The new Orlando luxury boutique hotel has partnered with Chef Akira Back to build a dining experience with Asian Mediterranean offerings.

Orlando diners have something new to enjoy with Michelin star Chef Akira Back's new restaurant Salt & The Cellar, which features modern Asian cuisine blended with traditional Mediterranean cuisine with breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner service.

Back was born in Korea and raised in Aspen, Colorado. Back has opened critically-acclaimed restaurants in Dubai, Beverly Hills, San Diego, Seychelles North Island, Toronto, Singapore, Seoul and now, at ette hotel Orlando.

Signature dishes include Back's signature Wagyu Tacos with Tomato Ponzu, Gochujang, and Micro Cilantro, a Hot Oil Dover Sole with Scallion, Yuzu Soy, Crispy Garlic, as well as a 32 oz. Tomahawk steak encrusted in 24 karat gold. Sides include Kimchi Brussels, Togarashi Fries, Yuzu Soy Mushrooms, and Vegetable Fried Rice.

It is located at ette hotel Orlando, a 126-room luxury boutique hotel which opened its doors just minutes away from theme parks in May 2022. ette is a wellness-focused hotel and alcohol-free. A high quality mocktail menu is curated by their world renowned, mercurial mixology expert, Jarl De Vries.

Libations include Shooting Star, which features dehydrated chili & rhubarb powder, mixed citrus (yuzu & mandarin) juice, IPA 0% beer, and a dash of chili. Another creation is The Kraken with blue flower tea, violet flowers, a floral tonic, and champagne vinegar.

"We are in the business of customized service and the most luxurious details," noted Alex Ekbatani, CEO of ette hotel. "ette is the culmination of my 5-star global travel experiences melded with unique, innovative concepts and elements to create a sense of place that's earthy, true, timeless, and elegant (ette)."

The property focuses on a sophisticated, yet cozy look including organic designs, sublime object d'art, natural ingredients and more. From the Italian Calacatta marble laden lobby space, to a Tuscan-inspired courtyard leading to the pool deck, every detail has been carefully curated to create a tranquil and luxurious experience for guests.

Those looking for a view can head to the 6th floor rooftop, which features Chef Back's modern Japanese concept LIPA. Guests can enjoy zero-alcohol beverages, curated by Jarl de Vries and enjoying Chef Back's Asian cuisine soaking in views and reveling in LIPA's ambiance.

Booking is now underway for dining and for rooms.

About me: Hello my name is Carlos Hernandez and I am a writer with over 10 years of experience in the industry. I write the local blog Carlos Eats (http://www.carloseats.com) and also contribute to several newspapers and magazines with food-related blogs and articles.

Have a news tip or suggestion? Contact me at carlosreportsnews@gmail.com.

The President of Mexico may have dropped out of the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles this week, but the hosting President of the United States is coming to town for a flurry of fêtes.

A big-ticket fundraiser, a late-night TV sit-down in Hollywood, and some geopolitical arm-twisting are all on Joe Biden’s itinerary once Air Force One lands at LAX on Wednesday at around 1:30 p.m. PT. In POTUS’ first truly full-on visit to the City of Angels since taking office, and with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden in the area too, it means a familiar pre-pandemic steely security net is coming down on L.A. with road closures galore.

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Or, put it this way: avoid downtown L.A. for the rest of the week; and LAX today, Wednesday, Friday and when Biden leaves on Saturday at around 10 a.m. PT. With a dance card that also includes an in-studio Jimmy Kimmel appearance by Hollywood fave Biden on June 8 and a deep-pocket $35,000 sponsor ticket fundraiser for the DNC’s Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund at Haim and Cheryl Saban’s pad on June 10, you might want to stay out of Hollywood and Beverly Hills altogether during the latter part of the week.

We’ll update with more information when it is available from the LAPD and the Secret Service, plus whatever specifics emerge for the Jimmy Kimmel Live! sit-down and the Saban shindig. In the meantime, here is the wide-ranging guidance sent out by the Mayor’s office:

Traffic will likely be impacted in the Downtown LA area and around Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) from 10 pm Monday, June 6 through noon Saturday, June 11. The following are operational impacts expected during the Summit.

Airport: Passengers traveling to or from Los Angeles International Airport should expect rolling traffic impacts. Departing passengers are encouraged to allow additional time to reach the airport, particularly on Monday, Tuesday and Friday.

