The City Beautiful Comes Into Its Own forWorld-Class Dining
T’STRUETHATWITHTHEWORLD’STOPTHEME parks, 176 golf courses, proximity to beaches, and its title as theNo.1 vacation destination on
the planet, Orlando is synonymous with fun, although not so much when it comes to fine din- ing—at least not yet. But take a second look: Some of the world’s top celebrity chefs have
chosen to bring their inspired culinary vision to Orlando, for the simple reason that the city plays host to a global audience.A sampling of the top- line restaurants in Orlando includes Cat Cora’s Kouzzina, Emeril Lagasse Emeril’s and Emeril’s Tchoup Chop, Norman Van Aken’s Norman’s, Todd English’s bluezoo,Wolfgang Puck’s Wolf- gang Puck Grand Café, Roger Verge and Paul Bocuse’s Les Chefs de France, Melissa Kelly’s Primo, Donna Scala’s La Luca, and Roy Yam- aguchi’s Roy’s.Though guests can dine at a vari- ety of familiar, exclusive brands in Orlando, the city also serves up a full menu of independent restaurants that can only be found here. They include: The Boheme (www.grandbohemian hotel.com/dining/dining.asp)
Ethiopian, Brazilian,Argentinean,Moroccan,Turk- ish, Norwegian, Russian, Colombian, Lebanese, Peruvian, Polynesian, one of the few Indonesian restaurants in the United States, and, north of downtown, a neighborhood with more than a dozen Vietnamese restaurants and numerous Asian specialty grocery stores. With Orlando’s nearly 45 million international visitors, it makes sense that a global cuisine scene has developed.
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Orlando offers everything else your attendees
need, including nearly 440 hotels with more than 115,000 guest rooms—nearly 11,000 of them located within walking distance of the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC), ranked sec-
ond in the U.S. in terms of exhibit space (more than 2.1 million available square feet and nearly 480,000 square feet of meeting space). Area hotels and cultural venues boast more than 4.2 million square feet of additional meeting space. Getting here is a snap, too: Orlando’s world-
class airport, which provides access from nearly anywhere in the world,was voted the best large airport in customer service in a 2007 Airport Rev- enue News magazine survey.
Orlando at a Glance Convention Facilities:The Orange County Con- vention Center (www.occc.net) is one of the largest event venues in the country, with 2.1 mil- lion square feet of exhibit space. Accommodations: Nearly 440 hotels and resorts, with 115,000 guest rooms ForMoreInformation:Karen Maureen,Orlando/ Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, 6700 Forum Drive, Orlando, FL 32821-8017; PHONE: (800) 339-2082; E-MAIL: karen.maureen @orlandocvb.com; WEB SITE: www.orlando meeting.com
PROOF? CHECK THE PUDDING:
It’s not often that Orlando gets recog- nized for its sophis- ticated (yet fun) culi- nary scene—but it should be. Some of the city’s best celebrity-chef-led restaurants are Emeril’s Tchoup Chop, Roy Yam- aguchi’s Roy’s, Melissa Kelly’s
Primo (at left, the
chef in her garden), and Todd English’s bluezoo (right).