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Restaurant Review
Thursday, April 7, 2011
And the winner is... One restaurant bests the eggs-cellent competition to be crowned Breakfast Bowl champion
Posted by Brian Ries on Thu, Apr 7, 2011 at 7:00 AM
Editor's Note: In today's print issue of CL where this article appears, page 18 -- which reveals the winner -- was accidentally omitted. Call it the curse of the Breakfast Bowl or just bad luck, but anyhow, we'll be righting this wrong by adding that extra page in next week's issue. The full version is below, so read along to find out who took the crown.
Which is what I did, with the help of some friends, in order to crown the ultimate Breakfast Bowl champion. Sometimes, a little in-person reconnaissance can settle a score much more effectively than an online poll.
Lenny’s, Bowled, Banyan Coffee & Tea, Pinky’s and Three Coins Diner all have their own breakfast quirks, specialties and vibes, but only one can wear the crown — like a splash of Hollandaise atop a Beautiful benedict — of Breakfast Bowl Champion. Which restaurant reigns supreme?
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Restaurant Review: The new Restaurant BT is better than ever
Posted by Brian Ries on Thu, Mar 31, 2011 at 7:00 AM
4 stars
2507 S. MacDill Ave., Tampa, 813-258-1916, restaurantbt.com
Restaurant BT owner/chef BT Nguyen has had a hell of a year. Last April, the restaurant in Tampa’s Hyde Park Village — which she owns with former husband Norman Batley — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to find relief from a backlog of unpaid rent. The 200-seat Hyde Park space was big, beautiful and damn expensive at more than $14,000 a month, and the slack economy played havoc with the restaurant’s income.
Jumping ahead almost a year, we find Nguyen’s restaurant in a new, downsized location on South MacDill. The reborn Restaurant BT has a more casual look and more intimate vibe than the old spot, but the food is the same fine French-Vietnamese cuisine that made Nguyen so popular in the first place.
Nguyen has made some changes to the menu, but most of the favorites are still there: fresh rolls and bo tai chanh, duck pancakes and foie gras, pumpkin soup and shaken beef, among many others. In fact, the menu seems surprisingly large for such a small place, until you dig deeper and realize how she uses the same main ingredients in a variety of strikingly different ways, like duck in that pancake, on a salad, and as a seared breast entree.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Restaurant Review: Texas de Brazil's protein parade
Posted by Brian Ries on Thu, Mar 24, 2011 at 7:00 AM
3.5 stars
4112 W. Boy Scout Blvd., Tampa 813-871-1400, texasdebrazil.com
Photos by James Ostrand
You have to hand it to the upscale chains like Ocean Prime, Roy’s and Texas De Brazil, newly opened near International Plaza in Tampa. They really know how to set a mood.
It helps that they start with bigger budgets than most independent restaurants, along with dedicated designers and plenty of practice, but the effect is still impressive. Texas De Brazil opens onto a large dining room framed by tall wood columns and soaring arches studded with hundred of metal rivets the size of my thumb. In some places, it almost seems like those rivets could serve a purpose -- perhaps fastening the decorative wood to the wall -- but certain areas are downright crowded with the jutting nubs, creating an almost menacing effect that’s part Hellraiser set and part Spanish inquisition.
Enormous wrought iron chandeliers continue the Moorish keep theme, tempered by floor-to-ceiling windows in the back and a stupefying flower arrangement above the buffet that towers over the entire room. Of course, those windows look out over the office parks and traffic on this stretch of Boy Scout, but at least it tempers the severity of it all.
The food, however, fits the throwback medieval vibe. Texas De Brazil is a churrascaria, a dining trend that fits American tastes more than its Brazilian origins. All you can eat meat, no need to get out of your seat.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Restaurant Review: Pizza Fusion’s environmental focus is a tasty gimmick
Posted by Brian Ries on Fri, Mar 18, 2011 at 7:00 AM
Pizza Fusion
3 stars
777 N. Ashley Drive, Tampa, 813-463-1600;
9556 W. Linebaugh Ave., Tampa, 813-792-1516;
Successful pizza chains tend to either focus on bulk sales — à la Dominos, Papa John’s and the like — or work a gimmick that sets them apart from both the larger chains and neighborhood joints. Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza is one success story that’s moved into the Bay area in recent years, using the blazing heat of coal to power ovens and forge an identity.
