Meadow Pointe II & III Residents Sound Off On Proposed Wrencrest Dr. Gate 

The residents of Meadow Pointe II (MPII) and Meadow Pointe III (MPIII) have been down this road before. A gate went up on Wrencrest Dr., the main thoroughfare through the Wrencrest communities which exist in both MPII and MPIII back in 2020 and Pasco County ended up telling MPII that the gate had to come down because it wasn’t properly permitted. 

The residents of MPIII thought that the discussion of a gate at the entrance to MPII on Wrencrest Dr. from the MPIII side was over, but it clearly was not. 

On Apr. 23, the MPII Community Development District (CDD) hosted a “Neighborhood Meeting” at the MPI clubhouse on County Line Rd. — “a neutral location with a much larger meeting room than the rooms at either MPII or MPIII,” according to MPII CDD district manager Jayna Cooper of Inframark Community Management (at microphone in photo above) — where the idea of erecting a new gate, similar to the one where Kinnan St. in New Tampa meets Mansfield Blvd., also in MPII, was again the main topic of discussion. 

“This is not a CDD meeting,” Cooper told those in attendance as she read the following statement, “Meadow Pointe II’s goal in going through this process is fully focused on safety enhancement and the security of all residents, including in both MPII and MPIII. The goal in submitting an application to the county is to receive approval to construct an emergency gate on Wrencrest Dr. between Blanchard Ct. and Rensselaer Dr. (see photo below) to cut down on the excessive traffic and the speedway this road has become. The road was never intended as a regional framework roadway for regional transportation uses. The policy goal is instead to return its use to as a neighborhood internal roadway we are all paying for as residents while still allowing for emergency access for emergency services.” 

Cooper then introduced Jerry Whited of BDI Engineering, who said, “We did do a traffic study that confirms our findings and proposal that a large volume of the traffic that is coming to the west side of Wrencrest is traffic coming from the MPIII side but also from traffic that is accessing MPIII from outside of the community. It’s being used as a major cut-through for residents who are coming from MPIII who should be accessing Mansfield Blvd. via Beardsley Dr., which is a much more pertinent roadway to be using for this type of vehicular traffic. It is a larger roadway, less narrow and has less pedestrian traffic and no driveways, while there are hundreds of driveways on Wrencrest Dr.” 

Roughly two dozen speakers, mostly from MPII but some from MPIII, were given three minutes each to speak. 

And, while there were a couple of MPII speakers who acknowledged that speeding is happening in both neighborhoods and agreed that installing strategically-spaced speed tables along the full length of Wrencrest Dr. might be just as, if not more effective, most of the MPII speakers mentioned the two MPII Wrencrest residents who were seriously injured and had to be airlifted because of speeders and said that installing the gate was the only real solution to the problem. 

MPII Wrencrest resident Kathy Jimenez read a moving statement written by her neighbor Ray Quinones, who was one of those airlifted after being hit by a car that had passed fellow neighbor Marla Mitchell “doing at least 45 mph” and both expressed sadness over how Quinones had suffered since the accident, writing, “The worst part is the memory loss. Chunks of my life are gone.” 

But, almost all of the MPIII residents who spoke at the meeting said that adding speed tables, narrowing the road and even adding trees along the portions of Wrencrest Dr. with no homes would be a much more effective way to slow down the traffic in both communities. 

In fact, MPIII Wrencrest resident Michael Jenkins said, “It makes no sense to think that the best way to solve the problem is to cut off the community from the main thoroughfare. We can do better than this. The members of the boards of both MPII and MPIII have allowed this to become a spiteful, back-and-forth match between the two CDDs.” 

Updates from the MPII legal counsel were expected to be provided at the MPII CDD Board meeting scheduled for May 7, or two days after this issue went to press, but our phone call to Cooper to ask if the MPII CDD Board would actually vote on the issue at that meeting was not returned before we went to press. 

