A sampling of food items at SGD So Gong Dong Tofu & BBQ.
With the large population of Asian people living in both New Tampa and Wesley Chapel, there’s no doubt that a lot of folks in both of our distribution areas have been excited about the long-awaited opening of the Lotte Plaza Market, the latest link in the largest (with more than a dozen units) chain of Asian supermarkets.
Well, that wait is about to end, as Lotte (located at 17605 Bruce B. Downs Blvd.) has not only scheduled its Grand Opening to the public for Friday, November 3, at 9 a.m., yours truly got to walk around — and take pictures of all of the departments — at the nearly-finished store shortly before we went to press with this issue. And, even though I’m not Korean or of Asian descent, I am truly excited about this 49,000-sq.-ft. former (and long-vacant) Sweetbay (and Kash N Karry before that) store, which is much more than just another supermarket.
The interior of a Tous Les Jours bakery at another location.
Yes, there are massive bags of rice, a huge variety of Ramen noodles and many other Asian staples. But, the thing that got me most excited, as you might expect, is that our Lotte will have at least five different options in it sizable food court (called Eatery Sijang), all of which are serving different Korean cuisine, although there also is a renowned South Korea-owned French bakery chain, called Tous Les Jours. The other food court options, which are sure to be packed every day, include Luna Tea, BB.Q Chicken, SGD So Gong Dong Tofu & BBQ and JAWS Topokki.
Check the pics on this page for not only under-construction food court pics, but of the fresh seafood, butcher shop, grocery and Lotte’s unique gifts and housewares. For more info, visit LottePlaza.com. — GN
(Above, l.-r.) The ordering kiosk at the New Tampa Lotte’s Eatery Sijang & samples of JAWS Topokki’s food & galbi fried chicken from BB.Q. Chicken that may be on the kiosk.
The Neighborhood News was on hand for the ribbon cutting at the beautifully revamped & reopened Las Palmas Latin Grill at 6431 E County Line Rd, off Bruce B Downs Blvd, in the same plaza as Five Guys. Take a look & go check out our friends Ramses & Ana Garcia’s new & improved place…and tell them we sent you!
At the Clark Elementary Multicultural Fair on Sept. 27, many of the 35 languages spoken by the school’s students and their parents were well-represented. (All photos by Charmaine George)
While organizing a Multicultural Fair at the school with her staff and PTA members, Clark Elementary (located in West Meadows) principal Dr. Delilah Rabeiro says they soon realized that 35 different languages were being spoken at the school.
PTA secretary Meghan Shirey, who helped organize the fair on Sept. 27, says that the goal was to have as many of the different cultures at the school as possible represented at the event.
At least nine different countries — including China, Brazil, The Philippines, Italy, Vietnam. Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Puerto Rico and a large contingent from India provided authentic food from their countries. There also were performances by some of the students, including traditional dances and songs.
After the performances, all of the students lined up to walk the stage for a fashion show that showed off traditional outfits from their culture. All of the kids and parents seemed really excited to show off their food and clothing to each other and many asked questions about the other attendees’ food and cultural traditions.
Erik Ravenna (left) & Pat Ciaccio are the owners of Johnny C’s Italian Eatery on Cross Creek Blvd. (Photos by Charmaine George)
Even though there are other pretty great options for Italian food in New Tampa, if you like feeling like family as you enjoy traditional comfort food “Italiano,” you need to visit my friends Pat Ciaccio and Erik Ravenna at Johnny C’s Italian Eatery, located in the small plaza on Cross Creek Blvd. at Morris Bridge Rd.
Jannah and I — and photographer Charmaine George — have visited Johnny C’s often since it opened in May of this year and there’s no doubt that the restaurant named for Pat’s father Johnny (a long-time restaurateur himself) is more of a sit-down restaurant than Precinct Pizza, the previous eatery in the same space.
Pat and Erik, who also worked together at Saddlebrook Resort, are long-time friends who both were looking for a new challenge — at least, that’s how Pat tells it.
“Actually, the only reason I’m here doing this is because of Pat,” Erik counters. “I wasn’t really looking to run a kitchen, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t enjoying myself.”
Fried calamari
Former Saddlebrook owner Tom Dempsey and Erik’s brother Seth also helped open Johnny C’s, which has a large selection of seafood options, in addition to the usual calamari, linguine with clams, wings, NY-style pizzas, lasagna and other baked pastas, favorites like fettuccine Alfredo, chicken piccata and marsala and starters like bruschetta and fried mozzarella wedges.
“I saw that New Tampa didn’t have places with a lot of seafood pasta options,” Ravenna says. “We have a mussels posillipo appetizer, plus Frutti di Mare (which translates to “fruits of the seas”) pasta, shrimp scampi, fra diavalo, parmigiana and marinara.”
Ya gotta try the “Yea Babe!” pizza.
Erik also dusts Johnny C’s pizza crusts with garlic and named one of his favorites — the “Yea, Babe!” — after his father-in-law, Grandpa Bill’s favorite saying. The Yea Babe! features pink vodka sauce (instead of traditional red pizza sauce), Italian sausage and mozzarella. The other specialty pizzas on the menu are all named for the five boroughs of New York City, as well as SoHo, but you can get any of the 18 pizza toppings on the menu — from anchovies to sundried tomatoes — on any of the three sizes of pizza and in the calzones. You can even get your pizza made with a gluten-free cauliflower crust.
