Volusia County | featured news

Chef Michael Costa knows that if you ask diners if they'd like a lamb chop or crown roast, you may get some wary looks. Isn't lamb a bit expensive? And gamey?But offer them an Adana kebab - spiced ground lamb wrapped around a skewer and grilled to sizzling perfection - and you may have a new lamb fan."It's kind of a gateway drug," jokes Costa, chef at Zaytinya in Washington, D.C., part of Spanish-American chef Jose Andres' restaurant group.

I have a serious comfort food association with chicken salad sandwiches. Particularly in summer.That's when Mom made them for me for lunch. And I don't mean salads WITH chicken (the "ugh" of the healthy menu at fast-casual restaurants). I mean the sloppy, sticky diner-style chicken salads all gloopy with mayonnaise, speckled with sweet pickle relish and studded with crunchy bits of chopped celery. And the best part of the chicken salad? Those clumps that oozed out from between the bread slices to land with a plop on the plate.

Beachside Wine Boutique5-7 p.m. today: 217 Flagler Ave., New Smyrna Beach. Brie Beasley from Opici Family Distributors will pour The Crusher petite sirah,  merlot,  chardonnay,  red blend and cabernet. Light snacks will be served. Bring your own wine glass. Free. 386-846-5426.95 and Vine5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday: 1665 Dunlawton Ave., Port Orange. Port Orange's newest wine shop and wine bar is hosting a wine tasting with wine consultant Ray Hugo. $10; $5 for wine club members.

Mainland senior tailback Adrian Killins hopes to make a commitment before his team's Aug. 28 season opener against DeLand, and schools that are looking at him for both football and track are at the front of the pack."I want to get the weight off my shoulders," Killins said. "I want to commit, and worry about high school, finishing my career off and concentrating on a state championship."I'm going to pick one that will let me do both," he said.

As dean of the hospitality and culinary management school at Daytona State College, Costa Magoulas has helped a lot of people in this area prepare to start working as chefs. And now he's going to help chefs from all over the United States prepare to stop.“I have talked to many chefs who have been injured, are retiring or just want to get out the kitchen, and this prompted me to put together a seminar for the national conference of the American Culinary Federation,” Magoulas said.His presentation, “When You No Longer Can Be a Chef,” will take place on Aug.

If you didn't already have a reason to be there, or weren't searching websites for suggestions, you might never know Mulligan's Tavern and Grille existed. Environment writer Dinah Voyles Pulver and her husband had visited the restaurant - nestled away in the Victoria Hills Golf Club - once for a private wedding reception. They recently decided to visit for a late lunch.What's the ambiance like?On a Saturday afternoon, the restaurant was quiet and elegant. No loud music blared. Tables were set with leather place mats and cloth napkins, just what you might expect at a country club.

DELAND - A Marriott hotel could break ground by the end of the year, bringing more than 100 new hotel rooms to downtown.DeLand City Commissioners cleared the way for the hotel project Monday night when they approved with very little discussion the demolition of two historic buildings on the north end of downtown.“I truly believe that that project is transformational for our downtown,” Mayor Bob Apgar said after the meeting.

DELAND - The developers of the off-campus student housing known as Athens Commons want to build another of the complexes about a mile away, but neighborhood residents aren't happy with the idea.“People don't want to live in a neighborhood where you have more noise, more traffic, greater density,” said Eugene Huskey, a Stetson University professor who lives near the proposed project.

A heat wave is currently sweeping across the northeast United States, sending temperatures and humidity soaring to... about what we're used to every day down here during the summer. For us it means yet another day of high temperatures, high humidity, and the possibility of afternoon storms.
Expect mostly sunny skies with a high near 92 today, with a 50% chance of precipitation this afternoon, according to the National Weather Service in Melbourne. Tonight forecasters predict a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms before 10 p.m., with a low around 76.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio's John Kasich, a blunt governor who embraces conservative ideals but disdains the political sport of bashing Hillary Rodham Clinton, is to become the 16th notable Republican to enter the 2016 presidential race.
The second-term governor and former congressman declares his candidacy Tuesday at Ohio State University, where as a freshman political science major in 1970, he audaciously wrote a letter that landed him a 20-minute audience with President Richard Nixon.
His entry nearly rounds out an unusually diverse Republican lineup with two Hispanics, an African-American, one