Nibbles and Bytes: Bahama Breeze Opening Soon

A sign (see top photo on next page) on the building indicates that Bahama Breeze Island Grill, which is getting ready to open just east of Chuy’s Tex-Mex on the north side of S.R. 56, will open to the public on Monday, July 16. We’re trying to make sure we get an invite to the friends & family pre-opening, so look for a sneak peek on WCNT-tv before Bahama Breeze opens. Fresh seafood + live music one mile from where we live means Jannah and I will be frequenting Bahama Breeze…frequently.

‱Also opening in July, next to Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt in the Shops at Wiregrass, is Nothing Bundt Cakes, which has been among the favorites at each of the last two Tastes of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel. At our press time, those amazingly moist bundt cakes with perfectly creamy icing still seemed to be weeks from being made or sold at this location, but a spokesperson for the store said “definitely in July.”

If you’ve still never tried Nothing Bundt Cakes, visit the N. Dale Mabry or another location before this store opens and have a couple of samples and please tell them the Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News sent you!  You’ll be waiting with baited buttercream breath for Nothing Bundt Cakes to open here, too.

‱Not enough for you? Pomodoro Pizza, which is opening in the space previously occupied by Kwan Ming Bistro in the plaza on S.R. 56 that also is home to Wolf’s Den, also is expected to open in early- to mid-July.

Pomodoro is the first local pizzeria to admit that it has New Jersey-style pizza — which I’ve tried to tell quite a few New Tampa and Wesley Chapel residents over the years — is similar to, but slightly different (in most cases) from New York-style. I’ll let the Pomodoro owners give you their take on the differences, but new pizza is never a bad thing for me to try.

‱And last, but not least, another newcomer to the same plaza as Mellow Mushroom on the north side of S.R. 56, across from the Tampa Premium Outlets, is Sweetea CafĂ©, which is still mostly a shell inside and doesn’t look like it could possibly be open before the end of July, but we’ll keep you posted.

We’ll also have updates on Earth Fare (which looks ready to go vertical), Mod Pizza (in the getting-much-closer-to-completion building next to Starbucks on S.R. 56, in front of Costco) and the three hotels set to open in the next next issue.

Have You Tried Bayscape Bistro?

I’m sure most residents of that community have heard that the restaurant at the Heritage Isles Golf & Country Club off Cross Creek Blvd. in New Tampa has changed hands again, following a $1.3-million investment by the Heritage Isles Community Development District (CDD) to revamp the club house and the restaurant that rarely has been much more than a place for hungry golfers to stop and have a sandwich and a cold beer.

No matter how nice the renovations may be, unless the CDD found the right operator for the restaurant — one that could attract people who don’t live in Heritage Isles to check it out — it was likely to fail again.

Well, not only is the new Bayscape Bistro & Bar at Heritage Isles significantly more attractive looking than anything else that has occupied the space before, some of you may recognize the name of the guy who owns and operates it — and who has provided a much more restaurant-like menu than any of his predecessors.

Edward Bujarski, who ran one of the first and most successful high school culinary arts programs in Hillsborough County at New Tampa’s Wharton High for 17 years, is genuinely excited to bring real, fresh food to Cross Creek Blvd. near Morris Bridge Rd. and to be able to hire some of his former students to work at Bayscape.

I first visited Bayscape few days before we went to press with this issue, but the Bayscape chef salad I started with combines greens, roasted chicken, mojo pork, cheddar and pepper jack cheeses, tomatoes, cucumbers and four crispy seasoned pieces of grilled toast that I assure you are better than any croutons you’ll have anywhere.

Look for more about Bujarski’s new venture in a future issue, but go check it out and tell the happy crew we sent you!

Bayscape Bistro & Bar (10630 Plantation Bay Dr.) is open every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For more info, call (813) 994-3445 or visit BayscapeFlorida.com. 

I also spoke with Cary Anderson of Streetfront Commercial Properties, who is now leasing out the space in the Shoppes of Amberly plaza in Tampa Palms, which does have a few vacancies, including the 6,400-square-foot space previously occupied by Casa Ramos Mexican Restaurant.

