Kiran Indian Grocery — Where You’ll Be Treated Like Family!

Kiran Indian Grocery, located on Cross Creek Blvd. in the Cross Creek Center plaza, has been a mainstay at this constantly-changing plaza since 2014. Before that, owner Kiran Vanthenapalli owned a store (from 2003-06; and an Indian restaurant, too) on E. Fowler Ave. and, from 2006-2010, her store was in the Pebble Creek Collection on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd.

That means that some of her beloved customers have known and trusted Kiran and her family and staff to provide their (predominantly) Indian and Pakistani spices, frozen foods, meats, snacks, sweets and even hair care and other cosmetic products (and so much more) for almost 18 years. 

And of course, Kiran is perhaps best known for her amazing selection of fresh produce, with some Indian specialty items I’ve never tasted (or even seen) before at prices that she says she knows, “no one can beat. I do my research — and no one beats my prices on produce.” 

But actually, saying that Kiran is best known for her produce isn’t 100-percent accurate. Kiran Indian Grocery is actually best-known for Kiran herself, something that no other store of any kind can boast.

(Top middle) Owner Kiran Vanthenapalli of Kiran Indian Grocery in the Cross Creek Center plaza describes a number of the different produce items that many Americans have never heard of, including imported-from-India garlic, Indian min-eggplants and super-spicy Thai chili peppers. “No one beats my produce prices,” she says. (Photos: Charmaine George)

Not only can Kiran tell you where each and every one of her thousands of available items are located, she also can tell you the prices for each — all off the top of her head. That’s kind of amazing because she has so many different items and many different brands of the same types of products — e.g., she has as many different “masala” seasonings and brands as most grocery stores have beers — crammed into a store that somehow seems both much bigger and much smaller than it actually is because it offers such an amazing variety of products. 

That’s not to say that Kiran’s staffers aren’t also knowledgeable. It just has to be impossible for anyone else to have memorized the price, size and exact location within the store of so many different items — many of which aren’t even marked with prices.

But, if Kiran tells you what the price is on any item, rest assured that when that item is rung up at the check-out counter, the exact price she quoted will pop up.

So Many Ways To Serve!

Serving her customers and their needs was of paramount importance to Kiran long before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. She always knows her army of regular customers not only by name (that’s too easy), but also by what they usually are looking for to stock their grocery carts. 

In fact, if she’s ever running low on an item she knows you always get, she’ll hold enough of that item for you, so you can stay stocked until she gets her next shipment of it. “If I only have three left, and I don’t know how soon I’ll get more, I’ll tell you to buy two of them,” she laughs.

And, if Kiran does somehow run out of one of your favorites, she’ll suggest an alternative that you can try that you might end up liking better. “I never want my customers going home unhappy,” she says.

In fact, even though a new, much larger Indian grocery store recently opened in New Tampa during the pandemic, Kiran says that while her customers may have checked out the new store to see what it has that she might not, “My customers are all still coming back because they say the new store (which also stocks a lot of Mediterranean items that she doesn’t carry) can’t match my prices or the service they receive here.” 

Kiran and I first met when we were both members of the Rotary Club of New Tampa Noon (which now meets Wednesdays at noon at Bayscape Bistro in Heritage Isles), and although neither of us currently belongs to that club (see page 34 for more info), we both are firm believers in Rotary International’s “Service Above Self” motto.

But, while service to the community is something I believe in and try to promote in these pages, Kiran and her husband Sudeer have always also served not only their community, but people — and even animals — in need around the world. 

Many of the service projects Kiran was  involved in — some of which she spearheaded — when she was in Rotary helped people in need in not only her native India, but also in other countries in Asia and Africa.

She also has been involved — at least since opening her store in Cross Creek — with the Tampa Bay chapter of the SPCA — the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals — and she has donated fresh produce, rice and really anything the local chapter has needed because she is such a strong believer that people need pets and that so many of the pets in shelters can and do help individuals and families who need the kind of companionship and love that only a dog or cat can provide.

“I love the SPCA,” Kiran says. “It feels good to help them because they help so many people…and animals.”

