Introducing Astro Craft Ice Cream’s New Ice Cream Chef!

This is just a sampling f the delicious flavors at Astro Craft Ice Cream on S.R. 56. (All Photos by Charmaine George).

It was only six months or so ago when we first told you about the new Astro Craft Ice Cream, located in the same plaza on the north side of S.R. 56 as Mellow Mushroom.

Even so, there’s so much new happening at Astro that we knew we needed to update that story.

Still owned by Ferdian Jap and Gio Tran, the co-owners of Zukku-San Sushi (located about a 1/4-mile east of Astro) and Ato at the KRATE Container Park, Astro now has a new ice cream chef — Adrian Carter. Carter, who is proud of his love of ice cream, completed an online course through the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts based in Boulder, CO, and also completed the intensive one-week Penn State University Ice Cream Short Course in University Park, PA, now in its 128th year — where representatives of Ben & Jerry’s, Baskin-Robbins, Blue Bell, Haagen-Dazs and many others have learned the secrets of ice cream making.

New Astro ice cream chef Adrian Carter prepares the signature sundae for June (below, left).

“It’s super-competitive,” Carter says of the course. “But you really learn the best ways to make the best ice cream.”

Carter, who first met the Astro owners at their location at Armature Works near downtown Tampa, is proud of the changes he’s already made to Astro’s already delicious flavors and he promises to continue to add new varieties, starting with the unique new passion fruit-raspberry sorbet, which is made with oat milk, “so it still has a creamy, more ice cream-like texture and taste,” Carter says.

He also has made subtle changes to many of my already favorite flavors at Astro — including adding real bananas to the banana pudding peanut butter cookie flavor (which is still my #1 favorite).

Carter says that most months, Astro offers a new “signature” creation. For June (which still has a few days left), the Father’s Day-inspired special was the brown sugar whiskey cookie dough (made with a newly upgraded whiskey), with chocolate-covered pretzels, a caramel “flavor shot” and a sprinkle of brown sugar. Also new is the ube ice cream with dark chocolate chunks. Ube is a purple Fillipino yam (sweet potato) with a mellow flavor that blends well with the chocolate.

Astro’s exclusive Cuban ice cream sandwich.
The revamped brownie sundae.

And, despite my concerns, Carter also has begun baking Astro’s brownies and chocolate chip cookies in-house, rather than buying them from Mike’s Pies. I loved the Mike’s brownies, but the house-baked brownies are equally delicious, chewy and decadently dense — so good as the base for a brownie sundae with a chocolate, caramel or honey flavor shot.

One thing Carter didn’t mention changing was Astro’s exclusive Cuban ice cream sandwich (above, right), made with Cuban bread from Tampa’s La Segunda Bakery, pressed around Tampa guava cream cheese or creme brulĂ©e cafĂ© con lechĂ© ice cream. So good.

Photographer Charmaine George and I both also raved about the cinnamon snickerdoodle marshmallow ice cream, made with marshmallow Fluff, graham crackers and lots of cinnamon. Charmaine said it “tastes like Christmas.” The seasonal flavor for July is red, white & blue vanilla ice cream, “for the kids,” Carter says, adding that Astro’s mobile ice cream van also is available for catered events. 

Astro Craft Ice Cream (25700 Sierra Center Blvd.) is open Mon.-Thur., noon-9:30 p.m.; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. on Fri. & Sat. & 11 a.m.-9 p.m. on Sun. For more info, visit AstroCraftIceCream.com, find the location on Facebook or Instagram.

A dish of the new passion fruit-raspberry sorbet with a honey flavor shot.

Story Update: Wesley Chapel Area Continues To Add More Auto Dealerships

Both Jacobs Mitsubishi of Wesley Chapel (top) and Wesley Chapel Subaru (above) have opened recently, increasing the number of new car dealerships in the Wesley Chapel area to 19 (see chart), with perhaps more still on the way.

Story Update – Although this story already was posted here, it was missing the Volvo showroom that is coming soon to the Shops at Wiregrass, so we’re posting it again now.

