A friend emailed me a link to an April 26, 2011 article in the New York Times Dining & Wine section by John T. Edge, In Tampa, the Street Food That Crawled From the Sea, and asked if I’d ever eaten at the Brocato’s reviewed in the article and, if not, did I want to go try it.

Well, as it happens, I’ve eaten dozens and dozens of Brocato’s sandwiches at parties I’ve been to, but I’ve never been to the restaurant itself, nor have I ever had their crab cakes, so there was no hesitation in my saying yes. Although Joe Brocato is an acquaintance–I was once a consultant on the design and purchase of one of the many, generous philanthropic gifts he has made to the community–I don’t really know him well. However, I have a good friend who knows him extremely well, so she and my other friend and I made plans to go eat there. Even though it’s a 50 minute, one way, drive for me, it was worth it. Brocato’s crab cakes, pictured below, are gourmet crab cakes. They are so far beyond any other Tampa crab cakes I’ve had–and I’ve had many–they deserve some additional name to distinguish them from all other Tampa crab cakes.

One of the first things you’ll notice about a Brocato’s crab cake is its size. A typical Tampa crab cake, is only about the size of a hardball but squished to have pointy ends so it resembles a 19th Century submarine. But, a Brocato’s crab cake is the size of a large softball and only slightly flattened. They’re huge!

Secondly, when you cut into a Brocato’s crab cake to douse it with Crystal hot sauce, you’ll notice what really sets them apart the most: there is almost no breading. What breading there is, is only about an eighth of an inch thick, whereas run-of-the-mill Tampa crab cakes typically have at least a half-inch, or more, of breading with just a little crab mixture in the center. The Brocato crab cake is 95% crab filling with just a skin of breading.

Thirdly, the crab mix itself is uniquely delicious. I can’t tell all of what’s in it, but I detected what I believe were small, soft bits of red and green sweet peppers scattered throughout. I suspect they were what lends the slightly sweet taste to the mix. Nevertheless, the main ingredient is clearly high quality, real crab meat.

If you are a visitor to Tampa, say for instance someone attending the Republican party’s nominating convention here next year, get yourself to Brocato’s Sandwich Shop, 5021 E. Columbus Dr., Tampa, FL 33619, 813-248-9977, fax 813-242-4191. It’s not far, at all, from the convention center by car or cab and you’ll not be disappointed. You’ll be eating the finest example of an archetypal Tampa food. If you’re a local, then you know to go there already!

Their hours are Monday through Friday, 7:30am to 5:00pm, Saturday, 7:30am to 3:00pm, closed Sunday. You can fax your order if you want. Unfortunately, there’s not an online menu to which you can refer, so pick up a fax order form and a take-home menu when you go.

While you’re there, try one of their papas rellenas (stuffed deep fried potato balls), another uniquely Tampa food. If you’re not a crab cake fan, try one of their sandwiches; I can personally attest to their quality. I recommend getting two of the crab cakes and taking one home. They refrigerate well and they microwave very successfully.

Brocato’s is very popular so it will be crowded, just accept that; but the line moves quickly, and there is plenty of seating inside and out. One taste, and you’ll know why it so popular. Brocato’s get the maximum number of stars on almost every travel site with user reviews.

SADLY, ISLAND SEAFOOD MARKET & BISTRO IS NO MORE–IT WAS A CASUALTY OF THE DIFFICULT ECONOMY. IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL IDEA AND CONCEPT THOUGH. IT WILL BE MISSED

Island Seafood Market & Bistro (Inkwatu review; Island Seafood website; 2057 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, FL 33713, 727-821-8181) has new hours: Tues – Thursday 7AM – 3PM Friday 7AM – 10PM Saturday 7AM -3PM; Open for Dinner Saturday by Reservation Only.

This is more than just an adjustment in hours. This is the opening of an opportunity for St. Pete that I don’t believe has ever existed before, the institution of a breakfast place that specializes in seafood.

Of course, Munch’s (Inkwatu review; Munch’s website; 3920 6th St. S., St. Petersburg, 727-896-5972) and the Central Coffee Shoppe (Inkwatu review; 530 Central Ave., St Petersburg, FL 33701, 727-821-1125)–both favorites of mine–have that good southern dish, catfish and eggs.

This new direction at Island Seafood, however–since it is not only a bistro but also a full market with fresh fish, crustaceans, and other seafood coming in daily–holds the promise of something I haven’t seen since the times I used to eat at Mother’s in New Orleans. I live in hope that Liz (co-owner/operator of Island Seafood) will devise her own Crawfish Étouffée Omelet!

