Foodie Alert
ECCO, OUCH!
Ecco is now open for breakfast and lunch Friday through Monday, in a special arrangement its owner has set up with another group. Having blown my discretionary money at Busch Gardens for five days during a two-week Florida visit with the Grands and their parents, I had been waiting until the retirement check came in [...]
FESTIVAL VITTLES TO DIE FOR
If you are longing for some old-timey Americana, take in the sights, smells, and sounds of Plant City’s 75th Strawberry Festival. Some of it is delightfully old-fashioned fun, but be prepared for some frightful modern encounters, too, if you are a people watcher (Is that real hair?) or a food Nazi (You serve double deep-fried [...]
SAM’S LUNCH SURPRISE
A local favorite evening dining experience for many retirees is Sam Seltzer’s Steakhouse. It has a touch of cozy elegance and serves a good dinner at a great price, with a cheery, friendly staff at your service. So I wasn’t surprised that my two friends Mary (91) and Margaret (99) wanted to celebrate Mary’s birthday [...]
“PAY WAY” NOT “PEE WEE” ASIAN DINER
This is America, so I have a gut feeling we will be calling the Pei Wei Asian Diner, “Pee Wee’s” Asian Adventure in short order. Americans don’t do foreign languages easily. We massage foreign words into submission, into American…until we call them our own. We call this process assimilation. I would say most Americans pronouce [...]
CHOPSTICK DIPLOMACY
If it is true that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, than I propose that it is the same when dealing with different cultures. A pizza pie brought down the formidable walls of Guido prejudice when we had to go into an Italian neighborhood for our perfect pie fix. We opened [...]
STELLA: EAT MY GRITS!
I’m proposing an addition to Stella’s Deli and Gelato sign: Eat My Grits! I ate them and they are delicious: smooth, thick, tasty yummy goodness. Dining outside in the warming morning sun, watching people catching the rays, walking dogs, holding hands, and making friendly conversation was a delightful way to start the day. My companions [...]
THAI ONE ON!
A little Thai and Indian cuisine in Gulfport came as a delightful surprise when I last visited The Village Pub on Shore Blvd S last week with a group of ladies. The evening specials on Mondays (a green curry dish) and Wednesdays (2 for 1 curry dishes) will be another enticement to explore their other [...]
GULFPORT’S CHOCOLATE DEVASTATION
Well, it had been over 8 hours since I promised my first born to the health-Nazi god, if sugar ever should touch my lips again. My guilt at the time was overwhelming after I again finished off my “for-company-only” goodie stash. No matter where I hide it, the nose knows! So with good intentions [...]
HEAVENLY CHURCH SHINDIGS NEED A LITTLE HELL
Feather-fluffy pancake breakfasts! Fresh fish-fry Fridays! Sinful baked-good sales! Hot off-the-hog pig pickin’s! Supper Saturday suppers! Chuck-wagon chili parties! Bodacious barbecues! Bring it on…Baby Cakes! When you mention church, food, and fundraising, the holy trinity of blessed good eating, I would be jolted out of the humdrum of family meals and eagerly leave the food [...]
FORGETA LA FOGATA?
Should you Forgeta La Fogata in Gulfport on the town’s electic, old , old, Key West-like Beach Blvd? Well, not quite. I am going back, but not for the $39 chuck-wagon dinner. I’m exaggerating a “bit” because the décor absolutely envelops you in an enchanting cocoon of another time and place. It screams, “THIS IS [...]
OH GOODY, EVERYTHING’S COMING UP GARLIC!
Okay, admit it. You have secretly always wanted your own Mama Mia: someone who lovingly turns out Italian delicacies day after day to amuse your discriminating taste buds. (Someone who also cleans up the mess.) Well, “she” is here. Well…”she” has a mustache and hairy arms and answers to “Phillip,” but don’t let that stop [...]
CHEF’S ON THE LOOSE – FOODIE ALERT INTRO
Fellow Foodie Adventurers, I have to share this surprisingly delicious and out-of-the-ordinary dining experience I had at CHEF’S ON THE LOOSE in Tampa. (It took an hour to get there from Gulfport because of a bomb scare and rush-hour traffic, but only 40 minutes to return home. Found out the “bomb” was an instrument [...]