Even if the MPII CDD Board votes tonight to move forward with approving the gate between the Wrencrest neighborhoods in Meadow Pointe (MP) II & MP III, the final decision would still be in the hands of the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BCC), which would have to add the vote to a BCC agenda at a future date.

Law Offices Of Matthew Jowanna — Your Local Personal Injury & Estate Planning Firm 

Attorneys Farral A. Haber (left) & Matthew J. Jowanna of The Law Office of Matthew J. Jowanna, P.A., located off Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in Wesley Chapel, specialize in personal injury law & estate planning. (Photo by Charmaine George) 

The Law Offices of Matthew J. Jowanna, P.A., have been serving the legal needs of Wesley Chapel and New Tampa since 2005. The firm, located at the Windguard Professional Center off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in Wesley Chapel (near The Goddard School), specializes in personal injury, probate and estate planning and administration. 

Attorney Matthew J. Jowanna has been practicing law for more than 30 years and has specialized in personal injury cases since 1994. The firm’s founder, president and managing shareholder, Jowanna says his experience working in large law firms in downtown Tampa inspired him to do things differently. He says his goal since opening his firm has been to make that big downtown law firm experience accessible to people in New Tampa, Wesley Chapel and the surrounding communities. Jowanna wants his clients to know that his is a quality local law firm focused on professional, caring service. 

“I wanted to open a small neighborhood law firm,” Jowanna explains, “where people in the local communities are able to get top-quality legal representation.” 

In order to expand the services Jowanna’s firm offers to clients, he recently added Farral A. Haber as managing attorney for estate planning and probate. Haber has been practicing law for thirteen years, with ten years specifically in trusts and estates. Together, Jowanna and Haber offer a wealth of experience to their clients. 

“We don’t do everything under the sun,” Jowanna says, “but our practice areas now include some of the most common needs in the neighborhood — we’re here as neighbors to help you with the typical legal problems that you and your neighbors may have.” 

When it comes to injury cases, whether someone gets hurt in a car accident, while on vacation or in the workplace, The Law Offices of Matthew J. Jowanna can assist you. Jowanna also helps clients who are having problems receiving their deserved injury benefits from insurance companies. 

Meanwhile, Haber’s estate planning and probate specialization helps clients with creating wills, living trusts, making plans for their estates and probate cases. Regardless of which services you require, Jowanna and Haber make every effort to meet those needs, and also make accommodations for their clients’ financial needs. 

“People shouldn’t have to drive to downtown Tampa for quality legal representation,” Jowanna says. “Every client is important and every case is different.” 

Jowanna earned his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Broadcasting and Mass Communications from the University of South Florida in Tampa. He worked for several Tampa Bay area radio and television stations for seven years before pursuing his law degree. He then obtained his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale and graduated Summa Cum Laude (with Highest Honors), in the top 2% of his law school class. He also completed a prestigious postdoctoral Legum Magister (LL.M., or “Master of Laws”) degree from the University of Notre Dame, in Notre Dame, IN, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude (with High Honors) and received a perfect score on his LL.M. thesis. 

Jowanna’s first job out of law school was for an insurance defense firm, which helped him realize that insurance defense wasn’t where he wanted to spend his career. 

“It’s the opposite of what I do now,” he explains. “Doing that made me realize that I was on the wrong side of the fence, and I would prefer to be on the plaintiff side to help someone in their claim against a big insurance company.” He says he is appreciative of the knowledge he gained from seeing the other side, and that it has given him added insight when working with clients who are going up against insurance companies. 

Jowanna and his firm have been included in U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of the Best Lawyers and Best Law Firms in the U.S. He also is included in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, a unique guide to the legal community’s preeminent professionals who have received the highest ratings, according to the prestigious Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory. 

Tampa is ranked in the top-10 worst cities for drivers. Therefore, if you drive regularly in the Tampa Bay area, you have most likely witnessed an accident, its aftermath, or have possibly been involved in a collision yourself. Jowanna shares the following advice as to what to do if you find yourself in that situation. 

