Audi Wesley Chapel Eyes November Opening

From l. to r.: Audi of America’s Kirk Preiser, Dimmitt Auto Group CEO Scott Larguier, Quinn Porter of Wiregrass Ranch, WCCC CEO Hope Allen and Audi Wesley Chapel general manager Alan Majewski.

When it came time to move to Florida, Kirk Preiser did his homework before settling on Wesley Chapel. The Southern Region area director for Audi, responsible for the dealerships from Naples to Jacksonville, Preiser felt Wesley Chapel was the perfect spot in the middle of his market and an area that was quickly growing and would eventually have a lot to offer his family.

He admits that he had to convince his wife, however.

Then, he set his sights on convincing Audi it should join him in Wesley Chapel by opening a dealership there.

It may have taken a little longer to convince Audi than his wife, but eventually, Preiser was successful — in mid-November, Dimmitt Automotive Group’s Audi Wesley Chapel will become a reality when it opens the doors at its S.R. 56 location just east of Mansfield Blvd.

“I’ve been pitching Wesley Chapel to the president of the company for years,’’ Preiser told a gathering of local business leaders at the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Development briefing last month at Pebble Creek Golf Club.

“If you’re happy,” he joked, “you can thank me.”

Preiser said the opening of the Mercedes dealership on S.R. 56 a few years ago helped make his case, proof that the area was able to support a luxury auto dealer. Lexus also has jumped into the Wesley Chapel market, and will open off S.R. 54 in December.

Audi chose Dimmitt Automotive Group to sell its high-end automobiles.

Audi A3

Dimmitt, a fourth generation company, was founded in 1924 in Clearwater by the late Larry Dimmitt, Sr., selling Fords and Buicks. Because Dimmitt had traded cars for land, becoming the second-largest landowner in Pinellas County next to the county itself, the company was able to weather the Great Depression better than most.

In 1930, Dimmitt became a Cadillac and Chevy dealer, and eventually grew into selling Land Rovers, Rolls Royces, Bentleys, Toyotas, McLarens and now, Audis. Soon, the company will add a Jaguar franchise to the family, said Dimmitt CEO Scott Larguier.

Dimmitt currently has locations in Clearwater, Pinellas Park and Sarasota.

“Most impressive, after 23 years, is that we are still a very community-minded organization,’’ Larguier said, adding that a number of Dimmitt family members serve on local boards and foundations, and host a Community Values Day at the company where employees are paid to do community service.

By landing Audi, Dimmitt will be selling one of the hottest car makers on the planet, Preiser said. It took until 2010 for Audi to sell its 100,000th car in the U.S., but only five years after that, it sold No. 200,000, while adding seven models.

“We have had a tremendous run,’’ Preiser said. “Since 2010, we’ve been taking off like a rocket.”

The new Audi Wesley Chapel dealership promises high-tech services and state-of-the-art architecture, with a luxury lounge filled with leather club chairs.

“We are building the dealership of the future,’’ Preiser said.

It will be just shy of 40,000 sq. ft., and the lot won’t host a sea of cars like other new car showrooms; instead, it will have 125-150 new Audis on hand at all times. The dealership will have 50-60 employees, and promote a progressive and relaxed environment.

It also is offering an “Inner Circle” club, with special bonuses and perks, to the first 100 patrons who buy an Audi.

And, of course, Audi Wesley Chapel will sell high-quality, technologically-advanced cars, which have dominated the Consumer Reports charts for best car in recent years.

Preiser spoke not only of Audi’s current popular models, but also looked down the road to a time when autonomous and electric cars will be the norm, and Wesley Chapel will be one of the best spots to buy what could be the best in those categories.

In May, Audi became the first company to get a license to test Level 3 autonomous cars, demoing the Audi A7 in New York (and also licenses to test cars in Nevada and California). According to Preiser, the A7 already is  performing Level 3 autonomous driving tasks, meaning it can drive unassisted at highway speeds when conditions are optimal.

