Daily Loaf

Unlike many of the races in our ongoing Best of the Bay Readers’ Poll, this one isn’t all that close. With an astounding 200+ votes, Cappy’s is running away with the prize. However, there’s still time for the other big vote-getters — like Sally O’Neal’s, Mellow Mushroom, Joey Brooklyn’s, and Westshore – or even spots who haven’t tried, to mobilize support and get the vote out over the weekend, before voting ends Monday.

Just three days left to support your favorite pizza joint — plenty of time to tip the scales. Vote now!

This is the time when all the spectacular new restaurants that have opened in the past year can shine and all of Tampa Bay can snub our collective noses at the poor economy. But only one worthy spot can win, and the race is close.

Two St. Pete spots — Diner 437 and Queenshead Eurobar — are in the lead, but there’s still plenty of time to shift victory in this close race to another restaurant. Time to mobilize and vote!

Is your favorite spot in the running? Here’s are the leaders in the race so far, with their current tallies: Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a tight race so far for the title of Best Organic Food Store in the Bay. So far, our leaders are Rollin’ Oats of St. Pete and Tampa, Nature’s Food Patch in Clearwater, Publix Greenwise Market in Hyde Park, and Whole Foods Market in Tampa. It looks like it’s going to be a fight between the local stores versus the big chains.

Who do you think deserves the title? You have less than a week to vote (the poll ends Aug. 31). Vote now!

[About Daily Best of the Bay: Creative Loafing is posting writers' and editors' picks for Best of the Bay 2009 each day until the BOTB issue is released on Sept. 16. Vote now for your own BOTB choices in our Readers' Poll!]

Let your voice be heard! Who is your favorite professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, promoter, event and venue? Please make your selection from the choices listed below. Read the rest of this entry »

Stormy Daniels may be considering a 2010 run for the U.S. Senate in her home state of Louisiana, and she may do most of her adult work on the west coast, but she parties, is a favorite guest of Bubba the Love Sponge, and gets arrested for domestic abuse right here in Tampa. Read the rest of this entry »

The race for the title of Greenest Politician in the Bay area is neck and neck so far, with Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena of Tampa just two votes ahead of Councilman Karl Nurse of St. Petersburg. Behind them are Councilwoman Mary Mulhern and Rep. Rick Kriseman of St. Petersburg; Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio and Gov. Crist bring up the rear of this race.

(Editor’s Note: Ralph Nader and Al Gore are not residents of the Bay area, thus not qualifying for this race – so please don’t bother voting for them again.)

Who do you think should take the title? You have less than a week to vote (the poll ends Aug. 31). Vote now!

[About Daily Best of the Bay: Creative Loafing is posting writers' and editors' picks for Best of the Bay 2009 each day until the BOTB issue is released on Sept. 16. Vote now for your own BOTB choices in our Readers' Poll!]

Despite the culture surrounding celebrity chefs that’s sprung up in recent years worldwide, our own local culinary heroes usually spend much of their time behind the line instead of in front of the cameras. Our annual Best of the Bay Readers’ Poll is your chance to recognize your favorite knife-wielding madman (or madwoman)!

Right now, the race is tight. Here’s a rundown on the top vote-getters so far: Read the rest of this entry »

It’s another Best of the Bay Reader’s Poll race you want to know about, especially if you’re a musician working the local scene and are actively encouraging your fans to vote. This category has always been a popular one since it gives Tampa Bay bands the chance to receive much-coveted props from the people who actually go out to see their music.

Currently, it’s a rather interesting race, with six very different bands jockeying for the lead: funkin’ reggae makers Tribal Style, metal maniacs Mr. Bella, up-and-coming alt rockers Not Tonight Josephine, jazz fusionists Poetry n’ Lotion, driving and stomping rock purveyors The Beauvilles, and Southern-countrified barn burners Roppongi’s Ace.

There’s still time to vote on your own local favorite, folks. Click here to do it now; polling ends Aug. 31.

