Gulf Coast Waterfront Restaurants

TAMPA, FLORIDA - The 4th Annual Polished Palate International Rum Festival takes place in Ybor City again this March!  Judges for the annual Rum Competition will once again sit through 2 grueling days of tasting and rating dozens of rums.

New to our panel this year is Tampa’s own Jeff Houck, who covers food life for the Tampa Tribune’s Baylife Magazine.  Jeff’s 'The Stew' won Best Blog for 2008. With a reputation for sacrilege, satire and spirited debate, Rum evangelist Capn Jimbo of The Rum Project brings his singular style to the tasting panel. Bill Dowd of Dowd on Drinks lends his expertise to the competition. Bill's column is distributed by the New York Times and Hearst news services throughout the US. Judges…start your motors ‘rumming’!

With its unique ambiance, tin ceiling and ornate floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking  ‘La Setima’ (nation’s ‘Top 10 Streets’ 2009), Teatro on Seventh is the site of this year’s Rum Tasting Dinner on Thursday March 26. Guests will enjoy a Tasting Reception & 3-course dinner infused with RUM!  Mix, mingle & meet our judges. Taste Tommy Bahama, Prichard’s, Diplomatico & Ron Barcelo rums. Master of Ceremonies Ian Williams, Author, TV & Radio Pundit, editor of Rum Pundit speaks legends about the demon RUM!  Included are VIP Admissions to the Main Event. Read Teatro Review Here.

The Annual Rum Festival Main Event takes place at The RITZ Ybor on Saturday evening, March 28 from 6:30-10PM.  VIP hour begins at 6:30 with General Admissions beginning at 7:30. VIP guests receive Goody Bags, reserved seminar seating (while supplies last) and specialty cuisine with more in store.  Taste dozens of multiple-award winning rums from around the world such as Cuca Fresca Cachaca and their newest Ready To Serve Caipirinhas, Ron Botran, Blanco Aguardiente, Beleza Pura Cachaca, Khukri Rum from Nepal and more. A silent auction featuring rare and hard-to-find items will benefit the Sky Ranch Foundation.  Purchase Admissions Here

Guests of Polished Palate events have been bidding on items at our Silent Auctions benefiting the Sky Ranch Foundation since our first event and, while doing so, have added much needed funding for the outstanding rehabilitative work done at Sky Ranch For Boys.  The Foundation hosts fundraisers, such as the spectacular dinner generously hosted by Bacardi USA at their Headquarters in Miami last week. On March 1 in Las Vegas, in association with the American Beverage Licensees Convention and the very popular Nightclub & Bar Show, Sky Ranch hosts its 18th Annual Hall of Fame Dinner at the newly remodeled Monte Carlo Hotel & Casino

The Hall of Fame dinner honors those individuals whose personal and business achievements have made an important contribution to the united efforts of the alcohol beverage industry, providing quality care for the troubled teens at Sky Ranch for Boys.  This year’s honorees include Larry Ruvo, Southern Wine & Spirits of Nevada, Paul Houston, Beam Global Wine & Spirits, Ralph Levine, Metro NY Package Stores Association and Dori Bryant, Polished Palate.  This distinction sits at the top of of my achievements and could not have happened without the generosity of our guests, the spirits companies & the individuals who donate their resources. Thank you Sky Ranch supporters

We recently hosted a Spirits of Mexico Tasting at Chef Tom Pritchard’s 1200 Degree Roast held at the Coliseum in St. Pete.  Casa 1921 Cream won Best of Category at the Annual Spirits of Mexico Festival in San Diego 2008 and was a crowd favorite.  Corrido Cristalino combined exceptionally with Chef Tom’s very own spunky (understatement) Sangrita recipe and Corrido Extra Anejo languored nicely in the Corrido-supplied Riedel Stemware (both took home Gold Medals).  Del Maguey’s certified organic Crema de Mezcal is a departure from traditional Mezcal with its hint of agave syrup. Smokey yes, as one would anticipate, but with notes of vanilla and pear; along with that creamy texture, it WOW’d. Scorpion Mezcal 5 Year Special Reserva (Gold Medalist) didn’t stand a chance at the table 1 minute after the tasting ended as it was swept away to El Jefe Chef Tom! El Gran Jubileo’s Extra Anejo won a Platinum Medal and Top Agave Spirit at Tequila.net’s Agave Challenge 2008 and our guests agreed it is a well-deserved distinction.  Chef Tom is extraordinary in the least. Read about him in the St. Pete Times: January 11  January 18  January 21

Join Davidoff & sip exceptional Guatemalan Rums celebrating the Grand Opening of Cigar Inn Midtown NYC on Saturday February 7 from 8-10PM. Info 212-750-0809

The University of Tampa Board of Counselors 2nd Annual Cigar & Mojito Social takes place Friday evening February 27. For info call Lisa Rorrer at 813-257-3582

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People who study these things tell us that restaurants have been around at least 800 years. After that much time, you’d think the mechanics of the restaurant would be pretty much set. The workings of such basic restaurant accouterments such as tables and waiters seemed well established. Not anymore. Restaurant customers, meet the future . . . interactive tabletop menus.

