A little Malbec this weekend?

The Malbec Tour is making a stop at B-21 in Tarpon Springs, giving people a chance to meet winemakers from Chile and Argentina, have their bottles signed and taste great wines from the Andes.  Manual Ferrer, winemaker for the estate Achaval Ferrer will be there as well as winemakers and/or representatives from Santa Ema, Montes, Kaiken, Bodega Norton and Pascual Toso. The list of estates are among some of the best wineries in Chile and Argentina. The tasting is this Sunday, October 5, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and is $15 in advance and $20 at the door. B-21 Wine Company is located at 43380 US Highway 19 North, Tarpon Springs; (727) 937-5049.

Local chain reactions

In early December, St. Petersburg will see the grand opening of a brand new Bonefish Grill. The new restaurant is now under construction at 5062 4th Street North. The existing St. Petersburg location -- the first ever Bonefish Grill, affectionately known as the “Mother Ship” -- will close in late November to prepare for the move.

The move to this nearby location provides Bonefish Grill the opportunity to commit to a long-term lease within the community.  The new lease is being offered by Travis Corporation of Pinellas County, a long-term member of the St. Petersburg business community.

Bonefish Grill co-founder Tim Curci is nostalgic about the first Bonefish Grill, which opened in 2000, but is excited about all the new location has to offer. “We will be taking most of the original décor and artwork from our original restaurant down the street.  The new location will give our guests the same experience as our original store, and that’s very important to us.”

In sadder news, according to Nation's Restaurant News, less than a month after filing for Chapter 11 reorganization and closing eight of its 23 branches, Shells Seafood Restaurants has asked the bankruptcy judge to convert the action to a Chapter 7 liquidation. Shells said it was in the process of closing the remaining 10 units that it owned.

Dangerous food?

This just in from the Charleston Post and Courier:

Man reports food vandalism Friday, September 26, 2008

A downtown Charleston man was awakened about 2 a.m. Saturday by barking dogs and the sound of someone screaming.

When he went downstairs, he found ramen noodles on his front door and inside his mail slot, a police report said.

The report said the man told police the house was vandalized about six weeks earlier with four pounds of shrimp.

Add in a gallon of chicken broth and some malicious handfuls of scallion, and let's call it dinner.

Vote early and often redux

The Times’ own staffer Jim Webster has advanced to the quarterfinals of Mario Batali’s Ultimate Grilling Challenge. With what started as a variation on turducken (a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken), Webster took things in a new, molto Italiano direction, ending up with his inspired recipe for Pig-Wrapped Pig-Stuffed Pig. It features homemade pork sausage flavored gently with orange zest and toasted fennel, stuffed in a pork tenderloin which is then wrapped carefully with pancetta and grilled.

You can watch his video here, but there have been some technical difficulties with the online voting process. For this reason, a new method of voting has been implemented. Registrants are now directed to send their ratings of the Quarter Finalist videos to info@mariobatali.com.  Registrants must insert "VOTE" in the subject line and the name of each Quarter Finalist(s) and number of stars in the body of the e-mail.  All of the terms and conditions set forth in Mario's Ultimate Grilling Challenge  Official Rules still apply.

Help Jim beat the other quarterfinalists and vote from all your various e-mail accounts before the September 29 deadline (registering automatically enters voters in a sweepstakes to win one of ten autographed copies of Mario Batali’s latest cookbook, Italian Grill).

Let’s not let a little computer glitch deter our Prince of Pork Products from his 15 minutes of culinary fame!

Peter Couture, guest blogger extraordinaire

TBT's Peter Couture recently spoke to Richard Blais and Hung Huynh about their post-Top Chef careers and they were a study in contrasts:

Blais, a TC finalist last season, is opening in Atlanta what he hopes will become a chain of “modern burger boutiques” called Flip and shopping a reality show based on his cooking demonstrations and consulting work. Huynh, meanwhile, is scouting New York locations for his first restaurant (“casual fine dining”) while working a temporary executive chef’s gig at Solo, which has a fusion kosher (!) menu. Oh, and Huynh is competing at Epcot this weekend in the U.S. semifinals of the prestigious culinary Olympics known as the Bocuse d’Or.

