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Seinfeld Visit, Shows Inspire Chef

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By JEFF HOUCK

jhouck@tampatrib.com

Published: February 25, 2009

Chefs are like you and me. They love a good sitcom.

That's why Mark Heimann, executive chef at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club, based his dinner menu for Thursday and Friday on "Seinfeld."

The meal, which will be served at the resort's Marchand's Bar & Grill, was created to salute comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who will perform at St. Petersburg's Mahaffey Theater on Friday night.

Few shows in TV history - let alone sitcoms - have featured food so heavily in their plot twists. (Fans of "Alice" and "Cheers," you can sit down now.) Who among us hasn't mimicked Elaine by comparing a hostile server to the Soup Nazi? Is there anyone eating Junior Mints who hasn't imagined dropping one into an operating room the way Kramer did?

Heimann says he hadn't realized how many food references were embedded in the show until he researched the menu. The culinary cultural references make better sense when you remember the sitcom was partly based in the booth of a diner.

During Heimann's meal, you can opt for "No Soup for You Crab Bisque," in which a lump of crab meat sits alone in the center of a soup bowl before the bisque is poured around it. One of the entrees pays homage to the "Fusilli Jerry" episode (Shrimp Fusilli, Vodka Tomato Sauce, Tuscan Sheep's Cheese). Dessert options include Chocolate Babka Bread Pudding with Espresso Sauce.

The dinner is $34.95 per person, including valet parking but excluding tax and tip. For reservations, call (727) 894-1000.

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