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The Stew: Levy Restaurants' Picou Gears Up For Game

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By JEFF HOUCK

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 16, 2008

LEADING UP TO KICKOFF

David Picou, executive chef at Raymond James Stadium for Levy Restaurants, is in the midst of planning not only his luxury suite and club menus for the upcoming Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, but also the menu for the festivities surrounding Super Bowl XLIII - a mere 200 days from today.

No pressure.

During a recent chat at the Levy offices underneath the stadium's northeast corner - pretty much directly under the end zone pirate ship's skull - Picou told me the goal will be to offer as much local, sustainable food as possible. That will mean lots of local flavors and seafood from the Gulf of Mexico - Picou loves to fish in his time off. Another idea he's tossing around: alligator sausage.

That idea comes from his roots. Picou grew up in Louisiana as the son of a Cajun father and a French, German and Irish mother. After working his way up in kitchens in New Orleans, he joined Levy in 2003 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. That led to a stint at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., and then at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. He also has worked an NBA All-Star Game and the Kentucky Derby twice.

Luxury suite owners get a sample tasting of the season's menu Tuesday.

TABLE FOR YOU?

A couple of weeks back, I wrote about the great, intimate dining experiences available all over the Bay area. I specifically wrote about the fixed-price themed dinners at Delizie Italian Bakery & Deli and the delicious calamari and shrimp salad that was served. (The next event is on July 24, by the way.)

Delizie host Francesca Caramello wrote to say thanks and also to pay it forward by suggesting a visit to L'Olivier, a French restaurant at 111 Second Ave. N.E. in downtown St. Petersburg that serves French crepe entrees. (The owner, Olivier Cuevas, is French.)

"I love to go there for brunch," Caramello e-mailed.

A lunch/brunch or dinner at L'Olivier varies from $7 to $18. The $18 entree includes a glass of house wine. The phone number is (727) 821-3846.

THIS IS THE VEND

Last week, I shared Pat Vasser's tender tale of vending machine hot chocolate that included rafts of floating ants. (We were on a jag about the food horrors to be found at any large employer's Great Wall of Vending.)

Reader Elaine Rolfsen remembers back when drinks were sold in cups by vending machines.

"I was working at our local theme park here in Tampa," Rolfsen writes. "I was drinking either Coke or Pepsi out of a paper cup, and it wasn't until I got to the very bottom of the cup that I discovered a roach had gotten smashed into the cup's bottom.

"I barely made it out the break room door before I tossed my cookies. Needless to say, I was in very quick contact with the park's general manager and the vending machine company."

Needless to say, indeed.

Vasser also remembers a tradition handed down to each freshman class at her Christian-oriented junior college that involved a giant magnet and pennies. The result? Something like a slot machine that just happened to eject beverages.

Good times.

THE STEW RECOMMENDS

2007 cab from Owl Ridge's T.R. Passalacqua Vineyard. Wine Enthusiast gave it 92 points. Bold blackberry and black currant flavors.

THIS JUST IN

Rigatoni Tuscan Oven, 3437 W. Kennedy Blvd., wins Tampa's best Italian eatery on AOL's City's Best contest. Funny, I wasn't asked ...

WE WILL SCOOP NO WINE BEFORE ITS TIME

Baskin-Robbins just got more fun. New York Gov. David Paterson signed a law last week legalizing the sale of ice cream made with wine in that state.

SMOOTHIES AT STARBUCKS

I don't know that I've ever been asked to sign a confidentiality agreement about a new line of smoothies. Now, thanks to Starbucks, I have. (For the record, I declined.)

Following months of leaking drips of information to the media and teasing customers with chalkboards and simulated marathoners' signage, Starbucks finally unveiled its new 16-ounce, frozen, blended Vivanno drinks Tuesday in orange mango banana and banana chocolate flavors.

The company tipped its hand months ago during the rollout of Pike Place coffee, the flavor that was supposed to signal a return to the chain's java roots.

The company did a tasting for me Monday at the South Howard Avenue store, heavily pushing the health benefits. Palm Harbor-based nutritionist Sheila Dean was even called in to vouch for the drink's healthfulness. Vouch she did; Dean suggested it could substitute as an on-the-go breakfast drink or an afternoon snack drink without the sugar crash associated with other beverages in the category.

The details: At 250 calories, the orange contains 16 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber and 2 grams of fat. The banana chocolate weighs in at 270 calories with 21 grams of protein, 6 grams of fiber and 5 grams of fat. Neither has artificial sweeteners. Both use whole bananas in the blend.

The drinks are clearly aimed at grabbing the smoothie market that exploded in the decades since Starbucks debuted.

The chain is also targeting exercise buffs. Every Tuesday from July 29 to Aug. 12, any customer who shows a gym membership card (or any Starbucks cardholder) will receive a free 16-ounce Vivanno. Or, you know, just show up in your gym outfit and look sweaty. Or if your name is Jim ... nevermind.

Look for more flavors in coming months. (The banana was included in the first two flavors because of the nutritional value and because it tested as the most popular blended beverage component. Yes, they test for such things.)

What did they taste like? They tasted like unsweet smoothies with a finish that is a little chalky from the protein powder. With bananas in them, of course.

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