Eat My Florida

As of Wednesday, Aug. 20, Eat My Florida will be folded into our new blog, The Daily Loaf.

Recently, Todd English (celeb chef and owner of about 1 metric bazillion restaurants) called Peruvian cuisine “the next big thing.” Bon Appetit’s new food blog quickly weighed in, declaring it a trend that needs an ambassador, and pointing to Peruvian celeb chef Gaston Acurio as — possibly — the face that could launch a thousand tiraditos.

I hate to say I told you so, but Sarasota chef Darwin Santa Maria of oft-lauded Selva Grill made the same prediction about Peruvian food almost a year ago. Sarasota is home to no less than four decent Peruvian joints. Only question is: what about the Bay area? Know any great places to grab some ceviche, causa and sauces laced with glorious aji pepper?

(Thanks to Grub Street.)

You shelled out a car payment for those high-end pots and pans I talk about in today’s Essential Kitchen Gear, so you better take steps to protect your investment. Although you might be tempted to grab the steel wool or belt sander the next time you have to remove a layer of solidified bacon grease or burned sugar from that formerly gleaming stainless steel, just put the power tools down. It doesn’t have to be that way.

For stainless steel cookware, typical dish soap and water will take care of daily use – and you can even throw most brands in the dishwasher — but you’ll want to have an abrasive cleanser on hand. Don’t scrub with anything metal and stay away from harsh powders and liquids like Comet or Soft Scrub; those will clean well enough but could scratch the surface of your beautiful pans. (more…)

Now that the 3G iPhone is up and running (sort of), you can make use of it’s brand new, true GPS system to do more than just get directions and illegally track people. Why not use it to find some food?

Urbanspoon, a two year old Seattle company, has launched a free iPhone app that uses the GPS (or the triangulation system on old phones) to search for restaurants that are, theoretically, in your general vicinity. Usually this type of software is only geared towards the bigger metro areas with established dining scenes — which would likely mean that our own Bay area is out of luck — but Urbanspoon recently added Tampa/St. Pete to it’s list. Awfully nice of ‘ya.

No iPhone? Well, you can still log on the old fashioned way and do an actual web search on Urbanspoon’s site, as well as read local reviews culled from the rags (ours included) and customer reviews riddled with shills. Web-browsing … clunky, but it still works.

Rocky Aoki, the man who brought Japanese culinary showmanship to America with Benihana, died last week. According to the AP story, Aoki was surrounded by his wife and six children during his final moments, which must have been awkward considering he sued four of those kids — two from each of his first two wives — after they tried to take over his restaurant chain. Apparently, they don’t like his current wife.

Forget the gossip and dirt, though, and let’s remember the man for his accomplishments: teppan-yaki, stateside. Aoki opened his first Benihana in New York in 1964, starting an empire that’s blossomed into more than 100 restaurants and thousands of imitators. Every time a chop-socky chef flips shrimp tails into his hat, builds a smoking onion volcano, or tells a tired karate kid joke before serving you griddled steak and barely cooked veggies doused in soy, you have Aoki to thank.

Beyond Benihana, Aoki was a cool cat who wrestled on the Japanese Olympic team; raced cars, boats and motorcycles; was the first man to cross the Pacific in a hot air balloon; founded classic eighties porno mag Genesis; won backgammon championships; participated in a Cannonball Run-like cross country race in a stretch Volkswagon Beetle limousine; and once had a horrific boating accident that required 10 hours of surgery and multiple removed organs. When he came to three days later, he saw his wife and his mistress waiting for him bedside. Damn, player!

That’s a life well lived, worth a raised Mai Tai or two at whatever teppan-yaki joint you favor.

Chipotle – the fast-food burrito joint owned by McDonald’s — has been trying to push more local foods through its restaurants for the past few years. Part of it is marketing, like their high-profile agreement with Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms (immortalized in Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma) to provide all the pork at Chipotle’s Charlottesville, VA locations.

Now, the restaurant chain is expanding their commitment, vowing to source at least 25% of at least one produce item from small and medium local farms at every one of Chipotle’s over 700 locations, at least when the veggies are in season. One item seems like a drop in the bucket, but with the massive volume fast food places go through it could mean big bucks for local farms.

