ORLANDO, Fla. – With seven of the world's top theme parks and more than 57 million visitors in 2012, Orlando is the most visited destination in the United States. Host city to the James Beard Foundation Awards semifinalist announcement in 2014, Orlando is also emerging as a nationally recognized dining destination. Just last year, the first “Zagat Survey: Orlando City Guide” was released, offering reviews of top Orlando-area restaurants.

 From award-winning restaurants to casual cafes and international flavor, Orlando has an abundance of dining options and a breadth of famous chefs who have made the city their home.

 Celebrity Chefs and Rising Stars

Some of the hottest celebrity chefs have opened namesake restaurants in Orlando, including Norman Van Aken, Emeril Lagasse, Todd English, Wolfgang Puck, Roy Yamaguchi and Melissa Kelly. Many homegrown chefs, while not yet celebrities on a national scale, have worked at the restaurants of the country's most acclaimed chefs. They include Orlando's past James Beard semifinalists Brandon McGlamery (Luma on Park and Prato), Julie Petrakis (Ravenous Pig and Cask & Larder), Kathleen Blake (Rusty Spoon) and Kevin Fonzo (K Restaurant).

 A Local Focus

Orland chefs are looking in their own backyards, quite literally, for fresh ingredients and locally sourced goods.

 Grande Lakes Orlando, home to The Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott, sources fruits, vegetables and herbs from its very own 7,000-square-foot Whisper Creek Farm and raised-bed PRIMO Organic Garden. Chef Kevin Fonzo not only uses ingredients from an organic garden in the backyard of K Restaurant in his recipes, but also uses the garden to teach local students about healthy eating. Fonzo has been recognized by Michelle Obama and invited to tour The White House garden as part of her "Chefs Move to School" initiative.

 Proving that fruits and vegetables aren't the only ingredients sourced locally in Orlando, new community marketplace East End Market - the first of its kind in the Southeast - houses 10 local, independently-owned food enterprises, including a butcher, seafood merchant, produce vendor, florist, coffee roaster and baker. 

 Tapping into Orlando's Craft Beer and Spirits

Brewmaster, Ron Raike, one of a few certified cicerone in Florida, is devoted to making beers inspired by local ingredients at Winter Park's Cask & Larder. He always has one cask-conditioned beer served on a beer engine, practicing the “old school” method used before beer was available on tap.

Orlando Brewing Company, the only USDA-certified organic brewery in Florida, serves beer on tap at local restaurants and festivals.

Urban winery Quantum Leap embraces a sustainable focus by reducing the carbon footprint of the wine-making process.

Liquors from Winter Park Distilling Company, an artisan micro-distiller, can be found behind the bars of many local restaurants.

Speakeasies like The Pharmacy along Orlando's “Restaurant Row” and The Courtesy in downtown Orlando offer an old-fashioned ambiance, serving bitters made in-house and classic concoctions just “like the doctor ordered.”

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Visit Orlando is the official tourism association for the most visited destination in the United States, with representation in more than a dozen countries around the world. Visit Orlando, together with its 1,200 member companies that make up Central Florida's hospitality community, represent the area's leading industry that is responsible for more than $50 billion of annual economic impact.