National Sake Day is October 1! Sake, a Japanese rice wine made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Unlike wine, in which alcohol is produced by fermenting sugar that is naturally found in grapes, sake is produced by a brewing process similar to beer, where the starch is converted into sugars, before being converted to alcohol.

Raise your glass, and let’s sake through our city three ways!

Sit and Sake: Dragonfly – Taste worry free– each table will receive a complimentary tasting from a Zen Tokubetsu Junmai magnum. Additionally, servers will assist guests with sake pairings for dishes on the new fall Omakase menu.

Sake + Go: Bento (All locations) – BOGO hot sake all day! Choose from a selection including lychee sake, fuji apple sake, raspberry sake, white peach sake and unfiltered nigori sake.

Sake Happily: Hawkers Asian Street Fare – Sip sake at the bar and choose from a variety of $3 small plates during happy hour at this Mills 50 favorite.

The national food holidays continue, hooray! Next Tuesday is National Coffee Day, and to celebrate Barnie’s will unveil their anniversary coffee flavor. The shop held a contest this summer, asking their fans to vote to bring back one classic Barnie’s flavor for their 35^th Anniversary. Plus Barnie’s will offer one free cup of coffee per guest all day on National Coffee Day!

And if you’re a Dunkin’ Donuts fan enjoy a free medium hot or iced Dark Roast coffee in all locations. Plus Dunkin’ Donuts is expanding their espresso beverage lineup with the introduction of their new Pumpkin Macchiato. Available hot or iced, Dunkin’ Donuts’ Pumpkin Macchiato is a handcrafted, layered espresso beverage made with steamed milk and pumpkin flavored swirl, then topped with a double shot of freshly-brewed espresso. The Pumpkin Macchiato will be available at participating Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants by September 28.

So perk up, there’s free coffee coming your way. Happy National Coffee Day friends!

Photo Credit: Dunkin’ Donuts

Imagine a world where you can grocery shop from your sofa….in your pajamas. Imagine no more because this is now a reality in Orlando. Shipt, a grocery delivery service, is serving up some of the best food in town – your grocery list.

Last week while driving back from vacation I was dreading my weekly grocery trip. The parking, the shopping, the grocery unload on the conveyor belt, the car load, the lugging of food inside and then finding the space for all your ingredients. The grocery store in a word….hassle.

I’m totally describing an insignificant problem, yet Shipt is making my life just a little bit simpler. After placing a quick order through the app, my personal Shipt shopper came to the door and delivered my entire grocery list, including some hard to find spicy pistachios.

And the pricing? For a $15 monthly fee you can have unlimited groceries delivered to you all at the touch of your phone. It’s amazing. So whether your a busy professional or stay-at-home mom, Shipt has set out to make one chore a little bit more manageable. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to order some apples and gummy worms.

The 14^th annual Taste of Thornton Park returns next month and will serve as an annual fundraiser event for the Thornton Park Neighborhood Association. Proceeds from Taste of Thornton Park will fund the various community events throughout the neighborhood including the Four Rivers fountain. Wines, cocktails, savory entree samples and sweets are all served throughout the evening.

Participating vendors include Hawkers, Dexter’s, World of Beer and so many more neighborhood favorites. With an expansive line-up it’s easy to see why this event sells out each year. For a complete list of participating vendors click here.

When: Thursday, October 15th, 2015 from 6:30 – 9:30
Where: Intersection of Washington and Hyer around the fountain
Tickets: Tickets are $30.00 for advance purchase and $40.00 at the gate. Click here for online ticket purchase.