Anderson says he has been close to closing a deal for the space, but that he is still looking for “something special, like a sit-down Italian or seafood restaurant or even a great sandwich place for that Casa Ramos slot.”

Amici Pizza Reopens…And The Crowd Goes Wild!!

It took so long to open that many fans on the Wesley Chapel Community Facebook page of Amici Pizza — previously located in the Grand Oaks Square plaza on Wesley Chapel Blvd. in Lutz but which has been closed for a few months— was never going re-open in its new, freestanding building located less than a mile north of its old location.

Well, our Neighborhood News Facebook page and WCNT-tv — Wesley Chapel & New Tampa Television — were among the first to announce last month that brothers Vincent and Rick Mannino had finally reopened at 26602 Wesley Chapel Blvd./S.R. 54, also in Lutz.

The result of our announcement was one of our most popular Facebook posts and WCNT-tv videos of 2018 — with a reach of nearly 26,000 people, 15,000+ views on YouTube and Facebook and 1,600+ likes, loves, shares and comments.

Happy Amici patrons across the area were raving about the layout and look of the new place, the food (like the true NY-style meat pizza above; photo by Gavin Olsen) and about the return of a 16-year-old local favorite. We wish the Mannino brothers luck, but it doesn’t look like they’re going to need it. We also wish Rick’s wife Tracy much success in her also-new Salon TrĂ© Anne hair salon which shares the building with Amici.

Amici Pizza is open every day for lunch & dinner. For take out & more info, call (813) 973-9734 or visit Amici-Pizza.com and please tell ‘em the Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News sent you! For Salon TrĂ© Anne, call (813) 994-3553 or visit the salon’s page on Facebook.

Again, we’ll keep you posted. — GN

Nibbles & Bytes

Hope Allen

Congrats To The North Tampa Bay Chamber Of Commerce!
O.K., so it’s not called the Wesley Chapel Chamber anymore and the new office is located in Lutz, but May 10 was still a pretty big day for the recently renamed North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce, its CEO Hope Allen and her staff, Board of Directors and Ambassadors.
They and a total of about 200 Chamber members and guests were all on hand when Allen cut the ribbon at the Grand Opening of the Chamber’s new office at 1868 Highland Oaks Blvd., Suite A-1.

“This is such an amazing day for us,” Allen said, holding back tears. “Thank you for your continued support as we continue to support the businesses in our three-county area.”

It was as hot inside the Chamber’s new office — which also rents out suites to a number of tenants (who also had ribbon cuttings following the Chamber’s own scissors ceremony) — as it was outside, where the Wesley Chapel Rotary Club band “Strictly Business” played, there was great food provided by Chamber members like Culver’s and Chick-fil-A of Wesley Chapel, The Private Chef of Tampa, A Dash of Salt & Pepper, Fresh Healthy CafĂ©, Ava’s Lowcountry Cuisine, Tijuana Flats of WC, Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt, Prime 19 Events at Cheval, Top Shelf Sports Lounge (at Florida Hospital Center Ice), Catering by Vesh, CBK Catering & Events, Chuy’s Tex-Mex, Jersey Mike’s Subs, Brunchies (Lutz), Pinchers Crab Shack, Buttermilk Provisions and Craft CafĂ© & Coffee Shop and beer and wine from A Time for Wine.

Also attending were dignitaries like State Rep. Danny Burgess, Pasco County commissioners Mike Moore and Jack Mariano and Pasco’s comptroller and clerk of courts Dr. Paula O’Neil, all of whom were genuinely excited to share in the celebration.

And, since the new Chamber office also leases space to other businesses, those businesses also held ribbon-cutting ceremonies during the event, including Realtor Mollyana Ward and Lagoon Realty, Washington Woods Accounting, Furr & Wegman Architects and Rettig & Associates.

In addition to the Strictly Business band, Allen also thanked Acme on the Go, West Coast Rentals and her staff for their help in making the Grand Opening another smashing success.

