SLICED FRESH FIG

Almost everyone has enjoyed a Fig Newton. Perhaps, fewer folks have had dried figs, and fewer still fresh, ripe, juicy, sweet figs like those (pictured here) which were for sale last week at my favorite local produce stand here in St. Pete, City Produce Fruit Market (2701 4th St. N., St Petersburg, FL 33704; 727-822-4876; map).

FRESH FIGS

It had been since I was a child that I’d had fresh figs. In that case it was off fig trees in the backyard of my aunt Zo and uncle Doc’s yard in southern Mississippi. These days, the south still produces a lot of figs (see this article on Mississippi figs, Fruitful harvest: sumptuous homegrown figs are favorite mid-summer treats, from Mississippi Magazine, July-August, 2006 by Mary Leigh Furrh). But, the primary producer of figs in the US is California. For more on the specifics of fig production and history, visit these websites:

• a good history of the fig from the K & W Farms, a fig producer in Coachella Valley, California;
• more on history and production from the California Rare Fruit Growers website; and,
• the Wikipedia page on the common fig which has some good production statistics.

FRESH PRODUCE AND GREEK FETA CHEESE

You’ll notice in all those websites, that the fig was a staple of the ancient world from “southwest Asia and the eastern Mediterranean region (from Afghanistan to Greece).”[ref] In the Inkwatu article on the Bosnian Food Store and Bakery, I reported on an excellent fig marmalade from Macedonia. The Republic of Macedonia is a modern day country “bordered by Serbia and Kosovo to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south and Albania to the west.”[ref]

Greece…therein lies the heart of this story about the City Produce Fruit Market, which is a superb, small, independent produce market in operation for many, many years, owned and operated by a local family of Greek ancestry.

SPINACH & CHEESE PIE W/PHYLLO DOUGH CRUST (Spanakopita)

As you might expect in any Greek market, they have fresh figs! And, more than one variety of feta cheese, in bulk. They also have assorted Greek pastries and treats, including one that I simply must purchase every time I visit: spanakopita, or cheese and spinach pie in a fluffy phyllo dough crust. To try your hand at making spanakopita yourself, follow this allrecipes.com recipe. It looks quite doable.

If you’d like to find more opportunities for trying Greek food in the Tampa Bay area, there’s no shortage of good locations, especially since Tarpon Springs, a town here in Pinellas County, has, “the highest percentage of Greek-Americans of any city in the U.S.”[ref].

All of the food pictured in the photos in this article are from City Produce and, taken together, cost less than $36 and that’s including the ½ pound of real Greek feta cheese. I recommend City Produce Fruit Market very highly for their Greek items and their fruit and produce, much of which is locally grown.

CITY PRODUCE

NICKO’S

Diners

Whenever I get back over on the Tampa side of the bay, I always try to eat at one of my old hangouts from my days of living over there. One of my absolute favorites spots–and I’m surprised it’s taken me so long to write it up–is Nicko’s. Nicko’s is a well known favorite among Tampa locals. It’s a diner, more specifically, a “real” diner. By that I mean a diner styled to look like a railway diner car. This Wikipedia article describes the origins of the American diner as railway diner cars that were no longer track-worthy being hauled to permanent locations and turned into restaurants.

RAILWAY CAR STYLE ARCHITECTURE

Coffee Shops

There are other meanings to the word, “diner,” though, depending on your personal history and what part of the country you’re from. In some parts, such as Long Island, a diner may refer to what I, from the Midwest, would call a “coffee shop.” For a detailed treatment of the famous Toddle House coffee shops, see the Inkwatu article, Kopper Kitchen.

COUNTER AND STOOLS

Food Carts

There is also a very real connection of the word, “diner,” to horse-drawn trailer eateries, later motorized, or hand-pulled–as covered in this Inkwatu post, New York Street Food. The larger of these portable horse-drawn or motorized diners sometimes became situated at fixed locations. Some of these establishments were big enough to seat customers inside, some were not. There were, however, like the rail-way cars, pre-existing or prefabricated structures which became established in a permanent location.

