I recently finished co-authoring a travel book, and in a frenzied whirl of last-minute details, I managed to finish within only hours of its deadline. Once I sent the 292-page manuscript away to the publisher, I staggered home to a fridge overgrown with mold, a house covered in dog hair and a bank account in disarray.
I was starving, sick with a hacking cold and hadn't slept or showered in three days. So, where to nurse my burned-out body and replenish my frazzled brain? 220 East, of course.
It's my personal favorite, one of the restaurants I patronize when I am not dining professionally. The reason I like it? It's user-friendly. First, you get a big hello. The service is consistently understated and quick. It has a respectable wine list and fresh, tasty, well-done fare.
Seasoned restaurateur David Chapdelaine and Executive Chef and partner Nui Thanasilangkul own the place. Their decades of experience are obvious in the business' remarkable consistency and clockwork operation. Plus, 220 East has become a neighborhood favorite with loyal regulars.
While the place is scattered with folks, I'm perfectly comfortable there as a lone diner. Once I'm tucked into a deep booth, I feel cheered with flickering candlelight and protected from the world outside.
Fresh rolls came first, fragrant and crispy outside and soft inside, a pat of cold butter gleaming on its clean plate. All the appetizers are good, but I chose satay chicken ($5.25), six skewers of marinated breast meat grilled just so, served with a little dish of peanut sauce. Since the chef is so generous with the garnish of greens, red cabbage and kale, it can do double duty as a salad laced with satay sauce as dressing.
The soup of the day was chicken vegetable ($2.50 cup, $3.50 bowl), heavy with precision-cut squares of carrot, potato, onion and chicken breast, with a few little noodles thrown in. Its tasty, hot broth confirmed to me, once again, the mystical power that chicken soup has to soothe a chest cold.
When I'm healthy, I prefer the Thai Cobb salad ($8.50), a monstrous platter of fresh greens, chunks of grilled chicken breast, tomatoes, avocados, bean sprouts, green onions, cilantro, bacon and a hint of lemongrass in its lime peanut dressing. It is always crunchy, flavorful and fresh.
I also like the hamburgers ($5.95), a grilled half-pound of high-quality meat, though the dish would be better if the roll were softer. Ditto the sirloin steak sandwich ($7.50), good meat, but set in a hard French baguette that is unpleasant to bite through.
A section of the menu allows the diner to mix and match various pastas and sauces. I'm partial to fettuccine Alfredo ($7.25) with grilled shrimp (add $4.50). The pasta is light, smooth and delicate, its sauce a rich ivory color. Creamy and cheesy, it was dusted with high-grade Parmesan and sprinkled with parsley.
The salmon fillet, which comes grilled, blackened or sautéed in white wine, lemon and butter, is another safe bet. It's served with a side/mound of steamed green broccoli, and that's all — you're not burdened with a big pile of potatoes or rice that perhaps you don't want.
Dessert is always a problem because they're all homemade and delish — everything from Reese's peanut butter cheesecake ($3.50) to Key lime pie ($2.95). My favorite is upside down apple pie ($4.25), which comes with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. The flavor of the pie is always enhanced to perfection with primo pastry crust.
The cappuccino machine was broken, so I ordered as accompaniment hot mint tea, which arrived in its own polka-dot teapot and a cup.
A second restaurant with the same menu, called 920 East, recently opened in Brandon.
Food, Flicks and BrewThere's one place you can watch a movie, drink beer and eat at the same time. It's called the Tampa Pitcher Show, set with comfy seats, low tables and a menu big on greasy snack food.
If you don't mind smokers, drinkers and people talking through the movie, you'll love it. The food is kinda lame, tending toward high-calorie fried stuff like chicken wings ($5.25 for 10).
I went for dinner, and it just wasn't my thing. I tried the New York strip sandwich ($8.95), six ounces of steak on Cuban bread. It came with salad, nothing special, but with big red tomatoes. I left the sandwich on the plate because of its poor quality meat. Plus there wasn't much of it and the roll was stale. A Philly cheese steak sandwich ($6.25) exhibited similar problems.
My advice: Go on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday, when there is no smoking, and order a big pitcher of beer (Bud, $7.25) with baked potato skins, sprinkled with bacon bits and chives. Leave it at that.
Food Editor Sara Kennedy dines anonymously, and Weekly Planet pays for her meals. She can be reached at sara.kennedy@weeklyplanet.com or 813-248-8888 ext. 116.
This article appears in Jun 18-24, 2003.