But, already she has some good looking breakfast dishes available, such as Shrimp & Grits w/gravy, Lobster & Eggs Benedict, Maryland Crab Cake Eggs Benedict, Salmon Benedict, Fish & Grits w/gravy, and Bagels & Lox. Of course, as you can see from the new hours listed above, they are still serving their great lunches. A tip: try the fish tacos or the Amberjack Philly Cheese Sandwich!

Another tip: they have an Island Seafood Facebook page. If you’re on Facebook, I highly recommend “Liking” the page, because they often post their specials for the day for both the bistro and the market.

PS: this morning I stopped by and had their Maryland Crabcakes Egg Benedict. Excellent, no exaggeration–the spiciness of the crabcake ad the smoothness of the Hollandaise sauce complement each other. And they know how to poach an egg. If you’re a poached egg lover, you know how uncommon that can be. Try the Maryland Eggs Benedict.

Another downtown restaurant, that I wrote about in Tangelo’s Grille, has relocated: this one to Gulfport (see their website). My favorite thing there is their hamburger. I miss the atmosphere and feel of the downtown restaurant, though. Plus, when it comes to Gulfport, I’m more inclined to eat next door at Stella’s Deli & Gelato or O’Maddy’s. But, when I get the hankering for a hand-formed, thick hamburger, I go to Tangelo’s new location.

There’s a new restaurant at the end of that block, just across from the Gulfport Casino, the Neptune Bar and Grille. The Gufport Patch has this excellent review of it. It’s fast becoming one of my favorite haunts. I enjoy sitting at the bar to eat so I can look out at the bay. That’s the way the old, old Hurricane Lounge down in Pass-a-grille Beach used to be in one of its earliest incarnations; you could sit at the bar and look out at the gulf. PS: the Neptune has EXCELLENT Greek food.

I’m extremely happy to report that the Central Coffee Shoppe is doing well. It’s still the same great family-owned-and-operated grille serving up some of the best breakfasts in town. For a while, I was very worried about some of my favorite places, because several did succumb to the recession and go under. But, the Central Coffee Shoppe has, thankfully, survived, and is as good as ever.

Skyway Jack’s opened up a branch up near 4th St. N. and the Gandy, but I haven’t tried it yet. I can’t imagine they managed to duplicate the wonder of the decor at the South 34th Street location, but I’m sure the menu’s the same.

Just this week, I went to the new 2462 Central Avenue location of Nitally’s Thai-Mexican Fusion Cuisine. I went with a friend who’d never been there. He was an instant convert. The food is simply spectacular and I love the fusion concept. My friend had Panang Mole. What a thrilling idea to combine a mole sauce with a panang curry. Thankfully, my friend let me sample some of his dish. I had the more traditional Thai basil stir fry; equally scrumptious!

a bit of Skyway Jacks history

Skyway Jack’s is one of my long-time favorite St. Pete breakfast spots, dating back to its original location by the old Skyway Bridge. But, in addition to the current location described in the Inkwatu post linked to above, there’s also a new, additional location: 11140 4th Street North, Saint Petersburg, FL 33716-2900; 727-576-4100. I haven’t been to it yet, but will eventually. Hope they were able to maintain the menu and ambiance of the old joints.

That’s why I was so happy to learn from the owners of Island Seafood Market & Bistro of Angie’s Front Porch Cafe (495 7th Ave. N., St. Petersburg, FL 33701; 727-320-4540).

Angie’s has a very nice Sunday brunch buffet!

Their website, angiesfrontporchcafe.com/frontporchcafe/, has an old address, the correct one is above. They also have a Facebook page.

Overlooking the historic Round Lake (pictured at the top of this post), Angie’s is in a vintage building (pictured above) that it shares with a laundromat. There’s plenty of parking on the street and in the lot immediately behind the building (the tow signs concerned me, but they assured me it was OK to park there).

Their website gives their lunch menu and breakfast menus. I love the fact that I’ve finally found a place where I can have a choice of plenty of salads, soups, sandwiches and wraps–just the kind of food I like for lunch. I’m not a sweets person, particularly, but if I were, Angie’s would have plenty to satisfy me. I will definitely try their key lime pie, soon.

But, speaking of sweets, they have bananas foster on their Sunday buffet. I’d never had that before. I didn’t even know how to dish it up; I had to ask. There, at least, you serve it over some very good French toast. I loved it. I have no prior experience to compare the quality to, but it sure tasted good to me.

The decor is comfortingly cozy and cluttered with cards, crafts, and tchochkes for sale. The place was packed with, obviously, very happy and friendly neighborhood regulars. It was a pleasant experience to eat there.