Audi hopes to have its first Level 3 autonomous vehicle to market in the U.S. next year, and hopes to have Level 4 automobiles — which can do pretty much everything, even without prompts from the driver — by 2020.

It also is hoping to make a splash in the electric car market.

“We weren’t the first in the game with electric, but we won’t launch until we’re ready with an electric vehicle that is, in every way, an Audi,’’ Preiser said.

The German automaker is hoping to get the Audi e-tron Sportback to market by 2019, and it has also been revealed that Audi is exploring the possibility of thin, lightweight solar panels on the roof to help save energy and increase the range of its electric cars.

“We’re betting the farm on electric,’’ Preiser said.

For more info, visit AudiUSA.com or Dimmitt.com.

Tarek’s Café Is Now Making Dinner Affordable For Everyone In New Tampa!

Even if you’ve somehow still never heard of Tarek’s Café in the Shoppes at Amberly plaza in Tampa Palms, owner Tarek Elsayed’s original Tarek’s Café on the USF Tampa campus is a 26-year institution that is packed every day with hungry — and often, cash-strapped students.

So, Tarek (photo on next page) knows how to feed you on a budget. The problem is that after a decent opening in February of last year, his Tampa Palms location — which actually took over our former office in the plaza — was soon saddled with Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. construction woes which continued until very recently.

“We’ve always done well for breakfast, but our lunch and dinner business in Tampa Palms was building until they started that construction,” says Tarek, trying to maintain his usual smile. “The construction really hurt us, but now that it’s over, I want your Neighborhood News readers to know that I now offer delicious, from-scratch food for breakfast, lunch and dinner!”

We’ll get back to breakfast and lunch in a minute, but Tarek just brought back dinner after Labor Day and he truly is offering an outstanding selection of 12 dinner entrées, all served with salad and most served with your choice of two sides — all for just $9.99! And, you can add one of Tarek’s awesome desserts and a soft drink for just $3 more.

Our office favorites are the homemade beef (there’s also veggie) lasagne, the meat loaf, the hearty beef stew and the huge serving of chicken parmigiana. I’m not a salmon lover myself, but the creamy dill sauce served on the salmon is very tasty as are sides like real mashed potatoes and fresh veggies.

Tarek also offers a variety of Middle Eastern favorites, including chicken with garbanzo beans, a hummus and falafel platter, a couscous salad with fresh mozzarella and tomato and more.

For the kids, dinner costs just $6.50 for chicken tenders, grilled cheese or a smaller burger, and all include their choice of fries or fruit.

Tarek’s is already a really convenient place for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a capacity of nearly 150 people, although the spacious dining room only has 100 or so seats as currently configured.

“This is a great place for breakfast before church or brunch after, for after youth  baseball, soccer and other sporting events and even for business meetings,” he says. “I also provide catering for up to 200 people. Just give me an idea of the menu you’d like to serve and let me do the rest.”

Breakfast & Baked Goods

Although he can’t serve pork products in his restaurant (so, no regular bacon or sausage), Tarek does an outstanding job with breakfast, too. He says people still tell him he serves the best corned beef hash in town, he made me a great egg and cheese sandwich on Cuban-style bread and people rave about his pancakes, too.

For lunch, Tarek also makes excellent gyro sandwiches with crispy French fries and a thick, juicy adult-sized burger that also is on the dinner menu.

But, if you haven’t tried Tarek’s house-baked chocolate chocolate chip muffins, his baklava or our office’s favorite — his white-chocolate-covered brownie balls you’ll kick yourself for not trying them sooner once you do.

Tarek’s Café (15345 Amberly Dr.) is open every day except Mon. for breakfast, lunch & dinner. Call (813) 252-3238 or visit TareksCafeandGrill.com.

New Identities Hair Studio Featured On HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’ With The Bucs!

It wasn’t just another hair coloring appointment for Katie Ellwood.

After all, Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Kwon Alexander was sitting in her chair at the New Identities Hair Studio of Tampa in Tampa Palms and a handful of television cameras were pointed right at her.

