Eat My Florida

Rocky. Hoosiers. Hoop dreams. Now, there is another entrant in that epic genre of sports films. Last Cup profiles four young competitors seeking the ultimate title in the fierce world of Beer Pong. Yep, of course I’m talking about the World Series of Beer Pong held in Las Vegas, Nevada every January. You may have seen the finals replayed at 4 a.m. on the Ocho. This year’s winner was the unstoppable team called “Chauffeuring the Fat Kid”, who took home the $50,000 grand prize. If they’d had prizes like that when I was in college, I’d have considered going pro.

Here’s some footage of the winners in action:

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With the recent closure of coffee/wine/sweets shop La Casa Dolce, I feared my choices for a quality café near CL’s headquarters would be relegated to the Starbucks on South Howard, with its overpriced java and thoroughly antiseptic environs.

But after last night’s visit to NOLA Café & News Stand, I’ve found a most worthy replacement.

I met my friend Emily at the quaint eatery, located in a tiny annex behind the Walgreens on the corner of Platt Street and Plant Avenue, around 7:30 p.m. To my mild surprise, we were the only customers, which struck me as strange because NOLA is so warm and inviting inside, evocative of the Crescent City’s laid-back charms.

We started off with café au laits and an order of beignets, neither of which I’ve had since a visit to Café Du Monde in the French Quarter about nine years ago. The three square French doughnuts came to us hot, generously coated with confectioner’s sugar, and tasted as good as they looked, each bite through the deep-fried dough revealing a delicious, puffy interior. They were perfectly complemented by our chicory coffees, which were smooth and flavorful, a welcome change of pace from the standard cup o’ joe.

Our appetites suitably whetted, I ordered a bowl of their rich, buttery jambalaya, and Emily enjoyed an equally tasty Chicken & Andouille Gumbo fortified with a well-seasoned roux.

When I asked our young server about the dearth of customers, he cited the location as a problem, while noting that business picks up considerably whenever the local news media outlets run stories on NOLA. On its website, nolacafe.com, you’ll find links to a Fox 13 profile from February, as well as a March 21 story in the St. Pete Times.

Though it might not always have the business it deserves because of its off-the-beaten-path location, I think NOLA’s in a perfect spot, far enough away from the hustle and bustle to serve as a welcome, relaxing oasis of New Orleans flavor and ambience. I’ll definitely be back.

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Local blogger TampaIAm visited Smoke (901 Platt Street, Tampa, 813-254-7070), the brand new barbecue joint on opened by Gordon Davis. From his report, it sounds promising.

Now that South Tampa icon Davis has been bought out at Ceviche, this humble barbecue joint is your only opportunity to get a bite of his vision. Thanks to permitting issues (which caused this rant about the City of Tampa), it took Davis about 2 years to open the doors on this converted gas station. Expect a wide variety of que styles, including some Hawaiian styles that make my mouth water.

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I spent some time yesterday with chef David Miller of Savant Fine Dining in Clearwater for a section of our upcoming Food Issue (June 11). You’ll read more about this young, impressive chef then, but one tidbit that stuck out was how he made a name for himself through cooking competitions while he was still a teenager. His skill in some of those elaborate contests gained him a free ride to the Culinary Institute of America. To me, the most surprising thing is that he still hungers for the competition and laments the lack of local contests for chefs.

Screw the local stuff, David, why not go back to the big leagues? Uber-chefs Thomas Keller and Daniel Boulud will be heading up Team USA in next year’s Bocuse D’Or — the most prestigious culinary competition in the world — and they’re planning to have an old-school chef-off in Orlando this September to pick a team. Judges will include a who’s who of culinary luminaries — Trotter, Batali, Ripert, Colicchio, Pepin and many more — and the competition will be judged on a long list of criteria.

Interested? Most teams are being invited by Keller or Boulud, but you can fill out an application and dare to dream. (More info at Grub Street.)

The Bocuse D’Or is named after French culinary icon Paul Bocuse. I met the guy while pouring wine at an event in Sarasota a bout a decade ago. He’s a bit of a jerk. Go Team USA!

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I also could have gone with It’s Made Of People, or I’ll Have The Long Pig.

Serious Eats cuts right to the chase –Would you eat…People?

James Beard said (according to rumor) - “I believe that if ever I had to practice cannibalism, I might manage if there were enough tarragon around.”