Here are a few tidbits from my interviews with these talented chefs that didn’t make it into publication:

• As viewers of Bravo know, the network loves to recycle its reality contestants, using them in its other shows. Blais says he’s beginning his “writing career” by blogging for the latest installment of the network’s reality franchise. “My aspiring writing career will start with blogging (The Real) Housewives of Atlanta,” he says. “I’m looking forward to talking about it because I know a little about the landscape.” But Blais says not to expect him to appear on the show. Blais, who was in Tampa last weekend as part of “Top Chef: The Tour,” asked for a dinner recommendation. I told him Cafe Ponte.

Blais also talked about how he is developing a Krispy Kreme milkshake, which left me and everyone else in the office craving the doughnuts and ready to make a road trip to Atlanta. To paraphrase the movie line: “We think his milkshake will drink your milkshake!”

• Huynh, the Season 3 TC winner, talked about the “How to Chop like a Top Chef” video clip he did for New York Magazine, which displays his amazing knife skills. “Yeah, tons of people watch it,” he says. “It’s funny, I hope no one cut their finger (off) trying to emulate me.” (laughs) See it on YouTube). Oh, and memo to home cooks: Hung mostly uses just one chef’s knife — you don’t need that huge block of knives in your kitchen!

So what about knife skills? Top Chef viewers will remember when one of Hung’s fellow finalists, Casey, had trouble chopping an onion during a challenge. Don’t we expect all chefs to have great blade work?

“It’s a basic thing,” says Hung, laughing. “If you’re a writer and can’t type, that’s kind of weird.” (Sorry, Chef, I’m a two-finger typist). “But I’ve seen famous chefs who have great restaurants out there and are really creative and very successful but they have a lack of knife skills. In the end, it’s very different with each chef, some are good in (certain skill) areas, some are not.”

Yeah, up with fat!

My buddy Chad pointed out this most excellent Salon article to me today. It's by Monica Bhide and it's an interview with Jennifer McLagan. Bottom line: UP WITH FAT!

Jennifer McLagan is on a mission: to dispel the myth that fat is a "greasy killer." Or, as she writes in her new book, "Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, With Recipes": "Human nutrition is complex, and no two bodies function the same way, but for the majority of us, eating animal fat is not the death sentence we have been led to believe."

The book tackles the controversies that have long been swirling around fat, from the fact that doctors praised the wonders of a low-fat diet only to watch as that wisdom was contradicted by a major 2006 study to the more recent study that indicated there may not, after all, be a direct link between obesity and heart attacks. On the other end of the spectrum, of course, there is Dr. Atkins and his contrarian high-fat-diet approach to getting healthy.

But McLagan's book is about more than mere science. It is divided into sections based on types of fat: butter, pork fat, poultry fat, and beef and lamb fats. Since many of these fats (except butter) are not easily available commercially, McLagan teaches the reader how to render each one specifically. A skilled writer, McLagan presents her case for the armchair reader at the same time she offers enticing recipes for the seasoned cook: bacon baklava, marrow rice pudding, and lamb fat and spinach chapati.

"Fat" is an unapologetic celebration of its title ingredient and a compelling argument that explains not only why fat is a fundamental flavor but also fundamental to our health.

A few restaurant nibbles

The historic Renaissance Vinoy Resort and Golf Club in St. Petersburg will be featured in the Sci-Fi Channel’s one hour reality show called “Ghost Hunters” on October 1 at 9 p.m. The episode stars several employees of the resort who explain on camera some of the mysterious “goings on” since the 1920s. Like, did a baseball player from the Cincinnati Reds really wake up to see a man in vintage clothes standing over his bed? Did a housekeeper feel someone brush the hair off of her neck? Did an associate actually hear footsteps in the Grand Ballroom while performing her duties in security? To celebrate, locals are invited to visit the Vinoy during the month of October and celebrate the TV debut of the episode with a “Ghostini” in the lobby’s Promenade Lounge.

Through September 30, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar offers a memorable meal for two for $99. That may not sound like a bargain, but it includes: 

• Two 6-ounce Filets
• Two Australian Lobster Tails
• Two Chopped Wedge Salads
• Fleming's Potatoes
• Sugar Snap Peas
• Chocolate Mousse with Hazelnut Bark for two

On Saturday, October 18 from 1 to 4 p.m. Magnum Wine and C'est Cheese in Sarasota (4114 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 941/924-3374) hosts a free wine and cheese pairing to benefit Susan Koman for the Cure. Artisan cheesemakers from around the U.S. join celebrated winemakers who have generously donated their product to benefit a good cause. While guests nibble and sip, they can browse the shop for products marked with a pink ribbon, which indicate that their purchase includes a 10 percent donation to Susan Koman for the Cure.

