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The Stew

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By JEFF HOUCK

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 20, 2008

STEPPING UP TO MIKE

Chef Michael Symon first appeared on my radar sometime last year after he was featured in an episode of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" show on the Travel Channel.

Bourdain had traveled to Cleveland at the behest of his friend, writer Michael Ruhlman, to explore the flourishing food scene there. Ruhlman took Bourdain to eat at Symon's restaurant, Lola, and was enamored of its meat-centric menu.

Later that year, Symon competed on Food Network's series "The Next Iron Chef" and bested some top-notch competition - including renowned New Orleans chef John Besh - for the Iron Chef prize.

I haven't ever tasted Symon's food, so I e-mailed Ruhlman, who was one of three judges on that show, to ask what made Symon's food clearly superior.

"I think what Michael's really good at is two things: bringing the acidity, saltiness, sweetness and richness to just the right level, and then balancing those flavor components," Ruhlman wrote. "Topping a steak with pickled vegetables, for instance, rather than a rich sauce, or saucing a fish with a warm vinaigrette."

Symon's career continues to roll along. He's planning to open a restaurant this fall in Detroit named Roast with his wife, Liz. And at 10 tonight, he takes over the new season of "Dinner: Impossible." Symon replaces Robert Irvine, who the Food Network released after he was caught fudging details on his resume.

Symon told me recently during an interview for my Table Conversations podcast that he filmed 10 shows of "Dinner: Impossible" in five weeks, spent three days at home and then filmed nine "Iron Chef" battles in 14 days.

Being a chef, you're used to working 18-hour days cooking, telling people what to do and doing computer work, Symon says.

"For an 18-hour day on 'Dinner Impossible,' you essentially start running in the morning and you stop running at midnight," he says. "Physically, it just beats the hell out of you."

During previous seasons of "Dinner," the crew filmed two episodes a month. At one point, Symon taped three in one week.

"My wife was talking to me at one point after I got done, and I was cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs," he says.

To listen to my podcast with Symon, go online to TBO.com, Keyword: Stew, or subscribe to the podcast for free on iTunes.

SAVE THE WHALEY'S

Residents of South Tampa were rocked to learn that Whaley's Market on South Howard Avenue was closing after 74 years in business due to a lease disagreement with its landlord.

One local blog - The Official Unofficial Seminole Heights Blog (semi noleheights.blog.com) - is campaigning for the Whaleys to reopen in the Heights.

The blog's owner, Jay McGee, even repurchased the Whaley's Web site domain ( www.whaleysmarket.com) to "save it from competitors' clutches," with the intention of giving it back to the family for free if they reopen.

The blog is organizing an e-mail campaign to urge the store to move there. This week, it reprinted what it said was an e-mail from owner Todd Whaley.

"You guys and gals are really flattering. It would be nice to come home to Seminole Heights," the e-mail read. "It's not out of the question."

'TOP CHEF' ON WAY

Fans of the "Top Chef" series on Bravo will want to pencil in an appearance of "Top Chef: The Tour" from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Ybor City Saturday Market in Centennial Park at the corner of Eighth Avenue and 19th Street.

The tour stop, one of 20 across the United States, will feature cooking demonstrations in a converted 18-wheeler semi-truck outfitted with a full kitchen and appearances by show stars.

It's unclear whether former Clearwater Beach resident Spike Mendelsohn, who made it to the final four contestants last season in Chicago, will be there. Mendelsohn joined judges Tom Colicchio and Padma Lakshimi in July during a tour stop in Philadelphia.

"We are trying our best to have him there," Mendelsohn's sister, Micheline, e-mailed me on Monday. "Nothing's confirmed yet."

WORTH THE DRIVE

Now that gas prices have dropped to merely exorbitant from the previous confiscatory amounts, the Family Stew and I drove to Anna Maria Island for the day on Saturday. You know, to see it before Hurricane Fay washed it away.

We stopped at The Waterfront Restaurant at 111 S. Bay Blvd. for some lunch. (The eatery, which opened in 2006, gets its name from its great view of Tampa Bay and the Sunshine Skyway.)

Everything we ordered was outstanding, but what we really enjoyed was the pound of steamed Prince Edward Island mussels with tomato, basil and white wine sauce ($10). How delicious was it? We did everything but lick the sauce from the bowl after all the mussels were gone. Soon after, the Official Wife of The Stew declared it "Our New Place."

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