The pandemic was a trying time for people across the food service industry, but Jay and Johnny Nartowicz and their partner Colton O’Dwyer ended up opening the right business at the exact right time. They opened Ghost Kitchen Orlando in February 2020, just weeks before COVID-era restrictions started taking effect. “It was very strange timing because it was almost like we were building this business just for COVID because all the restaurants were shutting down,” Johnny Nartowicz said. We were planning the idea back in October of 2019. So, yeah, four or five months later COVID hit — all the resta ..read more

Vinnie Nguyen and his wife, Phi Phi Lam, started their food truck, Pho Wheels, so that they could have more time to spend with their children. “The hours and restaurants are just really long,” Nguyen said. “You go in — opening, you’ve done everything — by the time you go home, it’s almost midnight as well. I miss a lot of time with my children. I was a stay-at-home dad at the beginning when they were born for like five and a half years and when going back to the workforce, it just felt like I was missing a part of myself.” Nguyen has spent much of his life around restaurants. His family has be ..read more

Vinnie Nguyen and his wife, Phi Phi Lam, started their food truck, Pho Wheels, so that they could have more time to spend with their children. “The hours and restaurants are just really long,” Nguyen said. “You go in — opening, you’ve done everything — by the time you go home, it’s almost midnight as well. I miss a lot of time with my children. I was a stay-at-home dad at the beginning when they were born for like five and a half years and when going back to the workforce, it just felt like I was missing a part of myself.” Nguyen has spent much of his life around restaurants. His family has be ..read more

A.J. Haines — the chef and owner of The Hen & Hog in Winter Park — has been relatively open about his health struggles. “The first time it hit — as far as the diverticulitis attack — it was a Tuesday morning,” Haines said. “(I was) like, ‘I don’t feel good. This is really hurting me today.’ I woke up at like 11:30 at night drenched in sweat — took the thermometer, I had 104 degree temperature. I’m like, ‘I’m in bad shape.’ So drove myself to the hospital and four and a half hours, five hours later was emergency surgery.” This happened in January. The restaurant had just opened a few m ..read more

Jamilyn Bailey and Lordfer “Lo” Lalicon, the owners of Kaya, know that Filipino food is not normally associated with “fine dining,” they are looking to change that perception. “I think everybody and not just our parents, even our friends are doubtful, like ‘You’re opening a Filipino restaurant? Casual fine-dining Filipino restaurant? Are you crazy? You can make Filipino food fine dining.’” Lalicon said. “And one of the misconceptions too is that Filipino food is ugly and no, it doesn’t have to be.” The duo like to describe Kaya as offering “casual fine dining.” They want people to feel comfort ..read more

Food Network star Guy Fieri made a stop at his Winter Park restaurant Chicken Guy! on Wednesday, announcing a big expansion of the businesses footprint. The mayor of Flavortown had several pieces of business to attend to while making his visit. “I live in Northern California, I also have a house in West Palm Beach — So, I’m going to be spending a lot more time in Florida,” Fieri said. “This (Winter Park location) is the beginning of the growth. We wanted to make sure that we had this thing dialed in and really know all the ins and outs of what we’re doing and how we’re doing it to make sure th ..read more

Katherine Franco has experienced food insecurity in her own life. She spent the first ten years of her life in the Dominican Republic, where she said members of the community always watched out for each other and ensured no one went hungry. “And then coming here (to the U.S.), my mom didn’t have much,” Franco said. “(It was) just my mom, her two kids — we were having issues with housing. My mom had to work overnight, all the time. It was just like, we would get what she could give us.” That experience of going without pushed her toward helping others in need. “I want to be able to build a spac ..read more

Bill Caldecutt is primarily an academic, working as a professor at Polk State University, but he also grew up working with his father doing pool repairs in New York. “I think a lot of the things that are good about me — there are some good things — I think most of that stuff stems from the experiences that I had out working with (my dad) learning responsibility, dealing with people, learning how to do things, learning skills,” Caldecutt said. Because of those experiences, Caldecutt wanted his own children to have the same opportunity. During the pandemic, Caldecutt got into baking, like many p ..read more

Sevarestt Allen, the chef and owner of Kitchen Savior, started learning how to cook at the age of 8. “My grandmother is I say who kind of you know taught me the ropes,” Allen said. “(I would) kind of go in the kitchen with her and she’s like, ‘Sevarrest, watch the pots. Don’t let my food burn.’” That was his introduction to cooking, but he did not always plan to pursue it as a career. “So what happened was we were I was getting ready to get laid off from a job,” Allen said. “They did us a favor and told us, ‘Hey guys at this particular point we’re gonna lay you guys off.’ So, I was newly engag ..read more

NOTE: This is a re-release of the most popular Florida Foodie episode from 2022. Florida Foodie will return with new episodes on Jan. 24 Dr. Amber Orman likes to practice what she calls “true healthcare.” “We are treating, preventing and reversing chronic disease with the way that you’re living rather than relying wholly on pills and procedures and tests and things like this,” Orman said. She is a radiation oncologist and also a practitioner of lifestyle medicine “which is using food and movement, the way that you feel stress the way that you sleep, your relationships and your use of tobacco ..read more