And, even though she says doing grocery packing for her customers who physically can’t or aren’t comfortable walking into any store right now, “Is very time-consuming and difficult, because of all the different items we have, I just feel like I have to do it for some of these customers. We all wear masks and keep everyone socially distant, especially at the checkout line, but some people still need that help and I am proud to do that for them.”  

Service To Other Businesses, Too?

When Covid-19 hit back in March and I started going through the issues I did with my printer, Kiran was probably the first (but thankfully, not the only) advertiser to call me and say, “What do you need? How can I help?” 

When I interviewed Kiran for this story, she told me that, “I thought you said in the paper that you were going out of business, Gary. I started crying. I told Sudeer, ‘We have to help our brother.’”

Even though I thankfully never got to that point and have no Indian heritage whatsoever, Kiran has called me her brother for years now. And, even though she seems to treat everyone who stops into the store like a member of her family, I refer to her as my sister, too. You just can’t fake her kind of genuine goodness and compassion for others.

But, it’s a big compliment to me because she does also have an amazing family of which she is equally proud. Husband Sudeer is a software engineer and their older son Satvik just graduated from medical school at USF and is focusing on Psychiatry, while younger son Sahit recently graduated from USF undergrad and is applying to med schools, too.

Another case in point about how Kiran treats everyone is that, in part also because of Covid-19, when people check out at her store, she or her cashier will put coupons from other local businesses in the customers’ shopping bags. She has helped most of the Indian restaurants and other businesses owned by people from India and Pakistan in our area this way and she says that she would be happy to do it for other businesses, too. “We’re all in this thing together,” she says.

And of course, whether you like or want to cook Indian food or not, if you’re a fan of delicious chocolate cookies or other sweet and/or salty treats, or you want the best prices in town on fresh produce, you owe it to yourself to visit my sister Kiran.    

Kiran Indian Grocery is located at 10042 Cross Creek Blvd. and its recently updated open hours are Monday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. For more info, call (813) 994-6202 or search “Kiran Indian Grocery” on Facebook!

Nibbles & Bytes

New Tampa BrewFest Moved Back To November!!

With the world having gone completely crazy over Covid-19, the Rotary Club of New Tampa Noon rightfully decided to postpone this year’s New Tampa BrewFest (which was seriously packed last year; photo, top right).

Recognizing that the original August date was too soon to host even a socially-distanced event, BrewFest chair Jeff Ulbrich said the Rotary Club decided to postpone the 2020 BrewFest until Saturday, November 7, beginning at 6 p.m., again at the Venetian Events Center on Cross Creek Blvd.

Attendees can again expect a huge variety (90 or more!) of craft, micro and other brews (from 30 top local breweries), including ciders and “hard” seltzers, plus top-notch wines and deliciously “legit” food trucks.

Look for additional updates in these pages and go ahead and pre-buy your tickets now at NewTampaNoonRotaryClub.eventbrite.com.

Saying Goodbye To Pier 1

I have never been the biggest fan of Pier 1 Imports in either of its New Tampa locations — I felt it was always just a little too pricey for the quality of the merchandise — but I am never happy to see another major anchor store close, and the Pier 1 located at 18047 Highwoods Preserve Pkwy. in The Walk at Highwoods Preserve plaza on BBD was clearing out its inventory in preparation for the local store’s closing, as part of the Ft. Worth, TX-based chain’s shuttering of between 400-450 of its 1,000 or so locations nationwide.

But, this store appears to be in no hurry to close. The 20%-50%-off promise on every sign inside (photo, far right) still only brings Pier 1’s prices down to almost as low as the regular prices at Target or even At Home. I’m guessing that until the discounts hit 50%-70% off, there will still be plenty of inventory to keep it open.  

Coming To The Grove In WC!

