Where can you enjoy a variety of craft beers, delicious food and listen to some outstanding music, all to support a couple of great causes?
On Saturday, June 19, 4 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Double Branch Artisanal Ales, located in the Village at The Grove shopping plaza, will host the Rhythm & Brews Festival to benefit the Joshua House (a safe haven residence for abused, abandoned and neglected children) and the Rotary Club of New Tampa Foundation.
The Rhythm & Brews Festival is free to attend if you just want to hang out and listen to some great live music (starting at 4 p.m.) by Bob T & Friends. But, from 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Altered Craft Distribution and Double Branch are offering an amazing Craft Beer Tasting, which will include unlimited 3-oz. samples of an outstanding selection of craft beers, for $30 per ticket in advance or $35 per ticket at the door.Â
“Bob T” is New Tampa Rotary After Hours Satellite Club chair Bob Thompson, and club members will be volunteering during the event.Â
In addition to Double Branch, the other Altered Craft brewers offering samples at the event include Bayboro Brewing Co., Bullfrog Creek Brewing Co., Cueni Brewing Co., Dissent Craft Brewing Co., Gulfport Brewery, Overflow Brewing Co., Pinellas Ale Works, Southern Lights Brewing Co. and Troubled Waters Brewing.
The event also will feature food vendors, including Omnivorous, Double Branch’s outstanding in-house kitchen and the Neighborhood News is proud to be a sponsor of this much-needed, fun event.
Double Branch Artisanal Ales is located at 5956 Wesley Grove Blvd. For tasting tickets, scan the QR code in the ad on pg. 32 of this issue or, for more info, visit dbaa.com. — GN
If you’re looking for truly delicious, gourmet ice cream and treats, you have to check out the new Ice SSSScreamin’ shop, located at 14933 Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., next to Mr. Dunderbak’s in the Oak Ramble Plaza, just south of Tampa Palms.
My new friend Zee says this is his second store with the many “S” name, with the other having been located in Cape Coral for 15 years. Both stores serve decadently creamy Yoder’s Southern Creamery ice cream (based in Sarasota) in an amazing array of flavors, several of which I got to sample on my first visit, including brownie caramel, chocolate peanut butter and triple peanut butter and all are absolutely unforgettable!
Zee says, “People love us for our monthly specials,” plus croissant sundaes, pancake, waffle and even donut ice cream sandwiches, hand-spun milk shakes (“We can make them with any of our flavors”) and more!
There’s even no sugar added and vegan flavors available. For more information or to place an order, call (813) 605-5040 or visit icesssscreamin.com and please tell Zee I sent you! — GN  Â
The fact that restaurants serving a variety of bowls have taken over the collective consciousness (and appetites) of the local community hasn’t been lost on Ryan Mortti, now the co-owner of Mahana Fresh, located just north of I-75 off Doña Michelle Dr. and Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in New Tampa.
Ryan, who also owns his own construction company, recognized the need to do more to capture more customers, especially with multiple new bowl-oriented restaurants either having opened recently or getting ready to open within a couple of miles of his Mahana Fresh location — which is one of three in the Bradenton-based mini-chain.
To that end, Ryan has brought in an experienced partner, Chris Courtney-James, who was responsible the last several years for making sure that Dunkin’ Donuts locations that hadn’t been meeting company expectations were brought up to speed. More important, however, is that Chris also spent years in the kitchens of restaurants across the Tampa Bay area and, in his words, “isn’t afraid to spend a lot of time cooking at a hot grill.”
In addition, Ryan and Chris have a special offer that they hope will bring in plenty of locals — two hours of free Mahana-sized bowls on Saturday, June 12, from noon-1 p.m. and from 6 p.m.-7 p.m. You can pick a bowl, any bowl — one per person, for dine-in only.
Photographer Charmaine George and I spent some time recently at the local Mahana Fresh and even though both of us already loved the food, we were impressed with the incredible precision with which the bowl-oriented eatery prepared for a large catering order — as well as with the delicious aromas that emanated from those grills while tender steaks and marinated chicken breasts and thighs were cooked over the open flame.
An Amazing Selection!Â
For those who have never tried Mahana Fresh, you shouldn’t wait until June 12 to check it out. Here’s how it works. You choose from three sizes — Kids (with 1 base, 1 veggie, 1 protein & your choice of sauce), Mahana (1 base, 2 veggies, 1 protein & sauce) and the Big Mahana (2 bases, 2 veggies, 2 proteins & sauce).
The bases include coconut or cauliflower rice, a basmati rice blend, sesame noodles, spinach or my favorite, the kale crunch salad.
Your proteins include marinated ahi tuna, plus Key West, BBQ or (Jannah’s favorite) teriyaki chicken, plus spicy grilled tofu and tender, grilled-to-order steak (my favorite).
The incredible veggies (above photo) include roasted mushrooms, roasted sweet potatoes, Buffalo cauliflower, garlicky cilantro green beans and my two favorites, the sesame ginger broccoli and the honey sriracha Brussels sprouts.Â
Available sauces include coconut sweet potato, creamy wasabi and mine and Jannah’s two favorites, the cilantro vinaigrette and the citrus ginger.
For a small extra charge, add roasted almonds, avocado smash, parmesan cheese, Jannah’s favorite feta cheese and my fave, the Mediterranean tomatoes.
