Best Restaurant: Ceviche Tapas Bar and Restaurant, St. Petersburg 95 Central Ave.
[map]
727-209-2302
This one qualifies for so many awards — Best New Restaurant, Best Looking Waitstaff, Best Date Spot, and more — but in the final equation, I realized that my meals at Ceviche were consistently my favorite, all year long. The redesign of the old Ponce Hotel space is exceptional and suits the style of the restaurant perfectly. Ceviche’s tapas are the same as they’ve always been at the SoHo location — vibrant, tasty, impeccably prepared and downright fun. In an era of ubiquitous “small plates” menus and American “tapas,” this food is the real deal, with the rest of the restaurant package to match.
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Best New Restaurant: Primi Urban Café
It’s rare to find culinary virtuosity and everyday prices all in one package, particularly a package as pleasant and comfy as Primi. But that’s just what owners Arno and Irene Von Waltsleben have managed to put together in downtown St. Pete. Arno works the kitchen with his son, turning out simple but exceptional Italian cuisine — skirt steak accompanied by an incredible sun-dried tomato tapenade, for instance — with the occasional South-African twist, like pasta with chicken in tomato sauce blitzed with curry powder. Prices stay well below $20 for entrees, and you can get away for a lot less, which makes Primi an everyday sort of place with much better than everyday food. 27 Fourth St. N., St. Petersburg, 727-895-4909.
Best Chicken: Ponte’s Tuscan Grill
Roast chicken is a perfect test of a kitchen’s skills, along with being one of the cheapest and most overlooked items on the entrée list of most restaurants. At Ponte’s Tuscan, it’s also one of the best. It’s half a small bird, chopped into manageable chunks, united by exceptionally moist, seasoned meat and a crisp skin impregnated with chopped herbs, black pepper and garlic. Fabulous. 2544 N. McMullen Booth Road, Clearwater, 727-724-5716.
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Best Miso Soup: Grass Root Organic Restaurant
Miso soup is ubiquitous at Japanese and “Asian” fusion restaurants across the Bay area, but when was the last time you actually noticed eating it? Maybe necessity is the mother of invention, because Grass Root has a re-imagined version made for their “raw diet” customers. Dip a spoon into the murky pool of subtly sweet coconut water (yep, straight from the hairy nut) and miso paste blossoms, filling the bowl with a cloud of nutty, salty seasoning. Floating atop the soup are strands of shredded coconut “noodles” that are tender enough to mimic the real deal. It’s enough to make me think “raw” isn’t such a bad idea after all. 2702 Florida Ave. N., Tampa, 813-221-7668.
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Best Side Dish: Edamame Mash, Restaurant Hapa
Edamame has become the hip bar snack of choice lately, but I’d rather have boiled peanuts than salted soybeans with my beer any day of the week — except when the little bundles of protein are mashed by the crew at Restaurant Hapa in Oldsmar. Each grainy bite is salty and luxuriously rich, a ridiculously simple and healthy replacement for potatoes. Hopefully, we’ll see more places experimenting with this dish in the coming year. 3970 Tampa Road, Oldsmar, 813-749-8400.
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Best Late-Night Eats (Downtown Tampa): Fries at Fly
Newcomer Fly serves food until 2 a.m. and is a short three blocks from Tampa Theatre. Better yet, the place is cool and filled with the kind of hip crowd that will, eventually, repopulate downtown. Order a plate of their frites three ways — crispy sweet potato shoestrings, chunky Idaho hand-cut fries and cumin-scented Peruvian blue chips — and hang on Fly’s roof deck, taking in the sights and muted sounds of downtown Tampa. 1202 Franklin Street, Tampa, 813-275-5000.
Best Late-Night Eats (Ybor): Tacos at Mema’s Alaskan Tacos
I’ve gotten flack for calling Mema’s tacos “late-night alcohol sponges.” Sure, that’s what I use them for, but only because they are really, really good. At this little taco shack, fried fish and alligator and good steak get piled with salsa and veggies into tasty tortillas until 3 a.m. for most of the week. Owner Sean Godin even plans to open a sit-down restaurant up the street on 8th Ave., which will keep the same hours, increasing the opportunity for tasty late-night Alaskan-Mexican fusion cuisine. 1604 N. 17th Street, Tampa, 813-514-8226.
Best Chain Dining: Mellow Mushroom Pizza
It’s the best chain pizza in the land, with that ideal crust combination of chewy, crunchy and creamy that makes all the difference, with the usual choices of meat and veggie toppings along with wacky combinations like pesto and jalapenos. Mellow Mushroom also has one of the best beer selections — more than 20 taps loaded with real microbrews — in the Bay area, chain or no. It’s almost enough to forget how places like this are crushing local restaurateurs — and your soul. 10959 Causeway Blvd., Brandon, 813-685-1122; 11955 Sheldon Road, Tampa, 813-926-3600.
