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 CafĂ© 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.

Our Exclusive Taste 2019 Preview — What’s New? A Lot!

Congratulations to the Rotary Club of New Tampa, which will host the annual Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel for the third year in a row, again at what is now being called AdventHealth Center Ice (AHCI) on Sunday, March 24, 2019, noon-4 p.m.

The club (which meets Fridays at 7 a.m at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club) did an excellent job of rounding up not only many of your returning favorite eateries from the last two years, but also some outstanding newcomers among the 29 restaurants and eleven beverage purveyors that had signed up to participate in the Taste by our press time on March 15.

We caught up with Taste co-chairs Karen Frashier and Jennifer Cofini and asked them about what new and old favorites attendees will be enjoying at this year’s Taste:

NN: How excited is everyone about this year’s Taste of New Tampa event?

TONT: We’ve had the pleasure to give away Taste tickets at several North Tampa Bay Chamber and community events. We always ask the crowd if they know why we’re there and what’s coming up. A large percentage of the crowd shouts back “Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel.” Hearing that crowd response makes our day! 

The Rotary Club of New Tampa is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) hosting this event with the Chamber to support scholarships and our charities. Our committee has grown to 20 Rotarians and Chamber volunteers. We’re invested.

NN: What do you have planned?

TONT: We’ve got 40 food and beverage vendors that will start tummies grumbling the minute guests enter Rink C at AdventHealth Center Ice. 

The Freedom High Naval Junior ROTC flag corps will kick off the festivities, along with: Denyse Bales-Chubb, the CEO of AdventHealth Wesley Chapel; Dist. 7 Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera; and Mike Wells, the chairman of the Pasco County Board of Commissioners. 

Then, the Freedom High School drum corps will get the party started by marching throughout the venue. Attendees have told us they want tables spread throughout the venue so they can hang out with friends and neighbors. Done!

NN: So, what’s new at this year’s Taste?

TONT: We’ve added cookie decorating to the photo booth and kids painting/art booth located in the family fun area. A Dash of Salt ‘n Pepper, DCA Media Consulting and Pinot’s Palette Wesley Chapel are sponsoring the fun for kids. 

Our presenting sponsor is Advent Health Wesley Chapel. The Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel focuses on friends, family and food — three important building blocks to whole, healthy lives. Building blocks that inspire both the Rotary Club of New Tampa and AdventHealth Wesley Chapel to serve our North Tampa Bay neighbors.

NN: What restaurants are you particularly excited to see that you think the locals will be happy to see?

TONT: Taste attendees will be particularly interested to see how the chef showdown between past winners Ciccio’s Cali, Noble Crust and Nothing Bundt Cakes shakes out. Pincher’s, Vom Fass, Blondie’s Cookies, Fat Rabbit, Cinebistro, Chuy’s and Top Shelf Sports Lounge were crowd favorites, too.

Earth Fare, a green grocer which newly opened on S.R. 56 (across from Tampa Premium Outlets) and Bahama Breeze are bringing their chefs’ A games.

NN: What about any under the radar places? Maybe some eateries that aren’t located nearby or are new to the area that many will be getting a first taste of?

TONT: Taste foodies will be especially interested in locally owned food and beverage purveyors such as Ava’s Low Country Cuisine, Pomodoro Pizza and the Ice Dreammm Shop. They can have their cake and eat it too from the newly opened community venue called Canterbury Hall at Grace Church Tampa Palms. And, Batter & Dough is offering yummy filled mini-pancakes.

NN: Other than food samples, what else can people look forward to at the Taste?

TONT: There will be big competition in the beverage category this year with Coppertail Brewing competing with 81 Bay, Zephyrhills, Time for Wine. The Brass Tap and PRP Wine International. New beverage options include Blue Chair Bay Rum and Buttermilk Provisions sangria. Chamber chair Karen Tillman-Gosselin with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services is sponsoring the water again this year and we’ll have a booth for soft drinks.

NN: What do you expect or hope for in terms of attendees? Talk about the growth of the event over the past two years, and how Center Ice has proven to be an ideal facility.