“City officials have informed that the breadth of Summit event, in terms of the number of venues used and level of security required, make it almost certain that filming requests will not be approved for Downtown during the proceedings,” FilmLA say. “Posted parking, lane closures and full street closures for filming will specifically not be allowed.”

Although Mexico’s Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Bolivia’s Luis Arce are staying home because the leaders of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela weren’t invited to the U.S.-hosted regional summit, the multi-national conference kicks off today downtown. Taking point for the administration’s Central America migration policy, or lack there of, Vice President will be participating in the summit; Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff have been at their West L.A. home all weekend already. The former California senator and Attorney General has an event at DTLA’s Sheraton Grand Hotel this afternoon and is expected to have center stage and side meetings with arriving dignitaries over the next few days.

However, to avoid being caught in the leg-hold trap of between Rep. Karen Bass (CA-D) and billionaire The Grove developer Rick Caruso, Biden won’t actually show up in Los Angeles until Wednesday. A political foster parent to scandal-hobbled outgoing L.A. mayor and stymied Ambassador to India nominee , Biden was said to have had Bass high up on his list of potential VPs back in 2020.

BTW – if you are wondering where the term “BidenJam” came from, Deadline coined it back during Barack Obama’s second term for whenever extensive road closures would go into effect when then-VP Biden for fundraisers, award shows and official business. The traffic-snarling Los Angeles visits by were referred to as “Obamageddon.”

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A Hernando man was ordered to serve the maximum punishment for striking and severely injuring his neighbor when he lived in Beverly Hills.

Citrus County Circuit Court Judge Richard Howard sentenced 43-year-old Reuben James Thompson on Monday, March 21, to 15 years in prison for aggravated battery causing great bodily harm.

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A jury found Thompson guilty of the second-degree felony Feb. 18, according to court records, and also acquitted him of resisting law enforcement without violence.

Citrus County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded the morning of Sept. 17, 2019, to Beverly Hills, where they encountered a woman stumbling toward them with blood on her face, her left eye swollen shut, and lacerations across her knotted head, according to Thompson’s arrest report.

She told authorities she went to her friend’s house after she was struck by her neighbor, Thompson, who had crossed the street to start striking her with both his fists.

According to Thompson’s arrest report, the woman said she and Thompson got into an argument earlier in the day over a dog and how Thompson had been served papers.

First responders transported the woman to Ocala Regional Medical Center for treatment. Deputies later arrested Thompson at his mother’s house in Pine Ridge.

At Thompson’s sentencing hearing on Monday, his victim told Howard about how Thompson’s attack “was unnecessary” and a violent climax to their contentious, 2-and-1/2-year relationship as neighbors.

“I have tried numerous times to get along with this man,” she said. “It was just constant threats, day in and day out.”

Thompson tried to point Howard to discrepancies in his arrest report, in the injured woman’s statements and in other trial testimony, but the judge wasn’t moved by his arguments.

Thompson’s mother also told Howard her son, who didn’t have prior felony convictions, “tries to be good and mind his own business,” unlike his intrusive neighbor, adding Thompson’s jury didn’t get the “whole story” on what happened between him and the woman.

“I believe there are lot of missing pieces to this case,” she said.

Howard disagreed, noting six jurors – “strangers” – convicted Thompson of being the aggressor and harming the woman.

“The savagery of your attack on this woman can not go unpunished,” the judge told Thompson. “It’s going to be punished to the maximum.”

Davy Kenneth Lovett, 65, Floral City, arrested May 25 for misdemeanor failure to appear. Bond $2,000.

Ross Zackary Dobrin, 22, Floral City, arrested May 25 for misdemeanor failure to appear. No bond.

Kevin Christopher Keirns, 28, Floral City, arrested May 25 for misdemeanor battery. Bond $1,000.

Sherlie Leticia Acevedo-Rodriguez, 34, Beverly Hills, arrested May 25 for two felony counts of possession of controlled substance. Bond $4,000.

Cassie Leslie Peterson, 49, Beverly Hills, arrested May 25 for misdemeanor possess/display CX/revoked/suspended drivers license with knowledge of CX/S/R and drug paraphernalia. Bond $1,500.

Kristy Lynn Holland, 44, Crystal River, arrested May 25 for felony possession of controlled substance, driving while license suspended or revoked – knowingly, and drug paraphernalia. Bond $3,500.

Annette Schallmo Zaleski, 74, Hernando, arrested May 25 for retail petit theft (value $100 or less).

Tonya Marie Reynolds, 53, Hernando, arrested May 25 for retail petit theft (value $100 or less).

