Pre-Pandemic: Hotto Potto

Posted on by Thor

Hotto Potto (3090 Aloma Ave. Winter Park, FL 407-951-8028) is a Chinese eatery and dim sum spot specializing in hot pots served table side with house made sauces. You get a soup stock base and add any ingredients you want to your soup and then you cook it at your table. On top of that a cart is rolled up to the table offering jars and jars of delicious sauces to add to the dim sum, Pam and I tried everything. Yummm.

Stock Base

per person: choose from:

Meat Stock

$3.50

mild, med or numb Spice

Vegetarian

$3.50

mild, med or numb Spicy

Tom Yum, Miso Soup, or Tofo Tomato Soup

$4.50

Vegetables

Cilanto

$1.50

Scallion

$1.50

Fresh Pepper

$1.50

Lime

$1.50

Green Lettuce

$2.50

Iceberg Lettuce

$2.50

Napa Cabbage

$2.50

Turnip

$2.50

Fuzzy Squash

$2.50

Fried Taro

$2.50

Broccoli

$2.50

Carrot

$2.50

Tomato

$2.50

Potato

$2.50

Sweet Corn

$2.50

Bok Choy

$2.75

Spinach

$2.75

U Choy Sum

$2.90

Chinese Broccoli

$2.90

Watercress

$2.90

Enoki

$2.95

Oyster Mushroom

$2.95

Beech Mushroom

$2.95

Straw Mushroom

$2.95

Shitake

$2.95

King Oyster

$2.95

Snow Peas

$2.95

Bamboo Shoots

$2.95

Water Chestnut

$2.95

Baby Corn

$2.95

Lotus

$2.95

Knotted Seaweed

$2.95

Meat Balls

Chicken Balls

$2.50

Pork Balls

$2.50

Beef Balls

$2.50

Beef Tendon Balls

$2.50

Fish Balls

$2.50

Fried Fish Balls

$2.75

Octopus Balls

$2.90

Shrimp Balls

$2.90

Lobster Balls

$2.90

Vegetarian

Chicken Balls

$2.75

Pork Balls

$2.75

Beef Balls

$2.75

Meat Tofu

$2.75

Mini Sausage

$2.75

Veggie Shrimp

$2.90

Fish Balls

$2.90

Fish Tofu

$2.90

Squid Balls

$2.90

Stewed Lamb

$2.90

Roast Beef

$2.90

Supreme Balls

$3.25

Dumplings

Fish Skin Dumplings

$2.95

XO Dumplings

$2.95

Wonton

$2.95

Chive Dumplings

$2.95

Pork Dumplings

$2.95

Chicken Dumplings

$2.95

Veggie Dumplings

$2.95

House Dumplings

$3.50

Meats

Pork Slices

$2.50

Chicken Slices

$2.50

Pork Liver

$2.50

Pork Stomach

$2.75

Pork Intestine

$2.75

Beef Tripe

$2.75

Beef Stomach

$2.75

Beef Slices

$2.90

Chicken Chunks

$2.90

Duck Feet

$3.50

Homemade Pork Balls

$3.50

Homemade Beef Balls

$3.50

Marble Pork

  • Market Price

Lamb Slices

  • Market Price

Wagyu

  • Market Price

Seafood

Fish Slices

$2.90

Squid Slices

$2.90

Krab Sticks

$2.90

Cuttle Fish Slices

$3.50

Calamari

$3.50

Sweet Shrimp

$3.50

Scallop

$3.50

Homemade Shrimp Balls

$3.90

Jumbo Shrimp

$6.95

Jumbo Scallop

$6.95

Whole Shrimp

$6.99

Sea Cucumber Meat

$12.90

Blue Crab

  • Market Price

Fresh Oyster

  • Market Price

Fresh Clams

  • Market Price

Razor Clams

  • Market Price

Abalone

  • Market Price

Sea Cucumber

  • Market Price

Live Shrimp

  • Market Price

Live Lobster

  • Market Price

Noodles & Such

Egg

$1.00

Steamed Rice

$1.00

Egg Noodles (Sm)

$2.50

Egg Noodles (Flat)

$2.50

Vegetable Noodles

$2.50

Rice Noodles

$2.50

Rice Sticks

$2.50

Rice Vermicelli

$2.50

Wumu

$2.50

Bean Curd Sticks

$2.50

Tofu

$2.50

Udon Noodles

$2.95

Taro Noodles

$2.95

Rice Cake

$2.95

Tofu Puffs

$2.95

Raw Gluten

$2.95

Fried Gluten

$2.95

Now during the pandemic Hotto Potto only offers take out.

