Truffles and Trifles to Close at End of 2026 After 40 Years in College Park
Truffles and Trifles, the College Park cooking school at 711 W. Smith Street, will close at the end of 2026 after more than 40 years, founder Marci Arthur announced in a farewell letter on the school's own website.
2 minute read
FOOD & DINING · COLLEGE PARK — CLOSING
Truffles and Trifles, the College Park cooking school and specialty food shop at 711 W. Smith Street, will close its doors at the end of 2026 after more than 40 years, founder Marci Arthur has announced in a farewell letter on the school’s own website. No specific final day has been announced; the school says its final weeks will be spent hosting classes and holiday parties.
From Edgewater Drive to Smith Street
Arthur opened Truffles and Trifles in March 1986 at 1308 Edgewater Drive, with Claude Aubriot — offering specialty food products, gourmet gift baskets and cooking classes taught by Aubriot, Jim Alexander and Clair Houston, she writes. The business later moved farther north on Edgewater Drive, where Arthur partnered with Margie Varney, before settling at 711 W. Smith Street, its longtime home, where the class programme expanded alongside the specialty foods selection.
“But at 84 years of age, it is time for a change,” Arthur writes. “Truffles and Trifles will be closing its doors at the end of 2026. Though this was a difficult decision to make, it is the right one, and I am excited for what this next chapter holds.”
Generations around the table
The school describes itself as one of the longest-running woman-founded businesses in the region, and says it was named one of the top five cooking schools in the country by the Food Network; Arthur was inducted into the Orlando Sentinel’s first Culinary Hall of Fame in January 2008. In her letter she recalls teaching generations of Orlando families — date-night couples, parents and children learning side by side, and her own grandchildren, one of whom, she writes, took his first steps at the school.
“We look forward to spending our final weeks doing what we love most: hosting classes and holiday parties,” she writes. “We hope to see you in the kitchen one more time.” Remaining classes are listed on the school’s website. For the wider neighbourhood picture, see the Citizen’s College Park hub and Where to Eat in College Park Right Now.
One College Park door closes, another opens
The farewell lands in a season of change on the College Park food map: a few blocks north on Edgewater Drive, Pacchioni’s Cheesesteaks & Pizza is preparing to open in the former Pizza Bruno space. Follow both stories — and every verified opening and closing across the region — in the Food & Dining archive and on the beats index. In Parramore, this desk is also tracking Broken Strings Brewery’s closing on West Church Street, with a final pour set for November 30.
Sources & notes
- Truffles and Trifles — “A Fond Farewell from Truffles and Trifles,” the founder’s closing announcement on the school’s official website, trufflesandtrifles.com (opened March 1986 at 1308 Edgewater Drive; longtime home 711 W. Smith Street, Orlando; closing at the end of 2026; no specific final date announced). All quotations are from that letter, signed Marci Arthur, Founder.
- Food Network top-five and Culinary Hall of Fame details are stated as the school states them on its own site.
- Photo: a cook at work in a kitchen (file photo — not the Smith Street school). Shixart, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; house photo grade applied.
Orlando Citizen by email
The weekly edition, in your inbox
One email, every Saturday: the week’s edition of Orlando Citizen — the week’s stories, rankings and winners, gathered in one place. Free, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Related Stories
Editor’s Picks
Spotted an error? Tell us — corrections · How we rank
