{"id":224569,"date":"2026-04-09T09:19:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T09:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/224569\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T09:19:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T09:19:08","slug":"corner-chophouse-neighborhood-feels-nuanced-classics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/224569\/","title":{"rendered":"Corner Chophouse: Neighborhood feels, nuanced classics"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have entered what will one day be known as My Martini Phase. And I have the bartenders of the Corner Chophouse<\/a> to thank for it.<\/p>\n

They and the restaurant\u2019s daily Social Hour, which runs from 4-6 p.m. most days, 2:30-4 p.m. Sundays.<\/p>\n

I hit them up early on my first visit, slid into a bar seat and noted the small selection of $10 cocktails. At the top: Martini \u2026 as you wish.<\/p>\n

I dug \u201cThe Princess Bride\u201d reference, but I\u2019m borderline filthy over Buttercup-pure every day of the week. (This was a Tuesday.)<\/p>\n

I want a few refreshing shards post-shake, refreshing and lengthening. I want formidable olives that can last two bites. I want to swirl them on the pick and watch funky blue cheese and booze dance in the glass. I do all of these things, and I sigh. This is a very good drink. And it\u2019s only ten bucks.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sipping on a classic chophouse cocktail, but as regulars begin to slide in all around me, Corner Chophouse is feeling far more like a neighborhood bar. Many customers are on a first-name basis with lots of banter with the barkeeps.<\/p>\n

I slurp a grilled oyster in a pool of savory, spicy, smoky n\u2019duja butter. I pop a girthy cocktail shrimp with a dollop of zingy housemade sauce. I take another sip. I wish I lived closer.<\/p>\n

\"$10$10 during Social Hour (4-6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 2:30-4 -p.m. Sunday), this cocktail will forever be the starter moment of what will one day be called my Martini Phase. That’s if it ever ends. (Amy Drew Thompson\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to incorporate things that everyone could enjoy on the Social Hour menu,\u201d says general manager Jayton Fee. \u201cThe Martini, the Manhattan, so people can come in and get those classics at really reasonable price. Come in after work, grab a $10 espresso martini. It\u2019s a price point that says we want you to be able to come dine often.\u201d<\/p>\n

People certainly came often when the space belonged to Dexter\u2019s, a happy hour stronghold here in Hannibal Square for ages, inspiring romantic-memory flexes among locals since the space shuttered in 2019.<\/p>\n

\"FormidableFormidable and beautifully cooked cocktail shrimp, zingy housemade cocktail sauce. (Amy Drew Thompson\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

Looking around Corner Chophouse, a Winter Park-exclusive concept by the team at Indigo Road Hospitality \u2014 bringers of Charleston\u2019s famed Oak Steakhouse and led by multiple James Beard Award nominee Steve Palmer \u2014 it would seem that the lingering ghost of Dexter\u2019s has at last been released.<\/p>\n

Fee has spent time at several Oak Steakhouses during his time with Indigo and says that each is special.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, I really love what we\u2019ve done here. I\u2019ve enjoyed coming in and having fun here, doing things the way we want to do them. Creating something entirely new.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ThisThis lamb T-bone, a winter menu item, is gone now, but lamb lovers should note that the kitchen knows what it’s doing. I’d grab up whatever new option “springs” forth. (Amy Drew Thompson\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

New for me was a mac-and-cheese side ($14) that I actually wanted to write about, a phenomenon that happens so infrequently I jokingly voted a now-shuttered Korean restaurant\u2019s tteokbokki the city\u2019s best version of the dish while posting my favorite recipe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, I kind of want Chef Nick\u2019s. Toothy radiatori, with squiggles that hang onto creamy cheddar mornay, are the key.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was helping the company open an Oak Steakhouse in Rogers, Arkansas, and they had radiatore in their dry storage. One solo box. I\u2019d never seen this noodle before in any restaurant I\u2019d worked in. It was so cool. And when we were going to open, I just knew it was going to be my mac-and-cheese noodle. It was going to hold the sauce so well and coat every single bite.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The sauce, a cheddar mornay-white American amalgam, is basic, but classic.<\/p>\n