TONT: The event has a 20-year history as one of North Tampa Bay’s premier events.

Last year we hosted 2,000 guests. Based on history and the growth we’ve seen over three years, we expect 3,000 guests this year. AdventHealth Center Ice is a perfect location because the event is indoors — no worries about the weather. The parking is free and plentiful in front and behind the building. We’ll have volunteers in the lots helping guests locate parking and directing people to open parking. Plus, Taste-goers who present a Taste ticket the day of the event can get free ice skate rental to glide off the calories after snacking their way through the restaurants and beverage purveyors.

NN: What charitable organizations receive the proceeds that are raised?

TONT: Proceeds support high school scholarships through the North Tampa Bay Chamber and charities supported by the Rotary Club of New Tampa. In 2018, the Rotary Club of New Tampa donated more than $46,000 to local and Rotary International Foundation signature projects, including End Polio Now, Feeding Tampa Bay and the Fisher House at the Haley VA Hospital.

Signature youth programs such as Interact, Rotaract and Seminar for Tomorrow’s Leaders help young people develop leadership skills. Find the complete list on TasteOfNewTampa.org/nonprofitsbenefit.html.

2018 Taste Of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Faces In The Crowd!

I send out many thanks to freelance writer Andy Warrener for also attending this year’s Taste and for his efforts to get a feel for the Taste from the persepective of some of its attendees. The folks on this page all raved about the event and were excited to be part of this feature. — GN

Antoinette and Jerome Lee of Cross Creek in New Tampa found out about the event in the Mar. 23 New Tampa edition of the Neighborhood News. It was also their first time at a Taste event.

“I like it because you can select the vendors you like,” Antoinette said. “If there’s one in particular you like, you can use your cards there or, if you want to try a new restaurant. It’s also nice to meet people in line. You work in the community but there are a lot of people you don’t come into contact with. Here you can do that.”

Antoinette was partial to the Cuban food offered up by La Yuma. Jerome was previously a fan of Texas Roadhouse and said he enjoyed their samplings.

 

For Arbor Greene resident Jacob, 15, his favorite was Snow Rolls Ice Cream, and for his brother Noah, 6, it was the pizza from Bosco’s Italian-to-Go.

“We actually found out about the event in the Neighborhood News,” said their father Randy. “There are lots of activities in more established communities like downtown and South Tampa but not much going on in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel. This event gives us lots of options to look for and a chance to get out and do things. As the community grows, so will events like this.”

 

Quail Hollow residents Steve and Virginia Catrombone brought their eight-month old son, Memphis, to the event. They have lived in the Wesley Chapel area the last five years and were attending their first Taste of New Tampa. They had never even been to FHCI before.

“The prices are great and the food is awesome,” Steve said. “It’s a good, community event. The turnout is really nice and it’s well-organized. We’ve been to food truck rallies, local markets and events at the Shops at Wiregrass and this event is great. We’ve seen Wesley Chapel grow so much the last five years.” Virginia enjoyed sampling area eateries that she hadn’t had visited yet. “This is a great event because all these places are local for us,” Virginia said. “And now, we have a chance to see what they have to offer.”

 

Jeff and Jennifer Pike, who live in Live Oak in New Tampa, brought their twin daughters Liliana and Amalia as well as their son, 12-year-old Carter, to the Taste.

“We found out about the event on Facebook, it’s our first time here,” Jeff said. “The food was the clincher. There’s such a variety with what’s in the neighborhood, we didn’t even know half the places. The event gets people to recognize that there are more restaurants out there than just the major chains.”

Jeff enjoyed the Shepherd’s pie from O’Brien’s Irish Pub, while Jennifer was taken by the flan and rice and beans offered by La Yuma.

“The food samples are the primary reason for coming, also to hang out with friends,” Jennifer said. “It’s a very family-friendly event,” Jennifer said. “The kids are here with their friends and there’s always a new restaurant to discover.”