“We have an open kitchen, and a dining room that might be a little louder than what you’re used to,” Erik says, “because we want you to enjoy our food the way Italian families do.”
You can’t go wrong with a Johnny C’s Italian grinder. Momma’s lasagne
We already have quite a few favorites. The Momma’s lasagna is spot-on, the hand-breaded, fresh mozzarella wedges are delicious (“We weren’t going to do frozen string cheese sticks like a lot of places do,” Erik says), the calamari is made with Mike’s hot honey and parmigiana cheese in the batter and served with banana peppers, the tasty Johnny C’s Italian grinder features capicola, salami, ham, provolone, tomato, onion, banana peppers and roasted red peppers, plus creamy Italian dressing (“The way my dad would make it at home,” Pat says) and there also are hot grinders like meatball and chicken parm. I also love Erik’s linguine vongolé (with fresh clams). You also can’t go wrong with the penne vodka, chicken or eggplant parmigiana, baked penne or spaghettini & meatballs.
We honestly have only ever tried the house and Caesar salads (both very good), but there’s also a blue cheese wedge, antipasto and caprese salads and you can add chicken or shrimp to the salads for $4 more.
Finish off your meal with delicious cannolis.
Save room for dessert, too. From delicious cannolis to the tartufo gelato bomb with hot fudge and whipped cream, there’s no better way to top off a great meal, and Johnny C’s recently added beer and wine, too. And yes, there’s also a kids menu, with all items just $6.95.
And, Johnny C’s has daily specials, like “Manic Monday” (free mozzarella wedges with purchase of a large pizza); “Take-Out Tuesday” (15% off all take-out orders); also on Tuesday, one kid 10 & under eats free with each adult entrée purchased); “Wednesday is a Pastability,” when you get a second pasta entrée 1/2-off with the purchase of a pasta entrée, and “Thursday Night Out,” when you can buy one entrée and get the second 1/2-off.
Johnny C’s Italian Eatery (10970 Cross Creek Blvd.) is open 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. every day. For info, call (813) 278-8020, visit JohnnyCsItalianEatery.com. Catering also is a specialty and your Booster Club can hold its Spirit Days at the restaurant. Call during business hours for details.
Mozzarella wedges Johnny C’s linguine vongolé If you like mussels, try the mussels posillipo appetizer.
The City of Tampa’s Fiscal 2024 budget includes $75,000 in funding for the New Tampa Players’ Penguin Project, whose production of “Beauty & the Beast” was the first performance at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center. (Photo credit: Angie Schneider)
The City of Tampa’s Fiscal 2024 budget passed unanimously on October 3 and, according to District 7 City Council member Luis Viera (whose district includes all of New Tampa), a number of New Tampa projects were included in the budget allocations.
1. K-Bar Ranch City Park — “I was able to put the plans for the city park in K-Bar Ranch in the Community Investment Tax (CIT) for future consideration,” Viera says. “This puts us in the dugout so to speak, and ready to bat when the time comes. That’s a big change and major movement forward for us there. This is the K-Bar Ranch Park I have been talking about with my constituents for a really long time. My idea was to move it into potential projects with plans ready to go in concrete.”
2. Penguin Project Funding — “I was able to get $75,000 for the New Tampa Players (NTP) theatre troupe, for their Penguin Project, for an adult version arts program for people with intellectual disabilities,” Viera says. “Presently, when persons with intellectual disabilities in the Penguin Project (an effort by NTP to give persons with ID a first-class theatre opportunity — like ‘Aladdin,’ ‘Beauty & the Beast (photo), etc. — “age out” (at age 18), they are done with the program. This funding will allow NTP to create another program for adults. It’s wonderful. This project is spearheaded by NTP president Nora Paine, who is an amazing disability advocate who also is a Heritage Isles resident.”
3. Street Repaving — “We were able to get about $7 million in new funding for repaving,” Viera says. “This will create opportunities for streets like New Tampa Blvd. in West Meadows, which desperately needs to be resurfaced, and 30th St. (Bruce B. Downs Blvd. south of Fowler Ave.). Nothing is set in stone yet regarding which planned repaving projects will get what, but it moves us faster forward for New Tampa Blvd. for consideration. I believe the Tampa Palms Blvd. repaving is just about done.”
4. Fire Station & Public Safety Funding — “I also was able to secure $1.5 million in design funding for Tampa Fire Rescue (TFR) Station No. 25, which will be on Fowler Ave,” Viera says. “This will allow for better response times for the areas around Fowler Ave., but it also will allow Station No. 20 on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. (serving the Tampa Palms area) to better serve areas north of Fowler, especially zip code 33647. The design of the new station will take about a year, and then, we will get construction funding. I have a motion coming in a month or so to look at government bonds for our new fire stations. So, while this budget item is not directly funding for New Tampa, it will allow areas in North Tampa south of Tampa Palms to be taken care of by this new forthcoming station, so that Station No. 20 can better focus on the areas to the north of Tampa Palms. So, it is a piece of the puzzle.”
He adds, however, “As for direct fire station funding for New Tampa, we got money for a new rescue vehicle for TFR Station No. 22 on Cross Creek Blvd. (a little west of Morris Bridge Rd.) to help with response times for the K-Bar Ranch area. This is big news for that area.”
And finally, Viera says, “The budget also allocated $50,000 to fund the city’s Public Safety Master Plan I have been pushing for three years. This means that we will have a citywide assessment of emergency response times and needs for both fire and police — which, of course, acutely affects New Tampa when it comes to fire safety.”
