She was invited to try out the Ingredient of the Month. Executive Chef Robert Ash came out to greet us and explain to us what we would be experiencing. Each month one ingredient is chosen to be featured in a special menu. All of the featured ingredients come from local Florida. Our ingredient was Mango.
First we we treated to cranberry scones, corn muffins and maple honey butter.
Very yummy but I didn't want to fill up!
Our meal also comprised of a tasting of two wines. The first one poured was Eroica Riesling (yes!)
The first appetizer we tried was Mango and Lump Crab Salad with avocado, arugula, quinoa, and a mango citrus vinaigrette.
This salad was so complex. I loved all of the flavors and how they combined, even though I would never have thought of putting them together. The quinoa was crunchy, which we weren't expecting and raised the salad up a notch!
Next we tried the Pulled Pork Sliders which had crispy onions, cabbage slaw, cotija cheese, and mango bbq sauce.
These were so good too! The addition of the onions and the cheese made these just different from your normal sliders. I devoured mine! Chef Ash came out and asked us which one we preferred. I chose the sliders but only barely. I would easily order both again!
Next we got a tasting of a Viognier wine. This wine wasn't as sweet as the Riesling.
Our awesome waitress noticed that I seemed to enjoy the Riesling more so kept topping off that one for me.
It was time for the entrees! First we tried the Grilled Mayport Shrimp which came with potato-bacon hash, roasted peppers, and Winter Park mango glaze.
The glaze--oh the glaze. We were spooning that sucker up! It coated the shrimp, mango and hash so nicely. And we happened to mention to Chef Ash that we loved it so much that it should be served over ice cream!
Next we tried the Roasted Florida Wahoo with chorizo dirty rice, garlic spinach, mango lime chutney, and shellfish broth.
The wahoo was delicious but I loooved the rice mixed with the shellfish broth. I easily could have eaten a bowl of just that or even the shellfish broth alone!
We were getting stuffed but had left just enough room for dessert--Warm Mango Fritters with caramel, raspberry & passion fruit dipping sauces.
If you notice in the picture, there is a fourth sauce not mentioned on the menu. That's right--Chef Ash had listened to us gush about the Winter Park whiskey mango glaze and given us a bunch to dip the fried mango into. And it was delicious!!
On a completely random, non-food note, when we walked in, I immediately loved the setup towards one side of the room. There were a bunch of chairs set up in front of a big TV. Perfect watching the big game!!
The whole night was truly amazing. We were completely spoiled. We were told that the Ingredient of the Month for November was crab! (Yes please!!)
Many thanks to Chef Ash, David's Club and the Omni at ChampionsGate for a wonderful night!
Disclaimer: I was provided a complimentary meal in exchange for a review. As always, the opinions here are completely my own.
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