Editorial: Stay Tuned Right Here For WCNT-tv & Taste Of New Tampa Updates!

Less than two months before the 2017 Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel — which will be held on Saturday, March 18, noon-4 p.m., at the new Florida Hospital Center Ice (which now has ice!) — I’m ecstatic to say that my restaurant committee is already surpassing my expectations.

As of our press date — January 19 — we already have 30 restaurants that have verbally committed to participate in the Taste! The truly amazing thing to me, however, is that when we recorded Episode 15 of WCNT-tv (Wesley Chapel & New Tampa television) just four days earlier, we only had 23 restaurant commitments and two maybes (see below).

In other words, virtually every restaurant we’ve spoken with has jumped at the opportunity to give away samples of their cuisine to what we expect will be at least 3,000-5,000 attendees. Everybody seems to want to have a chance to be inside the largest ice skating and hockey facility in the southern U.S. for what was the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel area’s signature event for 20 years, even though it’s now been four years since the Taste was held.

George Stella

The Taste, which is being put on for the first time by the Rotary Club of New Tampa (which meets Fridays at 7 a.m. at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club), will also feature a live cooking demonstration by formerly 465-lb. celebrity chef and author George Stella, whose popular show on the Food Network is called “Low Carb & Lovin’ It.”

There also will be beer and wine available at the Taste, plus great musical entertainment and emcee/Rotarian Bob Thompson will make the rounds to every restaurant and sponsor booth at the event to help our food and beverage providers and sponsors give away some great prizes throughout the day.

And more great news is that the website TasteofNewTampa.org is now live and will provide regular updates about the event’s sponsors and all of the participating restaurants as they commit to participating. You’ll also be able to purchase Taste tickets on the site shortly and, since Taste proceeds will benefit the Rotary Club of New Tampa Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, your Taste ticket purchases may be tax deductible!

Here is the list of restaurants that had committed to participate in the Taste, whether verbally or in writing, at our press time:

•Stonewood Grill & Tavern
•Ciccio Cali
•Vuelo Mexican Grill
•The Private Chef of Tampa
•Paramount Lebanese Kitchen
•GrillSmith
•Dempsey’s Steak House (Saddlebrook)
•Little Italy’s
•Old Heights Bistro
•7 Layers Bakery
•Top Shelf Sports Lounge (FHCI)
•McDonald’s
•PDQ
•Union 72 BBQ
•Sonny’s BBQ
•Cantina Laredo
•Happy Cow Frozen Yogurt
•Charley’s Cheesesteaks
•Tijuana Flats
•Culver’s
*Pepe’s Cuban Cafe
•Buttermilk Provisions
•Arroy Thai
•The Cake Girl
•BJ’s Brewhouse
•OTB Delights Café
•Nothing Bundt Cakes
•Jimmy John’s
•Buffalo Wild Wings (probable)
*Cheddars Scratch Kitchen (probable)

Look for more updates in these pages, on WCNT-tv and at TasteofNewTampa.org!

And, Speaking of WCNT-tv…

The full-age ad in our latest issue touts the accomplishments and viewership to date of WCNT-tv. Episode 15 of WCNT-tv debuted on YouTube the same day we went to press with current issue, but we are pulling some fairly impressive numbers, at least in my opinion, through the first 14 full-length episodes and special reports that have aired to date.

Our Facebook reach is now at more than 334,000 people, up nearly 100,000 people since our last update in these pages.

We’ve also now had nearly 64,000 views on YouTube (which, we’ve been told, are usually much harder to come by than Facebook views) and nearly 83,000 views on Facebook itself for all of the segments combined.

Those may not be local TV station numbers…at least not yet…but with some episodes garnering as many as 10,000 views and with all of the big news coming up over the next several months, my partner Craig Miller (of Full Throttle Intermedia) and I are confident that we’ll soon pass a reach of half a million people and more than 100,000 views each on Facebook and YouTube.

Craig and I again thank our exclusive webcast partner, the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce, and our Studio Sponsor, Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, for believing in this project and trying a different way to bring attention to local businesses. Subscribe to the WCNT-tv YouTube channel today!

Noble Crust Coming To Wesley Chapel

Artist rendition of Noble Crust in St. Petersburg.

Noble Crust, a hip north St. Petersburg restaurant featuring Italian-Southern fusion, is coming to the Shops at Wiregrass mall.

