Congratulations to Steve and Micaela Falabella and their entire family and staff on the opening of the amazing Falabella Family Bistro, located at 6027 Wesley Grove Blvd. in the Village at The Grove plaza in Wesley Chapel!
Steve, who also owns 900º Woodfired Pizza in the Shops at Wiregrass, also is looking forward to the opening of his second 900º Woodfired location in The Grove, right next to his family’s “delicioso” new Italian bistro.
The Bistro is a casually elegant new place for tasty — and affordable — Italian favorites using the Falabella family’s recipes from both New York (where Steve grew up) and Milan, Italy.
Best of all, almost all of the items on the menu are only $8.95-$14.95 (with only the large-size antipasto board costing more).
Top it all off with house-made desserts like tiramisu, NY cheesecake and a perfect cappuccino and you’ll become a regular at the Bistro.
Falabella Family Bistro is open every day, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. (10 p.m. on Sat.-Sun.). For more information, call (813) 428-6957 or visit FalabellaBistro.com. — GN
The new artificial field at Wharton is progressing nicely. (Photo: @WhartonWildcats)
Wharton High will be playing its football games this fall on a brand new artificial turf field, with construction expected to be completed by the end of July.
The Wildcats will debut the field for their regular season football home opener against rival Freedom High on August 27.
“Oh yeah, they are excited about it,” says Wharton’s athletic director Eddie Henderson.
According to Henderson, Hillsborough County Public Schools is doing a rotation of 3-5 fields each summer, with the final goal being to install artificial turf at every public high school.
Last year, the first schools in the rotation — Sumner, Sickles and Hillsborough — had new fields put in. This summer, Steinbrenner, Lennard and Blake are getting new fields, along with Wharton. Each field costs roughly $2 million, but Henderson says the District will make up a lot of those costs with what it saves in maintenance and re-sodding.
“I think that there will be a lot of money saved over the long run,” Henderson says.
Plant High was the first county public school to put in an artificial turf field in 2010, after raising $600,000 for the project.
SPEAKING OF WILDCATS: Wharton recently wrapped up its spring season with a 14-0 loss in one half of play against Tampa Bay Tech, but second-year coach Mike Williams wasn’t concerned about the score.
“The spring is about evaluating our kids and seeing who is ready to move up to varsity,” Williams says. “And we liked what we saw.”
Although the Wildcats graduated all of their varsity quarterbacks, Williams was pleased with last year’s junior varsity starter, Tyree Works, who handled all of the spring snaps. But, Works will have more competition in the fall from some promising freshmen and transfers. Williams is hoping to transition from a power-based offense to one featuring more perimeter passes to spread out the game.
With leading rusher Keith Morris and some key wide receiver transfers ready to beef up the offense, Williams expects to score more than the 19 points per game the team averaged last year.
Almost every defensive player is back, including a linebacking crew that could make an argument for being the best in Tampa Bay and includes All-Staters Daveon Crouch, who recently committed to Boston College, and Henry Griffith and second-team MaxPreps Freshman All-American Booker Pickett Jr.
The Wildcats went 7-2 in 2020 because the defense was top-flight, allowing only nine points per game and posting three shutouts.
“This is going to be a big summer for a lot of the guys,” Williams says.
NUMBERS GAME AT FREEDOM: Freedom High, coming off a winless season, picked up an 8-7 jamboree win over King last month to wrap up spring football.
Quarterback Alex de la Cruz threw a touchdown pass to Greg Underwood Jr., and then found RJ Broadnax for the two-point conversion and the win.
De la Cruz will enter the fall as the starter, after promising freshman and last year’s leading passer Taquawn Anthony said he would not be returning to Freedom.
The Patriots suffered a more serious blow when their best player, Robby Washington, transferred to Eagle’s Landing High in McDonough, GA. Washington led Freedom in rushing, receiving and touchdowns last year, and averaged more than 12 yards every time he touched the ball. He has offers from Alabama, Miami and Boston College.
Third-year coach Chris Short will continue trying to rebuild the Patriots, though only 22 players dressed out for the spring game and very few of them had any previous game experience.
He says a lot of players are waiting on paperwork, but admits that adequately filling a football roster for the upcoming fall season will be a tough chore.
“The hardest thing I’m dealing with right now is the same as when I was an assistant, and that’s getting kids to come out,” Short says. “I’m hoping it’s a cyclical thing with us, but if we can get these kids signed up we’ll be okay.”
Have You Seen Our Latest Dining Videos? If you’re looking for updates on all of the new restaurants in Wesley Chapel (and New Tampa — and even beyond), look no further than our “Neighborhood News” page on Facebook.
