Tip Jar

If you're a vegan, mark July 26 on your calendar – that's when Ethos Vegan Kitchen officially opens its doors in the former Urban Flats space on the corner of New York and Fairbanks avenues, next to Hot Olives. Expect expanded hours, table service, new menu items and the one thing the old locale in Ivanhoe Village didn't have – parking (yesss!).

If you like your chocolate like your humor – dark – then stop reading now. July 28 is National Milk Chocolate Day, and Peterbrooke Chocolatier of Winter Park is celebrating by giving away 100 milk chocolate bars, starting at 10 a.m. Some lucky person will also win a year's worth of free chocolate.

In case you hadn't noticed, more and more businesses on International Drive are catering to free-spending, cash-toting Brazilian tourists, making Brazilian eateries a fast-growing segment of the I-Drive dining scene. The latest entry is Amazon Forest Café on International Drive, opened by the same folks who run Brazilian bakery Pão Gostoso. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served, but açaí bowls (the new fro-yo) are dished out all day long.

According to a post on the 4 Rivers Smokehouse Facebook page, the original shack will close July 28 and the new, much larger space down the road at 1600 W. Fairbanks Ave. will open July 30 (finally!), with plenty of parking (yesss!).

Well, break a plate and call me Nikos – Taverna Opa is launching a new wine dinner series July 31 dubbed Journey & Savor. The five-course affair is $40 per person and will feature dry whites and reds as well as a Cyprian dessert wine. Dishes include oak-wood-grilled octopus, 36-hour-marinated lamb chops and Grecian bread pudding.

Got local restaurant dish? Send your tips to dining@orlandoweekly.com

> Email Faiyaz Kara