Omari’s Grill At Lexington Oaks — Delicious Food, Great People!

Anass El-Omari and his wife Susana Herrera

When I first met Anass El-Omari and his wife Susana Herrera several months ago, I was hopeful that their plan to completely revamp not just the look of the clubhouse at Lexington Oaks Golf Club, but also the food served there would work out for them. After all, we have plenty of chain restaurants in Wesley Chapel, but we have so few non-chain, sit-down, mom-&-pop restaurants in our area with great food.

Well, if you haven’t tried Omari’s Grill & Bar at Lexington Oaks yet, I hope the pictures on this page and this short writeup will convince you to go check it out.

Anass, who is originally from Morocco, was trained at the world-renowned Cordon Bleu Institute in Paris, France, and just from the sauces he has been serving alone, his extensive training and experience is obvious.

Anass met Susana in her native Colombia, where she was working as a TV network news anchor for RCN Television (Radio Cadena Nacional) in the Colombian capital city of Bogota.

About two years ago, his varied business interests (including banking software) brought their family (they have two children together) from Colombia to Florida, first to the Grand Hampton community in New Tampa and eventually, to Wesley Chapel, where he ended up buying the Lexington Oaks golf course and restaurant, a change of ownership that took place about a year ago.

“We were planning to just buy a small vacation home in Epperson, because of the lagoon, but the kids loved it here, so this is now home.”

Oh Yeah, The Food!

The lunch and dinner menus at Omari’s Grill may be somewhat limited, but there’s no doubt that all of the dishes Jannah and I have sampled together so far have been outstanding — and Anass is always coming up with daily specials.

My favorite items on the dinner menu are the flounder almendrine, which I thought I had shown in my Nibbles & Bytes column before, and the Chef filet.

For only $14.99, the flounder is sautéed in a Mediterranean-style butter sauce, with large chunks of fresh tomatoes. The 6-oz. filet ($20.99) is super tender and served with a fresh basil and white wine cream sauce. It was served with two fresh asparagus spears and we also enjoyed a side of cheesy baked broccoli.

The Chef filet

I also love the fresh pear and brie cheese and the calamari appetizers and the Cajun chicken pasta with onions, peppers and salami in a semi-spicy Cajun cream sauce.

Although I can’t indulge in any of the multiple shrimp and lobster options on the menu because of my accursed shellfish allergy, Susana says her favorite dish on the menu is the lobster pasta, which is linguine served with generous chunks of lobster in a ginger cream sauce, with a touch of garlic and white wine. 

The mahi-mahi, served with a mango salsa.

The special on our most recent visit was a super-thick cut of amazingly fresh mahi-mahi, served with a mango salsa that added a delicious touch of fruit without being overly sweet. 

Although dinner currently is only served at Omari’s Grill Wednesday-Friday, it is open for lunch every day except Monday and the lunch menu features plenty of your favorite sandwiches, including Anass’ take on the classic Cuban, a Cajun chicken sandwich with bacon and cheese (of course), a Philly cheesesteak, classic BLT, as well as burgers, wings, a Buffalo chicken wrap and even shrimp tacos. 

Strawberry cheesecake

I’ve only sampled Omari’s catering-style food for lunch when I’ve visited the Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel, which meets for lunch at Omari’s every Wednesday at noon. Anass and Susana don’t only host the club, they’re also members and say they look forward to getting more involved with the Rotary’s service projects, especially since the Lexington Oaks golf course is getting ready to close for renovations for three months shortly after this issue reaches you.

“While the greens are being resurfaced,” says Anass, “we will be really focusing on the restaurant side. We’ll do a lot more menu specials and host more special events.” 

Speaking of special events, Susana says that the Easter brunch held last month “completely sold out.” But, despite lots of requests, Anass says he will not repeat the brunch special for Mother’s Day, so he and Susana can spend her special day together.

“I haven’t had a day off in 243 days,” he says. “But, I’ll be thinking about new specials.”

Oh, and before I forget to mention it, you should always save room for dessert at Omari’s Grill. All of the desserts are homemade, including an authentically French creme brulee and the totally decadent New York-style cheese cake shown in the far right photo on this page, which is served with fresh strawberries and a chocolate sauce that has other ingredients Anass wouldn’t share with me. “The sauce is a secret,” he says with a smile.

Omari’s also caters to families with an affordable kids menu (nothing more than $5) and there is a beautiful covered patio that can seat about as many people as the inside dining area, which features a premium, full-liquor bar with very reasonable prices.

For more information about Omari’s Grill & Bar (26133 Lexington Oaks Blvd.), call (813) 907-7270 or visit LexingtonOaksGolf.com and please tell Anass and Susana I sent you!  