For the Food Issue this week, I looked into the century-long trend towards menu description creep, from simple terms like “salad” in the early 1900s to the current florid menu at Mise En Place. In the process, I wasted a solid ten hours perusing images of menus from library archives. It’s fascinating stuff.

Here’s where you can go to waste an entire lazy Wednesday work day:

Los Angeles Public Library Menu Collection

Collectible Meals Historic Menu Gallery

NY Public Libraries Miss Frank E. Buttolph American Menu Collection

Alice Statler Menu Collection, City College of San Francisco

University of Washington Historical Menu Collection

We needed sustenance for another of CL’s marathon editorial meetings, so we called up SoHo joint Gourmet Pizza for a few pies. Turns out Gourmet is running an election special:

The Barack Star — a white pizza (uhm?) with ricotta, tomato, feta and pesto;
or
The Meaty McCain, your typical meat-lover’s special.
Gourmet will keep track of the sales and post a monthly victor on the restaurant’s website.

This opens up a whole new, unwanted layer to the already tough pizza decision making process. What if I want the meat pizza, but don’t want to throw in with McCain, or vice versa? Could I end up buying a pizza I don’t want in a meaningless show of political solidarity with my chosen candidate? Sigh. I’ll just take a plain cheese, thanks.

We actually ordered a bit of both. The McCain was fine, although the ham was a bit bland and chunky. The Barack was, well, odd. It tasted fine, creamy with a big hit of garlic, but the bright green pesto star in the center was a bit disconcerting. Draw your own conclusions.

Know about any other restaurants or stores running similar politico-gustatory polls?

I’ve waxed mildly poetic about Tampa’s raw/vegan restaurant Grass Roots (the miso soup is worth a visit all by itself). I was less enthusiastic about Veggie Magic, a Sarasota raw food shop involving raw ambassador and amateur filmmaker Jenna Norwood. Hey, I support amping up everyone’s consumption of raw fruits and veggies, but on the whole I find this particular dietary fetish — no food cooked over 105-115 degrees, no flesh, no dairy — to be philosophically and scientifically flawed. More importantly, most of the “cuisine” created by raw chefs runs the gamut from blah to blecch.

That’s not stopping raw food impressario and culinary hottie Matthew Kenney from transplanting himself from progressive New York City to the most dreadful city in Florida. Yep, he’s opening a raw restaurant in Orlando called Cafe 118 (referring to the max temperature it’s food will reach). The place isn’t open yet, but the website already features a link for anyone interested in franchise opportunities. Before you jump on the burgeoning raw food bandwagon and start shelling out your uncooked dough, be forewarned that one of the reasons Kenney may be expanding out of his home base in NYC involves litigation and bankruptcy relating to some of his previous businesses. Whatever, Florida is all about second chances, right?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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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.

So I’m in town for all of two days and have a couple Tampa Bay Must-Dos to knock off my list. First up? Lunch at CafĂ© Con Trey, Kennedy Boulevard’s venerable breakfast/sandwich shop. Just down the street from CL’s Tampa office, Con Trey dishes up above-average food for below-average prices. But the real draw, the reason the place wins awards, is father-son team Carlos L. Nieves Jr. and Sr. Here’s what I wrote about Carlos the Second back in ‘05:

He’s the anti-telemarketer, full of personality and warmer than your grandma. When he asks how you’re doing, he genuinely wants to know. When he says good luck, he actually means it.

That’s not a knock on my grandma. The guy’s just nice. And he and his dad were still nice when I walked in today, even as they talked about closing Con Trey after 18 years.

According to Nieves Sr., the building has been sold and the new owner wants him out. He’s looked around for new locations, but rents are too steep, so there are no plans for a Con Trey 2. He’s not planning a farewell celebration, either.

“The way it came about,” Sr. says, “we’re just gonna wave goodbye.”

Make sure you grab a Cuban before they do.

I’m currently lining up chefs to participate in our Tampa Food Issue for June — the $20 Menu Challenge. All they have to do is create a meal for two with at least three courses and keep the ingredient list to under $20. (We did this last year in Sarasota, without the course requirements. Jose Martinez’ contribution was amazing.)

Not too difficult, in my opinion, but I had a chef yesterday who was shocked. “That’s impossible,” she explained, trying to wrap her head around the concept. “Maybe these people don’t want to eat very much?”

