brendan, Author at Orlando Shine

Michelin-starred Orlando chef is bringing a new restaurant to Icon Park this summer

Chef Michael Collantes (Website) and his 86 Hospitality group are opening Nomikai by Sushi Saint (Instagram) at Icon Park on International Drive, targeting a late July or early August opening. Collantes is behind some of Orlando’s most decorated dining, including Soseki Omakase, which holds a Michelin star; Sushi Saint earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand, and […]

Killswitch Engage brings Machine Head, Iron Reagan, and Havok to Hard Rock Live Tuesday

Killswitch Engage (Website) headlines Hard Rock Live at Universal CityWalk on Tuesday, June 16, with doors at 6:30 p.m. Machine Head, Iron Reagan, and Havok are scheduled to open. The show is part of the band’s first U.S. headline tour since last year’s “Summer of Loud” run, kicking off June 3 in Detroit and wrapping […]

Enzian is screening ‘The Wizard of Oz’ with a live Pink Floyd performance this Friday

Enzian Theater (Website) in Maitland is hosting a one-night-only event Friday, June 19, at 9 p.m. that combines The Wizard of Oz and Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon. And while stoners have been enjoying the pair-up for decades, The Dark Side of the Rainbow pairs the 1939 film with a live performance […]

Orlando is hosting the US premiere of Avatar in Concert at Dr. Phillips Center

The US premiere of Avatar in Concert is coming to the Walt Disney Theater at Dr. Phillips Center on Saturday, June 20, at 7 p.m. The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra (Website) and Opera Orlando (Website) will perform James Horner’s score live while the full film plays on screen behind them for a fun, immersive experience. Conductor […]

Millie’s Swedish Candy Company opens its first brick-and-mortar shop in College Park

Millie’s Swedish Candy Company (Instagram) opened its first brick-and-mortar location Saturday at 2529 Edgewater Drive [GMap] in College Park, next door to Doghouse (Website), in the former home of Foundation (Instagram), which glowed up and moved up the street. The local brand has built its following through pop-ups around Orlando, including a debut appearance at […]

The Orlando Shine Show – Episode 54: The Melrose Center

Episode 54 of “The Orlando Shine Show” was recorded at The Dorothy Lumley Melrose Center for Technology, Innovation, and Creativity, at the Orlando Public Library (Website) in downtown Orlando – which is where we launched the show over 10 years ago! Topics this week include an update on ths SwanGate stories and the estimated cost of […]

Historic Preservation Board chair says downtown moratorium would “gut” Orlando’s oldest historic district

Jeff Thompson has lived on Amelia Street since 1989, which is the actual year the Lake Eola Heights neighborhood became a historic district. He’s been on the City of Orlando’s Historic Preservation Board for 18 years, and is currently serving as its chair. He spent 30 years as a senior landscape architect at Walt Disney […]

A dog that survived alone in Split Oak Forest is now inspiring a matching donation campaign

A large-breed dog who spent more than a month surviving by himself in southeast Orlando’s Split Oak Forest has become the unlikely face of a new fundraising effort for Happy Trails Animal Rescue (Website), and an anonymous donor is doubling every dollar raised. Casper, a 5-year-old dog nicknamed the “Grey Ghost of Split Oak,” was […]

Morse Museum announces construction of new McKean Pavilion in Winter Park

The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art (Website) is breaking ground this summer on its new Jeannette G. and Hugh F. McKean Pavilion, replacing the programming and events building behind its main campus that has served the museum since 1995. The new pavilion will be built at 161 W. Canton Avenue [GMap], just behind […]

Southern Baptist Convention votes in Orlando to advance ban on churches with women pastors

The Southern Baptist Convention held its two-day annual meeting at the Orange County Convention Center this week, drawing more than 11,000 delegates, known as messengers, from across the country. On Wednesday, those messengers voted 6,028 to 2,026, in a 3-to-1 margin, in favor of the so-called Truth and Unity Amendment, which would enshrine a ban […]