Things To Do In SW Florida

Boxer & Clover, a brand-new barbecue concept from Matt Hinckley featuring the responsibly sourced meats he’s known to favor, will be taking over the East End Market space soon to be vacated by Farm & Haus as a six-month popup.

Meanwhile, Hinckley’s new Mid Drive Dive, a partnership with fellow East End Market veteran Jacob Zepf, is careening toward a late-February soft opening in Orlando’s College Park neighborhood. His eponymous Orlando Sentinel Foodie Award-winning market stall, Hinckley’s Fancy Meats, is running full steam. And his son, Emrys, is about to transition into full-blown toddlerhood.

But apparently, he’s still got some free time.

Mid Drive Dive, new concept from two East End Market vets, coming to College Park

“We want to see how it feels in the space,” Hinckley told the Orlando Sentinel of the Boxer & Clover six-month trial. “If it’s a good fit for the market and the community, then perhaps we’ll do a proper buildout and stay. If it makes sense to find a larger, brick-and-mortar space, we’ll consider that.” read more

MIAMI — Dwarfing a lineup of older ships docked at PortMiami, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas certainly looked the part as it now holds the title of world’s largest cruise ship. The larger-than-life approach doesn’t quit on the inside, either.

During a media tour of the ship Thursday, the cruise line’s new class of ship that arrived to South Florida this week flexed its interior trappings, a combination of new offerings with familiar ones seen on the Oasis class, which are now just baby sisters to Icon.

Perhaps the most eye-catching is the first thing people will see once stepping on board is a massive sphere called the Pearl. It takes the place of the traditional atrium one might find on other cruise ships.

The three-deck space in the middle of the Royal Promenade features what Royal Caribbean’s chief product innovation officer Jay Schneider called a “jaw-dropping arrival experience” during a previous interview detailing the architectural approach to the new ship. That includes the floor-to-ceiling glass façade that acts as a massive window. It’s meant to hammer home the ship’s theme “to connect you to the ocean.” read more

By LISA MASCARO and KEVIN FREKING (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted Friday he is sticking with the bipartisan spending deal he struck with the other congressional leaders, but offered no clear path for overcoming hard-right opposition within his own party to prevent a partial government shutdown next week.

Johnson emerged from days of testy meetings behind closed doors at the Capitol to read a terse statement. Just months on the job, the new speaker is trying to set the record straight that he will not renege on the budget deal he made earlier this week. But in his first big test as the new leader, he has yet to show how he will quell the revolt from his right flank that ousted his predecessor.

“Our top-line agreement remains,” Johnson, R-La., said, referring to the budget accord reached Jan. 7.

“We are getting our next steps together, and we are working toward a robust appropriations process,” he said. “So stay tuned for all that.”

It’s the same intractable political dilemma that led a core group of right-flank Republicans to boot Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the speaker’s office last year as they revolted against the deal he struck with the other congressional leaders and that President Joe Biden signed into law. read more