The Sunday I was there, there was an extremely good singer/guitarist of the very, very mellow variety. Usually, when I see that there’s “live music” somewhere, I groan and try to avoid going. Not with this fellow. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance and it was appropriate to the intimate setting at Angie’s.

I’ll be back to Angie’s!

If you’re in the mood for authentic Cantonese on the St. Pete side of the bay there’s really only two places: ABC Seafood, reviewed earlier in Inkwatu, and the Lucky Star Hong Kong Style Chinese Restaurant (4175 66th Street North, St Petersburg, FL 33709-4915; 727-381-8888‎; map).

On the Tampa side of the bay, my favorite is China Yuan, but over here in St. Pete, I’m partial to Lucky Star, not only because of its food, which is so flavorful you never even think of reaching for soy sauce, but also because Lucky Star, in its earlier incarnation on 34th Street before their fire and relocation, was my introduction to authentic Cantonese food in St. Pete. The earlier restaurant was one of the many little experiences that accumulated to inspire me to move to St. Pete.

I was introduced to it by a friend whose father had had a similar restaurant while my friend was growing up. He showed me the dishes that the Lucky Star had that made it a special place and helped me to feel comfortable there. Sadly, by the time I moved to St. Pete my friend had, himself, moved to a different city and the Lucky Star had closed because of a kitchen fire. Then, the owners finally reopened up on 66th Street, north of Tyrone Mall. It’s been a favorite of mine ever since and I’m remiss in not having reviewed it earlier.

It’s open 7 days a week, but only in the late afternoon and evenings (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 3pm to 1am; Tuesday 3pm-11pm; Saturday and Sunday 1pm-1pm). Notice that it’s open into the wee hours for late-late dining. That truly makes it a special place.

But, it’s the food that really makes it special. Here are just a few of the dishes, from their large menu, that you won’t find on less authentic restaurants around town:

• Shark Fin Soup
• Jelly Fish
• Spicy Duck Feet
• Fried Chitterling
• Spicy Chicken Feet
• Preserved Duck Wing
• Blue Crab
• Pepper Corn Squid
• Sautéed Conch
• Bird’s Nest Seafood
• Razor Clam
• Braised Sea Cucumber
• Snail w/Black Bean
• Frog with Chinese Chive
• Steam Salted Fish with Minced Pork

Lest you think the Lucky Star’s appeal rests only upon these more exotic dishes, let me stress that it’s the taste that keep me coming back there. And, the dishes that I, myself, order are the ones that are a little less adventuresome: the casseroles, vegetables, and sizzling plates.

A friend and I, who have, several times, gone there for their whole roast duck, which is spectacularly crunchy, were there again recently and were blown away by two of their sizzling plates: Sa Cha Eggplant and Garlic Shrimp. There wasn’t anything left by the time we were finished eating. We were dickering over who got to lick the plates.

They also have a number of fried rice and noodle dishes. I’m a fan of both those, especially noodles, so I’m slowly working my way through them. Next time I go, I’m going to try the Cantonese Pan Fried Noodles.

They seem to have two menus, one that’s more authentic foods and one that caters to the typical American-”Chinese” fast food tastes. It’s fun looking at that second one, too. That one actually has five chop suey dishes!

The origins of the dish, “chop suey,” are not clear. I make that plural because, as the Wikipedia entry (Chop suey) points out, some think it originated in San Francisco during its early days and some say it came from Taishan, in Guangdong Province. Adding to the confusion is that some early Chinese restaurateurs in the US served a dish of mixed entrails, calling it “chop suey.” This, the Chinese, themselves, did not eat. So, there’s a lot of confusion around the term.

I assume that chop suey is really kind of a late-19th century/early 20th century American-Chinese food, much lacking in authenticity…about as authentic as the game mah jong, which is to say, Not much! But, for me, there’s considerable nostalgia in the dish. When I was a little kid, when our parents would take us into the city (St. Louis) to eat, chances were we’d eat at a huge, Art Deco style cafeteria. My favorite dishes there were egg fu young and chop suey. I’m not sure why. I think it was the sound of the words and a taste for the exotic even at age 5.

Now, that version was definitely of the non-authentic (but not entrails!) type, typified by this Woolworth’s recipe. I love the opening ingredient in that recipe: “1 tablespoon lard or Crisco shortening.” This was in the days of a St. Louis that still had electric buses that click-click-clicked around town. I tried to identify the name of that old Art Deco cafeteria (it wouldn’t exist now, of course), but couldn’t. However, my searching did turn up a neat page–a list of defunct restaurant chains (see Defunct restaurant chains of the United States).

