Nibbles & Bytes: Jamaican Cuisine Is Here!

Ya, Mon! The Hummingbird Jerk House Is Open!!

So, if you like authentic — and I mean truly authentic — Jamaican cuisine, you really need to check out the new Hummingbird Jerk House, which opened at the end of last month in the space in North Palms Village (at 17631 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Unit F) formerly occupied by Dairy Queen (next to Oakley’s Grille).  

So, those who love braised oxtail, goat or chicken curry, jerk or brown stew chicken (or snapper; the sauce is amazing!), Jamaican beef patties, coco bread, cow foot and even escoveitch (photo below) — which is a whole snapper, fried, then covered with onions, sliced carrots, scotch bonnet, pepper and vinegar — this is your place.

I will say that every time I’ve been there, the place has been packed with happy diners, many of whom told me they were on their third or fourth visit, even though the place had only been open a month or so at our press time. Please note that the full menu listed at TheHummingbirdJerkHouse.com isn’t yet always available, but owner Patrick Murrel and his staff’s daily menu board keeps getting closer to the full menu every time I’m there. 

For more info, call (813) 512-2558 and please tell Patrick and his crew that I sent you! 

Twistee Treat Is Open In The Chap!

Even though there’s been one on BBD in New Tampa for several years, folks in Wesley Chapel seem to be very excited about the recent opening of the new Twistee Treat on an outparcel of the Wesley Chapel Village Market on BBD, just south of S.R. 54.

Our video about Wesley Chapel’s new Twistee Treat (5258 Village Market) had a Facebook reach of nearly 13,000 people and was viewed more than 8,500 times!

If you go to check it out, please tell the folks at the new Twistee Treat that you read/heard about them from the Neighborhood News!

Here & There,  This & That…

• It wasn’t very long ago when there were as many as three frozen yogurt shops in New Tampa alone, but today there is just one, as Frogury closed recently. The lone survivor is La Berry Yogurt Café, which we incorrectly reported as closed in our Mar 22 New Tampa issue, although it is now under new ownership.

Of course, here in Wesley Chapel, we have not only Happy Cow and Menchie’s but also multiple gas stations serving “FroYo.”

• On the other hand, the new Smallcakes is now open. Located between Ciccio Cali and our friends at the Palms Pharmacy (in Tampa Palms), it will carry a variety of delicious cupcakes, but also homemade ice cream. The Oldsmar location (3705 Tampa Rd.) reportedly has been very successful. 

• Also closing over the last few months was Tarek’s Café in Tampa Palms, although those who enjoy Tarek’s home-style cooking can still visit the original location on the USF Campus, just off BBD Blvd., south of E. Fletcher Ave.

• Sadly, while I originally believed that the new Rice n’ Beans was set to open in the former Cody’s Roadhouse space on WC Blvd. shortly after our last issue came out, it still looked to be at least a couple of more weeks away as I went to press with this issue, although a Google search landing page says it should be open before this issue reaches you. The Lutz Rice n’ Beans closed almost two months ago.

Congrats, WC Rotary & PEF!

My sincere congratulations go out to the Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel, which meets Wednesdays at noon at Omari’s Grill at Lexington Oaks Golf Club, which hosted a super-successful fourth annual Duck Fest at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge on U.S. Hwy. 41 in Land O’Lakes on March 10. 

That Rotary Club is the one my wife (see page 1) Jannah Nager belongs to and although the event raised more than $5,000 to benefit the club’s selected nonprofit charities — Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Tampa Bay and the Pasco Sheriff’s K-9 Assn. — the primary goal of event chair Jodie Sullivan and her outstanding committee was to make the Duck Fest an even more family-friendly event and there’s no doubt they succeeded. 

There were literally hundreds of families on hand for the event, where thousands of small rubber ducks were blasted by hoses operated by the Pasco County Fire Rescue Department, with the top 50 or so ducks to reach the finish line earning their “owners” a great prize — including a top cash prize of $1,000 for the first-place duck!

