You don’t get more Tampa than Emanuel “Manny” Leto. Born and raised in Tampa, the 38-year-old third-generation Italian American — 100 percent on both sides — bears the surname of a local high school (no relation that he knows of), and his ancestors can be traced back to the Agrigento region of Sicily, where he says around 90 percent of the Italian immigrants in Tampa hail from. His great grandmother worked in a cigar factory, and his great-grandparents on his mother’s side owned the F&G Macaroni Factory on Albany and Chestnut in West Tampa. “They called it macaroni back then,” he says. “They didn’t really use the word pasta.” Because his parents divorced when he was a child, Leto split his childhood between north and South Tampa, with a lot of time spent at the grandparents’ house in West Tampa. He attended Plant High School and was on the high school wrestling team. His earliest memories of visiting Ybor were with his older sister, Teri, who now lives in Alaska. She took him to legendary spots like Blue Chair, Ybor Pizza and Subs, Angelica’s and Three Birds Book Store. He now lives in Riverside Heights. “I love that it has that mix of Craftsman-style bungalows and 1920 Mediterranean revival architecture.” A history grad, Leto’s local expertise is so respected that the Tampa Bay History Center hired him not only to promote the facility as a PR director, but to provide input on the center’s exhibits and event planning. “I’ve been extremely lucky to market and promote something I love.”
Favorite Ybor places: KING CORONA CAFE and NEW WORLD BREWERY. “They’re the places that make me feel like I’m in Tampa. At King Corona, he enjoys being surrounded by a Tampa good ol’ boy network, guys who hang out with owner Don Barco, such as Joe Howden who leads history tours, and Al Fox, who talks about Cuban politics — “a rotating group of guys who tell bad jokes and talk politics.”
Leto loves Ybor City, period. “To me, Ybor is the best thing Tampa has going for it. There’s nothing like this in the Central Florida region. I like that it’s an entertainment district, but it’s also an architectural gem. It’s one of only three national historic districs in the state of Florida, with St. Augustine and Key West. That’s really special.”
Where Manny eats Italian: LA TERRAZZA RISTORANTE or BELLA’S ITALIAN CAFE in Hyde Park.
Where he shops Italian: CACCIATORE AND SONS ITALIAN MEAT MARKET & DELI.
Where he parties Italian: THE ITALIAN CLUB. He goes on Fridays, 5-9 p.m., when he often hangs out with Cheong Hey, owner of Cafe Hey.
Favorite landmark: JOSÉ MARTÍ PARK. “The park has a bizarre history,” he says. “If you were to go the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser’s website, you’d see that Estado Cubano [the Cuban State] is listed as the owner.” The small memorial park with a statue of Martí was deeded to the Cuban government in the late 1950s as a gift to commemorate the memory of one of Tampa and Cuba’s most famous revolutionaries, writers and philosophers. “It’s an example of that Cuban, Latin history that makes Tampa so different. People are surprised at how ever-present Martí is and how important Tampa is to the history of Cuba.”
No beach necessary: Leto isn’t a beachy guy. He prefers strolling by Tampa’s waterways. “Even though Tampa isn’t a beach town, we’re surrounded by that salt air and water — because we’re a peninsula off of a peninsula that’s bisected by a river.” One favorite river stroll for Leto is at RIVERCREST PARK. It’s where he likes to run with his dog, Wiley, a 5-year-old brindle mixed breed. PICNIC ISLAND, RICK’S ON THE RIVER and BALLAST POINT PARK are other waterfront favorites. “These are places you’re not going to find on a tourist brochure,” he says. “Tampa’s got beauty that’s not going to reveal itself so easily — you have to go out and find it.”
Where he visits family out of town: DELRAY BEACH. “It has a cool little urban area with main street with buildings circa early 1900s mixed with Miami deco.” A little like downtown Dunedin but bigger, he explains.