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Best Onion Rings: The Press Box 222 S. Dale Mabry
[map]
813-876-3528
These golden, puffy hoops represent the ideal ratio of oil to salt to crunch. It’s a trickier formula than you might think, especially when the whole thing clings to a thick slice of onion that needs its own time to cook properly. A temple to fried bar food like the Press Box is the only place you’ll find onion rings done right, plus you get to watch your favorite professional sports matches in an atmosphere reminiscent of your cousin Larry’s basement in Wisconsin. Go team!
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Best Thai: Thai Sweet Basil
I’m not going to give out awards for every ethnic cuisine in Tampa, but Thai Sweet Basil deserves a special mention. TSB’s food is gutsy when it needs to be — in dishes like fiery pad prik khing and sour and salty larb — and downright refined when called for. When was the last time you ate Thai food that was elegant? TSB’s duck curry manages it, while still marshalling the holy Thai continuum of spicy, sour, salty and sweet. The whole fried fish is a revelation that draws me across Tampa on a regular basis. You can’t get food this good — at this price — anywhere else in town. 3875 Northdale Blvd., Tampa, 813-961-8898.
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Best High-End Salad Bar: Armani’s Antipasti Bar
When I asked the server how many things I could pick from the glass cases on display at Armani’s, he told me to go hog wild. Actually, he said “as many as you’d like,” but hog wild is a more accurate description of what followed. It’s surprising how many cured meats, marinated vegetables and exotic cheeses you can manage to fit on one plate. At $13.95 per person, it’s an incredible deal, both by Armani’s exorbitant standards and in the real world. They’ll likely frown at you if all you order is the antipasto and some tap water, but you might not get kicked out. 6200 W. Courtney Campbell Causeway, Tampa, 813-207-6800.
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Best Quiche: Buffalo Steakhouse
It only makes sense that the Bay area would be the first spot picked by France’s largest steakhouse chain for a U.S. invasion. We are Chain Central, after all. Buffalo serves — in the red and gold interior that looks like a brothel in a train car — a typical assortment of chili and burgers and T-bones, along with the best quiche I had all year. Fluffy and light, it’s a hefty portion of egg custard to be proud of, served amidst cowboy paraphernalia, without a touch of irony. 10525 U.S. 19 N., Pinellas Park, 727-299-9171.
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Best Dim Sum: Sidebern’s
There are half a dozen places in town that serve proper Chinese dim sum — TC Choy’s is a fine choice — but I have to give props to Sidebern’s take on this style of dining. Each night, the restaurant offers a dozen or so items on its dim sum menu — each at under $5. Each contains a taste of Chef Jeannie Pierola’s skill at combining disparate flavors into one coherent dish. In fact, it’s where she and her kitchen shine, the small scale forcing them to distill down to only the absolutely necessary components. 2208 W. Morrison Ave., Tampa, 813-258-2233.
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Best Udon: Satsuki Japanese Restaurant 5537 Sheldon Road
[map]
813-884-4128
Udon is my preferred liquid antibiotic, having taken over for chicken and matsoh years ago. Satsuki’s version is just right: rich bonito broth sweetened by mirin and served steaming hot. The trademark thick buckwheat noodles are steeped in the broth, becoming soft and gummy and completely infused with the simple flavors of the soup. Comforting and filling, without the guilt.
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Best Pie (Sweet): Sweet Potato Pie at Connie’s Bar-B-Q
Sure, the meat’s the thing at Connie’s, racks of tasty ribs and smoked chickens, all slathered in bright orange barbecue sauce founded on zippy vinegar and spicy peppers. With decades of wood smoke laying a yellowy glaze over every surface of the small storefront, you might miss the pie. Slices are individually wrapped in plastic — nothing fussy, just a luxuriously creamy mix of brown sugar and orange sweet potato and a bright splash of orange juice. Order an extra one for the car trip home with your bag o’ meat. 1795 16th Street S., St. Petersburg, 727-894-3258.
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Best Pie (Savory): Sedanini Alla Bella Brava at Bella Brava 515 Central Ave.
[map]
727-895-5515
http://www.bellabrava.net
At first, it’s a mystery, a wide crock draped with golden-brown pizza dough. Anything could be inside, maybe an exotic dancer, maybe a clutch of blackbirds. Instead, break the crust and you’ll find a steamy filling of penne dotted by hunks of fennel and pork sausage, bound together by Bella Brava’s exceptional spicy, pancetta-laced tomato sauce. Better than a bunch of live birds any day of the week (but not necessarily better than a stripper).