Wiregrass general manager Greg Lenners confirmed that the restaurant, created by the same folks who brought the Bonefish Grill to Wesley Chapel, has signed a lease and begun construction on its 3,200-sq.-ft. location, which will be right next to Pinchers Crab Shack.

The Noble Crust team includes TJ Theilbar and Tim Curci, who helped develop Bonefish Grill and Hops Grill and Bar, executive chef Rob Reinsmith and financial consultant Jeff Strouse.

Noble Crust will be built next to Pinchers Crab Shack.

Theilbar told us in June he was in negotiations, and that “We have some very specific requests as far as the look trying to work through the logistics.” Those issues have all been resolved and plans to open the restaurant by the end of the year are underway.

The Noble Crust website says it is hoping for a Spring, 2017 opening.

The eatery has received mostly rave reviews since opening its St. Petersburg location in Feb., 2015.

Although the name of the restaurant suggests a pizza place, and Noble Crust does serve different versions of the Italian pie, it is much more than that under the direction of Reinsmith.

“Everything we do is in house and from scratch,’’ Theilbar said.

Noble Crust’s brunch has been voted one of Tampa Bay’s best by various publications, and it features items such as deviled eggs, ricotta gnocchi, Lemon Ricotta pancakes, Bronzed Salmon Benny and fried chicken and waffles.

Some of the restaurant’s dinner favorites include its popular beef-and-veal meatballs, southern fried chicken, shrimp and grits, sweet potato ravioli and rigatoni and short rib ragu.

And of course, there are pizzas, like the Noble Pig, which features sweet fennel sausage, spicy soppressata and pickled cherry peppers, and the Roasted Mushroom, with shiitake and oyster mushrooms. Gluten-free crust is also available.

The menu changes often, says Theilbar, who adds that the restaurant employs an off-site production kitchen where all of its fresh pasta, sauces and cured meets are produced. A larger, 7,000-sq.ft.facility is being built off Racetrack Rd. in Tampa.

To learn more about Noble Crust, visit noble-crust.com.

Dade City Chamber Celebrating 20 Years Of Kumquats January 28!

Dade City’s annual Kumquat Festival will be held on Saturday, January 28, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. This year is the milestone 20th anniversary of the event, which celebrates the kumquat, “a unique and funky little fruit,” as described by John Moors, executive director of the event’s host, the Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce.

Kumquats are small citrus fruits grown near Dade City, and the annual festival also is an opportunity to show off the city’s historic downtown district’s eclectic restaurants and new places to shop, such as Flint Creek Outfitters, a new, high-end sporting goods and camping gear store.

This year’s festival will include 440 vendors and 40 sponsors, with a car and truck show, farmers market, arts & crafts, children’s activities and all kinds of kumquat pies and other products.

“It’s an authentic, old-Florida style festival,” says Moors, “including down-home, local entertainment on the historic courthouse steps all day.”

He estimates about 35,000 people attend each year, but exact numbers are unknown because the event is not ticketed and there’s no gate.

“It’s certainly a milestone that this is our 20th year,” says Moors. “It’s marvelous that, for 20 years, the community has pulled together to put on this completely volunteer-run event. Again this year, our 200 volunteers are working extremely hard to make it a really enjoyable day.”

Admission and parking are free, and free transportation also is provided from multiple satellite parking lots.

For more info, visit KumquatFestival.org.

Nibbles And Bytes

Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen Getting Closer

Although yours truly isn’t a big fan, the Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen being built on S.R. 54, on previously vacant land located directly adjacent to O’Brien’s Irish Pub & Grill in the Wesley Chapel Village Market, does have a building rising out of the ground and should be completed by sometime in early 2017.

The 44-year-old, New Orleans, LA-based fried chicken chain now has more than 2,000 locations not only nationwide but around the world.

And, with its location right off the S.R. 54 exit of I-75, Popeye’s is likely to enjoy success here in Wesley Chapel, too. We’ll keep you posted as the opening gets closer.

Union 72 BBQ Is So Much More Than Just Another BBQ Place!

Ok, so I freely admit that while I love cooking on a grill, I’m not the biggest fan of barbecue food, especially at most places. One advantage (or disadvantage?) for me as I’ve aged is that my stomach just can’t handle most BBQ sauces.

