Councilman Viera To AMC Theater: Clean It Up, People!

These photos were taken by Dist. 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera. They show the wear on the AMC 20 movie theater’s facade, as well as overgrown trees in the parking lot.

Tampa City Council member Luis Viera has said from the very beginning of his current term that cracking down on blight in New Tampa would be one of his priorities, and he has not been shy about sic’ing code enforcement on those he feels aren’t keeping the District 7 area he represents up to a certain standard.

His latest target is the AMC Highwoods 20 movie theater on Highwoods Preserve Pkwy., off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd.

Viera sent a letter to AMC Corporate headquarters in Leawood, KS, on Nov. 12 requesting to speak with someone about the condition of its movie theater in the heart of New Tampa.

According to Viera’s letter, he has received a number of calls and emails from residents that the building’s facade looks run down and dirty and the surrounding vegetation is not being maintained.

Luis Viera

Viera wrote that the condition of the property was “not properly reflecting the exterior standards of New Tampa” and that it was in “desperate need of attention.”

At our press time, Viera said he had not received a response.

“I don’t think we’re asking for a lot,” Viera says. “This isn’t an onerous regulation. Just take care of the exterior of your building and the landscaping. These are basic steps. We aren’t asking them to put in new seating and start serving Dom Perignon.”

Alicia Kanhai, who lives in Richmond Place, says she is glad Viera wrote the letter. She lives right down the street from the AMC 20, and says it is apparent that the theater management has let the building and the surrounding area deteriorate unabated in recent years.

The theater started out as a Muvico theater until being purchased by Carmike Cinema in 2013 for roughly $32 million.

In 2017, AMC bought Carmike for $1.1 billion.

“Every time we go for a walk, we pass it, and it’s gotten pretty bad,” says Kanhai, who is married with 12- and 13-year-old boys. “We used to love going there, but we can’t handle it.” 

It appears Kanhai isn’t alone. Viera posted his letter, as well as two pictures of the area, on the community message board NextDoor.com, and it received more than 100 responses.

Many online posters complained about the exterior, but they were also unhappy about the conditions inside.

While the theater might be showing its age in an era of large reclining seats and in-theater food service, some wrote that things like outdated seating, sticky floors and dirty bathrooms keep them away. Others used stronger wording, calling the conditions “vile” and “disgusting.”

Many posters said they would rather drive 20 minutes to see a movie at The Cobb Grove 16 in Wesley Chapel, which features many of the amenities now more common in theaters across the country.

But some, while stopping short of defending the movie theater, said other buildings in New Tampa were just as bad, if not worse. Namely, the abandoned old Sweetbay grocery store next to Home Depot, which is in far greater disrepair than the AMC 20, was cited by some as a greater concern.

Mostly, however, the prevailing response on NextDoor.com and people Viera says have emailed him is that the movie theater has seen better days, and he hopes his letter nudges management to give the theater a little TLC.

“How much can a couple cans of paint cost?,” Viera asks.

A recent Forbes.com story said that AMC Theaters reported that second quarter revenues in 2019 were up 4.4-percent, and 97 million tickets were sold during the quarter, an all-time record for the company.

The article also said that the company has added premium recliner seating to some of its 639 U.S. movie theaters.

“We can go to other places, but I don’t want to go to the Cobb, I want to go here,” Kanhai says. “This is my neighborhood. I want to go to the theater here. But, if they want people to keep coming, they are going to have to do some upkeep to keep it an attractive place.”

Treble Makers Dueling Piano Bar To Breathe New Life Into The Grove

Jamie Hess was as excited as he could be when he jumped headfirst into a pool built — and filled with hope and dreams — by developer Mark Gold. 

Within days of Gold’s $62.7-million purchase of The Grove shopping complex, Hess (and his brother Joe) was one of the first local business people to sign a lease which will allow his idea of bringing a non-chain restaurant and dueling piano bar to Wesley Chapel to come to fruition.

Hess wasn’t alone in his excitement, apparently. When it came to naming his place, Hess turned to four area Facebook pages, including the popular Wesley Chapel Community and Wesley Chapel Network pages, and turned it into a contest.