Because so many new eateries keep opening in our distribution areas, we have increased the number of dining-oriented videos we’ve been releasing, including my latest “Neighborhood Dining News” segment, which was shot at the getting-ready-to-open Falabella Family Bistro, but also includes sneak peeks at the coming-soon Ice Dreammm Shop and Bluefin Sushi, plus food pics from the now-open Omnivorous kitchen inside Double Branch Artisanal Ales. All of these newcomers are located in the ever-expanding Village at The Grove, but there also are updates on the new Token Ramen at the Shops at Wiregrass, as well as from the new Señor Tequila (see story, left) in the former Bonefish Grill location on BBD.
Another well-received recent dining video was a look at the truly delicious Vesh Bistro at the Sarah Vande Berg Tennis & Wellness Center, even though it’s in Zephyrhills. It’s my pleasure to keep you informed, both in print and online, about all of these new places because I truly love sampling them — almost always on my own nickel.
Pick Of The Week: Vesh Bistro At SVB! I remember when I first met Mark Vesh of Vesh Catering. It was at a groundbreaking event for AdventHealth Wesley Chapel and I remember being so impressed with the food being served, I asked to meet him. Since then, I have enjoyed Mark’s delicious finger foods at any number of local events, but until recently, I had never had a complete meal created by him and his staff.
And, to date, I have not been disappointed. From appetizers like the ahi tuna bruschetta and specialties like the cauliflower crust caprese & pesto flatbread and some of the best chicken salad in town on a baked-in-house croissant and so much more, the food at the Vesh Bistro is always on-point. There’s even an all-you-care-to-eat Sunday brunch buffet with an omelet station, perfect candied bacon and a rotating menu of lunch favorites.
The Vesh Bistro is at the SVB Tennis Center (6585 Simons Rd., Zephryhills). Call (813) 517-0707, visit VeshCatering.com or watch the video on our Facebook page.
Checking Out The New Señor Tequila! I’m pretty confident that our “Neighborhood News” Facebook page was the first to tell anyone (on May 25) about the opening of Señor Tequila in the former Bonefish Grill location in the Shoppes at New Tampa plaza on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., just south of S.R. 56.
Very little seems to have been changed inside the new Mexican restaurant, the fourth link in a local chain which has existing locations on N. Dale Mabry Hwy. and in Westchase, as well as Winter Springs, and after sampling a few menu items, the food and service are both pretty good.
Wesley Chapel’s Señor Tequila is located at 1640 BBD Blvd. For more info, visit TheSenorTequila.com or call (813) 428-5411 & please tell them I sent you.
Batter & Dough Closes Storefront! So, while scrolling through Facebook, I noticed that Batter & Dough, the unique dessert and breakfast place located on S.R. 56, in the same Cypressview Square plaza as Capital Tacos, announced that it had closed its storefront location to concentrate on catering. The Facebook post I saw said, “We thank you for all the memories you created with us. Words cannot express our gratitude to the love and support we have received. We have closed our location but we will continue to make large catering orders. You can contact us through IG, FB or at Thebatterandough@gmail.com.”
While I will miss their waffle ice cream sandwiches, I may have to order some of their great desserts like this Chocolatey Peanut Buttery Pie (photo) — and others — sometime soon.
Where can you enjoy a variety of craft beers, delicious food and listen to some outstanding music, all to support a couple of great causes?
On Saturday, June 19, 4 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Double Branch Artisanal Ales, located in the Village at The Grove shopping plaza, will host the Rhythm & Brews Festival to benefit the Joshua House (a safe haven residence for abused, abandoned and neglected children) and the Rotary Club of New Tampa Foundation.
The Rhythm & Brews Festival is free to attend if you just want to hang out and listen to some great live music (starting at 4 p.m.) by Bob T & Friends. But, from 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Altered Craft Distribution and Double Branch are offering an amazing Craft Beer Tasting, which will include unlimited 3-oz. samples of an outstanding selection of craft beers, for $30 per ticket in advance or $35 per ticket at the door.Â
“Bob T” is New Tampa Rotary After Hours Satellite Club chair Bob Thompson, and club members will be volunteering during the event.Â
In addition to Double Branch, the other Altered Craft brewers offering samples at the event include Bayboro Brewing Co., Bullfrog Creek Brewing Co., Cueni Brewing Co., Dissent Craft Brewing Co., Gulfport Brewery, Overflow Brewing Co., Pinellas Ale Works, Southern Lights Brewing Co. and Troubled Waters Brewing.
The event also will feature food vendors, including Omnivorous, Double Branch’s outstanding in-house kitchen and the Neighborhood News is proud to be a sponsor of this much-needed, fun event.
Double Branch Artisanal Ales is located at 5956 Wesley Grove Blvd. For tasting tickets, scan the QR code in the ad on pg. 32 of this issue or, for more info, visit dbaa.com. — GN
