Earlier this week, Food & Wine released a round-up of the 32 Places To Go (And Eat) in 2019. But unlike many of the others infiltrating the interwebz, this year-end list is particularly awesome, because the magazine has proclaimed that it expects "big things" from Tampa.
No pressure.
F&W's list takes a little trip down food memory lane to highlight "The Places that Felt like the Future," "The Ones We Loved All Over Again" and "The Ones We Expect Big Things From," where Tampa came in at No. 11. This is what the magazine says about the city's food scene:
"Imbued with a delightful sense of place, the kind you get from having been around for a while, this is one of those Florida burgs that you typically see lumped in with so many brash young upstarts, but if that's your take, you weren't super-duper paying attention — with neighborhoods and wonderful food traditions that go back a century or more, traditions brought by Cuban and Italian and Spanish and German immigrants, classic Tampa — who could forget Bern's Steak House, too — reminds us that everything need not be new, in order to be noteworthy. But wait, there's more; new food-centric projects like Sparkman Wharf and the Heights Public Market have become legitimate attractions, the Seminole Heights neighborhood has become a magnet for good food and drink — you'll start with dinner at Rooster & The Till, Tampa's most interesting restaurant, the first of three projects launched by Ferrell Alvarez and Ty Rodriguez. There's more to come, of course — right now, we're waiting patiently for the genre-busting all-day cafe from local roaster King State Coffee, one of Florida's finest; they've just launched their own beer, as well."
The round-up of 2018 culinary discoveries ends with "20 Happy Little Surprises Along the Way," and it's worth a full read, especially for the nods to Sarasota icon Yoder's and Jacksonville.
