local food scene and find out some more about what's really happening in town.
Speaker A:And there are a couple places that we mentioned just quickly in that episode that I do want to come back to.
Speaker A:One was a place where Tim and I got a chance to have dinner called Otto's High Dive.
Speaker A:It's a rum bar, a Cuban inspired rum bar.
Speaker A:It's Michelin recognized.
Speaker A:And not just recognized for their food, but also recognized for their outstanding cocktail program by Michelin as well.
Speaker A:And we had a fantastic dinner there.
Speaker A:So another local restaurant that we definitely wanted to call out, we did mention a number of times throughout our tour of the market too, a place called Gideon's, which, you know, it really is one of the best cookie shops I've ever had cookies at.
Speaker A:And as John mentioned, they do have two locations, not just the one in the East End market, but also a more elaborate location in the Disney Springs development.
Speaker A:And I had a chance to go check that out.
Speaker A:And if you don't have a chance to get to the market, but you are visiting Disney, you could definitely go still try their cookies over at Disney Springs.
Speaker A:And you're going to find this amazing immersive bakery that's designed to almost look like something out of a Harry Potter movie.
Speaker A:It's got these, all these old fashioned sort of goth props and medieval looking things all throughout the bakery.
Speaker A:It's a really cool place.
Speaker A:One just one thing to be aware, if you do go to the location in Disney Springs, it can have a very long wait, sometimes even several hour wait earlier in the day.
Speaker A:If you go late at night, you might be lucky enough to get a half hour or less.
Speaker A:But definitely if you don't have a chance to make it over the East End market, another way to try out some great cookies.
Speaker A:There was one really cool spot too at the top of the market called Secret Slice, which you can look up on Instagram.
Speaker A:But basically here you scan a QR code and you get kind of a surprise pizza that pops up from a little slot in a window from an upstairs office there.
Speaker A:So it's kind of like a, a speakeasy concept that's also upstairs at the East End market, which we also really enjoyed.
Speaker A:So another place that I would recommend checking out.
Speaker A:But as you can hear, Orlando has an incredibly vibrant food scene and we've really covered just, just a portion of it in this episode.
Speaker A:So that's why we're going to be coming back with a second episode continuing on with the food scene here in Orlando.
Speaker A:And this time we're meeting up with a local food blogger, Ricky Lee from Tasty Chomps, popular local food blog food blogger.
Speaker A:He's going to be taking us to the Mills 50 district, hear some more about the food SC in that part of town.
Speaker A:So we're going to be releasing that episode as well very soon.
Speaker A:And between these two episodes I think it will really give you a good overview of what's happening, this really dynamic food scene that started to emerge in Orlando.
Speaker A:And we'll talk some more about some of one of the more unusual restaurants that we that we stopped at on that trip as well.
Speaker A:So you can come back and hear about that in an upcoming episode.
Speaker A:Also, if you are planning a trip down to Orlando, I would highly Recommend checking out visitorlando.com They've got a great trip planner that you can get access to to help plan your tr.
Speaker A:So it's a great free resource for planning a trip down to Orlando that you can tap into and I also want to thank them for supporting the podcast and our recent trip down to Orlando as well.