All major sponsors of the Duck Fest were invited to decorate much larger-sized rubber ducks and several local businesses were awarded trophies for their decorations. Our favorite was the award-winning “Goddess Laguna” duck (decorated by NeighborhoodNewsOnline.net’s own Mollyana Ward and her cohort Kim Brierly at Lagoon Realty.

The Rotary Duck Fest also featured a super-cool Classic Car Show (photo, left) and an appearance and demonstration by Titan, one of PCSO’s amazing K-9 officers.

• I also want to congratulate Jannah and everyone at the Pasco Education Foundation — the 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports Pasco County’s schools — for hosting their most successful (ever) Foundation Ball at Heritage Springs Country Club in the Trinity area of New Port Richey, raising about $140,000 to pay for scholarships for graduating high school seniors and stipends for teachers in Pasco schools.

And remember, the WC Rotary’s 2nd annual “Hats & Horses” Derby Party is Saturday, May 4! — GN

Our Exclusive Recap Of The 2019 Taste Of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel!

You could still hear the sound of skates skimming across the ice and children making their way around the rinks, but if you listened very closely on March 24, you might have also heard the sound of delighted taste buds.

“Mmmmm.”

Local food and beverage vendors invaded AdventHealth Center Ice (AHCI) for the third consecutive year, offering samples of some of their most popular dishes and drinks at the 2019 Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel.

“I love Taste of New Tampa,” said New Tampa’s Debra Gilreath. “I love the venue, love the neighborhood, love the fact that it’s indoors. The variety of restaurants and vendors that are here is great and it’s easy to buy tickets online and it’s reasonable. Most tastes are two tickets or three tickets.”

Although the event has been held in the comfortable confines of AHCI for three  years, the Taste has been around since 1995, serving tasty morsels while also serving as a fund raiser for local charities supported by the Rotary Club of New Tampa and college scholarships given out to graduating high school seniors by the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce (NTBC). 

Held at various locations over its more-than-two-decade run, but since a four-year hiatus beginning in 2013 (following the merger between the New Tampa Chamber of Commerce and the Wesley Chapel Chamber), the event has found a convenient, weather-proof home at AHCI.

Roughly 2,000 people attended this year’s event, which co-chair Karen Frashier said was stronger than ever and has become the Rotary Club of New Tampa’s biggest fund-raising event, although the club also puts on a successful Turkey Trot road race Thanksgiving morning every year. 

“Every year in June, the money raised from Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel and the Turkey Trot is given away to the charities we support,” said Frashier, a former president of the Rotary Club of New Tampa. “In 2018, we raised $46,000 (between the events) and donated it to our international foundation, End Polio Now, as well as 36 other local, nonprofit or school-related charities.”

Frashier also said that Rotary Feeds America, Feeding Tampa Bay, Meals on Wheels and the Fisher House residence at the James A. Haley VA Hospital are some of the other charities that will benefit from this year’s event. A 20-person committee of the 72-member club organized this year’s event that featured 38 restaurants and beverage purveyors and 34 non-restaurant sponsors.

The winner of the 2019 Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel People’s Choice Award, which was determined by the weight of the Taste sample tickets collected by each restaurant, was first-time participant Bahama Breeze, followed by Noble Crust (up from third a year ago and a top-three finisher all three years at AHCI) and first-time participant the Ice Dreammm Shop.

According to Frashier, the top 10 restaurants, in alphabetical order, were:

Bahama Breeze

Chuy’s Fine Tex Mex

Ciccio Cali

Cinebistro at the Grove

Fat Rabbit Pub

Ice Dreammm Shop

Noble Crust

Nothing Bundt Cakes

Pomodoro Pizza 

Vom Fass Wiregrass

The four finalists for the beverage division were Blue Chair Bay Rum, The Brass Tap, Time for Wine and Zephyrhills Brewing Co., which repeated its win as the favorite adult beverage provider this year..

Gilreath and her daughter Asha were enjoying some of the samples outside the rink, and had already decided on one of their favorites.

“Noble Crust’s chicken & waffles is my favorite thing so far,” said Asha. “Noble Crust is great because they make everything from scratch.”