When someone asks you what Wesley Chapel is known for, how do you respond? I used to say that we were known primarily for shopping malls and chain restaurants, but that was before the opening of the KRATE Container Park at The Grove gave us more than two dozen new non-chain eateries over the past year.

Yes, we do also have a lot of nail salons, storage facilities, car washes and mattress stores, but until I added them all up, I didn’t realize that there also are now 19 new-car auto dealerships in the Wesley Chapel area, with only one of those — Ferman Buick-GMC on S.R. 54 — having a Lutz address.

The remaining 18 dealerships — with Wesley Chapel Subaru (now open less than two months at our press time) and Jacobs Mitsubishi of Wesley Chapel (open about a month) as the two newest — are actually all located in one of the Wesley Chapel’s three zip codes (33543, 33544 & 33545).

The Subaru dealership on Silver Maple Pkwy. south of S.R. 56 is one of only two Wesley Chapel showrooms still owned by the Fink Automotive Group (the other is the adjacent Volkswagen of Wesley Chapel), headed by Scott Fink (known for his “Where volume makes the difference” TV ads), as the four others previously owned by the Fink group — the Chevrolet, Mazda and Hyundai (and Hyundai’s separate luxury brand Genesis, located inside the Hyundai dealership on S.R. 54) of Wesley Chapel dealerships — were sold to the Oregon-based Lithia Motors, Inc., in 2021. 

Lithia, which also purchased Wesley Chapel Honda and Wesley Chapel Toyota from the Williams Automotive Group in 2019, now owns six Wesley Chapel auto dealerships among its more than 260 nationwide, making it one of the three largest owners of dealerships in the country. 

Despite those dealership sales, Williams retained its ownership of Lexus of Wesley Chapel just south of S.R. 54 on Eagleston Blvd., east of I-75, and its Wesley Chapel Super Center used car and truck dealership on Wesley Chapel Blvd., a mile or so west of I-75.

The other company that owns the most Wesley Chapel dealerships is the Morgan Auto Group, owned by the father-and-son team of Larry and Brett Morgan, which purchased Wesley Chapel Nissan in 2019, Fuccillo Kia of Wesley Chapel and MINI of Wesley Chapel in 2020 and opened BMW of Wesley Chapel in 2022. The four Wesley Chapel showrooms are among about 60 that Morgan — which is either the 10th or 11th (depending upon whose figures you use) largest owner of auto dealerships in the U.S. — owns throughout the Tampa Bay area.

The only other company which owns at least two dealerships in Wesley Chapel is the Parks Automotive Group, which started all of this in 1999 by moving its Heritage Ford (now Parks Ford of Wesley Chapel) dealership from Zephyrhills a few miles to the west on S.R. 54 (to just east of I-75, and the current Kia and Nissan dealerships). 

The Parks group opened Parks Lincoln of Wesley Chapel (located adjacent to Parks Ford) earlier this year, after shutting down its Fiat and Alfa-Romeo dealership (in essentially the same location as Parks Lincoln) in 2020.

According to recent documents filed with Pasco County, Auto Nation, which already opened and operates the Mercedes-Benz of Wesley Chapel dealership on the north side of S.R. 56, has filed plans to open an as-yet-unnamed auto dealership in front of Main Event on the south side of S.R. 56, next to the under-construction Paradise Grills outdoor furniture store. 

Auto Nation, which operates both new and used car dealerships among its 300 locations throughout the U.S. (more than Lithia, but just behind it in terms of sales), is the fourth largest auto dealership company in the nation.

Also opening soon, in the Shops at Wiregrass, is a Volvo showroom, which will not be a full-blown dealership with a service department, but will add even more new car options to our area. 

Wesley Chapel Area Continues To Add More Auto Dealerships

Both Jacobs Mitsubishi of Wesley Chapel (top) and Wesley Chapel Subaru (above) have opened recently, increasing the number of new car dealerships in the Wesley Chapel area to 19 (see chart), with perhaps one more on the way.

