Come on down to Black Friday Theater

Those idiots you read about going out for Black Friday shopping in the middle of the night?

I'm one of them.

For the past few years, a few family members and I have made it a tradition in the wee hours after Thanksgiving to make our way to the malls and superstores that grace our fine region.

Our cover story: We're getting a jump on our holiday shopping.

The reality: We're there mostly to watch the human theater.

My wife and I used to do this when our son was small, using the excuse of wanting to find hard-to-get toys. For the most part, this became a well-intentioned fib deployed to cover the fact that we wanted to people-watch.

What I soon discovered was that it was the one day during the holiday season where people were genuinely pleasant and happy in a retail setting. I guessed it was because they were there on purpose. No one accidentally shops at 5 a.m.

Last year, we were intrigued by the idea of hitting the Midnight Madness event at Prime Outlets at Ellenton. If you're going to be up at 5 a.m., you might as well make the situation worse, I reasoned.

As a visual buffet, it did not disappoint.

The line of traffic off I-75 extended for miles. There were lots of shoppers walking around in pajamas that did not flatter. (Candy cane stripes, for the record, are not slimming.) And there were plenty of fascinating spending rationalizations to be overheard. It was a strange and surprisingly wonderful sensory overload.

So, you know, I was hooked on the whole outlet mall experience.

Then a couple of months back, I was in Orlando to cover an event and saw another Prime Outlets location adjacent to Interstate 4 on International Drive, just a bit north of Walt Disney World.

Only this one had a restaurant.

Vinito Ristorante opened in the mall earlier this year, offering fine Italian dining in a casual atmosphere.

During dinner with a friend there, I met managing partner Joe Palladino, who told me that the idea was to give shoppers a chance to have a nice dinner or lunch without having to leave the plaza or take their chances at the food court.

I have to say, the food was amazing. My pan-seared scallops with garlic-sauteed spinach ($15.99) were cooked perfectly. The lightly battered and sautéed Chicken Francese with linguine ($14.99) was downright decadent. And the forkful of the grilled Tuscan strip steak served with rosemary roasted potatoes and arugula salad made me wish I had a bigger stomach.

Palladino told me that the recipes from chef Rafaele Marsilio were authentic to those from his hometown in Naples, Italy, where he first learned to cook by watching his mother roll her own pasta and roast artichokes over wood fires.

Decades ago, department stores abandoned in-house restaurants as they sought to maximize space for merchandise and lower overhead. It amazes me that malls waited so long to once again use upscale dining to keep customers on the premises so they could continue spending. Ikea gets this. International Plaza and Westshore Plaza are probably the best local example of the trend. When it reaches down-market places such as Prime Outlets, that's a good sign it will continue.

For information on Vinito or reservations, call (407) 354-0404.

Tasting the Ale Festival

New World Brewery, 1313 Eighth Ave. in Ybor City, will hold its Holiday Ale Festival at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Fifty fine and rare holiday ales will be available for tasting. Tickets are $15. Call (813) 248-4969 for more details.

Last call for fruitcake haiku

The Mrs. Harvey's White Fruitcake Haiku Contest is going full-steam. Put another way:

Pithy poetry
Written about fruitcake treats
Crams my e-mail box

Again, the deadline for submissions is midnight Dec. 12. Winners will be announced in the Getaway section on Dec. 20. E-mail them to me at jhouck@tampatrib.com or mail them to Jeff Houck, 200 S. Parker St., Tampa FL 33606

All submissions should include your full name, address and phone number, and where you can be reached. A photo of yourself - or of a fruitcake you've baked - would be helpful as well.

The three best haiku authors will win a copy of "Rose's Heavenly Cakes" signed by Rose Levy Beranbaum. Amazon named it one of its top cookbooks for 2009.