Wesley Chapel resident Sophia Contino (who was featured in our last issue) presented Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco with a check for $3,200 to help fund Kevlar vests for Nocco’s K-9 deputies.
Sophia who lives in Meadow Pointe and attends Sand Pine Elementary, is an 8-year-old who wants to save canine lives by providing the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO)’s K-9 officers with bulletproof vests.
Sofia came up with the idea of having a lemonade stand to raise the money.
“The reason I am raising money is, I love dogs and I love people,” Sophia said in our previous story.
Sophia, whose father Jason works for Wesley Chapel Nissan, where Nocco held a fund raiser for his re-election campaign, has now raised nearly $6,000 in just a few months by selling lemonade at the dealership and other locations.
‘Sophia’s money will only be used for the K-9 unit, not my campaign,’ Nocco said. ‘I want to make that very clear.’— GN
Sting Operation In Wesley Chapel Proves Successful
Speaking of Nocco, his department continues to work hard towards stopping human trafficking.
January was National Human Trafficking Awareness Month, and the PCSO ended the month by staging a two-day sting operation in Wesley Chapel that resulted in 20 arrests for prostitution and drug possession.
PCSO used the Econo Lodge on S.R. 54 just west of I-75 as a staging ground for its sting operation, operating out of a handful of rooms to make a series of arrests. The Econo Lodge gave permission for PCSO to use its location.
“The big issue for us was human trafficking, that’s what they were looking for,’’ said PCSO spokesman Eddie Daniels. “It’s an important, serious issue.”
While the sting operation did not find any evidence of human or sex trafficking, it has been a point of emphasis for Nocco’s department.
Florida is third in the nation annually in cases of human trafficking (behind California and Texas), and nearby Hillsborough County is second to Orange County (Orlando area) in the state.
According to a recent Neighborhood News story about trafficking as well as the PCSO website, there are roughly 300,000 cases of child sex trafficking reported every year, and it is estimated between 500,000 and 2 million people are trafficked annually worldwide, with an estimated 15-18,000 being trafficked into the U.S. each year.
The proliferation of social media and websites have helped lead to more trafficking, so the Sheriff’s Office used ads on a website to lure many of those arrested Jan. 29-31 to the Wesley Chapel motel.
Among the 20 people arrested, two had Wesley Chapel addresses. The others were from as far away as Nova Scotia, Canada, and Ocala and Spring Hill, FL.—JCC
I’ll freely admit that I don’t know nearly as much about art as I do about food, wine or single-malt Scotch (go figure!). But, as someone who was born and raised in and near New York City, I was definitely exposed to a lot of art and I have found that whether it’s surrealist, impressionist or cubist, I just know what I like when I see it.
“And that is the thing about art,” says Wesley Chapel resident and Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Andrew Krance. “It’s such a personal thing. You don’t always know why you like or don’t like a piece of art, you just know if you do or not.”
But, if you’re moving into a new home or redecorating an older one and you want something really cool to tie together that huge new living room or you just like the idea of purchasing original art directly from the artist rather than buying a signed and numbered print, lithograph or giclet, I believe that if you visit Andrew’s home studio in the Villages of Wesley Chapel and see just how much original art he has displayed in a wide variety of genres and styles, you might end up becoming a customer of his.
A Little Background…
Andrew’s father, Casimir Krance, who also was a renowned concert pianist, had inherited a munitions factory in France before World War II. When the Germans invaded France, the native of Poland moved his family to New York City but they eventually ended up in Wisconsin, where Andrew earned his MFA degree from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
An accomplished musician himself, Andrew’s artistic bent helped him find his way back to the Big Apple, where he lived with an aunt on Manhattan’s posh Upper East Side, near Gracie Mansion, the residence that is home to New York City’s mayor.
It was while working for Dorothy Maynor, the opera star who founded the Harlem School for the Arts (which provides college curricula in performing and visual arts in Upper Manhattan), that Andrew met Barbara Johnson of the Johnson & Johnson family, one of the world’s foremost collectors of fine art, and where he began dabbling in a wide variety of artistic genres.