The result: 1,830 entries, more than a thousand more than he says he expected.

So, welcome to Wesley Chapel, Treble Makers.

“The response has been unbelievably overwhelming,” says Hess, who has owned Gadget Repair in the New Tampa Commons plaza near the Shops at Wiregrass since January. “It has definitely exceeded expectations.”

The credit for coining the name Treble Makers goes to Wesley Chapel’s Rodney Beuno, who was the first of three Facebook posters to suggest it.

He will be rewarded with VIP entry at the Treble Makers grand opening, with free food and free drinks, and will also receive a $500 bar and restaurant tab.

Sara Brinkley and Mara Mroz, both of Wesley Chapel, also chose the same name, and will each receive a free VIP experience for their efforts.

With the name out of the way, Jamie is now focusing on bring the piano bar to life. He will apply for his permit on Nov. 26, he says, and has been ordering kitchen equipment while the designs are being finalized.

“Once that permit comes, we’re running,” he says.

Treble Makers will be located in “The Village,” as Gold now calls it, which is the long-dormant retail/office plaza located across the parking lot from the big box stores in The Grove, closer to I-75. 

Jamie and Joe will be located right across a parking lot from the new Double Branch Artisanal Ale brewpub, which is hoping to open by the end of the year.

“That whole area was a ghost town, but they (Gold and his Mishorim Gold Properties) are shaking it up,” Jamie says.

Jamie also says that Treble Makers will be a full menu restaurant serving American cuisine from salads to steaks and everything in between. 

On most weeknights during dinner hours in the 6,000-sq.-ft. restaurant, a single pianist will be featured. And, on the weekends, dueling pianists — adults only, Jamie says — will take over. There also will be other forms of live entertainment, with karaoke and trivia nights sprinkled in.

Treble Makers will be surrounded by a number of ethnic-themed restaurants, and a short walk from a container park that already is drawing massive interest. Being a part of The Grove was a big deal for Jamie when he signed his lease three weeks ago.

“I’m a big believer in the Wesley Chapel community,” Jamie says. “This is really an exciting time, and I think Wesley Chapel needs something like The Grove. Downtown Tampa is great and nice, but we need a place like that at home.”

Fushia Asian Bistro — Happy To Celebrate 15 Delicious Years In Tampa Palms!

When you consider the number of restaurants that have come and gone in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel the past 15 years, it’s pretty impressive that Fushia Asian Bistro, located in the Shoppes at Amberly plaza in Tampa Palms, is celebrating its 15th anniversary in that same location.

Owners Sharon and Charlie Wang actually have been in the plaza for 20 years, as they previously also owned Joy-O-Wok, which was much more of a takeout Chinese place, rather than the affordable fine dining restaurant that Fushia is today. 

The restaurant is so named not so much because of the color fuchsia, but because it offers a fusion of different Asian cuisines, especially some unique Korean fare. 

Sharon always has kept up with the latest trends in her business, and in recent years has added all-you-can-eat, cook-it-yourself options like Korean-style barbecue and a hot pot buffet (more on these below). She also recently expanded Fushia’s dim sum (appetizer and dessert) options. She even offers multiple private karaoke suites with thousands of song titles available, another popular Asian trend.

But, despite all of these other options, I still say that Fushia has the best (and most authentic) Chinese cuisine in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel — and one of the best things I can say about it is that even though I have my always reliable (and yummy) favorites, I keep finding new ones. But, I would really like to give you just a little taste (pun intended) of why I love this place so much.

Dim Sum

The dim sum appetizers craze in New York started shortly before I moved to Florida in 1993. Even so, I’m still more of a traditional egg roll, barbecued spare ribs and pan-fried dumplings guy for starters because it’s the Chinese main dishes that I crave most.

Therefore, it’s not too disappointing to me that many of the items on Fushia’s extensive dim sum menu have shrimp in them, which (as you loyal readers hear ad nauseum) I’m too allergic to for me to risk trying any of them. However, if you love crispy shrimp balls or steamed shrimp dumplings, the folks around me on my most recent visit who ordered the shrimp balls said they’re the best in town.

