Kyle Arnold:
Raw fish trend finds way to Lake Mary.
A new poke restaurant will bring the marinated raw fish trend to Lake Mary and is joining Orange County Brewers, Nothing Bundt Cakes and 1000 Degrees Pizza in a new development.
The Park Lane Place development is set to open this summer and local restaurant consultant Daniel Joseph is debuting a new restaurant, Poke Joint, at the property.
Poke Joint will put the emphasis on the trendy marinated fish as a featured dish, instead of other restaurants that use it as an accent in salads, bowls and wraps, Joseph said.
“The survivors in the poke craze are going to be the ones that can focus on poke and make it work [financially],” Joseph said.
“Tuna and salmon can be expensive if you don’t know how to procure it. And the dish should be mostly poke, instead of just a salad with a little fish in it.”
The development at the northeast corner of Heathrow Park Lane and International Parkway in Lake Mary can benefit from neighboring large office buildings for Verizon and Veritas Technologies.
Joseph said he hopes to open the development in July.
Other tenants slated for the property include expansion for downtown beer crafter Orange County Brewers and Baldwin Park coffee spot Tutto Cafe as well as national chain Chicken Salad Chick.
Ivanhoe restaurant
Dallas Cowboys lineman Kadeem Edwards is pairing with a local restaurateur for Stir Restaurant and Bar, a new brunch and American fare restaurant near Lake Ivanhoe in the former Nova Orlando spot.
Edwards, who went to Seminole High School in Sanford and has played for three NFL teams, is working with former Park Station investor Blake Levison.
“The spot has so much character with the brick and vaulted ceilings,” Levison said. “We will be redecorating, but it is really a great building already.”
Health inspections
Vietnamese, Chinese and soul food restaurants all felt the hammer of state health inspectors that temporarily shut down the eateries after finding evidence of pests, according to records from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant at 3677 S. Orlando Ave. in Sanford was shut down Feb. 6 after accumulating 23 violations during a health inspector visit, including having live and dead roaches. Several of the roaches were near freezers. It reopened Feb. 7.
Huong Viet was closed was shut down on Feb. 8 with rodent and roach activity. The restaurant at 5286 W. Colonial Drive in Orlando remained closed until February 12.
Ivory’s Take-Out Restaurant in Mount Dora at 1325 N. Grandview St. was closed temporarily Feb. 8 because of roaches, including two found in a flour bin, as well as roach droppings near a sink. It reopened on Feb. 9. The restaurants’ managers did not respond to requests for comment.