41 Annual Christmas in the Park

Posted on by Thor

Pam Schwartz and I met at Winter Park‘s Central Park (150 W Morse Blvd, Winter Park, FL) for the 41st Annual Christmas in the Park hosted by The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art and the City of Winter Park.

At 6:15 p.m. nine century-old Tiffany leaded-glass windows were lit. They were scattered across the lawn with two framing the chorus on stage. When I arrived I voted against muscling my way up to the stage, instead I was fascinated by the lines of people who would needed to shoot cell phone photos of the stained glass. I recognized the docent who was cheerfully talking to people about the history of the stained glass panel.

On the Central Park main stage the 160 voice Bach Festival Society Choir performed. I was seated behind a hedge and a secondary stage so I never actually saw anything that happened on stage. However the constant stream of people pressing close to the stained glass was just as entertaining for me.

Anyone who stopped to read the tombstone label was illuminated a ghostly green from below. This particular Memorial Window created  in 1909 was for a chapel for the Association for the Relief of Respectable Aged, Indigent Females which provided housing and pensions for poor elderly women. The ARRAIF was located at 891 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, N.Y which was founded in 1883 and closed down in 1974.   In 1908, a Mrs. Sage gave the association a gift of $250,000, that was used to  extend the building south to the corner of West 103
Street. The architect for the addition was Charles Rich. The addition
included the installation of Tiffany windows to the Chapel.

Tiffany wanted to return the art of glass making to the glory days of Medieval churches. Each piece of glass has a variety of color, tone and texture that became known as opalescent. The glass has imperfections, streaks, bubbles and folds that become a part of the beauty of the finished piece. The design was symmetrical yet elements within that design stepped outside of the symmetry creating some tension. I love any art that accepts imperfections as part of the process.

The crowd on the lawn came prepared for the occasion. Some had entire picnics with bottled of wine and Christmas lights to decorate the tableau and themselves. One of the songs was of course Jingle Bells and people knew to come to  the concert with their own jingle bells that they jingled and jangled in time to the music.

Shady Park

Posted on by Thor

I went to Shady Park in Winter Park for what was supposed to be a community market. It was overcast and there was no one in the park when I arrived. It started to rain and I took cover under a gazebo and started to draw this dog made of balls. When the rain let up, a little girl climbed up on the sculpture to ride the dog while her mom shot some photos.

This area was recently gentrified converting this formerly black neighborhood into a posh area of restaurants bars and this park. This problem originated 100 years ago with the practice of geographically segregating populations by race. In recent years black residents have been pushed out of their
historic and family homes due to the rising cost of living, increased
property values, and the pressures of opportunist builders. The rich continue to march west displacing families who have lived there for generations.

Shady Park, (721 W New England Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789) is centrally located in historical Hannibal Square next to the
community center. It features park benches and a tranquil sidewalk pathway.
It is perfect for reading a book or hosting a special community event.
It also includes a “spray play” water feature.

Apollo 13

Posted on by Thor

In June there was a free screening of Apollo 13 starring Tom Hanks at Winter Park‘s Central Park. I saw the film when it first came out in 1995 on the big screen. It was about the third attempt to land men on the moon. The one thing I remember form that showing was that I was seated in a front row of the theater and the film gave me a huge headache. At the time I was working at Disney Feature Animation and we had a box lunch session in which producers of the film showed us how it was made. The film was directed by Ron Howard of The Andy Griffith Show fame. Some scenes in the film featured astronauts in weightlessness. Back then there was no Digital Effects to recreate that effect so they actually got permission to build a set inside a plane known as the Vomit Comet or KC-135 airplane. It got that illustrious name because it would fly extremely high and then nose dive towards the earth creating a momentary weightlessness inside the fuselage. The remaining scenes in the capsule were usually close ups and to get the effect of weightlessness in those shots the actors would be on sea saws which would gently rock them up and down. Watching the film again I couldn’t help but wonder which scenes featured those rocking horses or sea saws.