Click on the chart to make it larger

As we report on tight and interesting races in the Best of the Bay Readers’ Poll, this category is always popular. Some view it as a good thing to be named a troublemaker; others vote it as a pejorative. We don’t care how you vote/view it as long as you vote in the poll.

Longtime reader fave Joe Redner is winning at this point. You have less than two weeks to vote (the poll ends Aug. 31). Vote now,

[About Daily Best of the Bay: Creative Loafing is posting writers' and editors' picks for Best of the Bay 2009 each day until the BOTB issue is released on Sept. 16. Vote now for your own BOTB choices in our Readers' Poll!]

Ronda Storms is putting the same kind of hurting on Brian Blair in our Worst Local Politician category that his kids put on him during that infamous “domestic dispute.”

Ronda Storms has owned this Best of the Bay Readers’ Poll category for as long as I’ve been at CL, but if ever there was a year for a new face to emerge, wouldn’t 2009 be it?

After all, there are the titillating sexual allegations in the Kevin White trial. And there’s the lingering fallout from Buddy Johnson’s election snafus and loss late last year.

And yet White can’t even crack the Top 5 in balloting so far? And Storms, despite moving up to the Florida Legislature where we rarely have to hear about her nonsense, still holds a commanding lead in this category? Those who are anti-anti-Storms (sorry, it’s getting complicated here) won’t sit still for this.

Here is what the order of finish would be if balloting closed today: Read the rest of this entry »

Saigon Deli’s four varieties of Vietnamese Banh Mi — meatball, beef, roast pork, pate — all have the same garnish piled on crusty French-style bread: lightly pickled carrots, cucumber and daikon radish; a heaping mass of bright green cilantro; sliced, fresh jalapenos. A simple combination, but those ingredients contain three of the four fundamental facets of most Southeast Asian cuisine: spice from the jalapeno, sour from the pickle, sweet from the veggies. Add savory and salty meat, and you’ve hit the jackpot, all for a mere $2.99. It almost justifies the years of French colonial influence over Vietnam.

Saigon Deli, 3692 W. Waters Ave., Tampa, 813-932-0300

[About Daily Best of the Bay: Creative Loafing is posting writers' and editors' picks for Best of the Bay 2009 each day until the BOTB issue is released on Sept. 16. Vote now for your own BOTB choices in our Readers' Poll!]

Although Lenny’s (in Clearwater) has dominated this Best of the Bay Readers’ Poll category in recent years, current vote totals peg this race as one of the closest in the Food and Drink category. Lenny’s, Frog Pond, Daily Eats, Nicko’s, Pach’s Place, Pink Flamingo, Pinky’s, Skyway Jack’s, and Village Inn are all neck-and-neck for second place, while national chain First Watch has a commanding (but beatable) lead.

Are Tampa Bay’s morning-food fans going to let a chain (albeit one that started in Florida) win this award? And where is Lenny’s notorious get-out-the-vote campaign?

There’s still two weeks to propel your favorite spot to the top in this hotly contested race (the poll ends Aug. 31).

Vote now, and tell your personal Best Breakfast restaurant to get out the vote!

(Photo from Fin Fahey/Flickr.)

Teenage mom moves in with older boyfriend who owns a python. Brings toddler along. In July, the python gets out of its cage in the middle of the night and strangles 2-year-old Shaiunna Hare. One can’t help but wonder — who’s mom going to sue?

[About Daily Best of the Bay: Creative Loafing is posting writers' and editors' picks for Best of the Bay 2009 each day until the BOTB issue is released on Sept. 16. Vote now for your own BOTB choices in our Readers' Poll!]

Catherine Durkin Robinson is a “feminist mother of twins” and a political blogger, working under the title Out in Left Field.

The campaign for Best Local Blog in the Creative Loafing Readers’ Poll is getting serious; note the campaign photo at right.

Not everyone’s a fan. One jaded voter responded to the question this way:  “There’s no such thing.” We also got “no,” “none” and “I hate blogs” (which may be the name of a blog, I’m not sure).

But the 100-plus blogs nominated so far in the category suggest plenty of our readers would disagree.