Everything she said, every move she made, every hair she dyed red was going to be shown to the entire country on HBO’s popular “Hard Knocks” reality show. “Was I nervous?,’’ Katie said. “Yeah, a little.”

Thanks to a recommendation from one of her customers, Bucs defensive tackle and Tampa Palms resident Gerald McCoy, Ellwood was working her magic on Alexander, who was looking to sharpen the red in his current ‘do. Katie had done a similar job on McCoy two years ago, and the All-Pro lineman noticed that Alexander’s color was fading and told his teammate he needed to go see his stylist.

“Hard Knocks,” which airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on HBO and offers a behind-the-scenes look at one NFL team each preseason – this year it’s the Bucs –  followed along.

“That was my first experience with a camera crew focused on what I was doing,’’ said Katie, although she has been involved in other photo shoots over the years. “The production crew was very nice and very informative.”

Marc Rockquemore, who owns New Identities Hair Studios of Tampa with his wife Kelly, said they had less than 24 hours to get ready for Alexander and the HBO crew.

Being on reality television shows, however, is old hat for Rockquemore and the crew at New Identities, which has been featured on shows like FOX-TV’s “Ambush Makeover,” The Learning Channel’s “A Wedding Story” and MTV’s “True Life.”

New Identities also has had a long relationship with the Bucs. From 2003 until last year, Rockquemore sent a crew of stylists to every Bucs game to do the cheerleaders’ hair. Currently, New Identities is working with the Tampa Bay Lightning cheerleaders.

“We’ve had a lot of blessings come into our lives,’’ says Rockquemore, whose studio has more than 10,000 followers on Instagram.

Katie’s experience in front of the cameras took more than an hour, but once edited by HBO producers, was distilled into her 30 seconds of fame in the show’s third episode (check it out on the HBO GO app).

Instead of any viewing parties, Katie said she just went over to her girlfriend’s house to watch it when it aired.

“It was a little strange to see,’’ said Katie, a big Bucs fan and “Hard Knocks” viewer even before her appearance. “I just wanted to make sure I didn’t sound like a goober or anything. Once my 30 seconds were over, I was able to relax and just watch the rest of the show.”

She did receive a slew of text messages that night. Patrons at the new Fat Rabbit Pub in Tampa Palms, which Katie owns with her husband John, congratulated her the next day. Two days later, an old friend and former Bucs cheerleader texted her from New York to tell her she had seen her on the show.

“Overall, it was a really cool experience,’’ Katie said.

For more information about the New Identities Hair Studios in Tampa Palms (15307 Amberly Dr.) and South Shore (10639 Big Bend Rd., Riverview), visit NewIdentitiesSalon.com, or call (813) 979-0760 (New Tampa) or (813) 741-1177 (Riverview).

Fast Track Urgent Care Center — Doctor-Owned, Patient-Driven Urgent Care

Fast Track Urgent Care Center opened 18 months ago in Wesley Chapel on S.R. 54, west of I-75, but has since expanded to include a location in Riverview.

Fast Track Urgent Care Center, located just off of S.R. 54 west of I-75, is part of a growing company that added one new location in the Tampa Bay area in the past year.

Paul Nanda, M.D., is the medical director for the company, whose newest location is in Riverview. In addition to its center in Wesley Chapel, which opened about 18 months ago, Fast Track also is in South Tampa, Westchase and Carrollwood, with a new location coming soon to Tampa Heights.

“We started in 2005 with one location and a couple of patients a day,” says Dr. Nanda. “Now, with five centers and more than 60,000 patient visits this year, we are really starting to impact the health and well being of the (Tampa Bay) community.”

Dr. Nanda says that matters to Fast Track, which is owned by Tampa native Daron G. Diecidue, M.D.

“Being locally owned and operated, we truly care about our patients, because they are our friends and neighbors,” says Dr. Nanda. “And, because doctors run the facility, not business people, we are focused on patients, not dollar signs.”