Although Fushia’s pan-fried pork dumplings are as good as they get, I did recently sample and enjoy the pork soup dumplings, which a lot of people were eating when Jannah and I visited an excellent Chinese restaurant in New York. The soup dumplings have a different texture than the pork wontons in most wonton soup, and they’re excellent. I also love the flavor of Fushia’s spare ribs dim sum, which are cut-up sections of pork ribs cooked in your choice of two different sauces — I love ‘em both, but probably prefer the garlic and black pepper sauce to the black bean sauce.

And, although dim sum is only served 11 a.m.-3 p.m. every day for lunch, many of the items are desserts — like the egg tart dim sum (think sweet mini-quiches) and the sesame dessert balls (lower center photo on next page), which are filled with sweet red bean paste — to name just two.

“We make everything fresh, cooked-to-order here with the best ingredients,” Sharon says proudly. “Many of our regular customers tell me they can’t eat Chinese food anywhere else.”

Hot Pot Buffet

I’ve written about Fushia’s hot pot buffet before and even though it’s a great, different way to enjoy the restaurant, I’d still rather order dishes off the menu and have them served to me, rather than have to pick my own ingredients (including raw meats, veggies, broth to cook them in and sauce) and have to cook it myself in a boiling hot pot, but I will say that the few times I’ve had the hot pot buffet at Fushia, I’ve loved it. Several of the sauces are outstanding. It just will never be my first choice.

Even so, the all-you-can-eat hot pot buffet, which also includes soft drinks and a huge variety of desserts, is still a pretty good deal at the regular price of $25.99 per person. However, in celebration of Fushia’s 15th anniversary, you can try the hot pot buffet for only $19.99 per person (with the ad in the current issue), which truly is a bargain for everything you get. And, even though there’s raw shellfish available for the hot pot buffet, I’ve never gotten a reaction from it at Fushia. 

Korean BBQ Buffet

One option I’ve yet to try — but that lead videographer Charmaine George says is amazing — is Fushia’s Korean BBQ buffet.

Charmaine loved grilling her steak, pork, shrimp and veggies on the Korean BBQ grill right at her table (top left photo on next page). “Everything was fresh and delicious,” she said afterwards. “I will definitely try that again!” Again, you choose your own ingredients, so those with allergies don’t have to worry about cross-contamination.

And, with the ad on pg. 42, the Korean BBQ Buffet (with soft drinks and desserts) is just $21.99 per person — a $5 savings! 

The Main Event!

But, despite all of these other options, I still prefer Fushia’s authentic Szechuan (or Sichuan) cuisine. One of my favorite dishes is the Young Chow (mixed ingredient) fried rice.

Fushia always holds the shrimp for me and gives me extra chicken and pork. My new favorite Sichuan dish is the spicy chicken dry pot (top right), which comes with a variety of fresh veggies and features a stinging spicy sauce which is given a kick from jalapeño peppers. The chicken is the opposite of dry, but the sauce is definitely less runny than at most Chinese places. And, although I might order it next time without the thick potato slices it comes with, there’s also plenty of snow peas, carrots, broccoli and celery — and they will sub out any veggies you don’t want. Too good!

My other favorite dishes (all of which I order spicy) are the beef with Chinese broccoli, the already-spicy Yan Jian pork and the boneless Sichuan duck with mixed vegetables. 

But, Fushia’s menu is so extensive, I know there are dozens of other dishes I’ve yet to try that could one day make my list of favorites. Sharon says, “There’s no other Chinese place with a bigger menu than Fushia. I know we have what you want, whether you’re American, Asian, an adult or a kid. We have something for everyone!”

And, the local community agrees — as many of Fushia’s reviews on Yelp tout the food as “the best” and “most authentic” in all of Tampa. High praise, indeed!

And of course, with all that spicy food, there’s nothing better than an ice cold Tsingtao (from China) or Sapporo (from Japan), although Fushia also offers a nice variety of reasonably priced wines.

So, please check it out and tell Sharon and her amazing staff that I sent you!

Fushia Asian Bistro (15317 Amberly Dr.) is open every day except Monday, 11 a.m.-midnight. For more info, call (813) 903-6705 or visit FushiaChinese.com.