Pizza Fusion, the latest chain to enter the local market, has a more complicated story to tell, as well as pizza that doesn’t necessarily conform to the norms.
Two outlets of the international chain have sprung up in the past few months — in Westchase, and downtown Tampa at the Skypoint building — both small and smartly designed. The decor is modern, with molded green chairs, flowing wall art and natural woodtones. Green and natural are the watchwords at Pizza Fusion.
Calling it a gimmick might downplay Pizza Fusion's commitment to green issues. Their efforts are admirable and extensive: company-owned hybrid cars for deliveries; offsetting energy use with wind purchases; discounts for customers who bring back boxes for recycling; all printed materials — even signs — made 100 percent from recycled materials; LEED-designed stores. There’s more, but you get the gist.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Review: The Taco Bus and Acropolis both reach out to make a scene in Downtown St. Pete
Posted by Brian Ries on Thu, Mar 3, 2011 at 8:00 AM
2324 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, tampatacobus.com
3 stars
Acropolis
515 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, 727-823-1010, acropolistaverna.com
2.5 stars
Recently, two popular Tampa restaurants -- the Taco Bus and Acropolis Greek Tavern -- opened outposts in St. Petersburg, expanding their successful franchises across the bay to a whole new group of diners. One cultivates incredible excitement amongst diners almost unthinkingly, while the other goes out of its way to make a scene.
Walking up to the beloved Tampa Taco Bus’ new St. Pete location, the first thing you notice is the line. Doesn’t seem to matter when you decide to stop by, there’s always a line snaking away from the window of the eponymous bus where all the food is made. I comment to my friend that the line seems like a melting pot of sorts, from African-American families to pierced and tattooed twenty-somethings.
“Yep,” he replies, “hipsters and regular folks.”
The food at this Taco Bus is much like that found at the original, same menu and largely the same quality. The tortillas are better now than they used to be, the options have expanded over the past few years, and the fillings are built for the masses.
Taco Bus packs its seasoned meats and vegetarian staples into burritos, quesadillas, tortas, tostadas and, of course, tacos, topped with traditional shredded cabbage, onion, cilantro and diced tomatoes. All fresh, all tasty enough, if you’re interested in a slightly dumbed down version of the classic Mexican taco.
Instead of a cutting critique of the very popular restaurants owned by the indefatigable Rene Valenzuela, consider it praise for his deep understanding of his clientele. People go to the Taco Bus -- here and in Tampa -- because of the accessibility and availability of his take on traditional street food. Hunting out more serious tacos at bodegas and gas stations in ethnic neighborhoods, where many suburban seekers might cringe at the apparent laissez faire attitude take towards cleanliness and food storage, isn’t a passion for most folks.
So they come to the Taco Bus and eat milder versions of barbacoa, puerco asado and chicharron in the festive atmosphere, bellied up to giant wooden spools turned into tables, perhaps adventurous enough to sip at a tamarind aqua fresca or a bottle of Jarritos.
And, despite the line, the aura that surrounds the Bus is a huge selling point that almost eclipses the quality of the food. Music blares over the speakers as people in line gab with their neighbors, families loaded down with paper plates share space with hipsters on the long benches, and the Taco Bus staff scrambles to keep everything moving along.
The Taco Bus may have mild food, but you cannot deny the lively atmosphere.
First, the music, on this night forced out of an electronic keyboard turned to Hellenic muzak, assisted by the two-finger stylings of someone who may or may not be deaf. To be fair, most people might be able to ignore the “Mary had A Little Lamb” pecked out over generic bass and horns, if the conversation at their table is engaging enough.
Then, every so often, he turns off the keyboard as a more energetic tune fills the air, signalling the beginning of the “show.” The servers (and whoever else is handy) lock arms around shoulders and do a Greek chorus line throughout the dining room, accompanied by shouts of “opa!” and explosions of bar napkins tossed into the air by a trailing manager.
Depending on your mood -- and how open you are to spectacle -- it can be a fun and funny scene. Beware well-intentioned friends, however, who may inform the restaurant about a special occasion in the offing. That’ll result in a direct assault on your table by an enveloping crowd of staff, all bearing handfuls of those white napkin projectiles.