“I tell every client to take care of yourself first,” says Jowanna. “Your injuries obviously come first; the legal claim will be there afterwards. If you get into your typical fender bender and still have your wits about you, you should take photographs. A picture is worth a thousand words. Document, document, document!” 

Clients truly appreciate the way the firm advises them and goes above and beyond, even in the most challenging scenarios — as evidenced by its 4.9-star (out of 5) overall rating on Google on more than 50 reviews. And, while it is a neighborhood practice, the attorneys and legal staff can assist you even when you are far from home. 

In a five-star review on Google, Alexander Hunter says, “They handled my accident claim with incredible patience, even though I had to process everything from overseas. The team took the time to explain every step in detail and negotiated on my behalf when issues arose with different medical providers. Their professionalism and commitment to my case made a stressful situation so much easier.” 

The Estate Planning Side 

Helping folks during difficult and emotional times is an aspect of the work that Haber says she finds most rewarding. Working in probate and estate law, Haber helps clients both prepare for their own futures, as well as wrap up the affairs of someone who has passed. She helps clients with the process of figuring out exactly how an estate is to be administered, locating assets, discerning whether a court needs to be involved, as well as explaining what paperwork needs to be filed. 

Haber earned her Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Psychology from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Cum Laude (with distinction). She was the Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She then earned her Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree, Cum Laude, from the University of Florida, Levin College of Law. 

While in law school, Haber received the Book Award for the highest grade in Trial Practice; she also was the Executive Articles Editor for the UF Journal of Law & Public Policy and was a Certified Legal Intern with the State Attorney’s office. She is licensed to practice law in Florida, Virginia and the District of Columbia. 

While Haber initially started out as a litigator, after a few years, she chose to focus on estate planning and probate. “What I love about estate planning,” she says, “ is that it is something that everybody needs, and yet it is so easy to put off. I enjoy demystifying the process for folks and explaining things, making it approachable and customizing it to what a client actually wants, then seeing those goals put into practice.” 

Haber adds that she encourages people to plan ahead of time, and to not be afraid of the process. “People avoid it or dig their head in the sand because they don’t understand what it entails,” she says. Her goal is to make estate planning more approachable for clients and to help them get something in place, even if it is a step-by-step process that takes a few years. 

Jowanna says Haber’s talents are a great addition to the practice. “We are simply thrilled to have Farral joining us,” Jowanna says. “I hope the clients are as thrilled with her as we are.” 

While both Jowanna and Haber say they see growth of the firm as a goal, they are clear about what they want that growth to look like. “I never want to get so big that I don’t remember a client’s name and I don’t remember their file,” explains Jowanna, to which Haber adds, “I certainly want to assist as many folks as I can, but I never want to sacrifice quality.” 

The Law Offices of Matthew J. Jowanna, P.A., are located at 2521 Windguard Cir. For more information, call (813) 929-7300 or visit LetMattDoThat.com. 

Kay’s Kitchen Authentic Chicago-Style Fried Chicken To Open Soon!

Jannah and I just happened to run into Kay Lee (photo), the owner of Kay’s Kitchen Authentic Chicago Style Fried Chicken, which is coming soon to the former Don Julio’s Mexican Restaurant location at 2808 E. Bearss Ave., in the Palms Connection plaza (as we’ve previously reported, Don Julio’s has moved to the larger end cap in the same plaza). 

Kay says that what sets her apart from all of the other fried chicken restaurants in our area (especially around Wesley Chapel) is her authentic Chicago-style mild sauce. Kay also operates two popular food trucks in the Riverview area, so visit KaysChickenKitchen.com to check out her menu, which also includes fried shrimp, fish and more. And, please tell Kay we sent you! — GN  

The Kabob Café & Grill In Highwoods Preserve Adds ‘Breakfast Kitchen’ 

There are quite a few Indian restaurants in New Tampa, but one thing is for certain — none of the Indian restaurants in our area also served American breakfast — until now. 