I sketched as people set up their blankets on the Central Park Lawn. As it grew darker I made my painting darker as well. Twice the film had to be stopped as an Amtrak Train roared by. I finished my sketch about half way through the film as Tom Hanks announced, “Houston we have a problem.” An on-board explosion deprives their spacecraft of most of its oxygen supply and electric power, forcing NASA’s flight controllers to abort the Moon landing, and turned the mission into a struggle to get the three men home safely.
What followed were very exciting solutions to very difficult problems. Oxygen was being vented into space, and the astronauts had to move into the lunar landing vessel which acted as their life raft. With CO2 levels rising they realized that the filter could not keep up with the CO2 they were exhaling. The filter form the capsule they abandoned could not be used because it was round rather than square. On the ground engineers were tasked with finding a way to use the wrong shaped filter. It involved ripping the cover off a manual, some tape and tubing. When reconstructed with step by step instructions the astronauts held their breath hoping the filter would work and it did.

When the aborted mission returned to earth, the astronauts had to go back inside the capsule and jettison their life raft into space. When re entering the earths atmosphere they had to hope that the heat shield on the bottom of the capsule had not been damaged in the explosion which had been caused when they stirred the oxygen tanks. As the capsule was engulfed in flames as it dropped towards the earth everyone in the audience saw a shooting star streak above the movie screen. Apollo 13 was an amazing film about perseverance hope and steely eyes determination in the face of seemingly insurmountable life and death decisions. It was a nail biting ride from launch to splashdown. And watching it under a shooting star shower was and ethereal experience.

Rollins College

Posted on by Thor

While walking back from an event I sketched in Winter Park, I heard activity over at Rollins College and I decided to cross over Fairbanks Avenue to see what was going on. The large football field was illuminated with stadium lighting. A soccer practice was under way and I had to stop to sketch. The chapel was illuminated a bright blue with spot lights and the upper bell tower windows glowed a golden yellow. A full moon helped lighten the scene as well.

I was sketching trough the chain link fencing for the sake of convenience. One of the players saw me sitting and taking in the scene and he asked me if I was a talent scout for a professional team. Another player had a better guess of what I was up to and I showed him the sketch in progress when he asked to see.

There were a few drills and shots at the net but the huddle in the middle of the field dominated the time I spent sketching. The practice was over and the players dissipated before my sketch was complete. I didn’t linger long since this was a simple landscape scene but the lighting of the field at night would make a good plein air study should I decide to return. The Knowles Memorial Chapel at night is an amazing sight.

Spring Pops, The Race for Space

Posted on by Thor

The City of Winter Park
hosted the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra led by conductor Dean Whiteside as
they presented Spring Pops in Winter Park’s Central Park main stage. Patrons set up on the grass lawn
with blankets and lawn chairs. Some folks came really prepared with wine
candles and a full spread. Everyone was ready for a relaxing evening of music
under the stars. The sun set behind the stage as I sketched creating a warm
glow behind the performers. I squinted as I starred straight into the sunset.

The evening featured music by composer John Williams along
with other space themed music. Guest vocalists for the night were Natalie
Cordone and Shawn Kilgore. I was set up and sketching before the performer got
on stage. I was fascinated with the cello player that had a wheel on the bottom
of his instrument so he could roll it around like a wheel barrel. By the end of
the performance the stage s lit by two stage spot lights that had been set up
stage left and right.

It is so nice to enjoy an outdoor concert as the northern
states are still experiencing cold temperatures. As I write this I am at my
Sister’s home in Port Charlotte Florida.
She is looking up photos of the snow covered landscapes in the northern towns
where out other brothers and sisters live. There is nothing so rewarding as
seeing cold weather while basking in the Florida
sun.

Mon Petit Cheri

Posted on by Thor

Returning to Mon Petit Cheri (331 S Park Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789). I decided to push for a more complete sketch that encapsulated how I feel about the place. This Central Florida gem feels the closed to what it might be like to relax and sketch in a Paris cafe. Locals come here to have a coffee and to sit and chat.

I always ordered a chocolate filled croissant and a coffee that was a pleasure to nurse as I sketched. I only did this sketch after doing a series of thumbnail sketches (shown in the sketchbook). The wicker chairs also became the subject of a spread on the different types of furniture to be found in cafes.

New age coffee houses are cropping up all over Central Florida now that feature coffee and a wide selection of plants. The general notion of what constitutes a cafe keep evolving.

Though the book never became a reality, it was nice to explore and sketch the various cafes in town for a while. People offered plenty of suggestions of places I should suggest. That is the strength of social media. It is possible to crowd source to find the most intriguing places to sketch. We are living in an amazing time. Slow down once in a while sip a drink and take the time to soak in your surroundings.