Interactive menus have been around for a few years. They have until recently involved placing a touchpad device on a table and having diners push buttons to see a menu and order food. These type installations seem popular in Japan. And Bytes restaurant in Canterbury, England started a touch screen menu in 2006. Bytes’ menus are at the tables as stand-alone panels, but are not integrated into the tabletop.

Adour, the upscale restaurant in New York’s St. Regis hotel, features a small wine bar with a bar top that provides touch screen menus to obtain information about wine offerings.

The uWink restaurant chain was started in California by the creator of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese, Nolan Bushnell. uWink has computer touchscreen-type devices placed at the tables that allow you to order, customize your order, and get nutritional information about your meal. After you place your order, you can play video games, take surveys or watch movie trailers while waiting for your food. uWink plans to expand into the South Florida area in the next year, so keep a lookout.

These are nice developments, but the interactive menu that really got us interested was found at Inamo, an Oriental fusion restaurant and bar in London’s West End. Inamo has taken the interactive menu a step further, making it truly a “tabletop” menu. Inamo’s interactive tabletop menu system uses projectors located above the tables to project images onto the tabletops in front of diners. The tabletop is actually a touchscreen device. Patrons touch the tabletop to activate the menu. A list of food and drink offerings appears, along with photos of each. Touching the picture of a dish enlarges the photo and gives details of the food. Touch an “Order This” button and the order is sent to the kitchen, cooked and delivered to your (very smart) table.

But wait, there’s more! Inamo allows you to choose from seven different (virtual) tablecloths, so you can set your own mood. And not only can you play games on the tabletop, you can use them to get information about the neighborhood and even call a cab. Can using these to encourage social interaction between patrons be far behind? A My Space in the real world?

Inamo was designed by English architectural firm Blacksheep, and is the brainchild of entrepreneurs Danny Potter and Noel Hunwick. The duo offers customers high-quality Asian fusion cuisine, with an emphasis on allowing patrons to customize their own dining experience via the tabletop interfaces.

All this technology is fun, but do you worry you’ll be treated like one of those annoying automated telephone menu systems? Not to worry, waiters are nearby and you can call one from your tabletop.

Will this technology eventually make waiters a thing of the past? We’re not for sure, but it could decrease the number of waiters needed. One thing that is for sure, the mechanical workings of restaurants may have been stable for 800 years, but they are changing now. Touchscreen tabletops, choosing your own virtual tablecloths, calling a cab on your table. What’s next, some exotic new-fangled menu items, maybe a saki mojito? Oh . . . seems it’s already on Inamo’s menu.

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With a grin on his face, a crown on his head and grease on his sleeves, Chef John Currence, representing the state of Mississippi, emerged from a crowd of fifteen top chefs to be crowned the King of American Seafood at the 2008 Great American Seafood Cook-Off. His dish of North Mississippi Courtboullion with Seafood Dirty Rice clinched the victory. “I really enjoyed the Cook-Off,” said Currence. “Competing with the other chefs over two days, I met so many people I enjoyed being around. It was remarkably devoid of egos. The camaraderie may be the best thing about it.”

The competition for the coveted title was held over two days, August 2nd and 3rd, at New Orleans’ Morial Convention Center. Each state was represented by a chef who either won his state’s Seafood Cook-Off, or was appointed by his state’s governor. The chefs were required to use fresh seafood from their state as the main ingredient.

This was the fifth annual Great American Seafood Cook-Off and the best so far, according to Harlon Pearce, Chairman of the Board of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, the producer of the event. “The purpose of the Cook-Off is to showcase our exceptional domestic seafood and to showcase the talents of our finest chefs,” said Pearce. As someone who wears his bias toward Louisiana chefs proudly, Pearce was quick to point out that Chef Currence was actually born in New Orleans, and “we just lent him out to Mississippi.”

The top-level sponsors of the Cook-Off were NOAA and FishWatch (a division of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, which oversees our nation’s fisheries. FishWatch’s website provides consumers with information on sustainable seafood), Michelob Brewing Company, Shell, Southwest Airlines, and Southwest Cargo. Next year’s Cook-Off is already being planned, and according to Pearce it will be “bigger and better than ever.”