The Kabob Café & Grill, located at 18101 Highwoods Preserve Pkwy. (in the same location that also has been Sukhothai and a couple of other restaurants) recently added Breakfast Kitchen & More, which serves American breakfast every day (except for Mondays, when the restaurant is closed) from 7 a.m.-11:30 a.m. On Saturdays and Sundays, the Kabob Café & Grill offers a lunch buffet with a large variety of Indian (predominantly North Indian/Pakistani) items. The buffet begins at 11:30 and the restaurant’s full Indian menu is available every day for lunch and dinner (it stays open until 8:30). 

While that may seem a little confusing, owners Javed and Rabia Mubin hope you will come try Chef Keith’s tasty breakfast items, including the bacon, egg & cheese croissant sandwich (left) and Protein Power Bowl (top photo). Please note that because Kabob Café’s entire menu is Halal, the bacon on the bacon, egg & cheese is beef (not pork) bacon, which I don’t believe I’d ever had before, but Jannah and I agreed it tasted very much like pork bacon. The chicken in photographer Charmaine George’s Power Bowl combined egg whites, grilled chicken, spinach, feta cheese and avocado, which also was quite tasty. The Breakfast Kitchen also serves waffles, French toast, oatmeal and Greek yogurt bowls, omelets, Benedicts, breakfast wraps and more. 

We also sampled the buffet, which has many Indian favorites, like Tandoor oven-baked chicken and Naan breads, as well as chicken biryani (above right photo) and butter chicken, as well as some items I’d never tried before, like goat qourma (or korma), tender beef nihari (which tastes a lot like my mom’s brisket/pot roast, but slightly spicy), and vegetarian dishes like palak paneer (curry with spinach, cheese, tomato & creamy sauce), channa masala (chick peas with spices, tomatoes & onion) and halwa, which is a sweetened semolina flour mixture that can be a side dish or dessert. Speaking of dessert, the banana pudding with vanilla wafers was my favorite, but there’s also Gulab Jaman (deep-fried dough soaked in rose-flavored sugar syrup), Rubri Kheer (Indian-style rice pudding) and more. 

For more info about Kabob Café & Grill, which has a 4.9-star (out of 5) overall Google rating on 900+ reviews, and Breakfast Kitchen & More, visit KabobCafeGrill.com or call (813) 405-8740. — GN

Bagels Plus On Fletcher Ave. Reopens Five Months After Kitchen Fire 

Photos by Charmaine George

When you’ve known someone for more than a quarter of a century, you might think you “really” know them, but sometimes, you might be wrong to make that assumption. 

Case in point: I first met my friend “Steve” (left) when he first opened his Bagels Plus in a former (but already closed before he bought the building) Bruegger’s Bagels location on E. Fletcher Ave., less than a half-mile west of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., way back in 1998. 

I also thought I remembered Steve telling me that he bought an H&H Bagels location in New York not long after it was revealed that Kramer, the kooky character on the hit NBC-TV show “Seinfeld,” had been on strike for years from the original H&H Bagels in Manhattan. 

Well, it took a kitchen fire and the shop being closed for five months — Bagels Plus finally reopened at the end of March — for me to find out just how wrong I was on both counts. 

First, although everybody still calls him Steve, my friend the bagel maker’s real name is Monsieur (yes, like “Mister” in French) Aziz. 

Second, Steve never owned an H&H location, “They were my competitors when I had my first Bagels Plus in Roslyn, Long Island.” 

One thing I did not get wrong, however, was that Steve did bring the ability to make true New York-style bagels with him when he moved to Florida — “to get away from the snow” — even though most New Yawkas say that there are no “real” bagels in Florida because we can’t duplicate the water in the Empire State. 

Steve showed me the five special water filters he has in Bagels Plus to reduce the “hardness” of the water here, even though New York is one of the few cities in the U.S. that doesn’t filter its water because of its natural “softness” and purity. 

