Another helping at The Table

Last week when the Times unveiled the new Taste section, with its new rating system for reviews, I braced for impact. I figured at least a few restaurateurs would take issue with food, ambiance and service being summarized briskly with stars. So far, it's been radio silence. Today this week's review of The Table went up on the website, garnering an impressive three stars.

Despite the high rating, there are still things about The Table that got me thinking about trends I've seen recently that concern me. The Table calls its cuisine "Atlantic Rim." Before visiting, I looked at a globe to get a sense for what this might mean. Geez, that could be the food of Mauritania, Greenland, Brazil or Cape Cod. The restaurant's own definition reflects a hazy sense of geography or a liberal sensibility: foods of South America, the Caribbean, the eastern U.S. and a hint of Spain. Ingredients from Peru (not on the Atlantic) and lots of manchego and Serrano ham (Spain: no Atlantic) confuse the issue.  I think a more helpful description would be foods of South America, refracted through the prism of 21^st century Floridian tastes.

Increasingly, new restaurants adopt a globe-trotting approach that could only be summarized as "eclectic." That in itself is probably only frustrating for food writers who have to describe what's going on, but when it means importing exotic ingredients from the far-flung corners of the planet, those oh-so-21st-century words "carbon footprint" begin to creep into my consciousness. Importing a tuber from Peru is justified if said root kicks the butt of any spud from Idaho; a rare Brazilian pepper worth the sweat of a long distribution chain if it elevates a dish to some hitherto unknown height. Otherwise, let's shop closer to home and work to broaden and improve the range of options in our backyard.

Review preview

I'm thinking about what's to come in the next weeks and months. Here are some of the new and/or interesting restaurants that have come to my attention. If anyone has strong feelings--as in, "absolutely not, this place is revolting" or "run, don't walk to this one"--I'd love to hear them. Some of these are reader recommendations, some my own thoughts.

Pinellas County:

Saimira European Grill, 38501 US 19 N. in Palm Harbor, (727) 939-4700, Italian

Fuji Yama in Seminole, right on the corner of Park & Starkey

Matchstick Grill, 10500 Ulmerton Road Suite 476, Largo, 727-585-1816

Hammerheads, where Julian's at the Heritage was in St. Petersburg

Taste, Safety Harbor on Main St., sandwiches

Sneaky Pete’s, 4300 Park Blvd., Pinellas Park, 727-541-6356, family-friendly, darts, pool

Brunos Italian Restaurant, 432 75Th Ave., St. Pete Beach. 727-367-4420

Hillsborough County:

Chez Bryce on Davis Island

Cafe Kita 1155 S Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, (813) 286-8187, Indo-fusion Cuisine, breakfast and lunch

Ceviche Fresco, Hillsborough/Memorial in a Home Depot shopping ctr., Tampa, Peruvian 

Sabor Sensations, 4020 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, (813) 286-2434, Colombian crepes

Pho Brandon Asian Cuisine, 109 W. Bloomingdale Ave., Brandon, 813.643.5165

Chateau SoHo where Chateau France was in South Tampa

Elsewhere:

Bare Bones Fish & Steak House, 3192 Shole Line Blvd., Hernando Beach (Spring Hill), fine dining

More on latkes

My latke story in yesterday's paper generated a bunch of good e-mails. Thought I'd share a couple of the tips and suggestions.

"Great recipe, but forget the towel and use a leg from clean pantyhose. Works great, easy even for people with arthritis. Also maybe a tablespoon or two of flour or matzo meal, and a pinch of baking powder--light fluffy latkes. Of course, much like spaghetti sauce, everyone has their own recipe or touches."
--Bob Barnum

"No way is this recipe worth guarding.   
1. How do you make Latkes without matzo meal?
2. Olive oil, you must be kidding.
3. Why no fresh black pepper?
4. Why would you want to grate potatoes and then wash off starch by putting them back in water?
 
Do it this way, quicker better.
 
2 lbs russet potatoes peeled
1 medium onion
2 large eggs beaten
half cup matzo meal
half tsp cracked black pepper
2 tsp kosher sallt
veg oil
 
Grate by hand using box grater. Put graded potatoes in a strainer on top of a bowl. Take hand and squeeze out liquid and RESERVE liquid. Wait 3 minutes and pour liquid from starch that is in bowl and use starch in next step. Place strained potatoes in medium bowl. Fold in eggs, matzo, salt, pepper, and RESERVED potato starch. Mix well. Heat oil in cast iron skillet over medium heat, one inch vegetable oil, or canola oil. Spoon half cup dollops into hot skillet, press down with back of spoon. Cook gently for 6-7 minutes or until golden on one side. Flip latkes and cook another 6-7 minutes. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately. Source: "Jewish Holiday Style" by Rita Bronstein
 
This is worth guarding. Happy Holidays."
  --Fred Johanson

More about us losers

My esteemed colleagues Jimbo, Hank and ABnorml have raised some excellent points about the local restaurant scene's challenges below. I think there's more going on than straight economics. I think there's also a zeitgeist issue afoot. Bear with me through a brief digression.

When I was fairly fresh out of cooking school I was reviewing restaurants in Baltimore, Md. I loved it, and here’s why: Baltimore is weird. It’s a city that celebrates its idiosyncrasy, from John Waters to the Museum of Menstruation. Some kook and/or culinary genius could get a wild hair and decide to open a restaurant. Maybe a taxidermy-theme restaurant or one that only serves crab fluff. People pursued their dreams, be they twisted or sublime. There was always something new, someone pushing some envelope. The culture embraced that.

After that, I moved to the San Francisco bay area. Totally different. Real estate was so expensive, for the most part, that in order to open a restaurant you needed a tried-and-true business model, an airtight game plan. So there were lots of sleek, cookie-cutter restaurants, but they had to be good to survive. The competition was too fierce, consumers too Type-A and entitled (hey, it was the dot.com boom) to endure mediocrity. It was also a form of cultural currency: have you been to the latest hot restaurant?

Now I live here (in New Tampa, to be exact). People are nice--they’re not jostling for position as much, not pushing their kids as maniacally, not as entitled. The culture doesn’t embrace the weird the way Baltimore does, nor is it as fickle and fixated on "The New" as folks in Silicon Valley. People seem loyal and constant and easygoing--qualities in consumers that don’t always yield good results in restaurants.

Customers seem to value familiarity in restaurants over innovation here. But maybe I’m all wet.