Last FridaySaturday, Jenn and I had a wonderful evening out on the town. Tickets to opening night of the Orlando Philharmonic’s “Phil at Carr” series, preceded by dinner reservations at Timpano Chophouse & Martini Bar on Sand Lake Rd. in Dr. Phillips. Here’s how it went …

Timpano Chophouse & Martini Bar
We’ve been to this restaurant a few times - once to celebrate my parents’ 35th anniversary and a couple other times just for dinner. The food has always been excellent. On this night, we kept it very simple. Jenn ordered the Spaghettini and Plum Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic and Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and I had the 12 oz. NY Strip Sirloin with a side of Sautéed Asparagus.

Both dishes were perfect. The pasta was well-portioned with a sauce that was light, yet deep in flavor of each ingredient. The steak was cooked to a medium-pink and simply melted in my mouth with each bite. In fact, this is probably the best steak I’ve had in quite some time. Better even than the steak I had a few months back at Bern’s steakhouse in Tampa.

If the prices at Timpano were 10-15% less, we’d probably eat there more than once or twice a year. I’m extremely jealous of anyone that includes this place on more frequent schedule. From top to bottom, this is one of my favorite restaurants in Orlando.

Orlando Philharmonic
While neither Jenn or I had attended an orchestral performance in a very long time, opening night of the “Phil at Carr” series seemed like the perfect opportunity to start anew. After all, what else was there to do for a University of Florida alumni last Saturday night around 8:30pm.

Anyway … we arrived at Bob Carr about twenty minutes early and perused the various informational booths and mini-shops that were set up. After winding our way through the crowd, we headed to our seats and were pleased to find them in nearly the exact center of the orchestra level. When we sat down our row was nearly empty, by the time the first note was played it was still only half-full.

The Bob Carr has never been labeled beautiful, and this night was no different. The stage was undecorated and the backdrop looked like oversized vertical blinds in a less-than-elegant shade of red. The Philharmonic may want the focus to be completely on the music, but there’s definitely room for improvement from the aesthetics perspective.

As for the music, the selected pieces for the “Amadeus meets Sheherazade” performance were that perfect combination of great sound and visual artistry. I especially enjoyed the final piece, “Sheherazade”, with it’s thematic elements and storytelling flow. The soloists, Ani and Ida Kavafian, were also a pleasure to listen to, although they may have been upstaged by the Philharmonic’s first chair violinist. I’m no classical music expert, though, so I won’t try to be too critical.

Overall, the night was one I’d like to repeat (except for the Gators losing to Auburn, of course). It would be nice to see shows like this one sold out. It would also be great if the people that did show up were all in appropriate attire for the evening. Unfortunately, this is still just the Bob Carr and we’re still just in Orlando. We’ll have to wait and see if any of that changes when the new performing arts centre opens.

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