The retro-style, food-truck-turned-brick-and-mortar coffee haven Sweet Brewnette is set to open sometime in summer at 13999 Gulf Blvd. Headed by Vicki Ferrari, the Madeira Beach café will offer organic and fair trade coffee, espresso beverages, loose-leaf tea and fruit smoothies, with breakfast and lunch offerings, pastries and house-made desserts rounding out the food. Patrons can expect items such as avocado salad and banana nut muffins.
Nearby, the Madeira Mermaids coffeehouse and creamery will launch in a small plaza at 142nd Avenue and Gulf Boulevard. In addition to serving ice cream and java creations, the new spot will operate as a beachwear shop.
• Generation Food Truck, which handles booking, promotion and more for gourmet restaurants-on-wheels throughout the Bay area, will showcase its Generation Food Court to Seminole Heights starting Monday, Aug. 3. Next to Red Star Rock Bar at 5210 N. Florida Ave., the food court will highlight multiple mobile kitchens like Chai Yo Thai, The Bacon Boss, In-Law Subs and Churro Express from 11 a.m. to “late,” or when the last wheels leave, Monday through Saturday.
• Regionites can now find Tampa’s no-frills Just 4 U Vegan Kitchen, run by Garnett and Jean Townsend, at 12934 N. Nebraska Ave. in a tiny shopping center. Just 4 U — part market, part restaurant — features vegan and Jamaican grocery goods and eats, including a vegan Philly with sautéed onions, jerk-sauced entrées and tofu cheesecake. Fresh made-to-order juices are also available.
• Last week, Kahwa Coffee announced plans to open its second drive-through location in a former SunTrust Bank building at 301 38th Ave. N. in St. Petersburg’s Northeast area, bringing the local roaster’s café count to nine. The new Kahwa, with stylish indoor and outdoor seating areas, will operate as part drive-through coffeehouse, part walk-up.
Kahwa owners Sarah and Raphael Perrier unveiled the site of their café in Tampa’s Westchase neighborhood back in February, and the duo also has a Sarasota location in the works. All the cafés are slated to open in late July and early August.
• Little Giant Brewery is coming along at 301 Seventh St. E. in Bradenton, while Palm Harbor’s de Bine Brewing Co. will open later this year near the Pinellas Trail at 993 Florida Ave. In Clearwater Beach, the Sandpearl Resort at 500 Mandalay Ave. recently established a vertical organic garden inside its fine-dining restaurant Caretta on the Gulf. Like other eateries with on-site gardens, Caretta integrates fresh ingredients like Red Cash romaine, blueberry mint and sweet basil into its grub. Lastly, the Hyde Park space at 2202 W. Platt St. will soon house Platt’s Pizza Pub, which plans to bring more than “100 years of authentic Italian recipes” to the neighborhood.