Here are some of the new eateries and businesses that are either open now, are opening soon or are under construction in The Village at The Grove at Wesley Chapel:

‱ Double Branch Artisanal Ales (now open, but currently to-go only)

‱ F45 Training (open)

‱ Jillian Joseph Photography (open)

‱ Roman Group Realty

‱ Treble Makers Dueling Piano Bar

‱ Lagoon Realty 

‱ The Dessert Box

‱ Brooklyn Bagel Co. (frontage on S.R. 54)

‱ King of the Coop (fried chicken; located next to Brooklyn Bagel on 54)

‱ Falabella Family Bistro

‱ The Kilted Axe

‱ Pizza Worx NY pizza

‱ Pasco EDC Business Incubator

‱ Japanese Restaurant (unnamed; replaces Casa Cubana, which will open a different eatery in the under-construction Krate container park at The Grove).

For The Grove leasing info, email Keren@mgoldgroup.com; for event info, email matheus@mgoldgroup.com! — GN  

Trust Cataract Surgery At St. Luke’s & Dr. David Scamard For After-Care

It was not quite 20 years ago when optometrist David Scamard, O.D., who had only recently opened his first office on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., first asked me my age and then said, “Yes, that makes sense. You’re going to need to start wearing reading glasses soon.”

I was flabbergasted. 

“But Doctor Dave, I’ve been nearsighted since I was eight years old. You’re going to tell me that now, I’m going to be farsighted, too? How can that even be?”

As it turned out, he was right. I started needing either bifocal contact lenses or correcting one eye for close-up reading and the other eye for activities like watching TV and driving — by the following year.

So, even though Dr. Dave has had other offices in Lutz since then, his “Excellence in Eye Care, LLC” office has been located in his new home — he has been the Independent Optometrist inside the Costco off S.R. 56 — for about two years. 

And, even though I briefly changed optometrists after Dr. Dave closed his most recent office on S.R. 54 in Lutz, when I was told late last year by that other optometrist that I had a cataract in my left eye that might need to be surgically corrected in the future, I got a second opinion months later from Dr. Dave, whose new office in Costco is across the street from where Jannah and I live.

Fortunately for me, not only did Dr. Dave confirm that I had a cataract in my left eye, he said, “You also have just the beginning of one in your right eye, too.”

I wasn’t really considering surgery before I visited Dr. Dave, because I hadn’t yet really noticed any change in my vision. 

That is, until Jannah and I were driving home one evening in January of this year, after visiting my mom in Sarasota. As the skies turned from dusk into dark, I noticed that whenever there was a vehicle driving southbound as we were headed northbound on I-75, the glare from the headlights of those oncoming vehicles would temporarily prevent me from seeing the tail lights of the vehicles in front of me.  

Everytime this happened, I would tap my brakes, to make sure I wasn’t getting too close, which isn’t a particularly safe thing to do when you’re going 70 mph on an interstate highway. I immediately stopped driving at night after that incident and asked my old friend to recommend a good cataract surgeon. 

Cataracts are like a film over the lens of your eye, so even I could understand that when they replace the “foggy” lens surgically, it definitely will make your vision clearer.

Thank You, St. Luke’s!

Dr. Dave recommended two or three different ophthalmic surgeons that he felt comfortable with, but I ultimately chose to go with Dr. Jeffrey Wipfli of the St. Luke’s Cataract & Laser Institute, who had amazing reviews online and an office nearby (on N. Dale Mabry Hwy. in Carrollwood), but who performs his surgeries at the main St. Luke’s location on U.S. Hwy. 19 in Tarpon Springs.

Not only that, but St. Luke’s has been a some-time advertiser with us and we actually did a story about Dr. Wipfli in a Wesley Chapel issue last October, so I felt even better about entrusting him with something as precious as my eyesight.

The truly amazing thing is that I got the cataract in my left eye fixed in late January and the right eye in mid-February, so my eyes were all fixed prior to the shutdown of elective surgeries in Florida due to Covid-19. I even got to do both follow-up appointments with Dr. Dave before he had to temporarily close his office in Costco.

Easiest Surgery Ever!

I have no idea how it’s been for surgery patients at St. Luke’s since March, but I did notice this on the company’s website as I was writing this story:

“This has been a challenging time for all of us. Many of you know that St. Luke’s has remained open on a much restricted schedule to do our best to serve our patients through the last several weeks. We have been able to serve many of our patients who have had urgent needs by keeping our doors open in our main office in Tarpon Springs….We have resumed surgery and all clinic locations are now open. Safety of our patients and employees is the priority for us as we continue to practice social distance and adhere to all CDC and governmental guidelines.”