When someone asks you what Wesley Chapel is known for, how do you respond? I used to say that we were known primarily for shopping malls and chain restaurants, but that was before the opening of the KRATE Container Park at The Grove gave us more than two dozen new non-chain eateries over the past year.

Yes, we do also have a lot of nail salons, storage facilities, car washes and mattress stores, but until I added them all up, I didn’t realize that there also are now 19 new-car auto dealerships in the Wesley Chapel area, with only one of those — Ferman Buick-GMC on S.R. 54 — having a Lutz address.

The remaining 18 dealerships — with Wesley Chapel Subaru (now open less than two months at our press time) and Jacobs Mitsubishi of Wesley Chapel (open about a month) as the two newest — are actually all located in one of the Wesley Chapel’s three zip codes (33543, 33544 & 33545).

The Subaru dealership on Silver Maple Pkwy. south of S.R. 56, is one of only two Wesley Chapel showrooms still owned by the Fink Automotive Group (the other is the adjacent Volkswagen of Wesley Chapel), headed by Scott Fink (known for his “Where volume makes the difference” TV ads), as the four others previously owned by the Fink group — the Chevrolet, Mazda and Hyundai (and Hyundai’s separate luxury brand Genesis, located inside the Hyundai dealership on S.R. 54) of Wesley Chapel dealerships — were sold to the Oregon-based Lithia Motors, Inc., in 2021. 

Lithia, which also purchased Wesley Chapel Honda and Wesley Chapel Toyota from the Williams Automotive Group in 2019, now owns six Wesley Chapel auto dealerships among its more than 260 nationwide, making it one of the three largest owners of dealerships in the country. 

Despite those dealership sales, Williams retained its ownership of Lexus of Wesley Chapel just south of S.R. 54 on Eagleston Blvd., east of I-75, and its Wesley Chapel Super Center used car and truck dealership on Wesley Chapel Blvd., a mile or so west of I-75.

The other company that owns the most Wesley Chapel dealerships is the Morgan Auto Group, owned by the father-and-son team of Larry and Brett Morgan, which purchased Wesley Chapel Nissan in 2019, Fuccillo Kia of Wesley Chapel and MINI of Wesley Chapel in 2020 and opened BMW of Wesley Chapel in 2022. The four Wesley Chapel showrooms are among about 60 that Morgan — which is either the 10th or 11th (depending upon whose figures you use) largest owner of auto dealerships in the U.S. — owns throughout the Tampa Bay area.

The only other company which owns at least two dealerships in Wesley Chapel is the Parks Automotive Group, which started all of this in 1999 by moving its Heritage Ford (now Parks Ford of Wesley Chapel) dealership from Zephyrhills a few miles to the west on S.R. 54 (to just east of I-75, and the current Kia and Nissan dealerships). 

The Parks group opened Parks Lincoln of Wesley Chapel (located adjacent to Parks Ford) earlier this year, after shutting down its Fiat and Alfa-Romeo dealership (in essentially the same location as Parks Lincoln) back in 2020.

According to recent documents filed with Pasco County, Auto Nation, which already opened and operates the Mercedes-Benz of Wesley Chapel dealership on the north side of S.R. 56, has filed plans to open an as-yet-unnamed auto dealership in front of Main Event on the south side of S.R. 56, next to the under-construction Paradise Grills outdoor furniture store. 

Auto Nation, which operates both new and used car dealerships among its 300 locations throughout the U.S. (more than Lithia, but just behind it in terms of sales), is the fourth largest auto dealership company in the nation.   

Lillian Bischel’s Client-Centered Hypnosis & Coaching  Is Here To Help!

Lillian Bischel’s Client-Centered Hypnosis & Coaching can help you overcome fears or help you improve your life. (Photos by Charmaine George)

A lifelong “Florida Cracker” and New Tampa resident for the past three decades, Lillian Bischel has spent years studying the human condition.

With Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degrees in Psychology and Anthropology, and a Master of Science (M.S.) degree in Speech Language Therapy — all from University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa — Lillian has been a speech language pathologist for the past 14 years. Prior to that, she was a legal assistant.

She says her varied educational pursuits and work experiences have led her to find her passion – as a certified hypnotist whose practice, known as Client-Centered Hypnosis & Coaching, helps people to meet their goals, whether they want to improve an area of their lives or overcome a particular fear.

She also has earned a Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in Transpersonal Psychology from Atlantic University (a distance learning university based in Virginia Beach, VA), is certified as a hypnotherapist (CHt), a master hypnotherapist (MHt), and is a member of the National Association of Transpersonal Hypnotherapists.

Here in Florida, however, the title of “therapist” is reserved for those who hold a medical degree, so although her certification is as a hypnotherapist, she is considered a “hypnotist” in our state.

Lillian explains that transpersonal psychology takes the connection of mind and body that is central to traditional psychology one important step further. Transpersonal means that the therapy incorporates an unconscious element, as well. 

“When you go to a ‘regular’ psychologist, they say they can fix you if you do what they say,” Lillian explains. “Transpersonal psychology is more that you have a challenge and I can help you find your own answers.”

The first session with Lillian is always an interview to allow her to get to know you and establish background information. She coaches people to come up with their own solutions and suggestions, then uses their own words to write a completely customized hypnosis script, which is done in a separate session.

The client-centered approach means she focuses on active listening and understanding the issues, needs, and wants of her clients, and to guide them to find answers within themselves from a mind, body and soul (meaning the unconscious) perspective.

However, she says, sometimes her clients find the coaching so helpful, they don’t even need the hypnosis.

But, for those who do, the hypnosis starts with a relaxation process and deepening technique, which helps tap into the client’s subconscious. Then, Lillian can do a suggestive hypnosis, where she shares ideas from the interview that will help the client reach their goals. 

Her “Master” certification allows her to do age regression and past life regression, as well.

She says that many clients don’t understand the spiritual connection to their personal problems. In fact, these problems can be hard to discuss because they’re usually deeply personal topics, and often bring up ideas that might sound crazy if the clients didn’t experience them. Lillian says that, based on her experience, she believes people are eternal beings. 

“When our bodies die,” she says, “our spirit, our soul, our energy, continues.”

That philosophy allows her to help people who are interested in regression to a past life — which may help them overcome fears they are presently experiencing — or simply regression to a younger age.

All coaching and hypnosis sessions are completely virtual, via teleconference, so you can participate in these sessions from the comfort of your own home.

Lillian offers a free consultation to explain the process and “see if we’re a good fit for each other.”

She says most people who find her service valuable have something going on in their lives that’s not working for them. They might not know why it’s happening or how to change, but it’s interrupting their lives in some way. It might be stress that is affecting their health, relationships, or even their ability to work. 

Lillian also can help people who have set a goal for themselves, such as to be more confident, to be able to speak in front of people, to develop healthier habits, or even quit smoking.

She says she has helped any number of people with debilitating phobias to be able to face their fears.

During the training and certification process, Lillian had to do many hours of hypnosis under the supervision of her college professors. She also is required to have continuing education credits to maintain her membership in the National Association of Transpersonal Hypnotherapists.

Not For Entertainment Purposes!

One thing Lillian stresses is that therapy with hypnosis is not entertainment.

“I don’t do this for fun,” she says. And she further clarifies that she will never make people do anything while they are under hypnosis. 

“You can’t make a person do something that goes against their morals,” she explains. “Even though we’ve reached an unconscious level, at all times your everyday mind is still there, so you’re very much aware of everything that goes on and can stop at anytime, if you want.”

Brenda Murray says she has known Lillian a long time and that her experience with hypnosis therapy was even better than she had hoped.

“I was extremely impressed with her professional nature and calmness,” explains Brenda. “She was very detailed, guiding me through with ease. I was surprised at how easy and comfortable Lillian made it.”