Noble Crust events coordinator Brad Elia said his crew was hoping to improve on last year’s third-place finish in the restaurant category. The Italian eatery is now the only restaurant to place in the top three all three years since the Taste returned in 2017, and hungry and eager patrons gobbled up their samples as quickly as Noble Crust’s employees could get them on the table. 

“The chicken & waffles is one of our signature dishes,” Elia said. “When we opened our St. Petersburg branch, it was one of the dishes we opened with.”

Noble Crust, located the Shops at Wiregrass mall, topped the dish with some micro greens from their sister company Fat Beet Farm. 

Last year’s winner, Tampa Palms’ Ciccio Cali, was set up in the center aisle, not out of sight of Noble Crust. Ciccio’s brought the same three items that earned it top honors last year — a hot & crunchy tuna, a spicy Brazilian (blackened chicken) and a Thai chicken bowl, but did not crack this year’s top three.

There were certainly some other unique culinary merchants at the event. The Main Ingredient, located off Collier Pkwy. in Lutz, isn’t really a restaurant, but more of a cook-to-order specialty grocer that offered samples of their oils and hot sauces over noodles.

“We sell most everything by the ounce,” owner Christina Sweet said. “People can come in with a recipe and get the exact amount they need instead of getting something and it’s sitting in their cabinet for who knows how long. Everything we sell is organic, non-GMO and gluten-free. We also have a line of specialty spices and tea leaves.”

Helping out at the Main Ingredient table was 11-year-old Sophia Contino, who knows a little about convincing people to try samples, as she has garnered a lot of media attention (including in these pages) for raising money for the Pasco Sheriff’s K-9 Unit. 

Contino said she really liked The Main Ingredient’s noodles and hot sauce. 

Cinebistro at the Grove doled out samples of soft tacos, meatballs and ceviche-style seafood dishes. The Hilton Garden Inn’s chef Frank Skalitza gave out ahi tuna poke spoons and herb-cheese-and-dates Endive Bites.

Other food/restaurant vendors included Vom Fass in the Shops at Wiregrass, offering samples of not only their vinegars, oils and sangria, but also some of the chain’s new gourmet prepared foods. Vom Fass did not have a sign telling you what they were serving, but there were four different unique appetizers, one with prosciutto, bruschetta with strawberries and more. The foods were provided by Vom Fass in conjunction with Kaixo, a local caterer with a food truck, and Walkabout Bakery Café in Lutz, which served a unique-looking Australian pastry.

Taste attendees Ashvin and Kitty Maharaj got a brief respite from their duties— Ashvin as a Rotary volunteer and Kitty with the All County Alliance Property Management table — and used it to sample some of the fare. 

“This is a huge benefit for small businesses and it’s a great community event,” Ashvin said. 

All County Alliance Property Management sponsored the cruise that was given away as one of the 50-50 raffle prizes. 

Kitty said one of the best things about the event was that it introduced local residents to some places they may have previously not heard of, like Ava’s Low Country Cuisine, which provides private chef service, catering and classes and doled out samples of macaroni and cheese, cupcakes and rice bowls. “Ava’s doesn’t even have a store front, and I hadn’t even heard of Walkabout,” she said.

The Schoolfield family of Tampa Palms enjoyed offerings from all of the aforementioned providers. 

Jake Schoolfield works at the CenterState bank in downtown Tampa, which was one of the event’s sponsors. His favorite offering was Ciccio’s crunchy tuna. 

“An event like this brings awareness to local owner/operators,” Jake said. “You drive past all these places how many times in a week? I hope that it translates into more business for them. It’s also fun to see your neighbors out here.”

Dessert items were high on the list of favorites, too. Nothing Bundt Cakes, which was third in 2017 before it even had its current Wesley Chapel location in the Shops at Wiregrass, handed out samples of strawberry, lemon, chocolate and white chocolate raspberry bundt cakes. The strawberry cakes, however, were the most popular of the day, according to manager Crystal Cadet. Also serving amazing strawberry cake was Canterbury Hall, the new catering/banquet hall at Grace Episcopal Church in Tampa Palms.