But, he attributes the authenticity of his bagels to the way he makes them. “We use wheat flour and some vegetable flour, yeast and water to make our bagels,” he says. “That’s it. We don’t add oil, salt, malt, sugar or any of the other things you don’t need that other people use to make bagels.” 

Photographer Charmaine George and I watched Steve make a batch of bagels and we agreed that he did not use any of the ingredients he mentioned that other people do use. 

He says that one of the most important things is that “real New York” bagels have to be kettle-boiled before they are baked. 

“And, you need the right kind of kettle,” he says. “The kettle isn’t a very expensive piece of equipment, but you really need it to make the bagels correctly.” 

Whatever Steve and his happy crew have been doing to them, there’s no doubt in most local bagel lovers’ minds that Bagels Plus had the closest-to-New-York bagels anywhere near New Tampa or Wesley Chapel prior to the fire that caused Steve to not only shut his doors but basically rebuild the interior of his shop from scratch. 

“The fire ended up being a blessing,” he says. “Because when the fire inspectors came to take a look afterwards, they said that one of the support beams in the front of the store (now replaced) was ready to fall down. Without the fire, we would never have known about it.” 

Steve, who also previously owned a men’s clothing store in Manhattan, also had opened a similar men’s store in the Target-anchored University Plaza behind what is now his bagel shop. 

“I was thinking about moving the clothing store to this building, but when I heard that it had already been a bagel shop, I made the owners an offer on the spot.” And the rest is history. 

Oh, Those Bacon, Egg & Cheeses! 

Although both of my sons now live in Lakewood Ranch, when I told them Bagels Plus reopened right before my most recent visit to them, they both insisted that I bring them Steve’s famous bacon, egg & cheese (BEC) bagel sandwiches. 

“I’ve tried to make a bacon, egg and cheese like Bagels Plus at home,” my older son Jared — who wants to open a Bagels Plus franchise near him — told me. “I just can’t get the eggs the way they make them.” 

Truth be told, many New York bagel shops make their bacon (or sausage or ham), egg and cheese sandwiches with fried eggs — and Bagels Plus will make yours with a fried egg, if you prefer — but anyone who works the grill at Steve’s shop knows how to pour just the right amount of the already-cracked real eggs onto the hot flattop griddle and fold those eggs into the perfect size to just stick out on all sides of the bagel. 

And, if you like your bacon crispy like I do — I know there are people who prefer their bacon “wet,” which I try to not hold against them — there is always a ready supply of perfectly crisp bacon waiting to be placed in generous amounts atop your eggs. And then, a single thick slice of yellow American cheese is gently placed atop that combo, which melts the cheese just enough. 

Steve’s BEC makers, led by his manager Trista, also are happy to add salt & pepper or, for folks like me, to “scoop out” your bagel before assembling your sandwich. That not only gets rid of about 1/3 of the bagel’s calories, it also allows it to toast up extra crispy, especially when it is put through the conveyor belt toaster twice. The only time they won’t put it through the toaster is when your bagel has just come out of the oven. 

Bagels Plus also offers a large variety of cream cheese options — from regular and light plain to bacon scallion, light strawberry and a salmon cream cheese that is made with real smoked salmon. You also can get a generous portion of sliced smoked salmon with your choice of cream cheese on your favorite bagel (left photo). There’s also a variety of fresh salads (tuna, egg and chicken), roasted turkey and Black Forest ham available, plus freshly baked croissants, muffins, black-&-white cookies, delicious apple or strawberry turnovers (photo below), almond horns and cinnamon rolls. 

And yes, Steve still pretends to pocket new customers’ credit cards and throw an empty coffee cup at them to make them think it’s full. He’s a character, but it’s hard to dislike a guy who has been keeping it New York real for 27 years! 

Bagels Plus (2706 E. Fletcher Ave.) is open Mon.-Sat., 6 a.m.-4 p.m., and 7 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sun. For more info or to pre-order bulk bagels (because they do often run out), call (813) 999-1216.