Mon Petite Cheri in Winter Park

Posted on by Thor

I was asked by Querto Press in London to execute a series of sketches of cafe’s for a possible book about how to sketch cafes. Now Orlando isn’t Paris, but I started to search for the best cafes in the area. It is quite calming to slow down and sketch a cafe while sipping a coffee and chocolate croissant. Mon Petit Cheri (333 South Park Avenue Winter Park, FL 32789), seemed to feel like the most European cafe that I could find.

I stopped in several times doing thumbnails and final sketches for possible spreads in the book. Thumb nails are a really great way to organize your thoughts and create quick compositions without committing too much time on a finished sketch.

I also wrote copy to help in creating finalized layouts that showed ow the book might look. These spreads were shown at a London Book Fair to pitch the idea to prospective publishers. Unfortunately the book was not green lighted.

In this digital age it is nice too see that there are some places where people still sit an chat over a drink rater than hiding behind their phones to communicate with the hive. Perhaps my sketching is a similar anti social behavior that happens in slow motion, but for me sketching helps me truly feel a part of any new place I visit.

ODD 17 at Dexter’s in Winter Park

Posted on by Thor

Orlando Drink and Draw (ODD) invites artists to go to a new bar or restaurant each month to sample food and drink and sketch. I was living in Winter Park at the time so I decided to go to Dexter’s (558 W New England Ave Suite 100, Winter Park, FL 32789). My roommate went to this place religiously. There are often bands that perform but on this evening it was quiet. I usually go to ODD events a little early so that I get a good jump on my sketch before I start socializing with other artists. I ordered a beer and got to work.

As I was finishing the sketch, I realized that I had not seen any artists enter. The door was at the right of my sketch so I was looking towards the entrance and should have noticed and welcome any artists. I decided to put extra time into the watercolor on the sketch to pass the time but decided after a while that no one was going to show up. I  paid, packed up and walked back to my car. 

On the drive back to my studio, I got a text, “Where are you?” from an artist. I explained that no one had shown up and I left. What I didn’t realize was that daylight savings time had just ended, so I was at Dexter’s well over an hour before anyone else, and I left before the start time of the event I had scheduled. I had to apologize. I hope anyone who did get out to Dexter’s got a decent sketch that night.

Tai Chi in Central Park

Posted on by Thor

I rented a place in Winter Park two summers ago. Since I lived there, I started looking for local events to sketch and when I found out that Tai Chi was offered in Central Park, I had to go out and sketch. I arrived early, sat on a bench in the shade and started sketching where I assumed they would set up in the grass.

Back in 1998 I was working for Disney Feature Animation on the film, Mulan which is set in China. During the making of that film I studied Tai Chi as a way to unwind from the stress of production. I knew the moves and could have joined in on this day, but I decided instead to focus on the zen of creating the sketch.

When the Tai Chi participants showed up they set up on the main stage which is usually reserved for musical performances. Rather than start the sketch over, I just placed them on the green grass where I felt they belonged. Of course Tai Chi could be interpreted as a form of dance and an art form.

Creating art is forbidden by city ordinance in Winter Park. According to the Ordinance, artists a lumped together with street performers…”Perform and performance means to engage in any of the following activities: acting; singing; playing musical instruments; puppetry; pantomiming, miming; performing or demonstrating magic or acts of illusion; dancing; juggling; or the public display of and composition or creation of crafts, sculpture, artistry, writings, or compositions, including the application of brush, pastel, crayon, pencil, or other similar objects applied to paper, cardboard, canvas, cloth or to other similar medium.” I still wonder if a digital sketch is exempt.

“Prohibited public area means the pedestrian accessed public areas of the Central Business and Hannibal Square Districts along Park Avenue from Fairbanks Avenue to Swoope Avenue, and along New England Avenue from Park Avenue to Pennsylvania Avenue including the area within fifty (50) feet of the public right-of-way of Park A venue and New England Avenue on the public lanes, streets, thoroughfares, and ways, including the Winter Park train station and the public property at

what is  known as the Winter Park Farmer’s Market and the Winter Park Historical Association located at 200 West New England Avenue, excluding public performance zones as provided in subsection ( d)(2). ”

The city of Winter Park does allow for a “Weekend of the Arts” in February. Thankfully, no police wrestled me to the ground to take my pencil and the shops on Park Avenue hummed and generated profits despite my anarchistic decision to sketch performers at their craft.