“She had Van Goghs, Rembrandts and a 40-foot Monet in her home,” Andrew recalls. “Her collection today is worth in the billions of dollars.” Johnson took the young artist under her wing, as she had many others, and introduced him to everyone from the governors (at the time) of Texas and Arizona to Leo Castelli, whom the actor Dennis Hopper called “the godfather of the contemporary art world.”
The Castelli Gallery was one of the most famous in the world and helped launch or further the careers of everyone from Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns to Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol.
And, for a while, a young Andrew Krance. Andrew says the artists under Castelli’s “wing” would have drinks together at a place called Magoo’s off Canal St.
But, “Andrieu,” as his late, Israeli wife Eti (Esther) used to call him, ultimately went into the pet food and pet products business and later moved to Key Largo, FL, where he and his wife opened a lingerie store. They spent 20 years together on the east coast of Florida before moving to Wesley Chapel together a few years ago. She passed away three months after learning she had cancer.
“I did throw myself more into my art after Eti passed,” he admits.
Today, Andrew continues to go through different “periods” with his art, although he mainly uses acrylic paints and a more “pop art” style these days. “The paint just dries so much faster (than oil) and the colors and textures are amazing,” he says.
So, his work ranges from emulating everyone from Picasso to Warhol to Jackson Pollack and some of his favorite pieces are his own “takes” on famous people, like the late music stars Stevie Ray Vaughn and Bob Marley and even Warhol himself.
Corporate Work & More
Today, Andrew says that he can create virtually anything in acrylics and he really enjoys being commissioned to create something unique.
“I can fill those huge walls in a large corporate office or an upscale home,” he says. “Give me an idea and a style and I’ll come up with something great, in less time than you might think.”
But, even if you’re not sure you want to buy anything, one thing I certainly would suggest is to make an appointment with Andrew to check out the art that’s already in his home. There’s more paintings on Andrew’s walls than at some art galleries I’ve been to and I have included some of my favorites (and his) on these page. So, sit down, enjoy a cup of coffee or a good Scotch with him and talk about art.
The artist has become friends with one of his neighbors, Joe Lawler, and Andrew says, “Joe has bought five pieces from me, but not because we’re friends, but because he likes what I do.”
Joe says, “You can just see the talent Andrew has. I love his art that looks like Picasso so much, I bought my favorite.”
You also can check out most of Andrew’s art at KranceContemporaryPaintings.com (which he says is being revamped a bit as we’re going to press) or call 994-0008 for more info.
Former USF football star Jay Mize, who already has four successful Irish 31 restaurants (in Hyde Park Village, Westshore, Westchase & at the Amalie Arena), says he hopes to open his fifth & sixth locations by the end of 2016.One of those new locales is on Clearwater Beach & the other is in The Shops st Wiregrass mall, in a shared building that just began site work next to Panera Bread.
Mize says the Irish 31 at Wiregrass will be 2,800 SF & will feature the same great chef-inspired (I call it ‘Irish-plus-gourmet’) cuisine as the other Irish 31 locations.
“It’s sort of a race to see which of our new stores opens first,” Mize says. “But we hope both will be open by the end of 2016.”
Mize noted that he couldn’t disclose the business that would share the building at our press time, but, “we know it’ll be good for us because we’re compatible with everyone.”
Dr. Navdeep Jassal, M.D. (left) and Dr. Maulik Bhalani M.D.
Dr. Maulik Bhalani M.D. knows that when people hear of pain clinics, some think of the so-called “pill mills.” He understands that after years of headlines about abuse of certain pain medications, particularly in Florida, the reputation is tough to shake.
But, at Dr. Bhalani’s Florida Pain Medicine on Windguard Cir. (across from Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, or FHWC, where he moved in May from his former location on Ashley Oaks Cir. in Seven Oaks), he says the perceptions are not even close to reality.
“The typical working class person doesn’t want to see a pain management doctor because they think that doctor is going to get them hooked on medication,’’ says Dr. Bhalani. “Little old ladies, grandmothers, will come in and tell us…I know those stories that are out there on the news. But, when they come in here, from minute one, it’s a totally difference experience.”
The office is clean and lively, the doctors are open and friendly and the approach to managing your pain, which employs the latest technological advances, is always, they say, measured and restrained, yet effective.
