Eat My Florida

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 Café 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.

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In the past two years, Fly has shown that not only can restaurants succeed in downtown Tampa, they can thrive. The lively restaurant and bar has made a name by drawing crowds in for the bar scene, rooftop deck, late hours and upscale small plate dining. Now, owners Leslie Shirah and Matthew Sturm want to up the ante.

They’ve imported a chef from Brick – one of their three San Francisco restaurants – to update the menu and elevate the food. Rene Caceres is a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute and has worked at several restaurants in California. “He had to leave a city known for food, with a very supportive environment for restaurants,” says Fly GM David Bromberg. “But out there, he wasn’t the executive chef.”

In the month that Caceres has been in charge of Fly’s kitchen, he’s already exerted a hefty influence on the menu, steering it towards the seasonal California cuisine he’s familiar with, along with a dash of French influence. Wild salmon comes poached, with dill infused pomme puree, while pork loin is accented by kumquat confit.

Caceres hasn’t shed all of the other Bay area’s influence. He still doesn’t own a car and he lives in downtown, right next to the restaurant.

New Year’s Eve will be Caceres’ coming out party, with a seven course tasting menu entirely devised by the new executive chef.

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Nature’s Harvest, a 23 year old fixture in Tampa’s organic and natural foods community, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection a few weeks ago. The south Tampa store was suffering under a conflict with the bank that holds their mortgage and, according to President David Taylor, “the only way to go forward with that relationship was to use the judicial system.”

Nature’s Harvest will remain open, according to Taylor. He plans to use this as an opportunity to re-organize the store to better compete with big chains like Wild Oats/Whole Foods and the new Publix Greenwise market opening less than a mile away.

“We’ve always taken the position of bringing natural and organic foods to customers in an affordable way,” says Taylor, who will be streamlining Nature’s Harvest’s inventory and decrease the wide breadth of products. His goal is to focus on commodities, “the kinds of products people use every day,” and offer those items at more competitive prices.

Taylor recognizes that Nature’s Harvest’s biggest asset is it’s interaction with the community, so the store will also try to emphasize their customer service and education programs. He wants customer to know that no matter what Nature’s Harvest does, none of the important things will be changing.

“These days in Tampa, it’s tough,” explains Taylor. “Sometimes you have to change your business model or close.”

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“I’m not dead,” she said, in a not-so-ghostly voice left in a message.

A few weeks ago, we pointed out that Vivia’s Kitchen had closed, which was true. What we didn’t know was what she was going to do next.

“I’m closing soon on a place on MacDill,” she explained to me later. It seems the regulatory hurdles of serving dinner at her tiny place on Armenia were too high. Plus, she was getting worn out by the pressures of running the business all by herself. “I cant produce the food I want doing so much alone.”

So, she’s got some partners and a bigger space (”ink is almost dry”). The new Vivia’s should be opening by the beginning of November.

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In honor of the first day of school, here’s a quick glimpse into the stomachs of the Bay area’s future:
Hillsborough menus, Pinellas menus, Jesuit offerings, Tampa Prep.

I think it is damn sweet of the county to cut the crusts off the PB&Js for the elementary kids, but do the high school kids need that, too? Jesuit seems to offer just catered fast food, while Tampa Prep doesn’t offer much choice at all, which might explain why everyone goes here. Honestly, the public school kids seem to have a huge leg up on the preppies, dining wise. At least until you start pulling foie gras burgers and lobster tacos out of their brown paper bags.

And, of course, the ultimate ode to hash slingers everywhere:

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I am intrigued and horrified to learn that the Italian Ministry of Health has its own Military Police.

The New Yorker has a great investigation of Italian olive oil forgery, with some fine background about olive oil production.

With all the distrust I have for the government, media and the good intentions of my next-door neighbors, why do I have to start questioning my precious, fruity extra-virgin? There is something to be said for relying solely on the “boca bella” mentioned by biodiesel and olive oil magnate Leonardo Marseglia in the article, but, then again, he may be one of the bad guys.

What’s next? Am I gonna have to start avoiding farmed fish and dog food?

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Yeah, the locavore eating trend is hitting its stride, as evidenced by the massive interest in books like Plenty and Animal, Vegetable, Mineral (as well as this piece in the Times).