Adult beverage purveyors were also once again on hand at this year’s Taste, including 2018 beverage winner Zephyrhills Brewing Co., which took first place beverage honors again this year, second-place finisher The Brass Tap, and Time for Wine and Blue Chair Rum, which finished in a tie for third this year. 

Other than playing music, some of Freedom’s marching band members worked on navigating a gigantic ‘Operation’ game brought in by AdventHealth Wesley Chapel, the event’s primary sponsor, which also offered chair massages. And, sponsor Pinot’s Palette, which combines the love of wine and painting, gave the kids some fun art activities to participate in (but no wine!).

Ashley McKibbin of Tampa brought her friend, Amber Cherry, all the way from Jacksonville to enjoy the event.

“I love it, it’s a great event, fun, family-friendly,” said McKibbin.

New Tampa 2017 Year in Review: Food

Ford’s Garage was a hit immediately after opening.

Fat Rabbit, Wok Chi & Snowrolls On Our List Of Favorite New Eateries In 2017

As part of our “year in review” series of stories in this issue, assistant editor John Cotey and I decided that I should include something about all of the new restaurants that opened in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel in 2017.

And of course, since I love to write about new places to eat, I decided to mention a few of my favorites that opened in our area over the past 12 months.

In Wesley Chapel, my favorite new eatery is Noble Crust.

But, Noble Crust was far from alone on the list of new places to eat north of the Pasco County line in our distribution area. In The Shops at Wiregrass alone, in addition to Noble Crust, Irish 31, Wok Chi and Menchie’s all opened and all of them were great additions to the dining scene at the Shops.

After Noble Crust, Ford’s Garage is definitely my favorite newcomer, with a really good seared tuna appetizer, tender steaks and a great Chicken Henry entrée. None of the other new entries around the Tampa Premium Outlets mall make my list, as most are fast food, my favorite of which is Culver’s, followed by Pollo Tropical, Starbucks, Panda Express, Wendy’s and Taco Bell.

Fat Rabbit

Irish 31 also makes my list of new favorites, even though the menu has a few too many fried items for my taste. However, the Ploughman’s salad and Farmer’s Fried Chicken, as well as a pretty good ribeye steak keep it near the top of the newbies for me.

I also really enjoy not only the build-it-yourself stir-fry dishes at Wok Chi, but also the Chi-Licious pork spareribs, the egg rolls and dumplings and even the hot green tea.

Meanwhile, here in New Tampa, we didn’t see as many new places to eat open, but The Fat Rabbit in the City Plaza at Tampa Palms shopping center and Precinct Pizza on Cross Creek Blvd. are both pretty good, with Fat Rabbit being my favorite of the two for its excellent burgers and blackened wings.

And, although it isn’t truly a restaurant, per se, the new Snowrolls, the  ice cream shop in the Pebble Creek Collection also is pretty incredible. Even though you can now get rolled ice cream in other places in our area, the quality of the ice cream and the variety of  flavors and toppings at Snowrolls is second to none.

This first location of a new franchise also has excellent crepes, amazing authentic Italian coffee and coffee drinks, as well as a new chocolate gyro that swirls milk chocolate and hazelnut flavors with more to come. It isn’t ice cream, but it’s indescribably smooth chocolate and you can even add toppings to it, too.

I’d also like to give a shout out to the new owners of Café Olé Restaurant on Cross Creek Blvd., who have converted a small portion of the existing restaurant (which has long been my favorite in New Tampa) to a Venezuelan bakery and coffee shop with great café con leché and a variety of authentic Latin desserts.

We Lost A Few, Too

Unfortunately, New Tampa also saw a few restaurants close in 2017, including Vuelo Mexican Grill, Takara Sushi & Sake, Paramount Lebanese Kitchen and Dairy Queen.

Love This Weather? Here Are Three Of My Favorite Restaurants On St. Pete Beach

If you’re loving the weather we’ve been having lately and plan a visit to one of our area’s world-class beaches over the next few weeks, I have some suggestions about some amazing restaurants you should try.

And, if you’ve been watching WCNT-tv (YouTube/WCNT-tv), you know how much I love St. Pete Beach. In fact, I’ve featured one of these three excellent eateries in my “Neighborhood Dining News” segments, and all three of them are located basically within walking distance of each other on St. Pete Beach proper.