“There’s not a bunch of guys outside in the parking lot smoking, looking disheveled, looking for pain meds,’’ Dr. Bhalani says. “That’s not the kind of practice we are.”
The kind of practice Florida Pain Medicine is, Dr. Bhalani says, is one that focuses on interventional pain management. “Start-to-finish pain care,’’ he says.
Sometimes, in the best cases, that means opioid management, ice and injections until the patient can complete physical therapy.
“Then, we wean them off pain meds, hopefully with the goal of we never see them again, which means they are doing great and back to living their life,’’ Dr. Bhalani says.
Florida Pain Medicine also offers Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) and ultrasound therapy.
In other cases, like patients with terminal cancer, Dr. Bhalani says his goal is not to let them live out their last days in misery.
Whatever the malady, “We never force anything on anyone,’’ Dr. Bhalani says.
Pain management means different treatments for different people. Every patient is unique, but the main goal for Dr. Bhalani and his associate at Florida Pain Medicine, Dr. Navdeep Jassal, M.D., is to help their patients return to a normal way of life. Their motto is “Restore Function, Relive Life.”
“We want to get you back to where you can live your life the way you like living it,” Dr. Bhalani says.
A Little Info About The Doctors
Dr. Bhalani, a huge local sports fan and 10-year Tampa Bay Buccaneers season ticket holder who dons a Jameis Winston jersey for home games, has followed in the footsteps of his father, who is a pain medicine doctor in the Ormond Beach area of Florida, as well as several of his uncles and aunts.
In fact, Dr. Bhalani is one of 13 cousins in his family – and all are physicians.
“We don’t know how to do anything else,’’ he says, chuckling and joking that he might raise his kids, who are ages 3, 1 and 10 months old, to be NFL punters.
Dr. Bhalani received his M.D. degree from the Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, NE. He also spent two years as a resident at Maryland General Hospital in Baltimore in 2005; was the chief resident at the University of South Florida’s Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Residency Program; and completed an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Pain Medicine Fellowship in Interventional Pain Medicine at USF in 2010. He is Board-certified in Interventional Pain Medicine and in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.
Dr. Bhalani’s credentials also include sitting on the Board of the Florida Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (FSIPP) as a Director-at-Large, and he is proud of the work the FSIPP did in helping craft the so-called “Pill Mill Bill” in 2011, which forced clinics to register with the state and banned doctors from dispensing opioid prescription painkillers like Vicodin and Oxycodone from their offices. The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program also was implemented, which Drs. Bhalani and Jassal reference to look at a patient’s prescription drug history.
Dr. Jassal says he heard about all the “wild wild west stories” about Florida’s pill mills when he was studying in New York.
“I didn’t believe it until I came down here,’’ he says. “But, it’s improved dramatically (since 2011), thanks to the efforts of Dr. Bhalani and others.”
A car enthusiast and avid runner who sometimes puts in 15 miles on a weekend as a way to relax, Dr. Jassal joined Dr. Bhalani in July after completing a Pain Medicine Fellowship at USF, where he was a student of Dr. Bhalani’s. Before that, he was a resident at North Shore-Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Health Systems and Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine in Great Neck, NY.
Most patients Drs. Bhalani and Jassal see are what you might expect — those suffering from back, neck and joint pain. Others have more serious conditions, like poor recovery from back surgery, painful diabetes and even cancer. Each treatment plan varies.
The doctors at Florida Pain Medicine say they prefer a conservative approach. Patients generally will not be prescribed any controlled pain medications on the first visit. The doctors are careful to give a full exam — surprising to patients who have been to other pain medicine doctors — and look over X-rays and other images and notes from the referring doctor. as well as run a urine drug screen.
Dr. Bhalani said he and Dr. Jassal will sometimes suggest a smaller dose of medicine than the patient is currently taking. Others are often offered alternatives to stronger prescription drugs, like local anaesthetic injections (epidurals, for example), anti-inflammatory drugs, physical therapy or even weight loss to relieve pain.
“If that doesn’t work, we’ll use more aggressive measures,’’ Dr. Bhalani said. “We really try to be kind of conservative initially.”
Dr. Jassal says that since joining Florida Pain Medicine in July, he has seen as many patients in six months as he expected to see in nine months or a year. On average, Drs. Bhalani and Jassal see 25-27 patients a day, a number they think is perfect to give them time to give each patient individualized care.