The leaders at the moment? Here they are in no particular order (as the host says on I can’t remember which reality show): Read the rest of this entry »

Tourists flock to the northern tip of Fort De Soto to catch a glimpse of the island’s wildlife. Common sightings include the Wrinkly Assed Grandmother face down on a beach blanket and the Wandering Creepo, puffing out his belly and appearing at random among the sand dunes, wearing only shoes and socks. Read the rest of this entry »

We’re 2,000-plus votes and counting in this year’s Best of the Bay Readers’ Poll — deadline Aug. 31 — and there are no hotter races underway than the ones for Best Neighborhood/Hillsborough and Best Neighborhood/Pinellas.

After the jump: Find out if your ‘hood is among the front-runners. Read the rest of this entry »

What’s the hottest green trend in Tampa Bay? Rain barrels. With water restrictions still in effect in some areas, Bay area residents are buying or building their own rain barrels to harvest water to use for watering lawns and washing cars.

For every inch of rain that falls on a roof catchment area of 1,000 square feet, you can expect to collect approximately 600 gallons of rain water. Why not make use of all of this rainfall and save some dough on your water bill?
Read the rest of this entry »

Holly Benson, secretary of Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration, sounded more like my grandpa at a barbecue when she suggested poor people can solve health care woes like heart disease and diabetes with a quick jog around the block. After all, she told a radio host earlier this year, unemployment “means you have a lot more time to go running.”

[About Daily Best of the Bay: Creative Loafing is posting writers' and editors' picks for Best of the Bay 2009 each day until the BOTB issue is released on Sept. 16. Vote now for your own BOTB choices in our Readers' Poll!]

Catherine Durkin Robinson is a “feminist mother of twins” and a political blogger, working under the title Out in Left Field.

In spite of pleas from environmental groups, local governments and bashings from editorial boards, Gov. Charlie Crist signed SB 360, effectively repealing Florida’s growth management, minus the usual ceremonial signing hype. Makes us wonder where he hid to sign the offending legislation … was it in a bathroom stall somewhere?

[About Daily Best of the Bay: Creative Loafing is posting writers' and editors' picks for Best of the Bay 2009 each day until the BOTB issue is released on Sept. 16. Vote now for your own BOTB choices in our Readers' Poll!]

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kwalk628/ / CC BY-ND 2.0

[About Daily Best of the Bay: Creative Loafing is posting writers' and editors' picks for Best of the Bay 2009 each day until the BOTB issue is released on Sept. 16. Vote now for your own BOTB choices in our Readers' Poll!]

Tallahassee has the Bikini Bicyclist. Treasure Island has the heroin-thin version of Hulk Hogan who struts the beach in a gold g-string. New York City has the guitar-strumming Naked Cowboy.

And Tampa has The Senator. Read the rest of this entry »

@MarkSharpeFL gets Twitter. Even if he’s no @clairmc.

[About Daily Best of the Bay: Creative Loafing is posting writers' and editors' picks for Best of the Bay 2009 each day until the BOTB issue is released on Sept. 16. Vote now for your own BOTB choices in our Readers' Poll!]

[About Daily Best of the Bay: Creative Loafing is posting writers' and editors' picks for Best of the Bay 2009 each day until the BOTB issue is released on Sept. 16. Vote now for your own BOTB choices in our Readers' Poll!]

You gotta give Ralph Hughes points for consistency. For decades, he pulled strings behind the scenes in Hillsborough County politics to further his anti-tax, anti-impact fee agenda. He died last year, but even from the grave he has proven his anti-tax mettle: we found out this year, according to the IRS, that Hughes and his companies owe $300 million in unpaid taxes. His surviving family members insist the guvmint is wrong and are contesting the assessment.

Right: The late Ralph Hughes multi-tasks by avoiding federal taxes AND having lunch with state Sen. Ronda Storms.

[About Daily Best of the Bay: Creative Loafing is posting writers' and editors' picks for Best of the Bay 2009 each day until the BOTB issue is released on Sept. 16. Vote now for your own BOTB choices in our Readers' Poll!]