My ‘25 Years Of Neighborhood News’ Celebration Rocked Bayscape Bistro!

Office & sales assistant Janet Levins checks in readers at our “25 Years of Neighborhood News” Celebration at Bayscape Bistro.

When I purchased Neighborhood News on February 26, 1994, with a former partner, I had no idea I’d still be doing the same job 25 years later. 

At that time, this was a once-a-month, quarter-folded direct mail newspaper with only “spot” color (not full color) on four pages,that was delivered to 6,500 households in what wasn’t even yet referred to as “New Tampa.” Our only Wesley Chapel distribution back then were the few hundred copies that were being dropped off each month at the Meadow Pointe I clubhouse. I quickly added mailing to the first few hundred homes in the original portion of Meadow Pointe, as well as to the few hundred homes in the community surrounding Saddlebrook Resort.

All I knew then was that, in addition to homes, roads with no traffic signals and thousands of heads of cattle, the areas that would one day be called New Tampa and Wesley Chapel had a lot of vacant land, most of which already had development plans in place. I started calling the phone numbers on every sign along both Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in New Tampa (at that time, the portion in Pasco County was only known as County Road 581) and Cross Creek Blvd.

And even though the Neighborhood News I purchased already had a reasonable number of advertisers, I knew that the key to getting people to actually read the publication was to tell them about the plans for the new developments coming to their community.

Celebration attendees got to enjoy delicious appetizers.

As you can see from the first few of the 50 covers (see gallery below), I and my “staff” of one part-time writer/editor made sure that we told the residents in my two distribution areas everything we could about the plans for the homes, apartments, businesses, roads, libraries, churches and recreational opportunities that were coming “in the future.”

Well, 25 years later, I and my still-small staff of one outstanding full-time managing editor, a few great freelance writers and a few in-house support staffers continue to give you more news and information about everything that is still coming to our now-separate distribution areas.

A certain publisher plays to the crowd.

The 50 Neighborhood News front pages include an average of two covers per year for every year we’ve been in business, although there are a few years along the way that didn’t make it to these pages — not because nothing “important” happened those years, but because most of these front pages are about “firsts,” meaning the first story we published (and believe me, especially in the beginning, no other local news media covered most of the stories we did) about a particular subject affecting our readers. 

In order to give you that true historical perspective in a small amount of available space, there aren’t nearly as many covers from the era of 2015 until the present, even though managing editor John C. Cotey has probably broken as many big news stories in those 3+ years as I did between 1994-2000, but most of you have been here for most of John’s biggest stories, whereas the vast majority of our readers weren’t living here from the start.

But, What About The Party?

So, even though my anniversary of buying the paper was actually in February of ‘94, my first issue as the publisher and editor was April of that year. In addition, as we told you on last issue’s cover, I got married in late March, so I didn’t really want to host the party until after that event.

I was thrilled that Eddie Bujarski and his wife Lourdes, the owners of the Bayscape Bistro in the Heritage Isles Golf Club on Cross Creek Blvd. in New Tampa, agreed to not only host the party on April 12, but also to put out a beautiful spread of both hot and cold munchies for what turned out to be more than 100 guests. I, of course, provided a karaoke DJ for the event, just as I had done at our first “Meet the Publisher” karaoke party way back in May of ‘94.

But, most of the folks who attended the 25th anniversary event weren’t there to sing (even though Jannah and I and some of our friends may have been) — almost every reader who attended said they just wanted to be there to thank me for being an important part of their lives here in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel. We had folks from Epperson to the north and Tampa Palms to the south, and from Lexington Oaks to the west to K-Bar Ranch to the east attend and many came in groups of people who all had at least one thing in common — they all love the Neighborhood News!

I also was thrilled that several of our wonderful advertisers also found time to check out the celebration — and find out more about our new Video & Online Subscriptions. Among the attendees were Realtors Karen Tillman-Gosselin and her husband Renynold Gosselin, James and Alexis Staten of Olympus Pools, Pam Edmonson of Creative Permanent Makeup by Pam, Derek Usman of Usman Law Firm and Ramses Garcia of Las Palmas Latin Grill all showed up to party with me, Jannah, John, office and sales assistant Janet Levins, senior video producer Gavin Olsen and his assistant Charmaine George.

As you can see, there are a lot of front pages we’ve had to leave out to keep the number of our historic covers at only 50, especially from 2017-present. 