Bleaker than we thought

I just read this story by Sarah E. Lockyer for Nation's Restaurant News about a new IFMA study:

In a forecast that doesn’t yet reflect last week’s market turmoil and what it could mean for the economy, the foodservice industry is not expected to show any significant strengthening until the second half of 2009, according to new data from the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association and Technomic Inc.

Operator mood is depressed, according to the research presented here today, with just 9 percent of the 663 restaurant operators surveyed in August by Technomic indicating they held an optimistic outlook for the foodservice industry over the next 12 months. That figure is down dramatically from this time last year, when 48 percent of respondents said they held a positive outlook for the industry.

“The realities on foodservice are particularly hard,” said Joseph M. Pawlak, a vice president at Technomic. “It’s caused a perfect storm ... and there is not yet light at the end of the tunnel.”

According to the research, the foodservice industry will continue to face challenges from both cost inflation and the tightened consumer economy, including soaring unemployment rates, higher gas and energy costs, and a slumped housing market.

Total food and nonalcoholic beverage sales, including receipts at restaurant, retail and on-site locations, are expected to reach $517.3 billion this year, a 1.2-percent nominal increase from last year, Technomic said. Adjusting for an inflation rate pegged at 4.2 percent, the industry’s real growth this year is expected to be negative, down 3.0 percent from last year.

This year is projected to be the industry’s first year of negative real growth since 2002. The last time before 2002 that the industry posted negative real growth was 1991, according to Technomic’s data.

Meals worth stopping for?

A new book slid across my desk one day last week: Meals Worth Stopping for in Florida by a duo calling themselves “The Gourmettes,” Nancy Barber and Jane Bolding. The idea is something I wish I’d thought of: It’s a compendium of local restaurants within 10 miles of the Interstate. Kind of like Jane and Michael Stern’s Road Food empire, only entirely Florida-centric.

I dug in with gusto, only to sit scratching my head in bewilderment. Pinellas County gets the shaft entirely, and the Tampa restaurant selections are about as random an assortment as I can imagine:

• Arco Iris, 3328 W. Columbus Dr., a Cuban coffeeshop that also, strangely, serves Chinese
• Schiller’s, 4327 W. El Prado Blvd., a German deli
• Fourth of July, 1611 N. Howard Ave., a Cuban coffeeshop
• Bern’s Steakhouse, 1208 S. Howard Ave.
• El Taconazo, 913 E. Hillsborough Ave., a burrito bus
• Mel’s, 4136 E. Busch Blvd., a hotdog joint
• Jerk Hut, 2101 E. Fowler Ave., Jamaican fast food, and a chain at that

What are these Gourmettes thinking?! This list is somehow representative of the area’s highlights, worthy of a robust automotive detour? Two coffeeshops, a deli, a wienery, fast food and burritos. Oh, and the greatest-known fancy-pants steakhouse in these parts. Within ten miles of I-4 I can think of dozens of worthy independent restaurants that didn’t make the list. Off the top of my head, Restaurant BT, Mise en Place, Pane Rustica, Ceviche Tapas Bar & Restaurant, Malio’s Prime, Chez Bryce, Armani’s, Pelagia, The Grass Root, Café Kita, Smoke Barbecue, Bamboozle, Paninoteca, Fly Bar, and the list goes on. Then, if we were to add in worthy Pinellas restaurants within 10 miles of 275, the list gets crazy-time.

Durnit, I'm going to start writing my own book.

Another helping of new restaurants

Brand new restaurant called Curriez has just opened its doors at 8556 Park Blvd. in Seminole, offering a full Indian lunch buffet for $7.95 and dinner for $11.95. Over in Tampa, The Bungalow has opened in a cool 1919, um, bungalow at 2202 W. Kennedy Blvd., (813) 253-3663. It's late-night, with lots of TVs and a broad, all-American menu (burgers, sandwiches, pasta).

I also heard that two new Ethiopian restaurants are opening in the next few weeks in Tampa, one on Kennedy near Himes, the other in the Westchase area (any of you foodies hear more specific addresses?). And I also heard that Roy's will open for lunch on November 3.

