Mary D. Scourtes | October 5th, 2011
My love affair with Thai food started years ago. From the hottest bird’s eye peppers to a classic cucumber/jicama slaw, I’m in awe at the clever cleavers and hands that prepare simple-to-seriously-involved dishes. Chefs take advantage of their carving skills to make entrees more indulgent with crafty, carved pineapples, watermelons, apples and other profuse produce. Many country and cultures influence Thai cuisine, including a strong Indian presence. Traditional sweet ingredients (hoisin sauce), sour (tamarind), salty (oyster sauce), bitter (saw leaf herb) and hot (chili peppers) offer the right ying and yang. Best of all, everyone wins because it is conducive to poke around each others’ entrees and share all. I offer up my top ten Thai in Tampa Bay.
Read more: Top Ten Thai Restaurants to try in the Tampa Bay area
Mary D. Scourtes | September 19th, 2011
The Good Humor men probably started the trend, but fast food addicts and kitchen sleuths are now finding diverse dishes from phenomenally popular food trucks. With a sour economy, more and more people look for sweetly affordable, convenient grub at a nearby lunch wagon, dinner cantina, or taco truck. The traveling meals-on-wheels are on college campuses, office complexes, weekend street markets and neighborhoods near you. It’s one of the hottest trends in the restaurant business, especially out West. But they’ve arrived in Tampa Bay.
Read more: Tampa food truck roundup: The diverse food keeps on truckin’
Mary D. Scourtes | September 7th, 2011
We dined inside in one of Sculley’s ramshackle, nautical themed, but noisy dining rooms. Our sweet waitress was friendly enough but didn’t know her stuff. When I asked if the mashed potatoes were the real deal, she said they didn’t tell her such information. OMG. As our dinners ranged from OK to downright dreary, Sculley’s seems content to simply coast on a collective tourist base.
Read more: Restaurant review: Tourist-happy Sculley’s in St. Petersburg
Mary D. Scourtes | August 31st, 2011
Renzo Menzerotolo is from Venezuela, his dad is from Uruguay, and he lived in Argentina. He has bestowed his Latin accent on the Westshore business district with Renzo’s Gourmet Argentine Steakhouse. And he thinks everyone likes Argentinean beef. “We sell a ton of meats for the Spanish population, a ton of wine and lots of pastries,’’ says Renzo, who opened his eatery two years ago. It’s unpretentious, with an almost bare-bones cafeteria (by day), restaurant (at night), and a bakery, meat market and new a Vinotecca that holds 500 bottles of wine.
Read more: Tampa restaurant review: Renzo’s raises the steaks
Mary D. Scourtes | August 24th, 2011
Mary and Gino Galantino, whose family was from Bari by way of New York, opened Gino’s more than 30 years ago. They bought a little bar on North Armenia Avenue, added a kitchen and let their menu evolve with both Northern and Southern Italian dishes. Now owned by their son, Michael, the restaurant’s menu of parmigiana, pasta and piccata overflow the plates and the laughter drowns out the music.
Read more: North Tampa’s Gino’s glories in generous portions
Mary D. Scourtes | August 17th, 2011
No worries: There are no button-down attitudes at Jerk Hut Jamaican Grille & Rhum Bar. The lazy, hazy, island lifestyle beguiles your senses with lively, if loud, reggae, casual ambience and a peppery aroma. The hostess asked “take out?” as three of us walked in to dine there. Sure enough, a good number were huddled in the lobby, waiting on Caribbean carryout.
Read more: Ya Mon: Tampa’s Jerk Hut takes taste buds to the Islands
Mary D. Scourtes | August 10th, 2011
You know how your mother– wink, wink — used to hide your peas under your mashed potatoes? Well, restaurateur Lynn Pham delivers a similar deception at Bamboozle, beguiling diners with vegetables, lean meats and seafood served fast and fresh.
Read more: Tampa restaurant review: Downtown’s Bamboozle Cafe is on a roll
Taylor Eason | August 9th, 2011
It’s been five months since I moved to Santa Rosa, California from Tampa, Florida, and besides the friendships, a few dishes still gnaw at my memory like a half-starved mongrel. I spent 17 years collecting these faves and so wish they could be Fed-Ex’d on a weekly basis just to keep the love alive. My eight best dishes/experiences in Tampa Bay, in no particular order.
Read more: Eight of the best Tampa Bay food dishes that I crave from California
Mary D. Scourtes | August 3rd, 2011
Penn McElmurray skillfully weaves the sweet, sour, salty and spicy flavors of lemongrass, coconut milk and galangal root into fragrant salads, soups and stir fries. Penn, a native of Sukothai, and her husband Clay, a Davis Islands product, operate their 50-seat, Thai Island restaurant on East Davis Boulevard. If you drive by too fast, you can easily miss it. But its friendly staff and change-of-pace dishes compensate for its lack of visibility.
Read more: Tampa Thai Island is a tiny treasure
Mary D. Scourtes | July 27th, 2011
I’m in sweat pants today while last night’s dining companions flaunt bikinis because I lose control at all-you-can-eat places. Make the menu Indian and I’m a sucker for mystic-sounding vadas, aloos and dosa dishes. I dreamed I was on a budget trip to the Indian subcontinent when visiting Mayuri Indian restaurant in Temple Terrace. The simple décor here has boring walls, Pizza-Hut like red chairs, bottles of beer and other booze with big price tags on each one, tables that need bussing, and a lot of noise. This could be Anywhere Cuisine.
Read more: Mayuri’s Indian buffet is priced to please in Tampa’s Temple Terrace
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