Even so, pictured here are (left-right and top-bottom)our historic win as Small Business of the Year from what was then known as the Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce; Wesley Chapel resident Mike Moore’s first election to the Pasco County Board of Commissioners; the Grand Opening of the Tampa Premium Outlets; our first story about the indoor sports complex which is finally beginning construction in Wiregrass; our first cover story about the “Connected City”; our story about the definitive history of Wesley Chapel being published by a local author; our WCNT-tv Preview Party; the opening of what was then known as Florida Hospital Center Ice; the first Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel hosted at the skating complex; our first explanation of the Diverging Diamond Intersection; a visit with the first families that moved into Epperson, prior to the opening of the Crystal LagoonsÂź amenity that is now open to the public (pg. 5); John’s great story about all of the new pizza places (almost all of which are now open) coming to Wesley Chapel; our nominee for our best New Tampa cover headline ever (“Bruce B. Done”) and a certain publisher’s nuptials from last issue. Impressive, right? — GN   

Craft Brewery Sets Sights On Old Sports + Field Location On S.R. 56!

A one-time multi-million dollar sports and fitness facility could be reborn as home to one of the Tampa Bay area’s most popular craft breweries if Anthony Derby has his way. 

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Brew Bus Brewing and Florida Avenue Brewing Co. in Tampa says he is eyeing the former Sports + Field Family Athletic & Fitness Club complex on S.R. 56 to expand his current operations, and hopes to close on the property by the end of June.

“We love the property, we love that area of town, but there are some things we need to work out and plan for,” said Derby, who co-founded his brewing companies with his mother Toni Derby, who serves as the company’s chief financial officer (CFO).

Anthony says he, architect Ken Cowart — who also is the project architect for the St. Petersburg Pier — and land-use attorney Anne Pollack met with Pasco County planning officials on April 17, and Derby says the meeting went well.

Derby says he plans to spend $8-9 million on the initial phase/renovations of the project, if it continues to move forward, developing a full-service restaurant and bar while utilizing what was once an outdoor field for training athletes as a beer garden.

“The property has a great L-shape and that is going to help us create a nice little customer experience,” Derby says. “Right now, this property is a really big deal for us.” 

The outdoor area also will serve as a family-friendly activities area with games and events, and that was one of the things that made the property even more attractive, along with its location on a busy stretch of S.R. 56 and its proximity to AdventHealth Center Ice, one of Wesley Chapel’s busiest spots. 

The “bones” of the building itself remain in great shape, Derby adds, and he expects an extensive but fairly quick indoor renovation that could see the new craft brewery and restaurant open by this time next year.

It’s the next piece of the puzzle out here,” Derby says. 

The tasting room at Florida Avenue Brewing Co.

While Wesley Chapel has its fair share of bars, it is not yet home to a craft brewery and restaurant like Brew Bus Brewing and Florida Avenue Brewing Co., which is located in Seminole Heights, at 4101 N. Florida Ave.

The company produces Florida Avenue and Brew Bus-branded beers at that location, also serving food and offering tours of other local breweries in Tampa. 

The two-story building the Derbys are hoping to renovate as part of their expansion was originally developed by Strong-S Corporation and opened in 2005 as a $10.5-million fitness center that had multiple purposes. It held local basketball leagues on its NBA-sized court, and hosted a number of professional athletes who came there to train, like tennis player Jennifer Capriati and some of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It also offered a number of fitness and massage options for community members.

Sports + Field promoted itself as the only local facility offering elite strength training for professionals and amateurs. 

However, it closed in 2015, and while there was talk of a charter school or car dealership moving into the space, neither of those two plans materialized and the building has remained unused.

Performing Arts Center Breaks Ground!

When Pasco County deputy superintendent of schools Ray Gadd first came across the sprawling 250 acres or so of property on Old Pasco Rd., he decided he wanted it.

However, he couldn’t have it — it was under the control of home builder D.R. Horton, which had portions of it under contract with three different people.

Disappointed, Gadd told the home builder that if those contracts fell through, to let him know.

And fall through they all did, leaving Gadd and Pasco County planning director Chris Williams with an opportunity to convince three different people to sell their slices of the parcel.

Years later, on a perfectly sunny and cloudless day, Gadd stood on that property smiling, with Cypress Creek Middle/High School behind him, a separate Cypress Creek Middle School under construction to the north of him, and the future home of the Instructional Performing Arts Center (IPAC) on the nine acres beneath his feet.

The Cypress Creek Conservatory of Music performed at the groundbreaking of the new Instructional Performing Arts Center on campus. (Photo: John C. Cotey)

The IPAC, a joint $18-million venture between Pasco County Schools and Pasco-Hernando State College (PHSC), celebrated the IPAC’s official groundbreaking on April 23, with Gadd sharing the story of the land’s acquisition with a crowd of 100 or so.