Business has been so good that Dr. Bhalani, who opened his second Florida Pain Medicine on Arbor Ridge Dr. in Zephyrhills on Nov. 16, says he hopes to open another this summer or in early 2007, in Brandon.
The expansion speaks to the popularity of the doctors and the office’s friendly, comfortable environment cultivated by Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP) Louann Brown and office manager Stacye Ciegler.
Dr. Jassal thinks the office’s reputation, which includes strong relationships with local pharmacists and doctors, comes from the way the patients are cared for at Florida Pain Medicine. Dr. Bhalani says he recommends for his patients the same things he would for his own parents: “Literally, that is how we treat every single patient,” he says proudly.
A soft, personal touch and firm recommendations are something Dr. Jassal thinks patients appreciative. Sometimes, an injection, which can relieve pain for months, is suggested instead of a prescription. “Sometimes, they are like wow, I wish someone had recommended this 4-5 years ago.”
Dr. Bhalani says he recently treated a 90-year-old patient who told him, “Well, Doc, if this works as good as the last one, that’d be great,” to which Dr. Bhalani replied, “Oh, the last one helped you?,” and the patient told him that was the reason he hadn’t been back for seven months. “And I’ve been golfing the whole time!,” he said.
Not to be outdone, Dr. Jassal has a 97-year old patient who receives periodic injections, which he says, “keeps her happiness, and her happiness is dancing with her son,’’
Most of the office’s business, Dr. Bhalani says, comes from referrals. He thinks he treats as many local physicians and their family members as anyone in the area.
Dr. Bhalani can do procedures at Florida Hospital Zephyrhills, where he is the director of the Intervention & Pain Program, and at New Tampa Surgery Center on Cypress Ridge Blvd.
However, state-of-the-art pain management procedures are often performed in his Wesley Chapel office, as opposed to the hospital or at ambulatory surgery centers, which helps save patients money.
“The whole spectrum of care gives us flexibility,’’ says Dr. Bhalani.
To reach either the Wesley Chapel Florida Pain Medicine office (at 2553 Windguard Cir.) or the Zephyrhills’ location (38011 Arbor Ridge Dr.), call 388-2948.
Joanne Rivera is a whirlwind of activity. On a tour of the VIP Elite Barbershop on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., in front of Live Oak Preserve (next to Marco’s Pizza), which she owns with her husband and Master Barber Omar, she is grinning widely and excitedly talking about the new place.
Joanne thinks VIP Elite is the best place in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel to get your hair cut, and she’ll tell you why, while handing you a small stack of the shop’s business cards to hand out to your friends. She rattles off the special services and perks, like online booking (just go HERE to make an appointment), and takes you on a tour of the VIP area in the back that even has a Hollywood-style backdrop.
“Take your picture, feel like a star,’’ she says, which is what VIP Elite is all about.
She pulls out her cellphone, proudly showing off the shop’s Instagram and Facebook accounts. Joanne is a social media maven, firing off post after post, many with deals for clients.
Omar, on the other hand, is calm, cool and collected as he watches from the front of the store. He explains everything he does and why he does it in a soothing, matter-of-fact manner.
“I love cutting hair; I love giving people a great experience,” he says as he meticulously tends to the client in his chair, leaning in for a closer look at his handiwork, then giving one more buzz-by with his razor.
“The most important thing in cutting hair is the details,” Omar says. “The lines have to perfect.’’
This is how it works at the VIP Elite Barber Shop. Joanne is the energy behind the scenes, a marketing hurricane taking her storm to social media to attract and keep clients; Omar is the quiet artist, intent on making sure those who sit in his chair leave happy, and return later.
Fire and Ice.
“She is my nitro,’’ Omar says.
“It works,” Joanne says, laughing.
Working Toward A Common Goal
When Omar and Joanne opened VIP Elite Barber Shop in August of this year, they had one goal — to have the classiest, most classic barber shop in town, with exquisite modern touches — a mix of old school and new school.
When you walk into the place, your first impulse is to grab a seat on the comfortable brown leather loveseats in the lobby. There’s even a bar and VIP area in the back — built by Omar himself and nicknamed the “Man Cave” — where you can grab a cup of coffee or tea. Magazines are spread on a table. The TV is on.