Dr. Nanda also explains that Fast Track Urgent Care Center operates in the space between a primary care doctor and the emergency room. So, if you’re sick or injured, you should know that a visit to an urgent care facility is much less expensive than a visit to the emergency room, and with expanded hours when compared with a typical primary care doctor’s office.

Top-Notch Medical Providers

The staff at Fast Track includes more than a dozen Board-certified physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants. This team of experienced medical professionals rotates among the company’s five locations.

Fast Track Urgent Care Center is owned by Dr. Daron G. Diecidue, M.D.

Fast Track Urgent Care Center’s founder and owner, Dr. Diecidue, is Board-certified in Family Medicine. He holds Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degrees in both Biology and Psychology from Florida State University in Tallahassee, and a degree in Chemistry from the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa. He received his M.D. degree from the USF School of Medicine and performed his residency in family medicine at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg. He is an active member of the American Academy of Family Practice, the Florida Medical Association and the Urgent Care Association of America.

Meanwhile, Dr. Nanda has served as medical director of Fast Track Urgent Care since 2013. He also is Board-certified in Family Medicine and earned a B.S. degree in Biology from Indiana University in Bloomington in 1996, and a Master of Science (M.S.) degree in Immunology from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis in 1999. He received his M.D. degree from the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine in St. Maarten in 2003 and completed his residency at Ohio State University in Columbus in 2007.

Dr. Nanda was hired by Fast Track in 2013 and was quickly promoted to medical director. He says he is, “responsible for ensuring the practice consistently offers patient-oriented, evidence-based, cost-effective care” at Fast Track’s five locations, including the Wesley Chapel center.

“I was always taught that patients come first,” explains Dr. Nanda. “As providers, we are advocates who do what’s best for the patient. Sometimes that means we have to fight with insurance companies. Sometimes that means we don’t randomly prescribe antibiotics. Sometimes that means we help people navigate the healthcare system, which has become more and more confusing. We hire providers who agree with our patient-first philosophy, and we ask them to treat every patient like they would treat their own mom or child.”

For a complete list of the medical providers at the Wesley Chapel office, go to FastTrackUrgentCare.com.

Available Services

Fast Track Urgent Care Center calls itself a “boutique” urgent care facility, because it offers not only a personal touch, but also expanded services that can make it a little easier to deal with the inconvenience of a sudden illness or an unexpected injury.

Dr. Nanda

For example, the center offers what it calls “Fast Pass,” an online check-in system. Although appointments are not required at Fast Track, patients can fill out their paperwork in advance and skip the line when they arrive at the urgent care facility.

“Our goal is to get you in and out within 30-60 minutes,” says Dr. Nanda. “We know you didn’t wake up that morning with plans to go to urgent care, so we want to make you better and get you back to your life as soon as possible.”

Dr. Nanda emphasizes that you can go to Fast Track Urgent Care Center anytime you need treatment, including for injuries related to workers’ compensation and motor vehicle injuries.

“With the changing landscape of insurance and healthcare,” says Dr. Nanda, “we want to try to make it easier for patients to access good, consistent, quality healthcare.”

This time of year, the practitioners provide many school physicals, which cost just $25, and Dr. Nanda explains that the company gives back to local schools through a program that distributes coupons that provide $5 back to a student’s school when they get a physical.

On the center’s website, dozens of five-star reviews highlight what people love about Fast Track Urgent Care Center.

“The doctor had a wonderful bedside manner when addressing my eight-year-old son, whom she quickly diagnosed with swimmer’s ear,” wrote a reviewer. “We’re visiting from out of state, so it was really a welcome surprise to have such a great experience in an unfamiliar medical facility.”

Another patient wrote, “I went in and saw the nurse practitioner. She was very thorough and professional, and I would definitely go again. Far better than sitting in a doctor’s office with an appointment and still having to wait! I was in and out in far less time.”