“Chris Williams and I sat in a little block home… with a couple, and we negotiated their part of the land,” Gadd said. “Then, we went out to a trailer in a little ranch and stable up the hill, about where the middle school is going up and negotiated that piece of land. That was easier than the third gentleman we negotiated with…but ultimately we got all 250 acres. So, that was the beginning of this vision.”

The IPAC facility, which will be located at 8701 Old Pasco Rd. in Wesley Chapel, is expected to be the bridge for students interested in performing arts at Cypress Creek Middle/High.

The Instructional Performing Arts Center (artist rendering above) which just broke ground adjacent to Cypress Creek Middle/High School on Old Pasco Rd. (groundbreaking below) will be a joint venture between Pasco Hernando State College and Pasco County Schools.

The facility is a joint effort between PHSC and the Pasco School District, and will offer programs in dance, theater and music, both vocal and instrumental. It also will offer dual enrollment opportunities for local high school students. 

“It’s a huge bonus for us,” said Cypress Creek Middle/High principal Carin Hetzler-Nettles. “The dual enrollment opportunities that our students will have at their fingertips is exceptional.”

Dr. Stanley Giannet, the vice president of academic affairs and faculty development at PHSC, said the facility will have an “economic development flavor” to it as well, with a new Associate of Science degree in digital design and multimedia technology.

“It’s a high-wage, high-skill industry, and those who finish our (new) program will be immediately employable,” Giannet says.

Although the facility will be run by a center director who will be a PHSC employee, Giannet says there will be “significant levels of collaboration” in regard to the programming and the pipelining of students into the center.

The state-of-the-art performing arts space also is expected to attract artists from all over the country, as well as those locally, and is expected to generate additional revenue for both the county and PHSC.

According to Gadd, the theater’s overhang and lobby area can be used to host banquets and meetings, so the local chambers of commerce and Rotary clubs can hold events there, and the master agreement allows for serving alcohol at the center (but not at the adjacent schools).

“It’s going to be a full-blown professional theater,” Gadd said. “There will be student productions, (acting) troupes that can book shows and maybe even some old rock-n’-rollers that want to play music. Hopefully, the community will take advantage of it in that respect. That’s the dream.”

The dream of the district, as well as PHSC, to build a performing arts center in has existed in some form for years. Originally, it was expected to be built near PHSC’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch. Developer JD Porter, whose family donated the land the college (and Wiregrass Ranch High and Long Middle School) is built on, even talked of a performing arts facility as an attraction for Wiregrass Ranch’s future town center north of S.R. 56, near the forthcoming indoor athletic facility to be called the Wiregrass Sports Complex.

But, Porter has withdrawn interest following the decision to move the project to the Cypress Creek campus, which is more than 10 miles away from the PHSC campus.

Money to build the project — $15.5 million — was secured with the help of then-Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives Will Weatherford. The school district donated 5.85 acres on the Cypress Creek campus’ southeast corner to the college, which will pay for the remaining construction costs of the $18-million project.

The IPAC, as well as the already-under-construction Cypress Creek Middle School, are both scheduled to open in the fall of 2020.

The separate middle school also will feature a state-of-the-art 150-seat black box theater, and an orchestra room that also will accommodate dance and chorus programs.

The planned performing arts center — the second major PAC at a Wesley Chapel school site (the other is at Wesley Chapel High on Wells Rd.) — also is expected to enhance PHSC’s regional appeal to students at its Dade City campus, 13 miles to the east, and maybe even, Dr. Gianett says, its Brooksville campus 30 miles to the north, especially once the Overpass Rd. interchange at I-75 is built.

“Having the Instructional Performing Arts Center here will elevate both schools,” Giannet said. 

What Are You Doing For The Derby Tomorrow?

If you don’t already have plans as to where you’re going to watch the Kentucky Derby tomorrow (Saturday, May 4), I have a suggestion for you — but only if you like enjoying great food and beverage, games and entertainment, and hanging out with actual thoroughbred horses to benefit great causes.

The Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel Noon (the club that Jannah belongs to that played such an important role in us getting together) is teaming up this year with the Rotary Club of Dade City to present the second annual “Hats & Horses: A Kentucky Derby Party!,” which will again be held at the beautiful Waller Ranch in Dade City, 4 p.m. until 9 p.m.

Tickets at the door to attend cost $100 per person, but that includes delicious gourmet heavy hors d’oeuvres, an open, premium liquor bar, big screens to watch the Derby, plus gaming, music, photos with the thoroughbreds and more. 

And, best of all, it’s all to benefit the selected nonprofit charities supported by the two Rotary Clubs.

For more info, visit HatsandHorses2019.eventbrite.com or call Rebecca Smith at (307) 851-4312.Â