Octoberfest at Spoto's Steakjoint

All month, two people can eat a full King Ludwig's Bavarian Feast for $44, which starts with a cup of goulash soup and German cucumber salad, then an entree of brined sauerbraten, knockwurst, bratwurst, braised red cabbage, potato pancakes with sour cream or apples, and a dessert of housemade warm apple strudel with vanilla ice cream. And in honor of their 10th year anniversary, Spoto's Steakjoint (1280 Main St., Dunedin, (727) 734-0008) is also offering a buy one, get one half off on deal beverages Sunday to Thursday.

BayWalk update

I heard a rumor about another restaurant over at BayWalk, but when I spoke to Ammazza Pizza Cafe assistant manager Ryan Ross, he assured me that Ammazza is going strong, with no intentions of leaving the dining/entertainment complex. He did mention, though, that Johnny Rockets has "closed for repairs," with no word on a reopen date.

KFC new low: Double Down

Remember this post, about that unbelievable KFC sandwich that's basically meat, cheese, meat, meat, cheese and meat? No bun? Well, tbt* just included this follow-up on Monday's story about the new Double Down:

The Omaha World-Herald sent reporter Christopher Burbach to eat one and gauge the effects on his body. His report:

I tried one for lunch, with no fries or pop. It was as it looks: tasty and fatty.

I had my cholesterol and triglycerides checked at a Creighton Medical Associates Clinic before lunch and three hours afterward, without having anything else to eat or drink.

Blood fats called triglycerides shot up from 136 to 213. HDL cholesterol, the good kind, sank from 50 to 39. Non-HDL cholesterol, the bad kind, went up from 144 to 154.

Those were significant changes from a single sandwich, said Dr. Scott Shurmur, a cardiologist and the director of the Lipid Clinic at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

The effects of eating one such sandwich should wear off in about a day in a healthy person, he said. But regular high-calorie, high-fat consumption would take a toll. “Every point your HDL drops, your heart disease risk goes up 10 percent,” Shurmur said.

Kerri Peterson, executive director of Our Healthy Community Partnership in Omaha, said the sandwich sounds tasty. But too much of such might not be just what the doctor ordered.

“It’s not about cutting everything decadent out of your diet,” she said, “but maybe eat half of it.”
KFC estimates that the Double Down has 590 calories, with 280 of them from fat.

As I said before, this sandwich is unsafe at any speed. Yeesh.

Grillsmith opening at the Westfield Shopping Mall

The brand new Grillsmith location in Brandon (at the Westfield Shopping Mall) is finally opening Tuesday, Oct. 6, creating more than 100 new jobs in the Brandon area. This marks the sixth location in the Bay area for Grillsmith, 459 Brandon Town Center Dr. Suite 475, Brandon.

Stone crab season creeping up on us, Oct. 15

Matt Loder at Crabby Bill's dropped me a line that stone crab season is around the corner. I'll be posting about special deals as I hear them, but Loder reminded me that the state's crabbers need everyone fired up to eat them this year. The sales of these are a big boost to restaurants and the local economy as these crabbers buy bait, fuel, equipment life's other necessitities on the hunt. 

La Cachette moving to Clearwater

La Cachette da la Plage has moved to Clearwater. Their new address is 625 Cleveland Street and the target opening date is the second week in November.

If you're feeling a little thirsty tonight

Join tbt* at The Table in downtown St. Pete for a special happy hour tonight 6 to 9 p.m. Lynette, Marti and Shannon of tbt* will be guest bartenders serving tasty pink $5 tbt*inis. A portion of the evening's proceeds will go to support the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk.

Biggest chef empires?

New York Magazine's Grub Street did a good post a couple days ago that has got me thinking. It was about the 20 biggest chef empires in the country. Here's the rundown on the top ten, super quick (there were other factors besides number of restaurants, like TV shows and cookbooks, but I'm just listing # of restaurants:

• #1 Gordon Ramsay  27 restaurants

• #2 Alain Ducasse  26 restaurants

• #3 Wolfgang Puck  22

• #4 Joël Robuchon  19

• #5 Nobu Matsuhisa  22

• #6 Jean-Georges 25

• #7 Emeril Lagasse  12

• #8 Mario Batali  15

• #9 Laurent Tourondel  17 

• #10 Todd English  12

Anyway, it got me thinking about the biggest culinary empires around these parts. There are the restaurants owned by Tom Pritchard and Frank Chivas, the bunch of Ceviches (and Pincho) owned by Gordon Davis. Steve Westphal has the beginnings of an empire, most recently 400 Beach Seafood. If Chris Ponte gets a bunch of Peels dotting the land, that could end up an empire. Help me out, folks, who else around here has a bonafide EMPIRE?

Taste of the NFL writes some big checks

Taste of the NFL is held annually on the eve of the Super Bowl in the host city, proceeds going to hunger relief organizations in America. The 2009 event took place on Saturday, Feb. 7 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg with more than 3,000 guests. Volunteering their time and representing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Marty Blitz from Mise en Place and Scot Brantley paired together to create and serve food.

In honor of national Hunger Action Month, Taste of the NFL distributed checks to food banks located in every NFL city across the country, including America’s Second Harvest of Tampa Bay in Tampa. Donations are a result of proceeds from the 2009 Taste of the NFL event and are equivalent to nearly 2 million pounds of food and grocery products.

Free wine tasting tonight

Not sure what to do with yourself tonight? Head to Toast (14921 Bruce B Downs Blvd, Tampa) between 5:30 and 7 p.m. Hector has picked out 15 wines that he's pouring for free.