For Chamber membership & other information, visit NorthTampaBayChamber.com or call (813) 994-8534.

La Prima Pizza Is For Sale!

If you love NY-style pizza as much as I do, you probably love La Prima Pizza, located next to the SuperTarget in the Northwoods Plaza.
If you’re interested in owning and/or operating a successful local restaurant, one of the few true NY-style pizza places in Wesley Chapel, you definitely should talk to La Prima owner (and my long-time friend) Willie Lopez and his Chef Dino, who are looking forward to retirement after 15 years of serving the Wesley Chapel community.

“It’s been an amazing run for us,” Lopez told me as I enjoyed yet another perfect slice from La Prima. “I believe there’s still tremendous growth opportunities here in an established, turnkey business. It just needs to be someone else’s business to make it happen.”

If you’d like more information about La Prima Pizza (1211 Bruce B. Downs {BBD} Blvd.), stop in or call Willie Lopez at (813) 907-2878.

Checking Out The Basement

Speaking of pizza, I know that many of our readers are still anxiously awaiting the Grand Opening of the new location of Amici Pizza (and Salon Tres Anne) in a new, freestanding building located a quarter-mile north of the Grand Oaks plaza that Amici and the salon used to call home. Although the new building is getting close to completion, we still haven’t heard an opening date announced.

On the other hand, we have already visited The Basement Beer & Wine Bar (photo on next pg.), the new bar and entertainment venue which has been open in Amici’s former space in the Grand Oaks Plaza for a couple of months.

I wish that The Basement would have full liquor, but the place that husband-and-wife owners Jason and Ashley bill as “The Best ‘80s Bar in Tampa” does have a fun vibe and offers DJ dancing on weekend evenings, trivia and karaoke during the week (my buddy, Gary Carmichael of Heart & Soul Karaoke is there on Thursday evenings), a pool table and a great selection of craft and other beers, plus a variety of house wines.

Here & There, This & That…
‱ The latest word from a company spokesperson on Bahama Breeze Island Grill, which is getting ready to open just east of Chuy’s Tex-Mex on the north side of S.R. 56, is that the Wesley Chapel Bahama Breeze should open this summer, sometime in July. We’ll keep you posted when the company announces an actual opening date.

‱ And, for those who can’t get enough pizza, we also have not yet gotten word as to when the new Pomodoro Pizza will open in the same plaza on S.R. 56 as Wolf’s Den (in the space formerly occupied by Kwan Ming Bistro), but the new sign promises New Jersey-style pizza, which New Yorkers will agree is slightly different than New York style, but we’ll let you know more when Pomodoro opens.

‱ The new Burger King, which will be the first new business to open in the development known as Brightwork Crossing, just west of the Walgreens at the junction of S.R. 54, S.R. 56 and Wesley Chapel Blvd., is now hiring. The building is nearly complete and should open before the unnamed apartment complex in the same development, which now has multiple buildings coming out of the ground. We’ll keep you posted.

‱ I was sad to hear that the Ellen’s Hallmark store in the City Plaza at Tampa Palms shopping center has closed. A spokesperson for the store says that Publix, the plaza’s landlord, had raised the rent too high for the 20-year-old store to continue. The Ellen’s Hallmark store in the Shoppes at New Tampa (S.R. 56 at BBD) is still open. — GN

900Âș Woodfired Has A Lot More Than Just Two Kinds Of Delicious Pizza!

MOST Neighborhood News readers recognize how much I enjoy doing our dining reviews, especially when I get to do stories about my favorite local eateries and their restaurateurs.

Case in point: 900Âș Woodfired Pizza, located in the Shops at Wiregrass, which is owned by someone I’ve really only known since he and a former partner opened it in the mall seven years ago.

Today, long-time New Tampa resident Steve Fallabella is the sole proprietor and Steve is a very hands-on kind of owner (like a certain newspaper editor) and he has an authentic Italian heritage and knowledge of good food honed in New York. Steve says he also enjoys being the “delivery boy” for 900Âș Woodfired’s growing catering side of the business (more on that below).