Of course, the side itself is a chophouse staple. As is bread service, but here, it\u2019s milk bread and gorgeous, salted butter ($8). A baby Kale Caesar alongside ($15) brings nutty two times over with toasted pepitas and flurries of aged Pecorino.<\/p>\n

Also nutty, the star that puts the chop in the house:\u00a0 a 20-ounce dry-aged, bone-in ribeye ($130), shareable and memorable \u2014 superior char and beautiful medium-rare interior. Shareable? Yes. Leftovers? Also, yes. It pained me to try to note the difference between regular and dry-aged beef to my teenager, though. Mostly because this lesson required me to relinquish my take-home treats.<\/p>\n

Dry-aged steak richer, pricier, than average cut; chefs John Tesar, Gerald Sombright explain<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe process releases that excess moisture you\u2019d find in a normal steak,\u201d Billings explains, \u201cbut it doesn\u2019t dry out completely, and when you cook it, you get a nice, tender steak.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the steak person\u2019s steak, with muscle fibers tenderized in the aging process. Incredibly moist, it barely releases any liquid at all, but it eats like velvet, its steak flavor concentrated, robust.<\/p>\n

Beef at the bar is banner, too. It\u2019s where you\u2019ll find the Corner Steak Burger ($21, also available during brunch), a simple, elegant and super flavorful, blanketed with buttery Mahon cheese and tangy, mustard-forward sauce gribiche. Alongside, beautifully seasoned waffle frites.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe bar- and brunch-only Corner Steak Burger is one of the best reasons to hang out at the bar. The $10 Social Hour martini is another. (Amy Drew Thompson\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe trim all our beef in-house,\u201d says Billings, \u201cso when we\u2019re cutting ribeyes and filets and New Yorks, the pieces we\u2019re cutting aren\u2019t usable for steaks. We take those and blend them and make our \u2018steak\u2019 burgers. It\u2019s composed of a lot of filet but also has generous amounts of the others for a well-rounded fat content and a nice, juicy burger.\u201d<\/p>\n

When one of his pastry chefs pitched hummingbird cake ($14) for inclusion, Billings, who\u2019d never heard of it, balked at her description.<\/p>\n

\u201cCrushed pineapple and bananas and pecans and stuff,\u201d he chuckles. \u201cI was hesitant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then he tasted it. I suggest you do, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so well balanced and flavorful, and all the components work so well together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA sweet ending: Corner Chophouse’s hummingbird cake. (Amy Drew Thompson\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

Brown butter cream cheese frosting and housemade caramel take it over the top.<\/p>\n

Corner Chophouse held a bourbon dinner recently in its private room. $150 per person plus 20% gratuity included multiple courses with multiple pairings of Blanton, E.H. Taylor and Buffalo Trace. Twenty-four guests signed on. There was a lobster corn dog. Light atmosphere, lots of learning. They hope to make events like this regular.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe pork belly dish, done with some Asian flair, is one that regulars have locked onto, says Corner Chophouse chef Nick Billings. (Amy Drew Thompson\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

Jayton, Billings and the team here \u2014 and on my visits, they seemed very much a team \u2014 appear to be working cohesively to build something special. It\u2019s not just a phase. It\u2019s a plan they are definitely working.<\/p>\n

On my second visit, I got three olives instead of two.<\/p>\n

The martini thing might not be a phase for me, either.<\/p>\n

Find me on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter or Instagram\u00a0@amydroo<\/a>\u00a0or on the OSFoodie Instagram account\u00a0@orlando.foodie<\/a>. Email:\u00a0amthompson@orlandosentinel.com<\/a>, For more foodie fun, join the\u00a0Let\u2019s Eat, Orlando Facebook group<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you go<\/p>\n

Corner Chophouse: 558 W. New England Ave. in Winter Park, 321-972-2383: cornerchophouse.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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