But, as we all know, eating local takes work. The easiest way to take advantage of our local growing season is by joining an area CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Farm. If you’re new to CSA’s, here’s how they work: Once a year you purchase a share in the farm. That share entitles you to a selection of free produce every week throughout the growing season. You never know what you’ll get until it shows up in your box.

I wrote about Geraldson Farm a little over a year ago, when the Manatee County-owned CSA project was just getting started. Now, the crops are going into the ground and it’s time to pony up for local produce. This week, Geraldson Farm began taking $50 deposits to reserve one of the 180 shares they have available for the next growing season, with the actual share cost predicted to run between $450-500. From November to May, you can pick up your organically-grown fruits and veggies at the farm in northwest Bradenton, or have them delivered to community pick-up sites in Palmetto, St. Petersburg and Sarasota.

In Tampa, there’s always Sweetwater Organic — a Florida CSA pioneer — where memberships run $615 whole/$315 half, but they fill up quick and you need to pick up at the farm (which, admittedly, is a lot of fun). Down in Punta Gorda is Worden Farm ($600/$350); they deliver to the Downtown Sarasota Farmers’ Market.

The great thing about a CSA is that veggies are forced into your life — fresh, local and organic — and you just have to figure out what to do with them. You’ll have to get creative, but you can always email me for a passel of recipes involving kale.

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Looks like Vivia’s Kitchen didn’t have the stamina for Tampa’s summer doldrums, although there may be other reasons the short-lived but tasty spot headed by Vivia Grier has closed its doors. Nothing has been confirmed, but the For Sale sign in the window and the fact that the phone is disconnected speaks volumes. (Thanks to Chris Madalena for the info.)

And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

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Here’s a report by our own Taylor Eason, who has gushed so much it sounds like an ad:

Oh my… amazing Chinese food as been uncovered in Tampa Bay. Absolutely the best Chinese in the city, bar none: Yummy House, located in a drab strip mall on Waters Ave. in Tampa, just east of Armenia on the south side. Yummy House has been open about 8 months and they have developed a quiet following of all ethnicities. Isn’t it the best compliment to a Chinese restaurant that Chinese brethren are in the house? For appetizers, try the potstickers, filled with succulent steamed shrimp; the spicy, salt and pepper calamari chew like butter; or feast on a terrine of deliciously rich wonton soup. The roast duck is amazing, but we were less impressed with the short ribs- a bit fatty and tough. The pungent Shrimp and Scallops in XO Sauce is not for the uninitiated, but the most adventurous among us dove in like it was his last meal. Three of us ate like pigs (and carried plenty home) for $60, and you can bring in your own wine for no corkage fee. Go early or late to avoid the rush on weekends.

Yummy House is located at 2202 West Waters Ave. (813) 915-2828. Lunch and dinner every day but Tuesday.

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South Tampa’s St. Bart’s and Chateau Prive closed down on July 13. The restaurant was formerly owned by Ceviche’s Gordon Davis, but was taken over in 2005 by Ocala businessman Phillip Glassman, who had plans to turn the restaurant and adjoining building into an exclusive private club. With membership fees quoted at $5,000 per year, the price always seemed a little steep to residents, and the club turned out to be a tough sell.

Although the closure isn’t a surprise to many SoHo natives, it was abrupt. “They came in the middle of the night and cleaned the place out,” said Davis, who maintained ownership of the building. “Fixtures removed from the walls and everything. It’s crummy. Nasty. We’re in our second day of clean-up.”

Davis doesn’t have immediate plans for the 11,000-square-foot property. “I don’t think I’m going to re-open St. Barts,” he said, adding that he has met with his partners to bounce around ideas. “We’ve always wanted a larger Ceviche.”

Davis and his fellow Ceviche owners have their tapas plates in a lot of fires, with a huge remodel of an historic building in Sarasota and a newly announced space in Orlando’s Church Street Station scheduled to open as soon as October. “It’ll be the largest tapas bar in the country,” he said, “over 20,000 square feet.”

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Just had a scouting report on Rand Packer’s Mariposa from our own wine maven Taylor Eason (as well as this blurb from the Times). She’s not too impressed:

“Didn’t eat there since it really looks like an upscale Tijuana Flats (and we wanted sit down, upscale service that night)… You order at the counter and they bring it to you. He spent a fortune on décor but uses plastic trays, forks, etc. Kinda shocking actually… But maybe it reflects what he wants at this stage in his career…”

I guess you can’t blame a guy for wanting to take a more casual route. She could at least have tried one of his popsicles.

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