Derek Andrew Kazee-Brown, 30, Floral City, arrested May 25 for felony auto theft. Bond $2,000.

Aaron Michael Kyle, 41, Homosassa, arrested May 25 for misdemeanor failure to appear. Bond $400.

Shawn Emerson Dyer, 33, Crystal River, arrested May 25 for retail petit theft (value $100 or less).

Ashley L. Geer, 35, Crystal River, arrested May 25 for petit theft (value less than $100).

George Henry Doucette, 44, Homosassa, arrested May 25 for misdemeanor domestic battery. No bond.

Kenneth Elliott Craner, 56, arrested May 25 for two felony counts of retail theft $750 or more, felony petit theft (two or more convictions of any theft) and resist officer without violence. Bond $10,000.

Richard Curtis Doty, 51, Beverly Hills, arrested May 25 for felony petit theft ($100 or more but less than $750) and burglary unoccupied conveyance. Bond $6,000.

Austin James Roosen, 27, Crystal River, arrested May 25 for misdemeanor DUI with damage to property of person of another and felony possession of controlled substance. Bond $3,000.

Arrests from May 26

Jose Rafael Cora, 30, Lecanto, arrested May 26 for felony violation of probation. No bond.

Jonathan David Manchester, 24, Inverness, arrested May 26 for misdemeanor failure to appear. Bond $2,000.

Thomas Ray Voelker, 28, Dunnellon, arrested May 26 for felony auto theft. Bond $2,000.

Mathew Lee Zummo, 35, Citrus Springs, arrested May 26 for felony violation of probation. No bond.

Richard Ray Robinett, 60, Homosassa, arrested May 26 for felony violation of probation. No bond.

Mark Allen Stacey, 32, Floral City, arrested May 26 for felony battery – commit battery with one prior conviction for battery. No bond.

Brittany Lynn Lettieri, 28, Beverly Hills, arrested May 26 for felony battery on persons 65 years of age or older – third degree. No bond.

Jessica Danielle Labance, 39, Inverness, arrested May 26 for petit theft (value less than $100). Bond $500.

Kyle Allen Lefave, 35, Homosassa, arrested May 26 for violate injunction for protection against domestic violence. No bond.

Antonio Alexis Saez, 27, Chicopee, arrested May 26 for felony burglary with battery. Bond $25,000.

A Beverly Hills real estate firm plunged into Boca Raton’s office and retail market with a $12.6 million acquisition.

Brickstar Capital bought Spanish River Plaza at 500 Northeast Spanish River Boulevard, according to a press release. The deal equates to $226 per square foot for the 56,034-square-foot, mixed-use complex with office and retail. That’s a bargain in Boca Raton, where the average sale price per square foot is $300 and upwards for office and retail spaces, according to Colliers.

Mark M. Rubin and Bastian Laggerbauer with Colliers represented the seller, an entity managed by Glenn Edwards, founder and chairman of New York-based real estate investment firm Chart Organization.

Edwards’ entity paid $8.1 million for the two-building plaza in 2015, according to records. The buildings were completed in 1974.

Sitting on 4.5 acres, Spanish River Plaza is 14 percent vacant, Rubin said. Tenants include a Colliers branch office, Ascend Properties, IntensityX3 Fitness & Kickboxing, Mane Coffee and Dunetz Wellness Center.

In a statement, Rubin said mixed-use investors like Brickstar Capital are attracted to Boca Raton due to the city’s growing affluent population, as well as South Florida’s “accelerated pandemic recovery.”

In 2021, office sales volume in Boca Raton reached a record $926.5 million, according to Colliers. The average sale price for office space is currently $300 per square foot and more than $330 per square foot for retail space. Investors are bullish because the average office rent increased 6.6 percent in the fourth quarter, year over year, and the average retail rental rate increased 10.2 percent, Colliers states.

Boca Raton is also home to the largest South Florida office deal of 2021. Last year, New York-based DRA Advisors paid a record $320.2 million for the 1.7 million-square-foot Boca Raton Innovation Campus.

Laggerbauer said Brickstar Capital has acquired similar mixed-use properties and has a repositioning strategy for Spanish River Plaza that includes renovations to the complex.

The Spanish River Plaza purchase is Brickstar Capital’s first foray into Florida. The private investment company primarily focused on “service-oriented retail centers and creative office [buildings]” in Southern California and Nevada, according to the firm’s website. Brickstar Capital’s real estate investments have ranged from $2.5 million to $100 million.