It's officially a blood bath

My colleague Casey Cora, in working on a story about the closure of The Kitchen and De Santo in St. Petersburg, came upon the disturbing news that The Table in St. Petersburg has also closed its doors, perhaps temporarily. Turns out owner Rafael Manzano pulled up with a U-Haul on Sunday night, took the light fixtures and the reservation book and got out of town. General manager Joe Moledo and building owner George Rahdert have plans to reopen in a couple weeks. According to Moledo, the Sarasota location of The Table has closed as well, thus co-owner and chef Pedro Flores will be free to come to oversee the kitchen at the St. Petersburg location. They hope to keep the concept (Atlantic Rim cuisine, heavy on the South American) and much of the decor, but to reduce prices somewhat. Right now, Moledo and Rahdert are awaiting a liquor license to reopen, and we'll just sit tight and see what happens.

In other ominous news, right next door at Bella Brava lunch business is on temporary hold until a new lunch menu has been worked out--they are shooting for October to open back up for lunch.

St. Petersburg's Central Avenue Restaurant Row is starting to look a little gloomy...

My favorite new place. Or "Ode to bacon brittle"

I wrote a little story for the business section on Saturday about trends I noticed at this year's Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. One that got cut from the story was my pick for coolest new taste. I wrote, "Koppert Cress USA’s booth was thronged with chefs, and for good reason. The company offers tiny, tiny cresses and micro-vegetables, each living plant still rooted in its medium until a chef snips off a serving -- Tahoon cress that tastes like the forest floor, Dijon mustard cress with an assertive, almost wasabi-like flavor. But none were nearly as cool as the showstopper: Szechwan buttons that, when crushed on the tongue, release an oil that seems electric, like a live current is zinging around the mouth. Its applications—cocktails, sorbets—certainly excited the imaginations of the gathered chefs."

This is part of a broader trends toward playfulness in the kitchen--the whimsy and ironic goofing of Thomas Keller's dishes at the French Laundry, plus all the kooky molecular gastronomy going on thanks to visionaries like Ferran Adrià and Wylie Dufresne, then add in our newfound enthusiasm for stunt foods like miracle fruit. Bottom line, there's a lot of fun stuff going on in this country's restaurants, but not a whole lot of it has made it here yet.

Enter MJ's Martini, Jazz and Tapas Lounge, my new favorite place. The chef is Domenica Macchia, formerly of Redwoods in St. Petersburg. And she's doing New American small plates that will absolutely knock your socks off.

Like this:

Two gorgeous, perfectly pan-seared diver scallops on a plate with a little tangle of greens, a drizzle of intense avocado sauce and applewood-smoked bacon brittle.

Yes, you read that right. Brittle. Like as in peanut brittle, only flavored with bacon. The sweet of the brittle echoing the sweet of the scallop, the smokiness of the bacon adding incredible depth, the textural contrasts--it's all genius. MJ's (445 99th Ave N, one block south of Gandy Blvd., St. Petersburg, 727-329-6600) has been open less than two weeks, so I can't review it yet, but I'm thrilled. It's a lovely place, great vibe, wonderful dinnertime pianist and live jazz later in the evening, and some of the most exciting spins on homey American dishes I've had in ages. There's skirt steak and slow-braised lamb spareribs, brined and deep-fried turkey, meatloaf and mashed potatoes (using Peruvian blues makes the mash opalescent purple).

I tell you, run, don't walk.

Drinking for a cause

The seventh annual Vino Las Vegas takes place September 20 at the Tampa Theatre. It's a fundraiser to benefit the theater's artistic and educational programs as well as ongoing restoration. These restaurants will provide the food: The Bamboo Club, The Capital Grille, Chez Bryce, Melitta, Michael's 717 South, Mise en Place, The NoHo Bistro, SideBern's and Viktoria Richards Chocolates. And there will be more than 20 wineries pouring their vino. Super-special tickets are $150 in advance, the premium tasting tickets are $85 in advance, and grand tasting tickets are $50 in advance. Oh, and there are Elvis and Ann-Margaret costume contests.

Fun party, good cause: 711 N. Franklin St., Tampa, (813) 274-8981.

Jim Webster's our hero!

The Times’ own staffer Jim Webster has advanced to the quarterfinals of Mario Batali’s Ultimate Grilling Challenge. With what started as a variation on turducken (a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken), Webster took things in a new, molto Italiano direction, ending up with his inspired recipe for Pig-Wrapped Pig-Stuffed Pig. It features homemade pork sausage flavored gently with orange zest and toasted fennel, stuffed in a pork tenderloin which is then wrapped carefully with pancetta and grilled.