With Jeff Houck (@TheStew) of the Tampa Tribune, you get food and dining coverage cooked medium-rare in a reduction sauce of snark. His Monday “Weekend Eats” retweets chronicle the amazing, drool-worthy meals his followers ate the previous weekend. And his Top Chef live commentary is a must-read complement to the broadcast each week. A sample tweet:

As for Johnson (@rommiej) — who does NOT blog in an official role as journalist, just an individual, I must preface — read a sample of his tweetstream after the break Read the rest of this entry »

[About Daily Best of the Bay: Creative Loafing is posting writers' and editors' picks for Best of the Bay each day until the BOTB issue is released on Sept. 16. Vote now on your own BOTB choices in our Readers' Poll!]

Yes, it’s the year of calling any public protest a “Tea Party,” regardless of its issue, ideology or the actual lack of any tea at the event. Orlando held its anti-Obama wingathon first, drawing about 4,000 people whose only commonality seemed to be hatred for our current president. Then the Tea Party moved to Tampa, where it drew about 500 for an afternoon rally and maybe 1,000-2,000 for a nighttime protest. It was a flop.

By summer, the Tea Party movement had found a single issue to rally ’round: Health Care Reform. Of course, it shot itself in the foot after one anti-tax crusader, St. Petersburg neurosurgeon David McKalip, forwarded an e-mail criticizing “ObamaCare” and depicting the president as a New Guinea witch doctor. It was roundly denounced as racist and McKalip apologized and quit just about every public board he sits on.

[About Best of the Bay of the Day: Creative Loafing is posting writers' and editors' picks for Best of the Bay each day until the BOTB issue is released on Sept. 16. Vote now on your own BOTB choices in our Readers' Poll!]

Algae and bee pollen in a smoothie? Yes, the deep green, kelp-colored drink with flecks of bright yellow may be a bit off-putting at first glance, but the strawberries and bananas give it a great fruity flavor. This tasty and nutrient-packed Spirulina Power Buzz smoothie can be found at Rollin’ Oats Cafe and Market at the St. Petersburg and Tampa locations.
Read the rest of this entry »

It’s that time of year again — time to enter Creative Loafing’s virtual ballot box and vote in our annual Best of the Bay Readers’ Poll. Go to cltampa.com/botbballot and you’ll find 150 categories to vote on, from Best New Restaurant to Best Local Tweeter, from Worst Waste of Tax Dollars to Best Local Actress. You’ve got lots of time to vote: The polls close Aug. 31, with results announced in our Best of the Bay Issue on September 16 (and revealed the night before during The Loafies).

And keep your eyes on the Daily Loaf: Starting tomorrow, we’ll be previewing the BOTB choices of our writers and editors with posts labeled Best of the Bay of the Day. Watch for each day’s post and find out whether your favorites have already made this year’s list.

VOTE NOW!

We’re getting cranked up for Best of the Bay — yes, already — and this year more than ever  we want your input early in the process. We just had a brainstorm meeting to choose award categories for the Readers’ Poll, which we’re expanding this year. We’re in the process of fine-tuning our choices, and we don’t want to miss out on any great ideas.

We’re going to have a bunch of Readers’ Poll categories in Sex & Love. Read the rest of this entry »

We’re getting cranked up for Best of the Bay — yes, already — and this year more than ever  we want your input early in the process. We just had a brainstorm meeting to choose award categories for the Readers’ Poll, which we’re expanding this year. We’re in the process of fine-tuning our choices, and we don’t want to miss out on any great ideas.

As usual, we’re going to have a bunch of Readers’ Poll categories in Music. Our list includes some perennials — Best Local Band, Best Concert Venue, Best Singer/Songwriter — and some new ones (Best Jam Band). Here’s your chance to suggest a category you’d like to see. (Best Autoharpist, Best Tuvian Throat Singer, whatever. Maybe even something more sensible.)

We’re finalizing the categories next Tuesday, so the deadline to add suggestions in the Comments section below is Mon., June 8 at 5 p.m.

And just to be perfectly clear: We’re not looking  for who you think should win, just the category itself. Thanks!

Check out our one-stop, all-purpose music site.