Even though I’ve never been a New York sports fan myself (I root for the Rays, Bucs and Lightning), Steve is a lifelong Yankees fan who also is a past president of his subdivision in West Meadows.

And yes, 900Âș Woodfired, which isn’t a chain and is one of the most successful places to eat at the mall, is a really good restaurant, even though its primary business is still pizza — both New York-style and the 900Âș woodfired Neapolitan style that gives the place its name.
But, I told Steve that even though a pic of each kind of pizza will likely slip into this article, I really wanted to focus on everything else there is to eat at 900Âș Woodfired.

For Starters…

I’ve mentioned in previous stories about 900Âș Woodfired how much I enjoy the caprese appetizer (fresh mozzarella, sliced tomato, oregano, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and fresh basil served on a bed of mixed greens), and the entire Neighborhood News staff recently got to enjoy a variety of other starters, including the fried, cheese-filled raviolis (served with a marinara dipping sauce), the fried calamari (also served with marinara) and the homemade bruschetta.

My favorite appetizer that we all sampled this time around, however, were the oven-baked naked wings. We split an order of ten wings — five with no sauce and five with garlic and parmesan — and they come out crispy outside, moist inside and the garlic parmesan sauce wasn’t overpowering, as it can be at some places.

The wings went down easy with my 23-oz. Peroni Italian beer on draught, and bottled beers and a variety of house wines also are available.
But, my favorites at 900Âș Woodfired are the pastas, and I’m not talking about baked items like lasagna and baked ziti, although those also are on the menu — and they’re pretty darn tasty, too.

My favorite pasta combination on the menu is the beef-and-veal-filled tortellacci, which are pasta “pockets” (some call them “purses”) filled with ground beef and veal in a classic Bolognese (meat sauce). So good. I also enjoyed the tortellini della casa, which are spinach-and-cheese-filled tortellini in a sautĂ©ed tomato sauce with black olives, chopped garlic and fresh spinach.

It’s probably also not too surprising to our readers that I often take advantage of 900Âș Woodfired’ “Create Your Own Pasta” option. I almost always choose the penne pasta with pesto Genovese sauce, grilled chicken and sautĂ©ed spinach. It’s such a huge portion that I usually have it as a side dish with every meal for several days and the penne always comes out al dentĂ© (firm), as I prefer it, without having to ask for it that way.

Pizzas, Catering & More!

OK, yes, 900Âș Woodfired Pizza does have pizzas, too (having won “Best Pizza” in our annual Reader Survey in 2015-16), but I’m going to be honest again — I’m biased as to which style of pizza I prefer. Although the 900Âș F, wood-burning oven (photo, left) is awesome to watch, I’ve never liked wood (or coal)-fired, Neapolitan-style pizza as much as I do true New York-style options. I’ve never been to Naples, but I grew up on Long Island and lived in Manhattan in my 20s, so the more authentic, the better.

Steve knows that using the best ingredients (never mention the words “Papa” and “John” in the same sentence to me) makes the best pizza and his New York crust is legit and his blended pizza sauce and mozzarella are the real deal, too.

So, I still prefer regular ol’ NY-style cheese pizza the best, but for the pics for this story, I wanted to show 900Âș Woodfired’s delicious toppings, so the photo above right is a large (16”) NY-style pizza that is half-pepperoni, half-”Mega Meat,” with ‘ronis, sausage, bacon and ham. To no one’s surprise, none of it was left over.

As for the woodfired pizza that gives the place its name, we decided to try a couple of pizzas other than our usual (and super-delicious) Neapolitan-style margherita pizza and went a little exotic.

Several in our office went crazy over the 12” medium-spicy Buffalo chicken pizza, but I was stunned at how much I loved the Ortolano pizza, which is a veggie lover’s dream — a sauceless pie with fresh mozzarella, sliced cherry tomatoes, marinated zucchini and eggplant, artichokes and fresh basil. The pieces of artichoke were huge and a little overpowering, but this is one delicious and unique pizza. And, for those who want or need gluten-free pizza, every pizza on 900Âș Woodfired’s extensive menu is available as a 10” gluten-free.

