photos and descriptions of what makes our world a pleasure
emphasis on Florida and the Tampa Bay area but also far beyond

restaurants

Skyway Jack’s, Old and New

August 1, 2010
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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 [...]

Angie’s Front Porch Cafe

July 17, 2010
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For some reason, with the exception of Moon Under Water, almost all downtown St. Pete restaurants are closed over the noon-hour on Sundays. For me, that’s one of the times I really want to “go out!” That’s why I was so happy to learn from the owners of Island Seafood Market & Bistro of Angie’s [...]

Lucky Star Hong Kong Style Chinese Restaurant

May 27, 2010
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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 [...]

Madeleina Cottage Restaurant

February 11, 2010
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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. [...]

Stella’s Deli & Gelato

February 4, 2010
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The Tampa Bay area has a large number of first class restaurants, but not as many New York style delis as I would like. (Admittedly, I’d like one on every block.) There’s Jo-El’s Delicatessen & Marketplace (Jewish), European Goodies (Polish), and Mazzaro’s Market (Italian) plus a number of ethnic markets (Bosnian Bakery, Cafe Mozart, Dong [...]

Gulfport Trolley Day

January 17, 2010
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Gulfport Hideaway Apartments   A good friend recently bought a home in Gulfport, Florida. Attached to this home, in which she will be resident, are four apartments. She calls her complex the Gulfport Hideaway Apartments.   Her target clientele are seasonal visitors from abroad. She wanted to confirm that her visitors would not need a [...]

LocalShops1.com

October 24, 2009
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ESTER VENOUZIOU, FOUNDER OF LOCALSHOPS1.COM 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 [...]

Jazzy’s BBQ

October 17, 2009
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OPEN HEARTH BBQ AT JAZZY’S There is a gold standard for barbecues: Leatha’s, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi (6374 U S Hwy 98; 601-271-6003). I had the privilege of tasting that standard when my Mississippi Cuzn Don treated me and part of his family to supper there. I got to experience, first hand, the prodigious memory of [...]

TC Choy’s

September 26, 2009
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A FEW KITCHEN SPECIALS: (FROM LEFT TO RIGHT) SALT & PEPPER SHRIMP, FRIED TOFU STUFFED WITH SHRIMP PASTE, CHINESE BROCCOLI IN OYSTER SAUCE, EGGPLANT STUFFED WITH SHRIMP PASTE I’m proud to announce that the September 2009 issue of Asia Trend Magazine carries my first article and photos as one of their contributing food writers. Asia [...]

Shish Kebab & Turkish Cuisine

September 5, 2009
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TURKISH TEA Two friends of mine are planning an extended trip to Turkey this spring. They will be spending 10 whole days in Istanbul, allowing themselves to get to know the place a little deeper than the typical tourist. They did something similar with Finland a few years ago. They make the experience last well [...]

Nicko’s

July 25, 2009
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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 [...]

Thai Kitchen

May 20, 2009
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statue just inside entrance   On 62nd Avenue North, not far from Phat Phap Temple, the Vietnamese Buddhist temple, is a small, but very good restaurant, the Thai Kitchen (1126 62nd Ave. N., St. Petersburg, FL 33702-7422; 727-525-8748). I definitely recommend it, not only because it’s very good food at reasonable prices in a very [...]

Jo-El’s kosher deli

May 13, 2009

A good friend tipped me off to a great, local culinary experience. He’d emailed me the name and address. I plugged those into Google to see what I could find and got this: www.americandreamhotdogcarts.com. What?! He wants me to review a hot dog cart up in the industrial park area? Well, he knows I do [...]

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