Florida State Fair brings Pop Rock pickles to Tampa, a wild game concept heads to St. Pete, and more local food news

Coming Soon

The Huntsman A new restaurant headed to one of downtown St. Pete’s most bustling blocks aims to expand the palate of diners throughout The ‘Burg. The Huntsman—a new American concept that focuses on ethically-sourced wild game and “farm & stream-to-table” fare—hopes to debut out of The Mill’s former space during the third or fourth quarter of this year. While Tallahassee’s flagship location of The Huntsman mainly serves of a crowd of college students or folks traveling for political reasons, Daniel Renninger—who owns the concept with Executive Chef Skylar Stafford and fellow partner Ben Williamson—tells Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that the new restaurant will fit well in St. Pete’s “vibrant and eclectic” food scene. With an appetizer menu of small plates like wood-fired bone marrow, grouper tartare, and fire-roasted oysters alongside entrees like boar and rabbit cacciatore, moulard duck cassoulet and seafood jambalaya, the upcoming restaurant will feature a wide spread of familiar dishes with an eclectic, wild bent. The Huntsman will also offer separate five-course seasonal tasting menus for either carnivores or vegans, in addition to an a la carte meat menu of elk tenderloins and bison ribeyes. 200 Central Ave. No. 100, St. Pete. huntsmantallahassee.com

Events

Over 25 Valentines Day dinners and events happening around Tampa Bay Whether you genuinely believe in the romance of Valentine’s Day or not, chances are you still probably have to take your loved one out to dinner, the movies, or some other charming activity. From five-course meals, a la carte specials and wine pairings to more casual outings like golfing or chocolate tastings, there are dozens of restaurants and venues throughout Tampa Bay to help you celebrate Valentine’s Day this month. And if you’re looking for something more laid back, you can always order a heart-shaped pie from South Tampa’s Westshore Pizza, write love letters at The Dalí or get your vows renewed by Beetlejuice at Spookeasy’s “Wedding Massacre” party in Ybor City.

5th annual Grand Central District Beer Day Downtown St. Pete’s Grand Central District is in a constant state of change, but one thing that doesn’t is its wide array of locally-owned breweries. This weekend, If I Brewed the World (2200 1st Ave. S), Pinellas Ale Works (1962 1st Ave. S), 3 Daughters Brewing (222 22nd St. S) and Grand Central Brewhouse (2340 Central Ave.) are teaming up for their hyperlocal celebration of craft beer this weekend. This year’s rendition of the Grand Central District Beer Day event is themed “The Dark Side” in a homage to Florida’s recent chilly weather, so folks can expect more opaque brews like stouts, porters and brown ales represented on these tap lists. Each of the four breweries participating in this year’s GCBD will pour an exclusive beer in which $1 of every pint sold will benefit St. Pete’s Pet Pal Animal Shelter—a local nonprofit that any Pinellas Ale Works regular will surely recognize. The breweries are also hosting individual raffles and prizes at each location; folks that get their punch cards stamped at each business can be entered to win the event’s elusive grand prize. @grandcentralsp on Instagram Mardi Gras at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay The Gasparilla day parade might have already passed, but you can always collect more beads at Busch Gardens’ annual Mardi Gras celebration (which tends to be more family-friendly than its flagship party on the other side of the Gulf Coast.) From now until early March, the popular theme  park hosts New Orleans-style, brass bands, Cajun-inspired specialties at a variety of its restaurants and kiosks, a “bead balcony” and large Mardi Gras parade featuring entertainers and stilt walkers every Friday-Sunday. Just a few of the exclusive food and drink offerings that you can find throughout Busch Gardens—that may inspire you to embody the spirit of Fat Tuesday—include andouille sausage po’ boys and Cajun BBQ short ribs from Esplanade Street Bites, jambalaya from Jackson Square and the “Bourbon Street Daisy” cocktail from The Voodoo Lounge. All of Busch Gardens’ Mardi Gras festivities and entertainment are included in the price of park admission.  buschgardens.com ICYMI
The best Tampa Bay bars and restaurants for watching sports It’s here, the Taylor Swift bowl, but sports aren’t important on just one Sunday a year, so here are some of the best places to watch the game on TV. Some of these spots of bonafide American football honey holes, but others are simply some of the Bay area’s most unique places to set your gaze on the TV inside a comfy local watering hole. Tampa’s King State files for bankruptcy reorganization as it deals with surrounding construction Last month, Tim McTague, co-founder of King State told city council that his business’ problems with ongoing construction on surrounding streets would probably lead the Tampa coffee shop and restaurant to file bankruptcy. That day has finally come. According to court records filed this week and first reported by the Tampa Bay Business Journal, King State filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. This style of bankruptcy filing will allow King State to keep operating as normal on the customer-facing side, co-founder Nate Young told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “We obviously have to get lean, and we’ve been doing that since September, when all of [the construction woes] started,” he said, adding that King State revamped its menu, streamlined its closet of a kitchen, and worked to improve margins on the backend. “It’s just a chance to kind of reorder our plan. And take a look at what we can do to continue. It’s business as usual,” Young said, adding that no staff will be laid off. In the bankruptcy filings, King State reported a net loss of $72,600 between last October and December. The paperwork also lists between $1-$10 million in liabilities, plus $500,000 in estimated unsecured claims.—Ray Roa

Barbie Funnel Cakes, Pop Rocks Pickles: All the over-the-top food coming to the 2024 Florida State Fair Besides farm animals, carnival rides, and mildly famous musicians, the other vital pillar of any respectable state fair is big, dumb, (preferably fried) food, and this year’s menu at the Florida State Fair does not disappoint. Once again, the Florida State Fair returns to Tampa from Feb. 8-19, and is out-doing itself with nearly two dozen, various gut bombs up for grabs, like pickles covered in Pop Rocks, fried Spam grilled cheese, and hot dogs doused in beans and bacon. Here’s what’s on the menu at this year’s fair.

St. Pete’s Raymond H. Neri Community Park (4303 43rd Ave. N) hosts the 2nd annual Lealman Honey & Arts Festival on Saturday, Feb. 10 from 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m. The free and family-friendly event features live music from Black Honkeys, Pink Streets and The Hot Rod Hornets alongside art displays, food trucks, activities, and of course, vendors slinging locally-sourced honey and honey-based products.

Magnamious Brewing recently debuted its new Seminole Heights taproom at 6809 N Nebraska Ave. in 7venth Sun Brewing’s former space. Its temporary hours in Seminole Heights will be 3 p.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, noon-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday, noon-8 p.m. on Sunday and closed Monday-Tuesday. The operating hours for Magnanimous’ Tampa Heights and Bradenton taprooms will remain the same.

Specialty meat store Southern Steer Butcher just celebrated its grand opening in St. Pete last weekend and is now open from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday. Located at 2145 66th St. N adjacent to the Tyrone mall, the butcher shop features prime cuts of steak, chicken, beef roasts, sausages, pork chops, and tenderloins alongside non-meat goods like marinades, cheeses, craft beer and more. There are other Southern Steer Butch locations in Clearwater, Sarasota and Orlando.

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This article appears in Feb 8-14, 2024.