NICKO’S INTERIOR

Books on Diners

Regardless which type of diner you associate with the word, here’s a few books you might look for in your public library, or purchase new or used from Amazon (one is even available on Kindle):

• The American Diner Cookbook(also available for Kindle)
• The American Diner (Motorbooks Classic)
• American Diner Then and Now
• Hometown Diners
• Diners: American Retro (used, some as low as $0.75)
• Diners Of New York
• Diners of Pennsylvania
• Jersey Diners
• Diners Of New England

ELVIS® BOOTH PLAQUE

Nicko’s

Nicko’s (4603 N. Florida Ave., Tampa, FL 33603-3732; 813-234-9301; map), pronounced “nee-ko’s” by locals, specializes in Greek food, but it’s got all the typical favorites one expects from a genuine diner. I met a friend there recently for lunch and we were lucky enough to sit in the Elvis booth, the very booth that Elvis Presley sat in following one of his concerts. My friend got the small Greek salad (looks pretty large to me) and I got the Gyro Platter (so much I could only eat part of it). Both are pictured here. I recommend Nicko’s, especially for early morning, late night, local color and good food. Be sure to bring cash; like may Tampa Bay independent restaurants, it’s cash only, but there is an inside ATM. They are mega-packed on weekends. If you go for breakfast on a weekend, you will have to wait.

ELVIS MEMORABILIA

Tampa Bay Diners

When I first moved to Tampa in 1969 there were several railway style diners. I often ate at the Ayers Diner when it was at the Dale Mabry location. But, the diner I ate at the most was on West Hillsborough, near the Fun Lan Drive In Movie (no, that’s not a typo). I don’t remember the name of that diner, but, for some reason, I thought it was also called Ayers. If someone knows, please comment. That diner’s building has long been demolished. St. Petersburg had a spectacular one down where the road bends on the way to Treasure Island–I can still remember the taste of their tart cherry pie, decades Later.

SMALL GREEK SALAD

Ayer’s Diner

Here is a great St. Petersburg Times article from their Americana Series about Nicko’s and its owners. The following is a quote from that article:

“Elvis has left the diner. He was on tour in Tampa in 1956, the year he broke out like a national rash that never quite went away. After the show, The King was hungry and sought out the only 24-hour joint in town.

“That diner is now Nicko’s Fine Food on N Florida, between Martin Luther King and Hillsborough. The waitresses can still point out where Elvis sat, as legend has it, in booth three on the north side of the diner.

“Nicko’s is one of only two diners left in Tampa. Nicko’s opened for business in 1951 as the Ayers Diner. In 1980 it was sold and reopened by the Liakos family as Nicko’s. The original Ayers Diner, which opened in 1950, was moved from its original Dale Mabry location and reopened as TJ’s Galaxy Diner at Himes and Cypress.

“Nicko’s is still owned and operated by the same family: James and Dee Liakos and their son and his wife, Nick and Laurie Liakos.”

(Note: TJ’s Galaxy Diner, referred to in the quote, is no longer in operation.)

GYRO PLATTER

Diner Fansites

If you’re interested in finding diners in your neck of the woods, check out the sites listed below. There aren’t many diners left, but, fortunately, there are still people who see their value and buy and restore and operate them. The clientele for a good diner definitely still exists.

• Diner City — excellent resource with a listing of diners by state and other nostalgia links such as New York Deli’s, Classic Motels, Hot Dog Stands, and much more
• Roadside America — some diners, but mainly roadside attractions of that era
• Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives a Food Network show dedicated to Diners
• The American Diner (Google Books preview) — with links to previews of other diner books
• Florida Diners — on Debra Jane’s Home Page; good pictures
• Jack’s Diner — another personal page with locations, menus, many good diner links!

Coffee at the Caribbean Point

After lunch, my friend took me to another little shop for a post-lunch cup of Cuban style espresso (highly sweetened, similar to Armenia/Greek/Turkish coffee, but without the grounds at the bottom). This was the Caribbean Point restaurant. It’s been there about a year and half. Terrific coffee. My friend raved about their Moros y Cristianos, or black beans cooked together with white rice (sometimes called black rice when prepared this way) which he had had another time. I’ll be returning there to try their sandwiches. Like most small Cuban restaurants, the dishes are extremely inexpensive.