I was also pleased to discover, during my couple years residence recently in Hawaii, that Honolulu sports a number of restaurants exclusively devoted to chop suey (see this Google search). So, if you get a hankering for chop suey, check out what they have at the Lucky Star.

However, I recommend you try one of their more authentic dishes. Everything there is good. You simply can’t go wrong. I very, very highly recommend the Sa Cha Eggplant sizzling plate.

exterior Madeleina Cottage Restaurant

This is a repost of material buried in a much longer, earlier post about something else: Gulfport Trolley Day. I’m extracting this material and reposting it here to give the Madeleina Cottage Restaurant the focus it deserves.

At the end of a long day of exploring various trolley servies in St. Petersburg, a friend and I decided to treat ourselves to a fine English meal at Madeleina Cottage Restaurant, which is practically across the street from the bus stop in the Corey Avenue shopping district.

interior Madeleina Cottage Restaurant

cheese steak sandwich

fish and chips

Gulfport Hideaway Apartments

• Gulfport Fresh Market
• Gulfport, Florida
• Geckofest and other festivals
• Before TV
• Thai-rific
• O’Maddy’s

Even though I live in downtown St. Petersburg, I love coming down to Gulfport. I think the reason I enjoy it so much is that it reminds me of the Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, and Point Loma of my early college days. It’s a quintessential beach town. But…back to our quest: getting places from Gulfport, only on foot or by public transit.
 
Gulfport is within Pinellas County. The entire county is serviced by the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA). They have an excellent website utilizing Google Transit Trip Planner as well as PDFs of the various bus schedules. The regular PSTA bus system, in cooperation with a number of Trolley services, provides easy access to anywhere in the area.
 
Here’s a list of those services:

• The Gulfport Red Trolley services downtown Gulfport.
• The Gulfport/St. Pete Beach Connector Trolley connects Gulfport to the beaches.
• The PSTA Beach Trolley serves all the beaches on the barrier islands.
• The St. Petersburg Looper Trolley serves downtown St. Petersburg.
• The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) serves all of Pinellas county and interconnects all the trolley services.
• This might seem more complicated than it really is. Just hop on any bus or trolley and tell them where you want to go; the drivers are very friendly and helpful.

Gulfport to the Beaches

We began our trek by walking two blocks east from the Gulfport Hideaway Apartments (5620 29th Ave. S., Gulfport, FL 33707) and one block south to the corner of Beach Blvd S & 30th Ave S where we waited at the bus stop in front of the Peninsula Inn (2937 Beach Boulevard South Gulfport, FL 33707-5547).

interior of Gulfport Connector Trolley

The signs on the left below, are the signs where we caught the Gulfcoast Connector Trolley. Notice that these stops are usually shared with regular PSTA bus stops.

left: PSTA and Gulfport Trolley signs; right: Suncoast Beach Trolley sign

inside K. Kringle’s Christmas & Holiday Shoppe in historic Corey Shopping District

75th Ave & Coquina Way down to Pass-a-grill beach

the Hurricane and trolley stop beside it

across the street from the Hurricane

Pass-a-Grille open air art show

Pass-a-grille Beach up to Indian Rocks Beach

Crabby Bill’s in Indian Rocks Beach

Indian Rocks Beach down to John’s Pass

We were starting to tire so we caught the Suncoast Beach Trolley back down south to John’s Pass. For more information on John’s Pass, see Inkwatu: John’s Pass Village & Boardwalk (the Friendly Fisherman & Hubbard’s Marina). On the way there, we passed one of my favorite beach restaurants, Dockside Dave’s.

open air art show at John’s Pass

Heading home

Before we climbed aboard the Gulfport Connector Trolley to head on back to the Gulfport Hideaway Apartments, we decided to treat ourselves to a fine English meal at Madeleina Cottage Restaurant, which is practically across the street from the bus stop in the Corey Avenue shopping district.

exterior Madeleina Cottage Restaurant

interior Madeleina Cottage Restaurant

cheese steak sandwich

fish and chips

various barrier island beach locations

• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Beach trolley transfer station (75th Ave & Coquina Way)
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Pass-a-Grille Beach
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Indian Rocks Beach
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to John’s Pass
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Madeira Beach
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary

various shopping opportunities

• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Walgreen Drugstore
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Sweetbay grocery store
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Publix grocery store
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Tyrone Square Mall
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Williams Park (downtown St. Petersburg) and St. Pete Pier

various entertainment venues

• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Beach Theater
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Muvico Baywalk Theatres
• Gulport Hideaway Apartments to American Stage
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to St. Petersburg Coliseum
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Palladium Theater
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Museum of Fine Arts

Note: If you visited the Gulfport Hideaway Apartments website, you’ll notice that some of today’s post is quoted from that website. That was done with permission since I wrote the copy for and designed that website.