On the weekends, Acropolis feels a tad less desperate thanks to a bigger crowd and the addition of belly dancers to lend a little authenticity to the presentation. Even during the week, though, the restaurant needs the dining room spectacle to make up for the lackluster food.
Here, Acropolis is a bit more like the Taco Bus in style. As the local Greek empire expands -- four locations and counting -- the menu has gradually become more standardized. The more of a chain it becomes, the more like a chain it tastes.
The spanakopita is still exceptional, a huge hunk of puff pastry, feta and spinach that’s easily a meal, and the fish is well-executed across the board, especially the heavily seasoned Athenian-style entree. But pastitsio is dense and bland, the hummus lacks richness, and the falafel is cooked so crisp you’ll need sharp incisors to break through the crust.
At some points during a meal at Acropolis, a little forced spectacle (or even joking commentary on the background music) is a refreshing distraction.
Photos by James Ostrand.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Restaurant Review: Post-Schenardi, Pelagia Trattoria is wonderfully the same
Posted by Brian Ries on Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 8:00 AM
Pelagia Trattoria3.5 stars
Renaissance Plaza International Plaza, 4200 Jim Walter Blvd., Tampa, 813-313-3235, pelagiatrattoria.com
Pelagia Trattoria was the first restaurant I reviewed for CL, almost six years ago. At the time, the restaurant -- in the bottom floor of the Renaissance Hotel International Plaza -- had been revitalized under chef (and then food and beverage director) Fabrizio Schenardi. The food was very good, the place looked interesting, and it was just far enough from the hubbub of the mall’s busy restaurant district to provide a bit of serenity in an otherwise loud and crowded scene.
Last year, Schenardi left town for St. Louis, to take over as executive chef of the Four Seasons there. A big move for him, but not so much for the restaurant he leaves behind. The hotel promoted Daniel Goldich to executive chef, Schenardi’s second-in-command since before Pelagia opened.
The result is a post-Schenardi Pelagia Trattoria that seems to barely notice his absence -- same menu, same flavors, same exacting attention in the kitchen.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Review: St. Pete's Mandarin Hide and Ruby’s Elixir bring different personalities to the cocktail shaker
Posted by Brian Ries on Thu, Feb 17, 2011 at 8:00 AM
The Mandarin Hide
231 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, 727-231-4007, mandarinhide.com
Ruby's Elixir
15 Third St. N., St. Petersburg,727-898-7829
Looks like some people have recognized that downing cocktails in a beautiful environment devoted to the task is the just and inalienable right of everyone who tilts back a glass. No need for an upscale restaurant or hotel lobby to provide the setting -- cocktails should be their own reward.
Maybe that’s why downtown St. Petersburg is now home to two new lounges — Mandarin Hide and Ruby’s Elixir — that are both glorious backdrops for a glass and garnish. Which to pick depends on your personality: Do you want to be part of a scene, or one of the crowd?
There’s something mysterious about the name Mandarin Hide that’s reflected in the space itself. The ten-foot-tall wooden door leading into the place just adds to that aura, separating the majestic interior from the hubbub of Central Avenue’s busiest block. A soaring wall to the left is divided into a diamond pattern, each geometric section anchored by a dim sconce that seems more decoration than mood lighting, with a long padded bench that runs straight to the back of the narrow room.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Restaurant Review: Give in to the temptations of The Burg Bar
Posted by Brian Ries on Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 8:00 AM
3.5 stars
1752 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, 727-894-2874, theburgbar.com
There’s a certain freedom — joy, even — in the simple pleasure of ignoring dietary concerns and self-imposed culinary constraints to revel in unrepentant gluttony. Some people find opportunities to engage in this behavior frequently, but like a drug, repeated abuse results in reduced pleasure. Better in small doses. Well, small doses of very big food.
The Burg Bar — snuggled in by the I-275 overpass at the border between Grand Central and downtown St. Pete — is the right place to go ahead and give in to temptation.
Start with a beer. The bar has about a dozen taps that change semi-regularly, most stocked with less typical mass-market beers and a couple of interesting craft brews, like the fragrant and hoppy Dogfish Head 60 Minute Pale Ale. There’s more beer available by the bottle, a surprisingly decent little wine selection, and a dangerous happy hour when they offer deep 12-ounce pours of the house wines — in stemware that would be at home in a ritzy restaurant — for the price of a regular 5-ounce glass.