THE CARIBBEAN POINT

Nicko’s
Caribbean Point

Acropolis Greek Taverna

A couple weekends ago, a friend and I went to Ybor City to hear an original play produced by my friend’s former students. Ybor City is an historical section of Tampa. As long-time Tampa residents, my teacher friend and I both had, in our youth, spent many an evening (probably too many evenings) enjoying the party atmosphere of Ybor City. Ybor is much smaller than the Vieux Carré of New Orleans, but has much of the same character and features, including first-class restaurants and a lively arts scene of galleries, music venues, and legit theater.

“Ybor City (pronounced /ˈiːbɔr/) (EE-borh) is a historic neighborhood in Tampa, Florida located just northeast of downtown. It was founded in the 1880s by cigar manufacturers and was populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly from Spain, Cuba, and Italy. For the next 50 years, workers in Ybor City’s cigar factories would roll millions of cigars annually…The neighborhood has been designated as a National Historic Landmark District, and several structures in the area are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In 2008, 7th Avenue, the main commercial thoroughfare in Ybor City, was recognized as one of the “10 Great Streets in America” by the American Planning Association.”[ref]

Acropolis Salad

We decided to have a light supper before the play at the Acropolis Greek Taverna. There are three of these now (Ybor, North Tampa, and Riverview). I wish they’d open one in St. Petersburg. We both had the Acropolis Salad (pictured above). We thought the food was excellent. The crowd of people eating at their outside tables obviously thought so too. The Acropolis menu sports a large selection of salads, which add to its attraction for me. I highly recommend this restaurant if you’re in Ybor. I’ve eaten at most of the other Ybor restaurants and some are definitely gourmet restaurants, but those are, in my opinion, way too pricey. The Acropolis prices are very reasonable. The average entree is $13 to $15, the meal-sized salads, only $5 to $7. That’s affordable!

The Silver Meteor Gallery

The play we’d come to see was being presented at the Silver Meteor Gallery, a tiny theater fashioned from a tin-roofed, Florida “cracker” house just south of the railroad tracks behind the historic Columbia Restaurant (see picture of Columbia Restaurant at end of article). We wondered if the Silver Meteor Gallery got its name from the Silver Meteor passenger train that runs from New York to Miami, which shares much of its track with the Silver Star that services Tampa.

This Metromix Tampabay article on the Silver Meteor Gallery (2213 E. 6th Ave., Tampa, FL 33605; 813-833-6368) and its resident theater company, Hat Trick Theatre, states: “The Silver Meteor Gallery has a history of giving rise to scrappy theater troupes. The PAC’s Jobsite Theater started here and now Hat Trick Theatre is camping out, applying for arts grants and soliciting corporate sponsorship. Humor keeps this professional company afloat. The shows produced here are offbeat, often outlandish takes on the trials and tribulations of life.”

Poor, Dirty Girl, the play we saw, although not a Hat Trick Theatre production, is just such alternative, fresh theater. This play, written by Gianfranco Settecasi who co-directed the play with Elias Inaty, is a comedy set in 1942, Saleté, France. Real talent wrote and produced this play. This was not a “student” production. What impressed me most was how the voice of the play was consistent, every moment. It didn’t wobble from one style to another; it was its own, unique, quirky style from beginning to end. That takes skill.

Although the writer, directors, and cast of this play are young, primarily recent graduates of local, distinguished private schools, even the mechanics of the production were well thought out and executed, complete with novel merchandising (t-shirts with clever lines from the play), professional quality program design, and effective underscoring.

Art produced by the young should never be dismissed just because of the age of its creator. Felix Mendelssohn wrote his famous Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream when he was only 17. Shostakovich’s First Symphony was written when he was 19. Picasso was admitted to the Barcelona School of Fine Arts at the age of 13. Steven Spielberg was already active in his career at age 22. And, of course, the most famous wunderkind of all, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was composing and performing on piano and violin by age 5!

I predict that someday we’ll hear from the young actors, directors, and playwright of Poor, Dirty Girl in a professional, New York City context. Watch, especially, for the names Gianfranco Settecasi and Elias Inaty.

Columbia Restaurant