But, here’s how both cataract surgeries went for me at St. Luke’s:

The office staff tells you to expect your total time there to be between 3-4 hours, of which waiting and taking care of all of your pre-surgical paperwork takes up about two of those hours. Jannah drove me and waited for me to drive me home both times, since your vision can be a little blurry at first and because you are mildly sedated during the surgery. All the amazing St. Luke’s surgical assistants tell you to do is to focus on the light being shined in that eye and the surgeries seemed to be over in a few seconds, rather than the few minutes it actually does take.

I could see pretty well out of the surgical eye both times right away, but it takes some getting used to because none of your old glasses will properly correct your vision in the surgical eye and wearing one of your existing contact lenses on the other eye really only works after the first surgery.

The cool thing was that Dr. Wipfli let me pick beforehand what I wanted my vision to be after the surgery. And, because I spend so much time at the computer writing and editing, I chose to be able to see up close with no correction whatsoever and to only have to wear glasses to watch TV and drive. Most patients can choose to have uncorrected vision for both far and near, but it was more expensive to do so and Dr. Wipfli said that, for a variety of reasons specific to me, I might still need some correction for either near or far, even if I did pay more.

And I’m glad, because since Covid-19, I’ve been able to wear my glasses anytime I go anywhere (some eye protection is better than none) and I really only have to take them off to read a menu at a restaurant (which we didn’t do for a long while).

Best Post-Surgical Care, Too!

So now, here’s the scoop on doing business with Dr. Dave, whose Excellence in Eye Care, LLC, is an A-Rated business, according to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and still has a 5-Star rating on Google Reviews with more than 160 reviews. The practice even has a 5-Star rating on its Facebook page. 

Excellence in Eye Care also features some amazingly high-tech equipment. For eye exams, Dr. Dave uses an Optos retinal camera (photo on this page) in his office. This high-tech machine is a retinal imager that gives the optometrist a view of the internal structures of your eyes, so that, for many patients, it means they don’t have to have their eyes dilated at their annual exam.

“When your pupils are dilated,” Dr. Dave explains, “you are very sensitive to bright light and your nearsightedness is fuzzy, sometimes for up to five hours after dilation. It’s something that compels a lot of people to pass up their eye exams.”

One of the other high-tech devices Dr. Dave uses is a RT-5100 Refractor, a digital refractor with electric motors that change the lenses. He operates the digital refractor from a console on his desk.

“The digital refractor is faster, more accurate and more efficient than the old-style analog devices,” Dr. Dave says. “Our patients appreciate that we have the latest technology available to them.”

But, perhaps the most important thing going for Dr. Dave as an optometrist is his people skills — which are awesome — and his entire office staff is always friendly, professional and happy to serve their patients. 

And, you do not have to be a Costco member to see Dr. Dave. Tell the membership checkers at the entrance that you’re there to see him and they’ll let you go back.

He notes, however, that you do have to be a Costco member to purchase your glasses or contact lenses in the store, but Dr. Dave will provide you with both prescriptions so you can buy your glasses/lenses anywhere else you choose.

And, it’s nice to be able to pick up a bottle (or case) of wine or a 3-lb. bag of coffee when you get your eyes checked, too. 

Excellence in Eye Care is located at 2225 Grand Cypress Dr. The office is open Tues. & Thur., 1 p.m.-7 p.m.; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Wed. & Fri. & 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Sat. Optical insurance is not accepted, although itemized receipts are provided that patients can use to get reimbursed by their providers. I]Eye insurance can, however, be applied to lenses and frames you buy at Costco. For appointments (although walk-ins are welcome) and more info, call (813) 279-7038 or visit ExcellenceinEyeCare.net.

Zoom Meeting Postponed, So You Can Still Be Part Of It!