 

Did you attend this year’s Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel? If not, why not? If so, what did you like best about it? We’d love to hear from you. Send us a Facebook message (search “Neighborhood News”) or email us at EditorialDept@NTNeighborhoodNews.com!

Taste of New Tampa Sets Date For 2018!

Even though the 2017 Taste of New Tampa at Florida Hospital Center Ice earlier this year didn’t raise the most money ever for a Taste, it was a hugely successful event that attracted around 2,000 people to Florida Hospital Center Ice (FHCI).

The way I see it, the 2017 Taste, sponsored by the Rotary Club of New Tampa (which meets Fridays at 7 a.m. at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club) was an amazing event that fell short of its nonprofit-organization-benefiting fund-raising goals because of two main reasons — 1) not enough sponsorships and 2) people’s concerns about the event being held indoors, especially in a venue that we all assumed would feel a whole lot colder than it did on that fun Saturday in March (photo).

Well, considering that I have attended and/or been part of the committee putting on 20 of the first 21 Tastes, I can tell you that FHCI is by far the best venue we’ve ever had for the event — a fact that I believe most of this year’s attendees would agree with — even though there are quite a few things we learned we could do better next time.

The first organizational meeting for the 2018 Taste will be held later this month and New Tampa Rotary president and Taste event chair Karen Frashier says that once the Taste 2018 committee chairs have met, we will be looking for additional volunteers. We’re not interested in people hoping to pad their “community resumes,” but folks who are willing to roll up their sleeves and actually work to help make the 2018 Taste — which will be held on Sunday, March 25, noon-5 p.m., at FHCI — even bigger and better than this year’s event.

“(FHCI’s) Gordie Zimmerman and George Mitchell have been amazing to work with,” Frashier says. “And, they were really happy with the quality of the sponsors, the food and beverage providers and the people who attended. We’re all looking forward to next year!”

To that end, the Rotary Club already is pre-selling Taste tickets at a 20-percent discount through Feb. 1 at TasteofNewTampa.org!

And of course, look for Taste 2018 updates in just about every issue of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News, at NTNeighborhoodNews.com, on the “Neighborhood News” page on Facebook and on WCNT-tv’s YouTube channel!

Speaking Of WCNT-tv…

By the time you read this, WCNT-TV (Wesley Chapel & New Tampa Television) will likely have surpassed my first two goals.

I created WCNT-tv with a partner back in June of 2016 and in the 17 months since then, I have produced and “aired” about 100 segments, including more than 30 WCNT-tv “News Desks” with yours truly and Susanna Martinez as the co-hosts, and two dozen Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) Featured Business segments with host Mollyana Ward, who also has hosted our first four “Today’s Fashion Focus” segments featuring Sarah Rasheid of the Tampa Premium Outlets (TPO).

WCNT-tv also has featured exclusive interview segments, slide videos featuring everything from Pasco County animal shelter dogs to Zammy the Sheepadoodle visiting Tampa’s  Shriners Hospital for Children, and from the Wesley Chapel Jazz Festival to the “Symphony in Lights” at the Shops at Wiregrass.

My initial goal for WCNT-tv was to have the show reach one million people on Facebook and a combined viewership of 500,000 on YouTube and Facebook.

And yes, at our press time for this issue, we have inched ever closer to both of those numbers, as all WCNT-tv segments combined to date have now reached 983,000+ people on Facebook and have been viewed nearly 470,,000 times on YouTube and Facebook (combined), including nearly 340,000 views on Facebook and nearly 130,000 views on YouTube.

I promised to throw another WCNT-tv party — this time for the general public — when we reached those milestones, so look for that announcement very soon.

And, just in time (we hope) for businesses looking to increase their exposure among the residents of New Tampa and Wesley Chapel, our new 2018 Media Kit, which gives you discounts for advertising in the Neighborhood News, on WCNT-tv and on NTNeighborhoodNews.com, is now available on our website, social media and by calling our advertising sales rep, Tom Damico, at (813) 910-2575.