Brenda says she was curious about hypnosis — as she thinks many other people also may be — and she wanted to work with Lillian to gain some ambition in a certain area in her life. “It did help,” Brenda says. “I was impressed with that.”

She also says she looks forward to working with Lillian again to focus on another part of her life.

“I highly recommend her,” says Brenda. “She’s a natural. I saw a different side of Lillian than I knew and I was quite impressed by her.”

Lillian Bischel’s Client-Centered Hypnosis & Coaching offers hypnosis and coaching via virtual sessions. For more information or to set up a free consultation, call Lillian at (813) 390-2910 or email her at clientcenteredhypnosis@gmail.com. 

Nibbles & Bites: Checking Out The Third Annual Rum & Seafood Festival! 

Our congratulations go out to Florida Penguin Productions for putting on a successful third-annual Rum & Seafood Festival at the Tampa Premium Outlets on June 3, despite the constant threat of bad weather that could have caused the event’s cancellation.

A steady stream of adult visitors paid $15 per person to get into the Festival, which featured live music, dozens of vendors — including Siesta Key and Sailor Jerry rums, FishHawk Spirits and Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey — and great seafood food trucks like Charm City Eats, Super Grouper, Got Lobstah? and From the Soul to the Sea. Among this year’s highlights were the Crab Races (that I unfortunately missed) and the “rooftop” bar. 

The  North Tampa Bay Chamber received a portion of the event’s proceeds.

Crazy Sushi Is Open At The Shops At Wiregrass; Azteca D’Oro To Open June 24! 

Crazy Sushi Is Open!

If you love sushi and all-you-can-eat Japanese-inspired cuisine and haven’t yet checked out the new Crazy Sushi Wiregrass at the Shops at Wiregrass, you probably should. 

Crazy Sushi is more than just another replacement for the several restaurants that have opened and gone out of business at 28152 Paseo Dr., #150 — it’s a much larger (having also taken over an adjacent store), real sit-down restaurant that just happens to also offer all-you-care-to-eat lunch (for $22.95 per person; available Mon.-Fri., 11 a.m.-3 p.m. only) and dinner (and Sat.-Sun. lunch, for $32.95) Japanese food that, based on our first visit, is well worth the price. 

The sushi (the left photo is of a tasty sushi sampler that isn’t on the menu) is really fresh, the appetizers — including gyoza dumplings, tempura veggies, fried chicken karaage (right photo), etc. — and lo mein are spot-on and the hibachi sirloin steak and chicken are both of a higher quality (at least, in my opinion)than what we’re used to getting at Ginza or Koizi. And. the premium full-liquor bar offers full-sized drinks at lower-than-mall prices.

For more information, call (813) 991-8989 or visit CrazySushiWesleyChapel.com and please tell our friend Edgar behind the bar that we sent you!

Recapping Blush Champagne Bar’s Grand Opening Event!

Even though we told you that the Blush Champagne & Cocktail Bar had opened at the KRATE Container Park last issue, we didn’t get to show you any of the great pictures photographer Charmaine George took at the spectacular Grand Opening party on May 19 for the second KRATE (the other is the nearly adjacent Blush Wine Room) owned by Felicia and Nimesh Desai (top left photo). The event included a DJ, a 360Âș photo booth, the great Blush Wine Room food, a dozen frozen wine-based cocktails, a variety of sparkling wines and hundreds of happy attendees! For info about the Blush Wine Room or Champagne & Cocktail Bar, call (813) 428-6247 or visit BlushWineRoom.com. 

Playa Bowls To Open June 17!

When Tabatha Castro and Pablo Reid open the newest location of Playa Bowls next to the Latin Twist CafĂ© at 2653 BBD Blvd. on or around June 17, you can expect not just the ever-popular açai bowls, but also coconut, banana, chia pudding, green and pitaya bowls, plus fresh fruit smoothies and juices, oatmeal & more. The beach-themed healthy eating place also known as “Pineappleland,” started at the Jersey Store and has grown to nearly 200 locations nationwide. For more info, visit PlayaBowls.com.