All three offer not only still-swimming fresh seafood, but also other equally- high-quality entrées and appetizers. Two are on the pricier side, while the other is one of my favorite value places for my money on any of our local beaches.

In other words, you can’t go wrong with any of them — and please tell them that you heard about them from Gary of the New Tampa Neighborhood News and WCNT-tv!

+++++++++

Mad Fish

5200 Gulf Blvd.

St. Pete Beach

MadFishOnline.com

(727) 360-9200

Under the direction of Head Chef Oliver Harris, Mad Fish was founded in 2016 to recreate the spirit of early twentieth century visitors who travelled to St. Pete Beach by railroad.

Although it looks to me, from the outside, more like the diners I grew up loving in Long Island, NY (but they never had food like this!), Chef Oliver has brought the old school dining car experience into the future, with innovative new dishes and twists on classic favorites, providing the ultimate dining experience to locals and travelers alike.

Whether you love the look of the place from the outside or not, there’s no doubt that inside this train car, the elegant interior and awesome food, wine and craft beer (not having full liquor is perhaps its only drawback) attract a great-looking, upbeat crowd…for very good reason.

I’ve enjoyed several wonderful meals at Mad Fish, including the 10-oz. aged filet mignon pictured in the previous column, as well as the Chilean sea bass and, since I can’t risk an allergic reaction to what I’m certain is an incredibly crispy lobster-crusted grouper on the menu. I’ve had the grouper without the crusting, and it was amazing. I also can recommend the ahi tuna poke and flash-fried Brussel sprouts appetizers (all of the veggies are awesome) and I plan to try either the chateaubriand for two or the rack of lamb on my next visit, which I will likely pair with a glass of the Familia Zaccardi Malbec “A.”

If you’ve never been to Mad Fish, you really need to check it out soon.

+++++++++

Selene Fresh Fare & Bar

4945 Gulf Blvd.

St. Pete Beach

SeleneRestaurant.com

(727) 317-2064

My frequent weekend trips to St. Pete Beach have helped me become very well acquainted with the Skiadotis family — the patriarch Nick, who owns Neptune Grill in Gulfport and two of my favorites on St. Pete Beach proper (Selene and Skidder’s; see next item), as well as his son, Teddy, who owns the almost-too-good Craft Kafe in St. Pete, less than ten minutes from the beach.

Selene Fresh Fare & Bar, located about a quarter mile or so further south on St. Pete Beach than Mad Fish, is the most upscale of Nick Skiadotis’ restaurants and it is a big, beautiful, elegant place with prices very similar to those at Mad Fish and even though many of the menu items also seem similar and are also absolutely delicious, both restaurants have different takes on everything from fresh fish to steaks.

Among my favorite dishes to date at Selene are the pistachio-crusted black grouper (photo below), the branzino (whole grilled sea bass), the 16-oz., grain-fed ribeye steak and the beef pappardelle (large, flat noodles with beef short rib ragout, red wine and a rich beef stock with tomato and fresh parsley). There’s also three amazing seafood pastas I unfortunately can’t try as-is, although I’m sure the kitchen would probably make the seafood Americain for me without the Gulf shrimp, as I’m not allergic (at least not so far) to the scallops, clams or grouper in the dish, which is served in white wine, EVOO olive oil, fresh lemon and herbs over linguine with Pecorino Romano cheese.

Selene also is famous for its grilled octopus, fried calamari and crab cakes appetizers and I plan to enjoy the duck spring rolls on my next visit. Selene also features an ultra-premium full-liquor bar, Sunday brunch and live music on Wed., Fri. & Sat. nights.

+++++++++

Skidder’s Restaurant

5799 Gulf Blvd.

St. Pete Beach

SkiddersRestaurant.com

(727) 360-1029

My first experience with any of the Skiadotis family’s eateries was with Skidder’s Restaurant, which is located almost directly across Gulf Blvd. from the Tradewinds Resort. And, although I’ve heard some people compare the interior of Skidder’s to a diner or IHOP (in part because it is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner), I can assure you that this casual, comfortable restaurant with full liquor bar is the place to go for not only an absolutely delectable grouper or flounder Francaise for dinner (for $20 or less), but also for whatever yu’re craving, from rack of lamb to Greek salads and souvlakis and for Italian-style veal and chicken dishes with pasta and even great New York-style pizza.