Fast Track Urgent Care Center of Wesley Chapel is located at 5504 Gateway Blvd. and is open seven days a week, 8 a.m.–8 p.m. To make a reservation with Fast Pass or for more information (including the addresses of all five locations), go to FastTrackUrgentCare.com, call (813) 925-1903 or see the ad on page 24.

New Tampa Dance Theatre — Still Producing Great Students & Performances

Tap, ballet, modern dance and even hip-hop classes are offered at NTDT, where future dance professionals and more casual dancers all receive outstanding training.

It may be housed in a quiet building on a busy suburban street, but the New Tampa Dance Theatre (NTDT) offers dancers a world-class, professional experience that is unmatched in the Tampa Bay area, whether you like to dance for fun or you dream of a career on stage one day.

Located on Cross Creek Blvd. (across from Heritage Isles) in New Tampa, the 7,500-square-foot NTDT is the largest professional dance training facility in New Tampa. Owner and artistic director Dyane Elkins IronWing is in her 23rd season of creating dance memories and futures for her New Tampa- and Wesley Chapel-area students, many of whom have gone on to study dance in college and/or dance professionally.

This year, 2017 graduate Danielle Desruisseaux has joined the faculty of NTDT, while working towards a nursing degree. Fellow alum Bryanna Rivers will attend the University of Massachusetts in Amherst with a full scholarship as a member of their track team. Gabrielle Barnes will pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance at Florida State University in Tallahassee, while Carolina Rojas will also attend FSU, pursing a Biology degree on the PreMed track.

“I’m so proud of our graduates,” says Elkins IronWing. “Our dancers become excellent college students, with their impressive time-management skills, perseverance and creative thinking.”

Elkins IronWing herself says she started dancing at age 5 and later studied at the Ballet Metropolitan in New York City.

She moved to Tampa in 1995 to be near family and friends and almost immediately opened NTDT in the Pebble Creek Collection on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. In 2002, she purchased the property on Cross Creek Blvd., designed her spacious new studio herself, and moved the school to the new building in January 2006.

With the bigger location, Elkins IronWing was off and running, offering smaller class sizes and larger, more varied schedules.

She says she also has a larger pool of students today, with the explosive growth of Wesley Chapel.

“Our name might say New Tampa; however, our location is much closer to Wesley Chapel than one might assume,” says Elkins IronWing. “We are extremely convenient to all of the current growth (there). Many Wesley Chapel families are shocked to discover just how close we are to them and excited because of how quickly they can drive to our school.”

All Ages & Experience Levels

Elkins IronWing caters to both the casual dance lover as well as the devoted pre-professional, and every level in between.

NTDT’s leveled curriculum offers multiple art forms for students to explore. Through personal attention and professional expertise, the NTDT faculty provides a positive educational experience based on core principles of respect, responsibility and teamwork.

Teen/Adult classes include four eight-week sessions (from Sept.-May) of ballet, tap and Zumba.

Children ages 3-4 can participate in the Early Childhood Program, ages 5-8 can participate in the Children’s Program, and ages 9-18 can participate in NTDT’s Youth Program.

In addition to classical ballet, the studio offers full programs in creative movement, modern dance, jazz, tap and hip-hop.

Each program has its own directors and specific syllabuses guiding students in a structured manner through their studies.

Dyane’s husband, Troy IronWing, is director of tap, while she will teach creative movement, ballet and jazz this season. Both have continued to tour nationally, now for 13 years, with the Rhythm Extreme Performance Troupe.

In addition, NTDT ballet director Cristy Garcia Tanner started her dance training at age 3 in her native Puerto Rico, and at 13, was invited to join the Ballet Concierto Company in San Juan.

Modern dance director Carla Armstrong, who joined the NTDT faculty in 2005, graduated from the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City with a BFA degree in Dance.

Jazz director Kristine Morgan has been a professional dancer since age 19, and earned her BFA degree in Dance from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA.

Hip-hop director Dreama Davidson, who also has been with the school since 2005, has 18 years of performances to her credit, including participating in the “Katonga” show at Busch Gardens.