Gary Nager Editorial

For the last few issues, I’ve been writing in this space about how I’ve personally felt about the state of race relations in this country. And now, I feel fortunate that I have found a way to do something about it — and several dozen of my readers in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel have agreed to see if we can do that something together.

And, even though I still have no idea what I hope this group can accomplish, I do know that the readers who have responded that they’re interested in participating are of all different racial, socioeconomic and religious backgrounds.

It’s the kind of group I hope to someday have a chance to meet with in person to have a beverage and/or a meal, or even a large-scale gathering in an open auditorium. But for now, it will begin with a Zoom meeting that originally had been scheduled for August 10 but has been postponed until a weeknight between August 19-August 26 that will be open to anyone who genuinely wants to be part of something that I hope will be helpful in some way.

In my August 4 editorial in Wesley Chapel Issue #16-20, I said that because it will be a Zoom meeting, I plan to moderate the discussion that evening and I have asked someone I have a huge amount of respect for to co-moderate it with me — District 63 State Representative Fentrice Driskell — who has already re-won reelection to her seat because of having no opponent and who represents the New Tampa area in the Florida House of Representatives. 

Rep. Driskell is originally from Tampa Bay and moved back home after law school to find meaningful ways to involve herself in the community. So, as my co-moderator, she is someone who is familiar with our local context. Rep. Driskell believes that, in order to address racism, and ultimately, to heal its wounds, our community must be willing to have tough, honest and sometimes uncomfortable conversations about race. She also is in conversation with multiple stakeholders around these issues to develop policy solutions to tackle institutional racism at the legislative level.

Rep. Driskell also is working with other elected officials and community leaders on a project in conjunction with the Equal Justice Initiative that will lead to more community conversations about race. Through the project, local officials will erect a marker that will honor and memorialize the lives lost to racial lynchings in Hillsborough County during the Jim Crow era. The goal of that project is both to educate our community about its past with respect to racially motivated violence and also to spark dialogue about how our shared past is relevant to the structural racism that we see today. She believes that this kind of dialogue, rooted in the factual truth of our common past, will help us develop solutions to build a future that is more fair, inclusive and expansive in opportunity for us all.

After mentioning Rep. Driskell in my Aug. 4 editorial, I also mentioned, in the last paragraph of that editorial, that, “As the moderator of the Zoom meeting, one thing I won’t be interested in discussing is the defunding of law enforcement, which has become a popular rallying cry in the wake of (George) Floyd’s death.  I also will do everything I can to not allow finger-pointing or for the meeting to become about Red vs. Blue. 

“As someone who grew up in New York and saw police officers running towards people who had just been shot as I tried to go in the opposite direction — away from the danger — no one can convince me that 1) most cops aren’t good public servants & 2) to improve law enforcement’s protection of us will mean additional training that will cost more money, not less.”

Once Rep. Driskell saw my editorial, however, she called me to discuss it and shared her sentiment that in order for the meeting to be as inclusive as possible, it would be important for us to welcome the perspectives of all participants. She also shared that, as an elected official, it is her job and duty to listen and to consider the opinions of all of her constituents.

I really felt badly when Rep. Driskell brought this to my attention and, after we spoke about it, I better understood why I received some negative emails because of that paragraph. 

So, while we may have differing viewpoints on some issues, Rep. Driskell and I agree that we have a responsibility to not exclude anyone’s ideas that would be productive to the discussion.

In addition, even though I didn’t want to postpone the meeting, in light of how Rep. Driskell felt about my editorial — which I didn’t share with her prior to publishing it in that Aug. 4 issue — in the current scope of the discussion, I agreed it was the right thing to do.

I knew it wasn’t easy for her to have to call me about it, but even though all of the opinions expressed in all 600+ of my page 3 editorials I have published in the 26 years I have owned and been the editor of the Neighborhood News have always been mine alone, once I was introducing Rep. Driskell as my co-moderator, I should have at least run the column by her, which might have prevented us from having to postpone it.

Please send me an email at ads@ntneighborhoodnews.com to join this open dialogue with this diverse group of your neighbors in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel. Once the revised Zoom meeting date and time are set, I will again email everyone who signed up with a link to the meeting.

