By Mark Baratelli
Hashtag Creator Du Jour
Everyone has the potential to stuck in a downtown-centric culture run, thinking the only way to experience authentic and real anything it to go downtown. To avoid this, please consider taking on a #thinkregional attitude. This will expand your idea of what is available to you for culture and food and make you think of your city as not just your city, but the cities around it. Where your city is located with regards to other cities is just as important as what exists inside your city's boundaries.
Here's one reason to #thinkregional for dinner and lunch.
Bavaro's Pizza Napoletana & Pastaria (Web | Facebook | Twitter) opened its first Orlando-area location at 1468 Tuskawilla Rd #1020, Winter Springs, FL 32708.
This is how we learned about it. We were on a panel at NPR about local food along with Tastychomps' Editor Ricky Ly (web) and Food personality and educator Emily Ellyn (web) when the owner of Bavaros, who was in the audience, invited me to eat with him that night at his restaurant. I took him up on the offer. He comped everything full disclosure, but did not pay me to write this story.
Me and the boyfriend drove 20 minute to Winter Springs (I am totally unfamiliar with the area) and landed at Bavaros. You'd never know from the outside how LOVELY it is on the inside. It's jammed inside a strip mall and hides all the greatness inside.
The food is all homemade. The pasta, the sauce, the pizza dough, the desserts, everything.
The design of the interior is fancy/casual. You don't have to dress up and you'd feel comfortable, but you can if you want and still feel comfortable. The lighting is perfectly dim with an orange glow. The centerpiece of the room is the kitchen. Visually, it takes up 70% of the room. You feel like you're inside the kitchen a little bit.
A giant orange glowing oven tiled in little sparkly tiles is swept over to the left. It's stunning and IG-worthy. The show is watching the servers and cooks, all running around making excellent food.
Everyone seems to know everything. There wasn't a question I asked that someone didn't have an answer for.
Douse your experience in wine, sit back and enjoy a great indulgent meal you *know* is homemade because you can *watch them making it by hand right in front of you* and sit for a couple hours in a lovely atmosphere.