Best Condiment: Chile Garlic Sauce, China Yuan
Ancient Chinese secret? Sorry, couldn’t resist, because there is a secret to China Yuan’s version of this largely ubiquitous and — at other places — largely forgettable sauce. This one is chunky, with whole roasted garlic cloves, brick red pepper detritus and atomic pink oil, as well as that extra something that adds brightness and freshness to the whole thing. Ask owner Peter Chan nicely, and he might tell you the secret. 8502 N. Armenia Ave., Tampa, 813-936-7388.
Best Place to Use Dinner as a Grassroots Political Statement: Grass Root Organic Restaurant
In a city where vegetarians don’t have a lot of culinary cred and vegans are all but forgotten, Grass Root manages to cater to both, as well as that wacky culinary counterculture called “raw.” The result is a mess of re-imagined ’50s picnic food, like tasty macaroni salad with seaweed and almond milk instead of mayo; raw dishes (nothing subjected to temps over 116 degrees) like veggie “sushi;” and vegetarian classics like “stayke,” “chick-un” or textured soy burgers. Is it tasty? A surprising amount of it is, even for us carnivores. No matter. Tastebuds aside, the food at Grassroots is good for your body and soul. 2702 Florida Ave. N., Tampa, 813-221-7668.
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Best Place to Light Up and Nosh: Ceviche Tapas Bar and Restaurant, St. Petersburg 95 Central Ave.
[map]
727-209-2302
There are still some places where you can sit outside and have a smoke with your dinner, if that’s your bag, but what about reliving the glory days? Food and drink and a pack of Parliaments — inside? I’m not going to inquire too closely into how they sidestep the anti-smoking laws, but you can, occasionally, still enjoy a plate of papas fritas and grilled calamari while sucking on that cancer stick in Ceviche St. Pete’s downstairs club. Don’t tell anyone.
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Best Produce: Sweetwater Organic Community Farm 6932 W. Comanche Ave.
[map]
813-232-0326
It may not be as pretty as the waxed and glossed stuff at the local supermarket, but it tastes a hell of a lot better, and it’s grown only a few miles from your house. The downside? Sweetwater is a subscription farm, which means you have to pony up close to $600 for a season’s worth of the farm’s best stuff and they’re already sold out for next year. Don’t despair, you can still go to the weekly Sunday market and choose from whatever’s left, as well as organic produce from other farms, once Sweetwater reopens in November
Best Coffee: Latitude 23.5 Coffee & Tea
Sure they have all that mocha chai latte crap, but Latitude is really the coffee shop for people who actually like coffee. Twelve different blends are brewed at all times, including a couple of decaf and a couple of organic/free trade varieties. They have different grinders tasked to caf, decaf and organic beans, so there is never any cross contamination. There may be hipper places to get a cup o’ joe, and there are certainly better places to hang out, but nothing tops Latitude’s coffee. Except maybe some skim milk (in my case). 330 First Ave. S., St. Petersburg, 727-551-0201.
Best Martini Garnish: Dirty Octopus, Samurai Blue
This blend of sake, pepper vodka and olive juice might sound odd, but it’s surprisingly good. And when you’re done, there’s a beady-eyed little cephalopod sitting at the bottom of your glass. My evil side wishes that the octopus had been alive when he entered the drink, slowly succumbing to the deadly effects of a martini environment. He may not have been drowned in sake, but he sure has absorbed a ton of the stuff, rendering his flesh tender and sweet and vaguely alcoholic. Beats a lemon twist, for sure. 1600 E. Eighth Ave., Centro Ybor, Ybor City, 813-242-6688, www.samuraiblue.com.
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Best Food as WMD: Tropical Sunburn, Coconut Bay
The arrival of the “tropical sunburn” fajita clone at Coconut Bay is often heralded by a coughing fit from the poor schmo carrying the plate. See, sautéed onion, peppers and pulled pork are piled onto a blindingly hot iron plate and doused with “Paradise Spice” sauce. Hot pan + hot pepper sauce = instant tear gas, more suited to controlling anti-globalist protesters than serving tableside. Yum? 2101 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, 813-977-5777.
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Best New Restaurant That Didn't Make It: Surreal Bowl
A couple dozen different types of breakfast cereal, available with toppings? ’70s cartoons playing on the TV? Kitschy hipster décor bought from neighboring “antique” stores? For a glorious few months, it was like going home, albeit 30 years ago. Man, I am so gonna miss my Captain Crunch/Fruity Pebbles with skim milk and peanuts.
This article appears in Sep 20-26, 2006.