Tennis Center Adds To ‘Sports Coast’ Brand

As large trucks filled with dirt and tall cranes roll by a flattened lot, local Wesley Chapel tennis guru and businessman Pascal Collard smiles.

The trucks are slowly but surely allowing Pascal’s vision come to life.

The parking lot is there, he says, pointing to his left. Tennis courts, pickleball courts and padel courts over there, surrounding the tennis center.

And, what about way over there, all the way to the right?

Pascal says that will be a 30,000-sq.-ft. indoor training facility with space for both more tennis courts and removable turf for other sports.

“It is beautiful, no?,” Pascal asks.

The Sarah Vande Berg Memorial Tennis & Wellbeing Center in Zephyrhills  (at 6585 Simons Rd.) has broken ground, and is expected to open in late spring or early summer of 2020.

When it is done, the $4.9-million project will feature 11 tennis courts, including a main court with spectator seating, eight pickleball courts — one of the fastest growing sports in America — and four courts for padel, another racquet sport that can best be described as a cross between, well, almost every other racquet sport.

The 7,400-sq.-ft. indoor tennis center will house a fitness and rehabilitation center, a restaurant and café, a salt room, cryotherapy, a pro shop and a kid’s club.

The tennis center is another feather in the “Florida’s Sports Coast” cap, joining AdventHealth Center Ice, Saddlebrook Resort and the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County, as the area continues to transform itself from ranches to recreation.

“It fits right in with (our new) Florida Sports Coast vision,” says Adam Thomas, the county’s tourism director. “This will make an impact.”

The tennis complex is a public-private partnership between the City of Zephyrhills, the Sarah Vande Berg (SVB) Tennis Foundation  and Pascal, the president of Tennis P.R.O., LLC, and the director — and driving force — behind the new facility.

It is the hope of Pascal, who ran the renowned tennis program at Saddlebrook Resort from 2003-06 and lives in Estancia, that the SVB Memorial Tennis Center reaches far and wide into the surrounding communities to help bring it to life.

“It is something that people want,” says Pascal. “I hear it all the time. It will be a place where mom can do fitness and dad can do tennis, or vice versa, and the kids can do the Kids Club, or daycare. That is huge.”

Pascal says he also is teaming up with Buttermilk Provisions owner Dana Morris for a restaurant at the tennis center as well.

“We think this will be something special and unique,” says Pascal, who never stops smiling as he describes the project.

The tennis center, which is located off Eiland Blvd. just a few miles north of eastern Wesley Chapel, is named for former Zephyrhills High tennis standout Sarah Vande Berg, who died in an automobile accident at the age of 21 in 2015.

It will be equipped to host regional (like college) and even national events like United States Tennis Association (USTA) and International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournaments, and also will provide a place for area residents looking for courts on which to play. Pascal would like to see the area active in USTA league tennis, where Saddlebrook Resort may field an occasional team limited by membership restrictions.

It also will offer instructional tennis for children, and training for the more serious players. 

And, speaking of memberships, Pascal is hoping to sign up hundreds at a price he said will be fair and less expensive than the clubs in the area. Depending on what type of membership you buy, it also could include membership to the Silverado Golf & Country Club, which is adjacent to the tennis complex.

While tennis will be the central focus of the facility, Pascal also has formed the United Global Academy, which will be an online school limited to 32 students from a variety of sports, similar to what IMG Academy in Bradenton offers but on a smaller scale initially. Mark Shepherd, former director of student services at Saddlebrook Prep on the resort’s property, will help run the academic side.

Pascal has reached into Wesley Chapel’s sporting community to help develop those athletes, who will be able to train in the 30,000-sq.-ft. indoor facility, which can accommodate four tennis courts and a synthetic turf soccer field.

“Why not create a sports association?,” he says. “Get all the best ex-athletes in the area to come together once a month to promote sports to kids…kids who cant afford it!”

Athletes will be able to receive training from coaches like former English Premier League Soccer player and local club coach Gary Blissett, former New Orleans Saints lineman Mel Williams, Silverado Golf & Country Club golf pro Sean Klotz and others.