I suspect that she’ll come up with something after she thinks about it, but later that day I was telling China Yuan owner Peter Chan what she’d said. Maybe it’s just a stylistic difference, but he had different take on the matter. “If a chef told me that, I would tell them to go to hell!” he said. “You want dinner for four I can do that. You want dinner for eight, I can do that for less than $20.” Chan explained that he’s had to feed his family for a lot less than that in the past and he knows how to stretch a dining budget.

He’ll be providing us with some recipes for the issue, so if there’s anything special on his menu you want the details on, just drop me a line. And, if you know a chef who could turn a $20 bill into haute cuisine, let us know. We’ll add them to the list if they’re willing.

What can you do with $20?

If you remember, DeSanto Latin American Bistro was reviewed negatively by both me and Laura over at the Times after they opened, so owner Doug Illman made the surprisingly smart move of closing the restaurant and hiring local super-chef Jeannie Pierola to come in and re-do the menu and train the staff to improve quality. Early returns I received from friends and readers were overwhelmingly positive. Not surprising, considering Jeannie’s talents and Latin food skills.

But wait. This weekend I received an email from a reader who has been frequenting DeSanto of late. Here’s what he said:
“Ate at DeSanto last night, my 3^rd meal there since JP’s arrival, blown away the first 2 times, last night – Awful. I asked what was up, they told me Jeannie was gone. Sounded like it happened all-of-a-sudden. Perhaps the owners couldn’t stand the heat (expensive ingredients) in the kitchen?”

I called over to the restaurant and they confirmed that Jeannie was gone from day-to-day operations, although she’s still consulting. That’s a bit sooner than the three months she was originally scheduled for, but the manager indicated that “she’s got a lot of her own things going on right now.” Maybe her own project is ramping up. Early rumors had her negotiating for space at downtown Tampa’s Skypoint, but that hasn’t been confirmed, and Jeannie’s been tight-lipped about it.

As for DeSanto, we’ll see if that one reader’s experience was an aberration or a sign of things to come. I’ll be checking it out soon.

Anyone else have a similar experience at DeSanto in the past week? Or any gossip about Jeannie’s new project? Inquiring minds want to know.

Although it’s tied up in the courts thanks to a last minute injunction, this week was supposed to be the start of the New York City Department of Health initiative mandating posted calorie counts on the menus of any restaurant chain with more than 15 outlets nationwide. Here are some of the early reactions, thanks to a few chains that kicked it off despite the delay — NY Times, NY Post, Village Voice, Midtown Lunch.

If only Florida could be so enlightened. Sadly, here in the Sunshine State you have to dig deep in the murk to find out the impact of your morning Frap and scone, or the taco salad at the Bell. Here at Eat My Florida, we want to make it easier for you to wallow in the angst of your dining decisions, so here’s a list of links to the nutrition section of every chain in the area. Here’s a teaser — bloomin’ onion = 2275 calories.

Eat it and weep:

• Burgers: McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Evos, Krystal, Five Guys, Whataburger, Hardee’s, Fatburger, Sonic, Steak N Shake,
• Chicken: Chick-Fil-A, Popeye’s, KFC, Pollo Tropical, Church’s,
• Other Fast Food Sandwich Joints: Arby’s, Subway, Miami Subs, Quiznos, Blimpie, Jersey Mike’s, Jimmy John’s,
• Other Fast Food: Taco Bell, Long John Silver’s, Chipotle, Moe’s, Panera, Boston Market, Pei Wei Asian Diner, Panda Express,
• Pizza: Hungry Howie’s, Sbarro, Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, Godfather’s, Dominos, CiCi’s,
• Breakfast, Smoothies, Coffee and Sweets: Dairy Queen, Baskin Robbins, Dunkin Donuts, Krispy Kreme, Smoothie King, TCBY, Einstein Brothers Bagels, Starbucks, Denny’s, IHOP, Bob Evans,
• Casual Dining Chains: Buffalo Wild Wings, Hooters, PF Chang’s, Chilis, TGIFiday’s, Outback, Applebee’s, Olive Garden, Ruby Tuesday’s, Carrabas, Sonny’s, Red Lobster

Who’d we miss?

Best thank you note sent to a restaurant, ever. (Thanks to SFoodie.)