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The Stew

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By JEFF HOUCK

jhouck@tampatrib.com

Published: November 16, 2008

EATING THE BAY

If you haven't discovered it yet, there's a relatively new local social network online called Brand Tampa you should check out. (BrandTampa.com) Founded by art historian Julie Gorzka, the network has gathered about 400 members as word of mouth spreads through the Bay area.

My favorite section, of course, is the new Bay Area Eats forum, described as a place for "like-minded individuals who support local family-owned and -operated restaurants and farmers. Say no to the chain and hello to real food ag." You can find it at www.brandtampa.com/group/tampa

bayeats.

Topics so far have included "best Cuban food" "best place for seafood" and "best food where you didn't think to look."

WWDJE? (WHERE WOULD DEREK JETER EAT?)

You can tell it's the baseball off-season in Tampa when you start hearing reports of Derek Jeter sightings. So far, the New York Yankees shortstop has been placed quaffing a beverage at the Starbucks on South Howard Avenue and dining at the Wine Exchange in Hyde Park.

FOOD CIRCUS

Metropolitan Ministries' pantry shelves are in need of food, specifically canned fruit, boxed cereals and stuffing.

To the rescue: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. The circus is offering a ticket to shows from Jan. 7 to 11 at the St. Pete Times Forum in exchange for donation of 10 nonperishable food items.

Donations can be dropped off from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday in front of the McDonald's Box Office at the Forum, 401 Channelside Drive in Tampa.

BLUEZOO TO-DO

The most I knew about celebrity chef Todd English was what I saw on TV. See Todd peddling pots and pans and dinnerware on Home Shopping Network. See Todd guest-starring on "Top Chef." See Todd host an acclaimed food series on PBS.

Then I got a chance to attend a dinner last week hosted by Ruffino wines at English's hip bluezoo restaurant in Orlando's Disney's Dolphin Resort. The dinner was one of the final events held in conjunction with the Epcot Food & Wine Festival.

I have to say I was blown away by the food on the five-course meal, from the black cod cooked sous vide to the fourme d'ambert cheese served with dots of Minus 8 vinegar and nitrogen-frozen golden beet dip-in-dots. Even when a more traditional course came along - the grass-fed beef tenderloin is a good example - the science fiction melded with the conventional. All paired well with the Ruffino wines, an even more difficult task with such a wide variety of cooking styles.

After the dinner, I got to chat briefly with English. He says he struggles to balance the newer forms of cooking with more traditional expectations, especially at a restaurant that for all purposes is based in a theme-park setting.

"It's like anything, like the latest in technology and music or the latest in technology and fashion," English says. "Whatever it is, I believe in staying current to a point, but also in staying true to who you are.

"But it doesn't mean that you and I don't like to go to Mama's Trattoria and get a great bowl of Bolognese. Nothing makes me happier. That still needs to be the foundation of who we are as a country."

The latest venture for English, who says he dines at Bern's Steak House in Tampa when he comes to the area to tape his HSN segments: a new restaurant with northern Italian cuisine at Il Lugano Hotel & Residences in Fort Lauderdale.

ORLANDO DOES TUSCANY

Speaking of wine dinners, I also attended the Antinori event at the Tuscan-themed Fiorella's restaurant inside the new Westin Imagine Orlando hotel adjacent to the Orange County Convention Center.

The Antinori winery in Italy has been in family operation for more than 600 years. A recent "60 Minutes" segment focused on Albiera, Allegra and Alessia Antinori, the daughters of label president Marchese Piero Antinori, who run the winery.

Pairing roasted veal tenderloin and home-style polenta with a glass of Antinori's Bolgheri Tenuta Guado al Tasso 2006, executive chef Richard Mendoza found a perfect balance for the course. His prosciutto-wrapped shrimp with Gorgonzola cheese, fava beans and Chianti butter was a delicious, earthy take on the home-style scampi dish.

One more cool detail about the art deco-style hotel: Every room at the hotel features a kitchenette or kitchen. Another: Stewart Smith, the Westin's food and beverage director, previously worked at the Renaissance Tampa Hotel at International Plaza.

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