New Happenings at Eola General Store in Downtown Orlando including Belanger Bagels, Vegan Food, New Pastry Chef Amanda McFall

Lots of things happening lately at Eola General, in case you have not been following the news – we recently spoke with Samantha Lawless of Eola General Store about what is happening and what is to come.

THINGS THAT ARE IN ACTION:

-Belanger Bagels. We’re now proudly serving Belanger Bagels montreal style bagels. They’re made with love, delivered to the general store fresh every morning, and they fill up the store with the most insane drool-worthy smell. Within minutes of meeting Eric of Belanger, he handed us the best bagels we’ve ever had. We had to seal the deal. We’ve maintained a heavy menu emphasis on bagels since we love em and our neighborhood loves em! “BAGELS ’N BOTTLES” is our unofficial slogan, after all.

-We’ve brought in Chef Kelly Carpenter to run our new food program. We wanted to expand the menu to include some lighter options. Most of us here are veg-heads, so the goal is to have at least half of our food program be vegan friendly. We’ve just released 3 new vegan bowls (a southern grits bowl, a peanut noodle bowl, and a southwest grain bowl).

-Our in-house wine program, Curate (@curateorlando) has expanded their natural wine selection even more. When you walk into the store, you will see wine literally everywhere, and that’s exactly how we want it. We without a doubt have the largest selection of natural wines in Central Florida. Along with wine comes cheese, and we now have a full deli case of artisan cheeses available- including vegan cheeses!

-Pop ups! Something brand new for us! We’ve started teaming up with local chefs to do kitchen takeovers for dinner service. Curate provides the wine pairings, and we have a lot of fun with it. Our first one was Night Shoveler (a vegan shawarma shop concept by Orlando Meats) with new pop-ups including Lily-Ann in the house with creative small plates. Next on the roster, expect a German concept, a Thai concept, and hot chicken. Pop-ups will be advertised on our instagram (@eolageneral). Neighbors just walk on over with their dogs for date night, and it’s really cool.

THINGS SOON TO COME:

-We’ve just brought on pastry chef Amanda McFall, so keep an eye out for specialty house pastries and desserts at the general store very soon!

-Open faced sourdough toasts will be joining the menu soon. We’re in the process of working out a collaboration with Nomad Bakehouse (@nomadbakehousefl), a local sourdough maker who specializes in naturally leavened bread made with organic, stone ground, regional grains. It’s easily the best bread we’ve ever had, so stay tuned for that announcement. We’re really excited about it.

-Spritzes! Curate is working on a menu of summertime spritz cocktails for premium patio sipping! You may even be able to grab a growlette of your favorite spritz to take home.

-We will be installing oscillating fans on our front porch just in time for summer, to make socially distanced dining more breezy and comfortable.