Honestly, you really can’t go wrong with any of them, but if you have any trouble deciding, Mahana Fresh has now introduced “Signature Bowls,” including everything from a “Keto Surfer Bowl” (cauliflower rice, sesame ginger broccoli, roasted mush-rooms, grilled steak & cilantro vinaigrette) to a “Veggie Vacay Bowl” (coconut rice, sesame ginger broccoli, roasted mushrooms, sesame garlic tofu and coconut sweet potato sauce) and The Big Kahuna Bowl (basmati rice blend, spinach, Buffalo cauliflower, garlicky cilantro green beans, BBQ chicken, grilled steak and cilantro lime vinaigrette).
And, all of Mahana Fresh’s house-made desserts are pretty tasty, especially for gluten-free — and include chocolate chip cookies, zucchini brownies and snickerdoodle cookies.
As for beverages, Mahana Fresh has done away with its unique beer taps, but still has fountain sodas, Pure Leaf sweet and unsweet tea, regular and strawberry lemonade, a variety of Bubly flavored sparkling waters and Bai flavored antioxidant infusion drinks.
Mahana Fresh is located at 17512 Doña Michelle Dr. and is open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. every day. For more information, call (727) 238-9967 or visit MahanaFresh.com.
Bringing Mini-Golf To The Grove!
As mentioned earlier, Ryan also owns his own construction company and has been busy working on not only completing many of the repurposed shipping containers at the KRATE container park at The Grove, but also on bringing a cool mini-golf course to the area near The Grove theater, with his brother Matt Mortti and his sister Melissa Schachtner and her husband Andrew Schachtner.Â
“It won’t have windmills but it will have a mountain with waterfalls and fire, plus cool trick shots,” Ryan says, adding that the tropical-themed course also will have a tiki hut restaurant that serves beer and wine.
If the pictures below don’t make you think “nutritious,” think again. These are just a couple of the staple offerings at the new UrbanGr#d Nutrition, located at 26244 Wesley Chapel Blvd. (S.R. 54) in Lutz, in the Grand Oaks Plaza. Owners Fio and Luis Diou have both been fitness fanatics for years, and they say they were frustrated at the lack of protein-packed, lower-carb breakfast and snack options here in the Tampa Bay area, especially in and around Wesley Chapel.
Luis, a chemist who says he became a serious weightlifter after leaving the U.S. Army, and Fio, a former online fitness and nutrition coach, have come up with a unique variety of delicious options already earning some buzz for UrbanGr#d on local Facebook communities from fellow fitness fans.
Top left in the photo gallery what may be the best oatmeal I’ve ever tasted. It features added banana caramel protein (there are other flavors available, too), plus a variety of toppings. I chose crunchy granola, fresh strawberries and real peanut butter and it was almost too good.
UrbanGr#d also features a variety of protein-powered donuts (top left; less than 2g of sugar each) waffles (bottom left), açai bowls, gourmet shakes, energy teas and even hot and iced protein coffee drinks. For more info, call (813) 388-9278 or visit “UrbanGrid Nutrition” on Facebook.
The kitchen at Double Branch Artisanal Ales (DBAA), the first business to sign a lease at the new Village at The Grove development, is finally open.
Travis Glenn and his wife Tammi (photo) are renting the space from DBAA co-owner Ryan Clarke and will manage the food side of the micro-brewery, which is called “Omnivorous.” Travis has been a general manager of various restaurants in his 30 years in and out of the business, including eight years at the Dark Horse Brewing Company in Marshall, MI.
Travis has been with DBAA since the day it opened, working as a bartender, but when the original kitchen manager backed out, he applied to take over.
That’s good news for the pub, which has weathered Covid-19, and the lack of a kitchen, from the day it opened. Travis says you could just see the money floating out the door as patrons stopped by for a beer on their way to dinner somewhere else. “It’s been a huge loss,” he says. “People pop their heads in and ask if we have food. I feel like I’ve turned away 30-35 people a day. It happens all the time.”
The menu at Omnivorous features wings, burgers and “good, honest, straightforward bar-type food” with some personal touches, like amazing Brussels sprouts. Everything is made from scratch, his brisket is smoked in-house, the burgers are smash-style and one of Travis’s goals is to have the best chicken wings in the area, with some unique sauces.
One of his fryers is dedicated to only vegan and gluten-free options, like French fries and those delicious Brussels sprouts.
DBAA has other plans as well. There’s a new brewer, Robert Hunt, who used to work at Tampa Beer Works, in charge of the beers. Ryan says they will continue to produce the wide variety of pilsener, IPA, Hazy and Sour beverages, including a soon-to-be released Grove Gold Florida pilsener, named after Grove developer Mark Gold.
Ryan also had added video and board games to the selection of entertainment, and is already hosting events like yoga, where an hour of Sunday yoga is followed by a beer. The first yoga class was held last month, drawing 23 people. And, while Omnivorous isn’t currently open on Sundays, adding brunch on the weekends also is being considered.
Ryan also would like to put together a Father’s Day beer festival.
“The (Covid) delays have definitely created challenges,” Ryan says. “We’re still very excited about the things coming to The Grove, like the container park, and the new apartments across the street, and looking forward to what this can be.”
For more information about Double Branch Artisanal Ales (5956 Wesley Grove Blvd.), call (813) 492-8800 or visit DBAA.com. — JCC