If you do decide to partake in the new meat sensation that’s sweeping the nation, here’s a handy guide to butchering a human carcass, with a tasty barbecue sauce recipe. Yum-o!

Would you, could you, on a train? Would you, could you, eat some brains? And what would you make?

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During a Memorial Day weekend packed with wholesome family activities, most taking place in the great outdoors, I reconnected with smores, that gooey fireside treat. Problem is, we were hanging out at the cabins in Myakka Park, where the AC blasts in the bedroom and the only fire comes from the charcoal grill cemented into the dirt out back. We all know that meat cooks best over glowing white coals, but marshmallows? That’s another story.

3 tips for smore preparation and construction after the break. (more…)

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The restaurant/bar/video gamery/recording studio/money pit brought luminaries like Fat Joe and Fabolous to walk the red carpet at the opening of the restaurant chain’s second location last week. It must have been scheduled to coincide with an unprecedented lull in hip-hop song collaboration to attract those also rans.

Hey, wait a minute - second location? There’s that decrepit spot in St. Pete that bore the HipHopSodaShop sign for the past few years, never open and now for lease. And yeah, there’s also that desperate, empty building near USF that feels like some unpopular teenage fanboy is holding a perpetual wake for Biggie in a defunct Bennigans, complete with the Xbox from his basement. But that can’t be the flagship, can it?

I guess it sort of embodies “a business with a consciousness that embraces the totality of today’s young people.” Huh.

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In a move towards increasing rents and building more green houses and red hotels, Parkshore Grill (300 Beach Dr.) owner Steve Westphal has just signed a lease at the (almost) location of Robert Irvine’s Ooze and Schmooze (400 Beach Dr.). He and Parkshore chef Tyson Grant plan on opening a restaurant, opting more for the bland 400 Beach than the grotesque moniker created by liar, liar Irvine.

“If only we could manage to land at 500 Beach,” explained Westphal, “we’d have all the green properties and could start charging an arm and a leg to anyone who happens to stop on one of our squares.” Westphal is in a tight race with Craig Chapman and Zack Gross to collect the most money from diners, free parking and beauty contest entries in downtown St. Pete, while avoiding the dreaded curse of jail.

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I’ve been eying the new McDonald’s sandwich creation since it was launched a few weeks ago — fried chicken, pickles, on a “buttery tasting” bun. Sound familiar? Yep, it’s a direct shot across the bow of Chick-Fil-A’s signature sammy. In the interests of full disclosure, my first job was at the Chick-Fil-A in the Sarasota Square Mall when I was 15. Even after coming home drenched in aerosolized grease for six-months, I was more than willing to put away a sandwich and container of waffle fries. It’s still one of my favorite fast-food joints.

Today the NYT discussed the tendency that big fast food has of stealing good ideas from little fast food, so I thought it was high time to do a little head-to-head taste test. The results of my scientific research are after the break -

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After the previous post, I called the Florida Department of Children and Families to find out how Food Stamp usage has changed over the past year for our neck of the woods. Turns out that the Suncoast is leading the way on the drastic rise of families on Food Stamps. (The data indicates number of families, not number of individuals.)

Pinellas managed to fall below the 19% state average (odd to congratulate a county for only having 17% more hungry families), but Hillsborough is way past it. And Sarasota, uh, all I can say is … wow. Things are looking grim on the Suncoast. Check out the previous post for ideas on how to help out.

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Last year I lived for a week on just $3 a day for food, the average amount that food stamp clients receive from the USDA to fill the grocery cart. It wasn’t easy, and it couldn’t end quickly enough for my taste. The real story wasn’t my gimmicky experience, though. It’s the large numbers of people who have to eke out three squares a day on the government dole. 26 million people last year. 200,000 people on the Suncoast. And those numbers are going up.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that Florida food stamp usage jumped 19% in the past year, which is over three times the national increase. Much of that comes from families who have dropped into the ranks of the working poor, with jobs that just can’t make ends meet in the current economy. When talking to food banks last December, one volunteer told me that he has people coming in for help who were donating items just a year ago.

Want to help? Donate food, cash, or time to a local food bank. Check America’s Second Harvest to find one near you.

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Tampa Bay’s 10 has a piece about water conservation in restaurants. Apparently, Swiftmud (Southwest Florida Water Management District, ironic name unintentional) has started a new program — WaterPRO — aimed at reducing water waste in the food service industry. Hopefully, that doesn’t mean they’ll be serving more evil bottled water.

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