Families are welcome, as Skidder’s has a great kids menu, with everything from grilled cheese and hamburgers to spaghetti and meatballs, fried flounder and shrimp, all for just $4.95-$7.95.

Oh, and save room for dessert, as Skidder’s has a great New York-style cheesecake and authentic Greek baklava.   

Newest Chick-fil-A Is Worth The Wait For Overnight Campers

Chick WEB
Robert Hutton and Barbra Spesak are the first two through the doors at the newest Chick-fil-A on S.R. 56.

If you are having trouble wrapping your head around why anyone would camp out in a parking lot on back-to-back nights for a free chicken sandwich, order of waffle fries and a medium drink weekly, Robert Hutto understands.

If you think it’s all about the chicken (although he says it’s really not), Hutto gets it.

And if you think Hutto is a little crazy for sleeping in an asphalt parking space off S.R. 56 and then hanging out there all day in 93-degree heat — for a few sandwiches — he doesn’t blame you.

Crazy?

“They are not too far from the truth,’’ Hutto says.

Hutto and Barbra Spesak, Brandon residents, were the first two people in line at the Grand Opening of the newest Chick-fil-A in our area, this one in front of the Tampa Premium Outlets off S.R. 56. Hutto arrived June 28 at 8 p.m.; he saved a spot under his 10’x10’ tent for Spesak, who arrived after work at 11:30 p.m.

Decked out in complimentary red and white Chick-fil-A t-shirts and paper hats, they were the first two in line and the first two through the door on Thursday morning, June 30. As cameras from two local television stations rolled — as well as our own WCNT-tv cameras recording footage for our second episode (see pages 44-45 and 51), Hutto and Spesak met the local Chick-fil-A franchise owner Britt Young, shook his hand and received their chicken “debit” card — stocked with 52 No. 1 combos — before being ushered out another door and back into the parking lot.

For those doing the math at home, it was 34 hours of waiting for about 30 seconds of picking up the reward.

“But, it’s about the experience,’’ Hutto said.

The experience is called the First 100, a Chick-fil-A tradition started 12 years ago to celebrate the grand openings of their wildly popular fast food chicken restaurants. Chick-fil-A has given away more than $27-million in free food since beginning the First 100.

For Hutto, it was the third time he had been one of the first 100. He also waited overnight at the Chick-fil-A openings on Waters Ave. in Citrus Park, as well as for the Bruce B. Downs Blvd. location in New Tampa.

CHICK2 WEB“I’ve made some friends at these things,’’ Hutto said. “They have a live deejay playing music. They feed you breakfast, lunch and dinner, so that’s not bad. It’s a good time.”

Both Hutto and Spesak admit that they probably won’t eat every No. 1 meal on their cards themselves.

“It really isn’t about the sandwich,’’ Hutto said. “When we are out and we see someone who needs a sandwich, like a homeless person or something like that, we’ll go hit the drive-thru and use the card for them. We’ll also use it for friends and family.”

Hutto, who transports RVs all over the country for a living, says he also sometimes uses his free meals as a pit stop when he’s on the road.

He said of all the First 100 events he has attended, this one might have been the toughest. It was blistering hot, the heat made even worse by his setup on black asphalt, and it rained three times. During one heavy downpour the last day, more than a dozen revelers seeking free chicken abandoned their posts, and the first 12 alternates were selected.

Nothing, however, was deterring Spesak, a certified nursing assistant. It was her first overnighter at Chick-fil-A.

“It was fun,’’ she said. “Everybody thought I was crazy, the people at work thought I was crazy, for taking days off to go camp out at a Chick-fil-A.”

And, she may have caught the fever. Asked if they had plans to do this again, Spesak said she is already scouting out the next opening.

“I hear they might be opening one soon on Dale Mabry,’’ she said, smiling.