“Our newest growth area is catering,” Steve says. “Through the EZcatering Network and word of mouth, our catering has doubled over last year. And our online catering reviews have been awesome. We will soon be publishing a new catering menu, and eventually buying a vehicle dedicated for the catering business.”

Steve is one of those techie people who jumps all over the latest industry trends. In fact, 900Âș Woodfired was the first Wesley Chapel restaurant to use Ubereats.

“I helped Uber recruit more restaurants in Wesley Chapel, so they would deliver into more subdivisions,” Steve says, “and our delivery business just took off. We’re part of the industry shift to the convenience of dining at home vs. dining out.” ” He also offers online ordering for takeout.

For more information about 900Âș Woodfired Pizza (28152 Paseo Dr.), which is open every day for lunch & dinner, visit 900DegreesWoodfiredPizza.com or call (813) 527-6940.

Editorial: Evolution Of WCNT-tv And Kayaking Editor

I hope you’re continuing to enjoy watching our WCNT-tv — Wesley Chapel & New Tampa Television— segments on YouTube and Facebook. It at least appears that quite a few of your enjoy watching and sharing the segments, whether they’re “News Desks” with yours truly and my co-host Susanna Martinez or senior video editor Gavin Olsen’s outstanding slide videos, which continue to grow in popularity.

So, while we haven’t quite yet reached a million total views on Facebook and YouTube, we are approaching 700,000 total views and a total Facebook reach of more than 1.2 million people in a little less than two years (WCNT-tv debuted in June of 2016).

In fact, Gavin’s slide video a few weeks ago, about the “green” grocery store known as Earth Fare breaking ground at the corner of S.R. 56 and Wesley Chapel Blvd./S.R. 54, has been our most-viewed segment of 2018 to date, with a reach of nearly 30,000 people on Facebook, nearly 17,000 views and 1,100+ engagements (likes, comments and shares).

The most recent slide video Gavin put together for us (which also includes quite a bit of beautiful drone video footage shot by our friend Sergio Venegas of Eagle Fly Media) that was released on May 24 was about everything happening on S.R. 56 near and across from the Tampa Premium Outlets and had already reached nearly 6,000 people, with hundreds of engagements, as we went to press with this issue — only two hours after we released it!

The most recent WCNT-tv News Desk segment provides even more info about everything happening in and around the Tampa Premium Outlets. It was expected to be released shortly after Memorial Day, so I hope you’ll keep an eye out for it and let me know what you think.

The new News Desk segment also will include full captioning, so more people can watch it without having to have the volume on. Gavin and I believe that having the captioning of every episode will be a factor in finally getting us over the one million total views on YouTube and Facebook I’ve been hoping for since the show started.

Over the next couple of weeks, I also hope you’ll look for the return of WCNT-tv business correspondent Mollyana Ward, who held a North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting, after the Chamber’s own ribbon cutting at its new office, for Lagoon Realty, the local real estate company in Epperson, where the first Crystal Lagoons¼ amenity in the U.S. recently held its own Grand Opening celebration.

Also, over the next month or two, you’ll also see WCNT-tv segments updating the S.R. 54 and S.R. 56 areas near Wiregrass Ranch, and hopefully, an update from the new Bahama Breeze Island Grill opening this summer.

I also want to thank our webcast partner, the North Tampa Bay Chamber and CEO Hope Allen for continuing to support the show and this publication (see ad on pg. 12), even though it’s been a little while since Mollyana has gotten to host a Chamber Featured Business segment.

Please call (813) 910-2575 for email ads@WCNT-tv.com for information about promoting your business on our show.

Gary Won An Award? For Kayaking?

Although I was happy with how I fared in the first race I ever finished in my Neighborhood News/WCNT-tv “Banana Boat” surfski single kayak on April 14, I was even happier when I finished my second race on May 19 — The Florida Cup off Madeira Beach.

