The past has presence at 1881 Restaurant & Bar in Kissimmee
Uzbekistan was a significant nation on the Silk Road, a network of trade routes that, for more than a thousand years, saw goods passing from Europe to East Asia and back. Silks and spices and all manner of goods moved along this ancient superhighway, carried by all manner of people, disseminating art and culture as readily as tea and textiles. Exchanges that have withstood the test of time.
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China, Greece, Russia and Turkey are just a few nations that have left a mark on Uzbek culture, rich in all ways, not the least of which is its food. Delicious mixed grill meats, bright salads, beef-stuffed pastry and dumplings and hand-pulled noodles were among the delicacies I expected to sample when I headed out to 1881 Restaurant & Bar in Kissimmee.
What I didn’t expect was to find them being served in a historic complex with vibes far better suited to a Zane Grey novel than a stop in ancient Samarkand.
Kissimmee cowboy culture is the latest to mesh with that of the Uzbeks, it seems. And Osceola County is that much richer for it.