Where Have All the Good Chefs Gone

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In recent years, I enjoyed several fab meals created by Orlando's chef Robert Mason (Boheme restaurant). But as it often happens, chefs move about and diners lose track of them. So last Saturday, it was a nice surprise to rediscover Mason at Fiorella's Cucina Toscana in the Westin Imagine Orlando (westinimagineorlando.com). The chef, who cooked at the prestigious James Beard House in New York, has created a menu of Tuscan-inspired dishes for this new restaurant. (I loved the contemporary interior that serves as a background for Charles Keila's color-intense glass artwork.) Indulging in Mason's maccheroni formaggio, mac and cheese with pancetta, asparagus tips, sundried tomatoes, carmelized onions and goat cheese, I remembered just how totally creative this chef is in the kitchen. And then there's his limoncello marinated shrimp, and his Maine lobster ravioli in sherry lobster sauce.