We may be biased, but surely Webster’s recipe (and accompanying video) beats the other six quarterfinalists hands-down. Semifinalists will be picked by popular vote, which starts on Monday. To cast your vote for our local hero, visit the website until Sept. 29 (registering automatically enters voters in a sweepstakes to win one of ten autographed copies of Mario Batali’s latest cookbook, Italian Grill). The three highest-ranked videos at the end of the two week period will go on to the semifinal round. Let’s send our Prince of Pork Products all the way to the finals—the winner receives tickets to Dickies 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway on November 2, 2008, preceded by a tailgating party with Mario Batali and Rachael Ray who’ll be grilling up the winning recipe. Pig-Wrapped Pig-Stuffed Pig has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

Wrong-headed thinking alert

I just read a newswire story that Kobe Japanese Steakhouse has elected to do away with their bamboo chopsticks in favor of plastic ones. Even if each set of bamboo chopsticks is disposed of (eventually wending its way to landfill) and these new plastic chopsticks are washed and reused, I think this is strange logic. Bamboo is a renewable resource, fast-growing and fairly "green" in a variety of ways. Plastic chopsticks will take 100 years to biodegrade in landfill. Is this really a step in the green direction? Their claim is that the depletion of bamboo forests has endangered certain species (supposedly in China alone 45 billion sets of wooden chopsticks are thrown away each year). By its own estimation, Kobe Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar uses one million sets of chopsticks at its eight restaurants. Switch it all to plastic and there's bound to be some breakage, accidental discarding, normal wear and tear, etc. so that there will still be an awful lot of plastic making its way to landfill.

Vote early and often

My buddy Dave Davisson over at Eating Tampa is conducting his second annual "Best Food in Tampa" survey. Give him your thoughts.

As some doors open, others close

Around the St. Pete Times office there has been much grieving at the closure of The Kitchen (409 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, 727/895-3300). We were hoping that Margaret was just on vacation, but there's been no answer at the restaurant or catering line in a few weeks. Our fingers are crossed, but it doesn't look hopeful. And in similar news, De Santo Latin American Bistro (128 3rd St. S., St. Petersburg, 727/895-6400) has just put a sign up that it will close for the month of September. Certainly September is a notoriously difficult restaurant month (many restaurants in Sarasota and environs in fact close up shop for the month), but I'm awaiting word from the folks at De Santo about what might happen in October and beyond.

Sweet success right here in Largo

On Monday William Dean Chocolates appeared on “The View” as one of Whoopi’s “Must Haves.”  William Dean Chocolates is an artisan chocolate company that hand paints and airbrushes chocolates right here in Largo. They are currently carried in three Dean & Deluca’s and are doing a special line of chocolates for Teavana that will be available in all 84 of their stores this holiday season. 

Kudos to this small artisan chocolate company in Largo getting national publicity!

A flock of new restaurants

Rumor has it Hamburger Mary's is opening in Centro Ybor in Ybor City in the Big City Tavern location. I called around and ended up chatting with Ashley Wright, who with his brother Brandon is the franchisor in Chicago. When asked if it's a done deal, he said, "I certainly hope it happens but nothing is finalized. We're in negotiations with the landlord."

For those who don't know the concept, it started in San Francisco back in 1972, the first and only national franchise actively marketing to the gay and lesbian community. But as Wright explains, "Back in the 1970s if you had any kind of overt gay affiliation, your business was in a back alley. This is the post Will and Grace era, so we're going after the mainstream market. Yes, we have a gay and lesbian following, but we want to be mainstream. Heterosexual people want to go to a gay restaurant or club because it’s fun."

And why Tampa? "Tampa itself is such a neat city with a lot going on and a vibrant nightlife. And Ybor City is at the heart of that," says Wright.

Let's hope it happens. Mary's burgers are famously delicious, then add in some "Maryaoke," bingo and drag shows and it's a party.

A familiar Palm Harbor name has a new face. The Thirsty Marlin opened a second location a couple weeks ago at 351 W. Bay Drive in Largo. I called to get more information (727/586-3474)--like are they serving those grouper reubens and is there a sushi bar--but they were so jammed no one could really talk to me. Stay tuned.