The facilities at NTDT are as top notch as the instructors, and include maple flooring for the tap classes, 15-20-ft.-tall mirrored walls, student locker rooms and a large studio space that can accommodate up to 200 people. Sprung floors provide shock absorption to protect the dancers’ joints, and an on-site physical therapist ensures the health of the dancers. NTDT also features a café offering light meals, snacks and drinks.

The Training You Need

NTDT has developed a reputation for creating strong, professional dancers with alumni that have moved on to highly respected companies, Broadway productions and for the Walt Disney Company.

Because NTDT students learn to be proficient in multiple art forms, these students have an edge in the competitive world of dance and many NTDT students have been accepted into prestigious summer intensive programs, including the School of American Ballet and American Ballet Theater in New York City, The Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago and the Boston Ballet.

However, Elkins IronWing also is diligent about providing the same quality of instruction to the roughly 60 percent of the students who are enrolled in NTDT’s popular recreational programs.

“Even though a student doesn’t choose to pursue a career in dance after high school, they can reach a level of artistry to be accepted into college dance programs,” says Elkins IronWing. “Believing in yourself, respecting the process of working toward a goal, and having a well-rounded dance education give our students the tools and confidence to continue discovering new passions throughout their lifetimes.”

Great Productions, Too!

All students get to perform in the “Spring Production” and — through NTDT’s nonprofit-partner, the Dance Theatre of Tampa (DTT) — in the “Summer Concert Series,” which is held every June at USF.

DTT provides more than 300 free tickets to NTDT’s corporate sponsors, local community supporters, alumni members and students. A small costume rental fee for productions is the only cost over the tuition that parents have to pay at any time — there is never a requirement to buy advertising or pay performance fees.

New Tampa residents Paula and Ron Nelson say they enrolled their daughter Malia in Creative Movement classes at NTDT when she was only 3. Eight years later, she’s moved up to the youth program, where she’s enrolled in ballet, tap, jazz, modern and hip-hop.

“As a result of the yearly recitals at the University of South Florida (USF), Malia loves performing on stage and has absolutely no stage fright,” Paula explains. “This has carried over to school, where she’s comfortable making presentations to her classmates and participating in yearly school plays.”

Every holiday season, Dyane says local residents look forward to the community’s largest and longest-running interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet, “The Nutcracker,” now in its 18th season. This year, it will be held December 15-17 at USF Tampa’s College of the Arts Theater 1.

You can catch free sneak peeks of NTDT’s “The Nutcracker” at the Tampa Premium Outlets on November 25-26, and at the Shops at Wiregrass mall on December 1-2 and 8-10.

NTDT’s much-awaited Sugar Plum Fairy Tea fund raiser is now in its 13th season and will be held December 3 at USF’s Gibbons Alumni Center. This popular event features a light lunch, desserts (including a chocolate fountain), giveaways, a sneak preview of “The Nutcracker,” and an opportunity to dance with Clara (the lead role of the young girl who receives the beloved Nutcracker as a Christmas gift) and her “party friends.”

Each year, a portion of the proceeds from the Tea is donated to the Ronald McDonald House Charities in South Tampa. Tickets for both the tea and “The Nutcracker” go on sale on Monday, October 9.

“It’s all about the children at NTDT, always has been and always will be,” Dyane says. “We are a company that enables children to succeed. The key is setting high expectations all while having fun and building self-confidence. With the amazing season ahead of us, we would like to thank all of our trusting and loyal families over the years and the organizations that continually support our vision. Without their recognition and time, NTDT wouldn’t be the magical place it has become!”

The New Tampa Dance Theatre offers year-round free trial classes for prospective dancers of all ages. To tour the facility or to rent it for a meeting, party or function, visit NTDT at 10701 Cross Creek Blvd. For more information and to check out the exciting lineup of fall classes, visit NewTampaDanceTheatre.com or call (813) 994-NTDT (6838).