The planned 3-mile “open” race was reduced to 2.2 miles because of the inclement weather that was expected but never arrived that day, and I was thrilled to finish the race in 27:47 (less than 14 minutes per mile), which had me in 31st of 48 finishers in every type of paddling craft.

But, I was even more excited to have been the third 50+ male on a surfski single to finish the race, more than 5 minutes ahead of the fourth-place finisher.

Even so, Susanna makes fun of me again on the S.R. 56 WCNT-tv segment, but only because I scripted it that way. Check it out!

Annual Bike Ride Helps ‘Small, But Mighty’ Noon Rotary Club Raise $3,000!

“Small, but Mighty.” I’m almost positive my friend and former Rotary Club of New Tampa Noon president Valerie Casey first coined that phrase about the Rotary Club to which both Val and I belong.

Our club, which meets every Wednesday at noon for lunch at Mulligans Irish Pub at the Pebble Creek Golf Club, has never had as many as 30 members and currently has around 20, but somehow, thanks to the often-tremendous efforts by our small “family” of club members, we’re still able to accomplish a lot.
Although we also have partnered with other Rotary Clubs — including the New Tampa “Breakfast” Rotary (which meets at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club for breakfast on Fridays at 7 a.m.; see story on the facing page) — the fund raisers and projects our club is able to put on with just a little effort have been pretty incredible.

Case in Point: Our annual “Cycling for Vets” Bike Ride through Flatwoods Park, which has raised thousands for U.S. Military veterans organizations and our local first responders (police, fire and emergency folks).

This year, with a committee of three — local dentists Dr. Steven Dau and Dr. Greg Stepanski and commercial real estate agent Scott Hileman — doing most of the leg work and just a few other club volunteers, this year’s ride on April 13 (I missed it for another kind of ride; see page 3) attracted a record (for us) number of 80 registered riders (some of those definitely found out about the ride from the Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel less than a month earlier). The 2018 ride raised $3,000, with portions of that amount to benefit the Fisher House residence for families who have family members who are active duty and military veterans being treated at the Tampa Veterans Administration Hospital on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. and for Support the Troops, a Wesley Chapel-based nonprofit that mails out hundreds of “care packages” every week to active military stationed overseas.

Dr. Dau, who basically celebrated the birth of his first child with his wife Monika a couple of months before he started planning this event, was quick to share the credit on May 9, when our club donated $1,000 of those proceeds to Fisher House Tampa director Paula Welenc (above left, with Dr. Dau, right, and Noon Rotary president Belvai “Vinnie” Kudva).

Our committee did a great job,” said Dr. Dau. “As always, it was a true team effort.”

The club also thanks the event’s sponsors — Dau Orthodontics-Dr. Steven Dau; Children’s Dentistry-Dr. Greg Stepanski; Gentle Care Dentistry-Dr. Tom Frankfurth; AllState Insurance-Gary Lefebvre; State Farm Insurance-Joyce Coleman; Suncoast, Tax & Accounting-Angie Garrett; Kiran Indian Grocery, AAA-Novelette Johnson; Stifel Financial-Mike Wallace; Goal Commercial-Scott Hileman; The Bantner Firm-Adam Bantner; Minerva Indian Restaurant, Thai Lanna & Sushi, Little Greek New Tampa, Peabody’s Billiards & Games, Tabla Indian Restaurant ,The Gift Box Boutique, Oliver’s Cycle Sports, Neighborhood News & WCNT-tv.

New Tampa Brewfest?
Fresh off that outstanding bike ride, the New Tampa Noon Rotary Club will host its first-ever “New Tampa Brewfest” on Saturday, November 10, 4 p.m.-8 p.m. (the time may be subject to change) at the Venetian Events Center at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church on Cross Creek Blvd.
The Brewfest will be another great event featuring craft beers, a variety of food trucks and entertainment. Look for details in these pages and future episodes of WCNT-tv.