Masks, Bars & The Response To My Call For Help

After I wrote about the aftermath of the George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks killings in our June 9 and July 7 Wesley Chapel issues and our June 23 New Tampa issue, I was very pleased at the number of emails/letters I received from both black and white reader — of, apparently, a number of different races, religions and political viewpoints — who appreciated my take on the current situation and offered words of advice and encouragement and something much more valuable to me than just the kind words. Many of those who wrote to me have offered to help start and/or get involved with a local grassroots movement that might help stem the tide of systemic racism and build better communication here.  

And, even though not all of the response has been quite so positive, there seems to be plenty of people interested in trying to figure out what we can all do to help — even those who have very different viewpoints about whether or not systemic racism even exists in our country.

One of the New Tampa readers who responded to my email wrote: 

“Your editorial is complete (bull____). I get it’s your opinion but I suggest you understand the definition of ‘systemic’ as you didn’t provide any instances of that.”

Well, silly me, I thought the fact that I had unknowingly tried to pass a counterfeit $100 bill at a bar and didn’t end up with anyone kneeling on my neck for 8:46, as George Floyd ended up for passing a counterfeit $20, was at least representative of the difference between how white and black people are treated in similar situations. 

I guess my mistake was that I just didn’t think I needed to give examples of the proof that systemic racism exists in our country because I believe in my heart that it does — as, yes, I have seen a few examples of it throughout my life. 

And, the important thing, to me, as the person who wrote the editorial, was that not only do I believe it exists, but also that I would like to somehow try to find a way to be part of the solution, even on a very small scale. 

Plus, every time I put my opinions in writing and directly mail them to more than 120,000 of my closest friends, I fully expect some people to disagree with me — and I’m even OK with it if they are vehement in that disagreement. That’s the risk I take for having opinions and I’ve never wavered from being willing to take those risks for the last 26+ years and — because I live in the United States of America — I still always believe in everyone’s right to their own opinions, even when they differ from mine. That’s just who I am.

I am still looking for additional people who also want to help. At this point, I’m thinking about organizing a Zoom meeting for everyone interested in an open dialogue with people who may or may not share your viewpoint on the topic of racism. If you’re interested in being part of this initial attempt to try to find a better way, please email me at ads@ntneighborhoodnews.com. And please, if you already emailed me after reading last issue, you don’t have to mail or email me again to get involved. Everyone who already has sent me an email on this subject should have received an invitation to that Zoom meeting before this issue reached your mailbox. Thanks, and stay safe!

My Take On Masks Now

OK, I’ll admit it, I absolutely hate wearing a face mask out in public. But, unlike apparently too many people, I have been wearing masks in public places since just after St. Patrick’s Day.

When we first started wearing them, Jannah and I couldn’t find disposable masks anywhere, but we did find some nice homemade cloth masks being sold on the Wesley Chapel Community Facebook page, so that’s what we wore, although we sometimes just cut T-shirts to make our own masks when the others were being washed.

At that time, when most of Florida in general and Pasco in particular had very few cases of Covid-19, many people mocked me for wearing the cloth masks, saying that they have been proven to not stop the spread of the virus, etc. 

All I knew was that cloth masks were all we had and I wanted to at least wear something when I walked  into Publix or Walmart.

As Florida has been reopening the last several weeks (seemingly too quickly, however), and all kinds of face coverings have become much more readily available, the thing I have had trouble understanding is why so many people still have such a problem with wearing them — and no, I’m not calling you out if you have a true medical reason for not wearing one. 

I have been told by more than one local resident that the pandemic is a hoax because they didn’t personally know anyone who had died from the virus, as well as many who have just said, “I’ll never wear one, no matter what.”

I hope that, with Florida setting new Covid-19 case records almost every day at our press time —  and with bars in Florida not being allowed to serve alcohol on their premises since June 25 because so many of the new cases are younger people who still seem unconcerned about wearing masks or social distancing — more of us will be willing to adapt to this new “normal”…for quite a while still to come. For me, this is a public health issue, NOT a political one, so I wish more of us could stop politicizing it and do the right thing for all of us.