The tagline of Inkwatu is “Delights, Near and Far.” Many of these delights are independently owned food establishments (restaurants or markets) with tasty food, pleasing ambiance, friendly staff, ethnic authenticity, inventive dishes, and reasonable prices. Some of these delights are activities, events, locations, artists, buildings, aspects of nature, books, and non-food businesses that grab me, that contribute to a sense of well-being, that make living fun.

One of those delights is seeing local entrepreneurs with great ideas become successful. One instance is Ester Venouziou, founder of LocalShops1.com. She began LocalShops1.com (in her own words), because “Many small businesses don’t have the time or money to invest in a quality Web site or a huge marketing campaign. So we wanted to create a place where they all could be listed, for free. We want to show the world the creativity, beauty and uniqueness that Indies have!”

She continues, ” I grew up in Brazil, and some of my favorite memories have to do with shopping, mostly with my grandmother and my sister, on Saturday mornings. We’d go to the produce market, chat with the vendors as we picked up fruits and veggies. Then it was off to a meat market, or to the fish guy. Along the way we stopped at the newsstand, where my grandmother picked up the daily paper. Eventually we’d end up at my parents’ shop, a fabric store named after my mom.”

Ester’s concept—creating an interactive community of local shoppers and shops—is well thought out. As she points out, “On a typical November day, the Tampa Independence Business Alliance reports, if all taxable purchases in Hillsborough County were made at locally owned independent businesses instead of national chains, it would make a $28 million dollar difference to the local economy. Economics aside, supporting the independents helps link us to the past, and ensures our communities retain charm and character in the future.”

The depth and importance of this idea wasn’t lost on local movers and shakers: LocalShops1.com recently won a $250,000 media package sponsored by Humana &. Fifth Third Federal Bank, Tampa Tribune, WFLA news Channel 8, tbo.com, 820 AM newstalk, 1040 ESPN Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay Business Journal, and Tampa Bay magazine. What a tremendous achievement for only having been in operation one year.

Ester—she’s very much a “first name” personality–creates this community through a number of different avenues:

• a magazine (online copy of first issue) managed by Marisa Barbosa,
• expert branding and ads by Malcolm Out Loud,
• a gang of coordinators who are a big part of LocalShops1.com‘s success: Latoya Brown, Gulfport/Beaches/south Pinellas county coordinator; Pat Largo, Pasco county coordinator; Brenda Smoak, Manatee/Sarasota counties coordinator; Jennifer Steele, St. Petersburg/North Pinellas coordinator,
• on facebook: www.facebook.com/localshops1com,
• on twitter: www.twitter.com/LocalShops1com,
• various events such as parties, clothing swaps, etc., and
• where it all comes together, the website: LocalShops1.com.

I have a shopper’s membership with LocalShops1.com. I encourage you to get one, too. It’s free. The website is your key to checking out LocalShops1.com. When you go there, you’ll notice that the front page lists the latest news regarding local shopping including the coming LocalShops1 social gatherings which are key to the success and uniqueness of what Ester has created. Examples are (at the time of the writing of this post) a party at Bradenton Beach and a Clothes Swap in Dunedin as well as a contest with a $50 prize.

On the website, you’ll find a list of more than 800 businesses listed, making it Tampa Bay’s largest network of local, independent businesses and independent-minded shoppers. I say “more than” because the list expands, daily. An important website page is the 1CardOffers page which lists a number of outstanding offers by businesses. This is a page you’ll want to print out and keep in your car. You’ll also want to print out the Sales page which lists current sales, in addition to the above promotions, from the business members. Be sure to check the News page for all the latest on local shopping events.

I want to say it again because it’s so important: memberships for shoppers and basic listings for businesses are FREE!.

There are also expanded plans for businesses starting at 55 cents a day. You can contact LocalShops1.com by email, phone (727.637.5586), or mail (P.O. Box 530144, St. Petersburg, FL 33747). Ester says, “we’re always looking for journalism, marketing and web interns to join our staff; as well as smart, happy, not-pushy experienced salespeople.” Whether as an intern, a volunteer, a business, or a shopper, LocalShops1.com is a phenomenon–you definitely want to be a part of it.