And, Finally…

My page 3 editorial last issue had the desired effect — it’s gotten people talking about what I believe is the much-needed connection of Kinnan St. in New Tampa to Mansfield Blvd. in Wesley Chapel.

Some in Meadow Pointe II have told me I have no right to be voicing my opinion because I don’t live there, but most (including a few Meadow Pointe residents) have told me to keep fighting the good fight on this topic.

I’ll give you three guesses as to which option I’m going to choose.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Taste Of New Tampa Returning!

taste2web
(l.-r.) WCCC CEO Hope Allen, NT Rotary president Brice Wolford, WCCC Board Chair Tracy Clouser and WCCC Ambassadors Craig Miller and James Carner at the signing ceremony held at the Chamber office to officially give the New Tampa Rotary the right to host the 2017 Taste of New Tampa on March 18.

I will admit that I was crazy excited to learn that the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) — our exclusive webcast partner for WCNT-tv — was getting ready to sign off on having the New Tampa Rotary Club (which meets Fridays for breakfast at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club) put on the next Taste of New Tampa.

Sadly, I thought that official announcement was coming a few months ago…and then, a few weeks ago.

Well, on Sept. 14, it became official. There will be a 21st Taste of New Tampa — and Wesley Chapel — on Saturday, March 18, 2017!

But somehow, the bigger news for all of us who plan to dive headfirst into bringing back one of our area’s most popular single-day events than the fact that there finally will be another Taste is the location for the event — Florida Hospital Center Ice (FHCI)!

FHCI co-owner/developer Gordie Zimmerman may not have been able to be on-hand for the signing ceremony between the WCCC and the New Tampa Rotary, but Zimmerman stepped up to the plate in a big way by agreeing to bring the event primarily back indoors for the first time since the first Taste back in 1994 (when it was held in and outside of Hunter’s Green Country Club), instead of outside in what has too often been either sweltering heat or sideways-falling, driving rain.

tastewebThe signing ceremony, held at the Chamber office in The Grove at Wesley Chapel, featured New Tampa Rotary president Brice Wolford and WCCC Board chair Tracy Clouser signing off on a document that took a little while to finalize, but will definitely prove to be worth the wait for both the organizers and the likely thousands of attendees who will be on hand to help raise money for the New Tampa Rotary’s selected charities.

Also at the signing ceremony were Chamber president and CEO Hope Allen and WCCC ambassadors (and New Tampa Rotary Club members) James Carner and Craig Miller. Yes, that is the same Craig Miller of Full Throttle Intermedia who also is my partner on WCNT-tv.

Putting Together A Team 

The New Tampa Rotary is already putting together a team of volunteers to help ensure the success of the event. I have agreed to be the Taste restaurant coordinator, while former Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel historian (who also has been a past Rotary District Governor) David West of Signarama of New Tampa, who is now a member of the New Tampa Rotary, will be the sponsorship coordinator. New Tampa Rotary member Karen Frashier will be among those responsible for marketing the event and more announcements will come in the future.

The 2017 Taste is only 25 weeks (a little more than six months) away, so the organizers need to move quickly to ensure that the first to be held since 2014 (on one of those sideways-rain days, when it was held in Primrose Park off Commerce Park Blvd. in Tampa Palms). I handled the restaurants for that event and there were 30 committed at one point, but the reports of likely bad weather that day caused numerous day- and week-of-the-event cancellations. That shouldn’t be a problem inside the 150,000-sq.-ft. FHCI — which will be the largest skating facility south of New York when it opens.

“It’s a great opportunity to revive an amazing event,” Allen said after the signing ceremony. “The Chamber is getting out of the business of putting on major events like these, so it was great that the New Tampa Rotary stepped up to bring back the Taste.” The Chamber also has divested itself of its own Fall Festival, which will have its 12th edition put on this year at The Grove shopping center the weekend of October 29-30. by Simply Events, which was introduced at the WCCC’s September business breakfast.

Look for more updates about the Taste in these pages, at WCNeighborhoodNews.com and on future episodes of WCNT-tv. We also will post information for those who want to help with putting on the event.