But, the casual, new Union 72 BBQ in the Shops at Wiregrass mall is not your usual BBQ place. Yes, there’s a slew of smoked meats from which to choose — and there are some unique options among those that I am excited to tell you about — but it’s quite honestly mainly the non-BBQ-style offerings at Union 72 that really do it for me, even though, at one time, I consumed full racks of ribs in one sitting. I still love ribs, but these days, I usually just stick to enjoying one or two of someone else’s ribs (at the most) before I give up.

Well, Union 72 co-owners Jeff Martin and Bharat Chhabria and pitmaster Geoff Zukosky definitely have my attention. One bite of graphic designer Blake Beatty’s Union 72 St. Louis-style ribs and I was hooked. The ribs are prepared with Union 72’s own house-made dry rub, marinated overnight and slow-smoked to perfection. They’re served wet or dry, so I was glad that Blake ordered his dry (the marinade creates a glaze that gives these fall-off-the-bone-tender ribs a nice crispy edge), even though the photo above (provided by Union 72), are shown wet. I’m also partial to Union 72’s Texas-style beef brisket and I enjoyed tastes of the pulled pork and even the country-style sausage.

As I said before, however, I am even more impressed by Union 72’s non-smoked items, like the southern fried hot chicken tenders, which are buttermilk-battered and rubbed with Union 72’s chef-created “Fire” rub. If you like the Nashville hot chicken at that fast food chicken joint, I’m betting you’ll love these super-crispy-outside, tender-and-juicy-inside beauties even more.

I also absolutely loved the Conquistador sandwich, which is still smoked pulled pork, but Spanish-spiced (like at a great Cuban place), topped with a green chimichurri sauce, caramelized onions and topped with a perfect sunny-side-up egg that absolutely oozes into every bite, all on a tasty brioche bun.

Other chef-created Union 72 favorites at our office include the tacos — available with brisket, pork or your choice of smoked meat — the dry-rub (think spicy blackened) hot wings, the pulled chicken salad and the marinated, slow-smoked half chicken.

There are a couple of Asian-influenced sandwiches at Union 72 I’m planning to try on my next couple of visits — the Vietnamese-style Banh mi sandwich (photo, right), which puts slices of that slow-smoked brisket on a baguette, topped with pickled vegetables, cucumbers, bean sprouts and spicy aioli; and the Far East sandwich, which is slow-smoked, chopped pork topped with kimchi, drizzled with Union 72’s house-made Sticky Asian barbecue sauce, and finished with fresh cilantro, scallions and toasted sesame seeds.

Some of these sandwiches are served with your choice of a side and so far, I’m pretty much loving all of ‘em. The corn on the cob, collared greens, fries, house-made slaw, smoked bacon mac & cheese and the smoked, loaded baked potato all get high marks from me. I’m not a big fried okra fan, but lots of Union 72 regulars seem to love it, too. I’ve only sampled three or four of the six  house-made sauces to date, but my favorites are the white BBQ and Sticky Asian.

Speaking of folks who already visit Union 72, which has been open about two months at our press time, 900º Woodfired Pizza (also located in the mall) owner Steve Falabella and Little Italy’s (on S.R. 54 in Lutz) owners Carl and Jessica Meyers rave about the place, as did everyone in my office who got to try it the day I wrote this article.

The Brass Tap Connection

Martin is probably familiar to a lot of you, as he opened the first Brass Tap (in the space adjacent to what is now Union 72) in the mall more than eight years ago. Today, Martin and a variety of partners and some franchisees now have 39 Brass Taps in more than a dozen states. The Wiregrass location which previously had only served dozens of beers from around the world and a variety of wines, recently added full liquor, which has only brought in more people to an already popular watering hole and night spot.

Chhabria met Martin when he bought a franchise and the two shared a love for great barbecue and wanted to be able to offer good prices for their “flavors of the world.” Martin even says that Union 72 is now adding a variety of small, shareable appetizer platters — like unique nachos and more — to better serve his thirsty (and often hungry) customers at the Brass Tap.

Speaking of beverages, I love the local Cigar City craft lager on draft (served in mason jars) and house merlot and chardonnay also are available.

And, by the time you read this, you’ll be able to check out Union 72’s expanding catering menu, which you should consider if you want everyone to rave about the food at your “Big Game” party. Union 72 will even provide employees to work your party, to make sure everything is perfect. And, based on my experience so far, it will be!

Union 72 BBQ (2000 Piazza Ave., Suite 150) is open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. every day & until 10 p.m. on Fri. & Sat. For info, call 575-9999, or visit Union72.com. Please tell Jeff & crew we sent you!