And Pinellas Park is now proud home to a brand new Middle Eastern grocery and restaurant opened July 11. Jordan Valley is the brainchild of Yazan Issa, his aim to purvey authentic Jordanian, Moroccan, Lebanese and other Middle Eastern cuisines--that means dishes like schwarma, falafel, baba ganoush and so forth. The address is 9713 66th Street N., Pinellas Park; (727) 289-7051.

A serious game of chicken

Just read this AP story and it was too rich to pass up:

Pssst. The secret's out at KFC. Well, sort of.

Colonel Harland Sanders' handwritten recipe of 11 herbs and spices was removed Tuesday from safekeeping at KFC's corporate offices for the first time in decades. The temporary relocation is allowing KFC to revamp security around a yellowing sheet of paper that contains one of the country's most famous corporate secrets.

The brand's top executive admitted his nerves were aflutter despite the tight security he lined up for the operation.

"I don't want to be the president who loses the recipe," KFC President Roger Eaton said. "Imagine how terrifying that would be."

The recipe that launched the chicken chain was placed in a lock box that was handcuffed to security expert Bo Dietl, who climbed aboard an armored car that whisked away with an escort from off-duty police officers.

Eaton's parting words to Dietl: "Keep it safe."

Florida Restaurant and Lodging Show, Part 1

I spent Friday and Saturday lurking around the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Show at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. Far from being doom-and-gloom about the current economy and restaurant industry growth (or lack thereof), it was a wonderful array of educational sessions. My favorite was given by George McKerrow, owner of Ted’s Montana Grill (Ted, as in Ted Turner), who presented on 10 Ways to Go Green in Florida. In essence, his strong feeling is that now is the time to make environmentally responsible choices in the operation of our nation’s restaurants. After all, restaurants are a $550 billion industry, with 950,000 restaurants nationally, 31,000 in the state of Florida. There are 490 tons of carbon dioxide released each year by each restaurant. Whoa, do that math.

Here were his ten tips. Nothing outrageous, but all sound and doable:

1. Recycle glass, plastic, aluminum and cardboard. But also think about composting wet material (or watch the video here), and at this point old fry oil is a goldmine for biodiesel. He talked about a new program SYSCO is working on to buy back used cooking oil to fuel their delivery trucks (although I didn't see mention of the program here).
2. Buy energy-efficient equipment, and always look for the five-star rating.
3. Replace standard lightbulbs with compact fluorescent, linear fluorescent or LED.
4. Keep a watchful eye on bathroom sinks and running toilets. That drip-drip is money down the drain in addition to being eco-piggish.
5. Eliminate plastic straws and stir sticks. (McKerrow told a wonderful story about hunting down the country's last paper drinking straw company and convincing them to begin production again. Now loads of cruise ships and restaurants are ordering from Aardvark. It's supposedly just nominally more expensive than plastic straws, and they won't be hanging around landfills 100 years from now.)
6. Eliminate plastic water and soda bottles. Look at Europe: Juices mostly come in cardboard cartons and water comes in recyclable glass with a deposit on the bottle.
7. Consider new takeout packaging materials. There are cornstarch and potato starch disposable flatware and cups (I saw these mega-cool ones at the convention made by Lollicup) and recyclable paperboard.
8. Use recycled paper for all your various paper needs (brands like Georgia Pacific or Kimberly Clark). (And here's a really, really small thing we should all do: Flip your printer setting to print double-sided. I mean, we read books with words on both sides of the page. Why do we customarily print things on just one side?)
9. In kitchens and restrooms, install low-flow water valves where possible.
10. Use non-toxic cleaning and chemical products. Look for brands like Nilodor's Stuctured by Nature or Proctor & Gamble's Green Guarantee. Lewis Kroll of St. Petersburg's Cleaner's Closet insists green products have been improved dramatically.

Sexy sushi?

Maybe I'm just not like other people. When I watched the randy food scene in Nine 1/2 Weeks between Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger in front of the refrigerator, I thought, "Yuck, those things would taste disgusting back to back." I mean, he feeds her--in this order--a black olive (the gross old canned kind), maraschino cherries, strawberries and champagne (I guess I'm fine until this point), Vick's cough syrup, cold rotini, a scoop of red Jell-O mold, a raw jalapeno, milk, Perrier and WAY too much honey from a honey bear.

Sounds like a recipe for Tums to me. And in the movie Sex and the City, when Samantha made sushi for Smith for Valentine's Day, draping her naked body with the stuff, I applauded her effort but was a little underwhelmed by her maki-rolling techniques.

