Category: Nibbles & Bytes

By Gary Nager,

It’s hard for me to fathom that the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) is celebrating its 15th anniversary this month, and even harder to believe the number of ribbon cutting events and Chamber mixers I’ve been to just in the last 30 days alone — too many, in fact, to post a pic of most of them in this space — and yet, I only attended about 2/3 of the 15 available Chamber events since our last issue went to press.

The other thing that amazes me is how many of the 15 ribbons the WCCC has cut since mid-October weren’t held at businesses located in what we call Wesley Chapel at all. In fact, more than 1/3 of them took place either in New Tampa or the Lutz/Land O’Lakes area.

In other words, Wesley Chapel’s Cham- ber is one of the busiest, most successful “small” (as in, not located in a major city) chambers of commerce I’ve ever heard of or seen. The “players” at the WCCC may have changed over the years, but if you own a business in our area — new or otherwise — and you haven’t had these folks over to your place to cut a ribbon, you’ve been missing out on a great chance to expose your business to dozens of local business leaders and owners. For more info, call 994-8534 or visit WesleyChapelChamber.com.

By Matt Wiley,

For more than a year, it has been sitting vacant on Doña Michelle Dr., but it looks as if new life is destined for the former Lee Roy Selmon’s location on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in New Tampa, according to a press release from the Selmon’s franchise owners.

On November 8, MVP Holdings — the company that also owns PDQ (which has a Wesley Chapel location on S.R. 56) — announced that their company has entered into an agreement with Virginia-based Glory Days Grill to take over the expansion efforts of the restaurant chain into the Florida market, beginning with the space that previously was rumored to once again become home to Lee Roy Selmon’s.

“We are very excited to have the opportunity to grow Glory Days Grill in Florida,” says Sam Tancredi, president of MVP GDG, LLC. “The Glory Days Grill concept allows us the opportunity to hire over 100 New Tampa residents. We feel this new concept is a perfect fit for the community.”

The press release says that MVP Holdings owners Bob Basham, Nick Reader and Chris Sullivan plan to open Glory Days in the first quarter of 2014. Basham and Sullivan also previously founded the company which is now called Bloomin’ Brands, which owns Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill and Bonefish Grill under the now-Bloomin’ Brands umbrella.

The press release says that the Glory Days concept is a sports-themed, family restaurant that features a variety of dining options for all ages and preferences. The Glory Days Grill slogan, according to the company’s website (GloryDaysGrill.com) is “The Official Food of Hometown Sports” and the menu features everything from chicken fried chicken to great steaks, BBQ ribs and more. The restaurants also feature multiple TVs throughout, with individual speaker boxes at each table so patrons can tune in whichever game or channel they want to watch.

There are 18 Glory Days locations operating in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, plus two franchise locations, also in Virginia. The New Tampa location will mark the beginning of Glory Days’ expansion into Florida.

 

Updated Dec 14 2013

By Peter Gambacorta, Exec. Chef Private Chef of Tampa LLC.

At this time of the year, as we attend parties and gatherings, we are bombarded by an array of overly sweet and gooey cookies. At this time, I am going to share a part of my culinary history with you. Last week, my sister, Rosemarie Woodward and I began to discuss our childhood Christmas traditions and we decided to try to recreate my mother’s famous sesame cookies.

As a Culinary Institute of America (CIA) trained Private Chef, the challenge was on between us. After much debate and discussion, we agreed on the proper ingredients and quantities for the recipe. So, our journey back to our childhood began in my kitchen.

My mother Claire Terranova Gambacorta’s sesame seed cookies and biscotti are crunchy, nutty, with extra spicy notes of cinnamon, nutmeg and, of course, sesame. These cookies are low in sugar and low in overall fat content and they taste and are exactly as we remembered them. Not bad for our first try at copying Mama Claire.

These food traditions take us back to the cold and snowy days in Buffalo, NY, when we would have large family gatherings every Sunday at our grandmother’s house, with many of our aunts, uncles, and cousins running around everywhere. And, there always was a large pot of red sauce simmering on the stove, with which we smothered the large bowls of spaghetti placed in front of us. I still can remember my white dress shirts dotted with red sauce; and every Italian boy I knew can recall being scolded for this infraction, even when our shirts were covered by napkins tucked into our shirts.

These are the type of cookies and biscotti that go perfectly with coffee, or in lieu of overly sugared cookies — or, as in my family tradition, served with large glasses of red wine from the gallon jug kept under the table.

These cookies are quite easy to prepare for any home cook and the only requirement to make things easier is the use of a stand mixer. To the right is the recipe as we recreated it. Remember that these cookies or biscotti’s are baked low and slow to increase the crunch. I hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed making and sampling them.

I hope you will try this recipe and feel free to post comments about the recipe at NTNeighborhoodNews.com.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all and best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous new year from Private Chef of Tampa!

Private Chef of Tampa LLC, which is locally owned and operated, can do private parties for 6–75 people in your home. We supply chefs, waitresses, bartenders, vocalists and even local wine experts to make your next party one that is memorable. Our prices are inclusive per person and are generally no more than the cost of a dinner at a nice restaurant. We do all the work and you enjoy your guests and party.

For info, email me at peter@privatecheftampa.com, visit PrivateChefTampa.com or find and “Like” us on Facebook. Or, call 380-4014 to find out more.