Despite a menu that appears at first glance to be standard bare fare, studded with some simple Greek standards, The Burg Bar takes a few extra steps that elevate it well beyond typical burgers and fries.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Pearl in the Grove: Is it worth a trip to Dade City just to eat at a restaurant?
Posted by Brian Ries on Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 8:30 AM
3.5 stars
31936 St. Joe Road, Dade City, 352-588-0008, pearlinthegrove.com
On the face of it, a trip to Dade City just to eat at a restaurant seems like a tough sell to most Tampa residents, let alone people on the other side of the Bay. Forget about the fact that many people regularly head out for long drives to favorite eateries, crossing bridges and braving traffic for a favorite dish. I guarantee that the journey out north and east to the hinterlands, to Pearl in the Grove, will be different than that, and likely more enjoyable.
Pull off of I-75 onto Curley Road and the air is crisper, cleaner, the view across fields and farms unobstructed by strip malls, the road rolling over actual hills. Turn onto the first of of the county lanes that lead to the restaurant and you’ll drive by two-story clapboard houses in various states of repair, property stretching for acres behind them, horses and tractors sharing space in the grass. And everywhere are groves of low-slung trees liberally speckled with the bright orange of near-ripe citrus.
What’s that old saw about the voyage being more important than the destination? Well, sometimes both are worth the trip.
Pearl is not, technically, in an actual grove, but citrus trees are near enough at hand to make it a trivial matter. Look at the menu in the simple converted wooden house and you’ll see a hint of the other kinds of farming nearby. Black-eyed and field peas, kumquats and Vidala onions, strawberries and turnip greens. Owner/chef Curtis Beebe sources as much as possible from his neighbors, resulting in a brief menu that changes frequently, but is always evocative of Dade City and the seasons.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Clearwater copy: La Petite Brasserie is a faithful, if not exciting, rendition of the original
Posted by Brian Ries on Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 8:30 AM
La Petite Brasserie
2245 Nursery Road, Clearwater, 727-330-7546,
stpetebrasserie.com/lapetitebrasserie
3 stars
Call it a social media triumph. Six months ago, Andrew “Wilko” Wilkins put out a plea for help in what is coming to be a fairly common form — a Facebook post that told fans of his St. Pete Brasserie that the restaurant was teetering on the precipice. After a profitable winter and spring, the Brasserie was struggling to make it through summer doldrums accentuated by the down economy.
He hoped that an influx of customers would help him stay afloat long enough to line up some funding options. “There was too much to pay off from the old restaurant,” he told me at the time. “It’s not massive money — it’s peanuts, really — but peanuts to me, well …”
The plea worked, better than he could have hoped. Not only did loyal customers who had grown to love the Brasserie’s take on classic French comfort food show up in droves to do their part to help the restaurant’s cash flow, he also attracted a few new partners. And, just six months later, not only had Wilko saved St. Pete Brasserie, he’d managed to open an offshoot location up north called La Petite Brasserie.
“I got a couple of investors involved in the restaurant,” says Wilko. “We found this superhero place in Clearwater, ridiculous price, couldn’t turn it down.”
Problem is, few things in the uncertain restaurant industry turn out to be unalloyed slam dunks. The investors had to put in more money than predicted, and Wilko found himself the manager of St. Pete Brasserie instead of the owner of two restaurants. And the expansion into Clearwater has been a bit more difficult than his earlier exuberance promised.
One reason may be the location — “superhero” is too strong a word, despite the "ridiculous price." La Petite Brasserie is tucked into a small strip mall slightly off the beaten path, between a Domino’s Pizza and a cake shop, no match for the original’s prime Central Avenue spot.
Inside, though, it’s gorgeous, designed from the ground up to reflect the brasserie feel in a way that the original location never was. Rich wood tones, cozy accents and a long mantle perfect to hold the cakes the restaurant serves for dessert.
And for anyone who is familiar with the original location, the menu is just as comforting. That means the decadent Alsacien onion tart is there in all its rich glory, along with steak frites, salmon mousse, moules gratinee and most of the rest of the St. Pete location’s hearty Gaullic cuisine.