I'm just saying this in the name of full disclosure. A few months ago the Tampa Bay area was agog at the arrival of nyotaimori (literally "female body presentation," but really naked sushi). It seems the Dirty Martini, a nightclub on U.S. 19 in Clearwater, launched a monthly naked sushi night, at which patrons pluck raw fish snacks off the prone body of a young, naked woman. The St. Petersburg Times did its own story here (with video) and lots of other media outlets covered the first of these evenings.

I read them all with interest, but nowhere did it tell me what I wanted to know: Was the sushi good? I set out to find out. The Dirty Martini isn't exactly my demographic, but I did manage to try a bunch of sushi (probably as folks wondered why someone's mom was sitting at the bar) on non-naked nights.

My verdict is a misquotation of Green Eggs and Ham:

"Would you eat them in a box? Would you eat them off a fox?"

"Not in a box. Not off a fox. Not in a house. Not with a mouse. I would not eat them here or there. I would not eat them anywhere."

In summary, I do not like them, Sam-I-am. The nori on the rolls was gummy (I've had that happen at home when I've opened a pack and tried to save it. It gets stale so the resulting maki have a rubbery texture), fish from tekka to unagi didn't seem fresh, wasabi was that squeeze-bottle "wasabi sauce" rather than a ball of the paste (made from the powder and water), and accompaniments like edamame and seaweed salad were also extremely tired-tasting. Even the rolling and plate presentation were a little bumbling.

And that's the naked truth.

Bern's wine dinner

Bern’s Fine Wines & Spirits will host a Long Shadows Wine Dinner next Tuesday (September 9) at 6:30 p.m. Recently named ‘Winery of the Year’ by Food & Wine Magazine, Long Shadows continues to amass critical acclaim for its seven wines, all of which will be tasted at this "modern Mediterranean" dinner. The dinner is $125 per person, all inclusive and reservations are requested.  Call Bern’s Fine Wines & Spirits at (813) 250-9463.

The idea of the winery is cool. Long Shadows Vintners was started by Washington wine legend Allen Shoup, his vision to create Washington’s finest wines by partnering with winemaking legends from different parts of the world that have cast a ‘long shadow’ in their respective regions. 

Featured Wines:
2005 Pedestal Merlot $59.95, 94 points, Robert Parker
2005 Sequel Syrah $59.95, 94 points, Robert Parker
2004 Chester-Kidder Proprietary Red $59.95, 93+ points, Robert Parker
2005 Feather Cabernet Sauvignon $69.95, 92 points, Robert Parker
2005 Saggi Proprietary Red $59.95, 92 points Robert Parker
2005 Pirouette Proprietary Red $59.95, 91 points Robert Parker
2007 Poet's Leap Riesling $29.95, 91 points Robert Parker

Tampa restaurants for charity and the arts

The Palm is launching a new menu program designed to raise money for Dress for Success Worldwide, an organization devoted to promoting the economic independence of women by providing professional attire, a support network and career development skills to help them succeed in work and in life. The Palm has created two entire menus to benefit the organization, one for lunch and one for dinner - complete with four selected Women Winemaker wines and two handcrafted cocktails designed by celebrity mixologist Aisha Sharpe. From September 1 to October 31, 10 percent of the proceeds from any item from the Fall For Success Menu will go to benefit the organization. 205 Westshore Plaza, Tampa, (813) 849-7256.

Now open for dinner, The NoHo Bistro is hosting a special event benefiting the Pediatric Cancer Foundation during National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. on Monday, Sept. 15 from 5 to 9 p.m. Guests are invited to dine in the casually elegant atmosphere where while percent of the proceeds from food sales that evening will benefit the Pediatric Cancer Foundation. 1714 North Armenia Ave., Tampa, (813) 514-0691. 

Toasted Pheasant in Tampa is partnering with Carrollwood Cultural Center on Sept. 12 with a special dinner-and-a-show. Seatings for this four-course Italian dinner for $25.75 begin at 5 p.m., after which guests can attend a two-hour concert with Jim Burge and Jazz Direction at at the new Carrollwood Cultural Center. The cultural center is holding a block of $7 tickets for guests of Toasted Pheasant Bistro, available only with advanced reservations. 14445 N. Dale Mabry Hwy., Tampa, (813) 265-6700.