The last week in January Slow Food Orlando organized the first Eat Local Week.

“A week long celebration promoting connection, community, culture and cuisine in Central Florida.”

I had the opportunity to visit three of the participating venues and tried very delicious local food.

To kick off the week, a friend organized a hay ride and tour of Deep Creek Ranch in De Leon Springs. We were able to see the cows and sheep up close and personal while one of the owners, Trisha Strawn, explained how the ranch worked. After the tour we were able to buy the meat. I had a hamburger made from the ground beef and it was very flavorful.

My next stop was on Wednesday at Stardust Video and Coffee.  Their menu consisted of bacon or mushroom quiche, focaccia with basil and rosemary and potato soup with kale and red beans. My favorite was the bacon quiche, the filling was so rich and the Winter Park Dairy raw milk bleu cheese and Lake Meadow Naturals eggs really made a difference.

My final trip was on Friday to Austins Coffee. I went with a group and there was not a single complaint among us. Austins’ menu had more local items to choose from and I had the Beer and Cheese Soup made with Orlando Brewery Blonde Ale, the 954 Salad with mixed greens from Heart of Christmas Farms, blue cheese crumbles from Winter Park Dairy, seedless grapes, pecans, red onions, grilled pears with a homemade honey vinaigrette dressing made with Winter Park Honey and a Vegan black and white cookie from Veronica’s Vegan Delights. The soup was creamy and had a great beer flavor, the salad was very fresh and the cookie could not have been better.

Eat Local Week was a great way for Slow Food Orlando to raise  awareness of local food and farmers. But it doesn’t have to end! Check out the Slow Food Orlando website to find out about farmer’s markets, events and the Slow Food movement.