The whole place has a warm feel, with subtle, masculine touches. The floor has a brown faux marble finish, the barber chairs are a rich chocolate color, the lights are soft, and the music is just the right amount of funky.
For a split second, you almost forget you are there to get your hair cut.
“When we designed it,’’ Omar says, “we wanted it to feel like home.”
Once in the barber’s chair, there are a myriad of services in which you can indulge.
A regular haircut will run you $20, and it includes a complimentary hair wash if you want it. For kids, it’s just $15. If you follow Joanne on Instagram or Facebook, you might even be able to catch a deal, like the occasional “$10 Tuesday” special.
Edges and shape-ups are $7, and the same goes for beard trims. Mustache and eyebrow trims are $5, or get it all with the VIP Ultimate package for $35.
And, you’ll also get something you won’t find just anywhere — a hot towel, straight-razor shave for $15 that can take 45 minutes and will leave your face feeling fresh and clean.
It starts with a hot warming cream, followed by a hot towel. Omar will then lay down some shaving cream, using a little bit of the foamy stuff and some of the slick stuff. With a straight razor and a steam machine keeping your face moist and warm (and the pores open), Omar delivers a tight shave, then a cold towel, which he says tightens the skin and properly closes the pores. After some moisturizer and a facial massage, if you haven’t fallen asleep in the chair, you may wonder why you ever shaved yourself in the first place.
“That’s just one of the added touches that we think puts us ahead of the other places,’’ Omar says.
“I moved here from New York and was looking for a place, and this is what makes this barbershop unique, you can come here and relax,’’ said Matthew Arriage, one of VIP Elite’s regulars. “It’s nice when you find a barber shop you really like. Other places I’ve been to, they aren’t interested in talking, they just want your get your money and get you out of there.”
Omar is from Manhattan, and Joanne is from Brooklyn. But, believe it or not, they actually met in Ocala as teenagers. It was love at first sight, Omar says, when as a freshman he bravely walked up to Joanne (a junior) and asked her for a date.
They were married in Ocala in 1995, and settled afterwards in Linden, NJ. Joanne went to school to earn her MBA, and Omar took jobs in retail management at Modell’s Sporting Goods, Sears and Home Depot.
He never stopped cutting hair, though. His son Israel would bring friends over, and he’d cut their hair on the back patio. He also cut the hair of friends and family. He got licensed to be a barber but until moving back to Florida last year, never thought about opening his own place.
But, tired of the retail grind and with the long hours that he said took him away from his family and left him depressed during holidays, Omar did decide to open his own business. He studied plans, conceptualized what he wanted, and decided, “I wanted a classy spot. And, little by little, things started falling in place.”
No one was happier than Joanne, who also works at Citigroup in Tampa.
“He always had such a good eye for it,’’ she said. “He wanted a nice gentlemen’s place, and he wanted to do what he loves.”
Omar built the front counter and the Man Cave himself and the Riveras attended an Orlando salon trade show and after lots of testing, decided on El Patron and Billy Jealousy skin and hair products for their clients. Israel, 19, got his license recently and also works in the salon with his dad. Israel also has picked up his mom’s touch for marketing, suggesting some beard oil and conditioner to a pair of customers following their haircuts.
Since opening VIP Elite, Joanne and Omar say business has been good, and getting better through word of mouth. She says they have 350 clients in their system already, and are working hard to retain them and attract others. Joanne believes she and Omar have something special, something she is happy to trumpet daily on social media. She works to keep Omar and his staff of five barber stylists busy, and their job is to deliver on the promise to give customers an experience worth repeating — and a look they will want to keep.
It’s a simple formula, Joanne says.
“We’re not here to be average.”
VIP Elite Barbershop is located at 20309 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. You can follow Joanne and Omar on FACEBOOK or on INSTAGRAM at vip_elite_barbershop. Online, find them at vipelitebarbershop.com or reach them by phone at 813-994-4057.
Wesley Chapel resident Sophia Contino (who was featured in our last issue) presented Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco with a check for $3,200 to help fund Kevlar vests for Nocco’s K-9 deputies.