“The vision is to bring the community together by offering a family-friendly experience,” says Pascal, who most recently was the tennis director at Merion Cricket Club, a private club in Haverford, PA, with more than 2,000 members. “There will truly be something for everyone here.”

For more information, visit the SVBTennisCenter.com.

Wiregrass Brewing Company — One Of The Brew Fest’s Best

Wesley Chapel’s Randy Gailit goes through a cooling process as he prepares another batch of his craft beers for fermentation in his Meadow Pointe garage. (Photo: John C. Cotey)

Randy Gailit liked to spend his Saturday mornings doing crafts.

Craft beers, to be exact.

In the garage of his Meadow Pointe home, he meticulously measures, mixes and mashes, making sure the right ingredients are producing the perfect results for what he hopes will be a tasty craft beverage.

“It’s like a science class,” he says.

He won’t know for weeks, in most cases, as the process is just beginning. Sometimes, he needs three weeks for his concoctions to ferment. Other times, depending on the style of beer, the fermenting process can take eight weeks or more.

Patience is a virtue, and in Gailit’s cased, his patience is rewarded with a cold, tasty beer.

Gailit and his one-man Wiregrass Brewing Company will be one of the many returning brewers at this weekend’s New Tampa Brew Fest, which is again being held at the Venetian at St. Mark The Evangelist Catholic Church in New Tampa today at 6 p.m.. 

Randy Gailit

While the process for a small home brewer can take a while, don’t worry — the beers Gailit will be bringing for those at the Brew Fest have long been fused in his garage, and will be ready to sample at the event, which raises money for causes supported by the New Tampa Noon Rotary Club.

Like last year, he is bringing his Ginger Island Ale, which he says is his most popular beer, and a tasty Rotary Red Ale, named for Gailit’s affiliation with the Land O’Lakes Rotary Club, a spinoff from the Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel Noon.  

In a nod to the upcoming holiday season, Gailit also has brewed a Peppermint Porter for the event, and will have a fourth drink to sample — a Strawberry Margarita Cider, the most popular cider he has brewed.

“I’m pretty happy with how they turned out,” Gailit says.

Gailit’s brewery is highly efficient, making amazing use of a third of his three-car garage’s space. 

There are multiple refrigerators, an actual bar — with 4-5 beers usually on tap — and shelves filled with equipment, malts and yeasts, as well as a small room he built for the fermentation process.

Wiregrass Brewing doesn’t sell any of its beer, so the primary beneficiaries of Gailit’s weekend hobby are charities. 

Gailit will provide beer at 5-6 charity events a year, like the New Tampa Brew Fest. He has provided the beverage for charities that work with a hospice in Land O’Lakes, for a cancer walk in Dunedin and a Wounded Warrior event in St. Petersburg.

And, in between the charity events, he shares his latest brews with the 100 or so people he works with at Mediagistic, a marketing and advertising agency in Tampa, and his neighbors who, at a recent party, went through four 5-gallon Cornelius kegs (the kind primarily used for soft drink fountain machines, as opposed to the larger barrel-style kegs).

“The garage door is always open,” he jokes.

Gailit has always enjoyed drinking beer, but when one of his friends was selling one-gallon home-brew kits, he decided to buy one. It ended up being the first item at the Wiregrass Brewing Company — but it sat on a shelf in his garage for two years.

It wasn’t until he signed up for a brewing class at the Land O’Lakes World of Beer that he says he finally cracked it open.

“I was in there one day and they were doing the class, and I thought, ‘Hey, I can do this,’’’ he said. “So I did it, and it was a lot of fun. I’ve been brewing ever since.”

A former restaurant owner in Pennsylvania, Gailit has been mulling for a while now about moving his home brewing company into a bigger building, but he says the right space at the right price hasn’t presented itself yet.

And that’s fine, he adds. His Saturday mornings are quiet and relaxing, and the results of his efforts makes those around him happy. Being able to help worthwhile charities is simply an added bonus. 

“No matter where I do it, it’s something I really enjoy,” he says. “I’m glad everyone seems to like it.”

For additional information about Gailit’s home brewery, search “Wiregrass Brewing Company” on Facebook.