The Gulf coast was well represented in this year’s Cook-Off. Mississippi sent the winner, Chef Currence, from the City Grocery Restaurant Group in Oxford, and his assistant, Chef Heath Johnson. Texas sent Mark Holley of Pesce Restaurant in Houston, assisted by William Thompson, while Louisiana sent Brian Landry from Galatoire’s Restaurant in New Orleans, assisted by Chef Heather Young, and Florida sent Andre Bienvenu of Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami Beach, assisted by Chefs Andy Saint Agnes and Hector Lopez.

The Master of Ceremonies was Chef John Besh, the 2004 King of American Seafood, and the James Beard Award winner for Best Chef of the Southeast in 2006. Besh founded four of New Orleans’ finest restaurants, Restaurant August, Besh Steak, Lüke and La Provence. Restaurant August was one of the first restaurants to reopen after hurricane Katrina, and has been named as one of the top 50 restaurants in the nation by Gourmet magazine.

Day one of the Cook-Off saw all fifteen chefs preparing a seafood dish of their choice. The starting time for each chef to begin cooking was staggered, with a new chef starting every fifteen minutes. The judges therefore received a new dish every fifteen minutes; this ensured each entry was still piping hot when it was judged. Each chef had an hour and a half to complete the dish, plate it and present it to the judges. Marc Jones, a fishing industry consultant, was the Timekeeper; an enforcer who kept a stopwatch on each competitor so no one went over an hour and a half. The tension was visible on the chefs’ faces as the clock ticked down while they scrambled to pull everything together. Several chefs’ sighs of relief were audible to the crowd when they finished in the nick of time.

Chef Besh kept the large crowd entertained with his sharp wit and good-natured taunting of the competitors. He would hover near the chefs who were on the clock, looking over their shoulders and describing the actions to the crowd. His explanations of how a chef was preparing a dish were both enlightening and hilarious. At one point, he tried to instigate a trash talking battle between the chefs from North Carolina and Kansas, but neither chef fell for his taunts, preferring to laugh along with the crowd at the obvious ploy.

Besh, being a Louisiana native, played up the hometown advantage enjoyed by New Orleans native Brian Landry of Galatoire’s, who took second place in the Cook-Off. Friends and family of Landry were numerous and vocal. Did the supporters help, or did that just put more pressure on Landry? “Oh, they definitely helped. Knowing they were here to support me made me more relaxed,” said Landry.

The chefs prepared a plate for each of the six judges, two more plates for a display area that allowed the crowd a close look, and another plate for media tasting backstage. (Being in the media has its moments).

The judges had the envious job of tasting each of the fifteen dishes. They also had the not so envious job of picking five dishes as the best of the day. The top five were determined on a points system, where each dish was given a numeric grade. Those five chefs were the finalists, and returned on day two to battle each other for the title.

At the end of day one, with all the chefs onstage, the finalists were announced. Three of the five were Gulf Coasters: Currence, Holley and Landry. The other two were Tafari Campbell, two-time winner of the Maryland Seafood Cook-Off, from the Chevy Chase Club, and Paul Anders of Colorado, from Sweet Basil Restaurant in Vail.

Chef Andre Bienvenu from Joe’s Stone Crab, whose first day dish featured Florida lobster, stone crab and shrimp, was disappointed he didn’t make the final cut, but said he has learned, after competing in many cook-offs, “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. You just have to have fun.” There was a miscommunication on the rules about when he could send his plate to the judges, “So my lobster ended up being overcooked. The judges said everything else was great.”

One comment heard over and over from the chefs was how well everyone got along. “I enjoyed all the chefs around me. Everyone was very polite, very respectful. No one bragged about how great they were,” said Bienvenu.

Day two had a different format. The chefs were split into two groups. The finalists were on one side of the arena, while the remaining ten chefs were on the other.

While the finalists were cooking up their entries on day two, the other ten chefs returned and gave the crowd a treat. Each chef cooked up a dish that was served to the audience. Dishes from Alaska razor clams to Florida snapper and stone crab were generously dished out to all who wanted. Day two also started with Chef Besh bringing out another M.C. to accompany him, Charmaine Neville, head of the Charmaine Neville Band, and member of New Orleans’ legendary first family of funk, the Nevilles. Charmaine regaled the audience with her down home New Orleans stories and her folksy charm.

On the other side of the auditorium, the five finalists had to prepare a home-style dish that was both nutritious and practical for any home-cook to prepare. In addition, there was an Iron Chef type element: mystery ingredients not revealed to the chefs until immediately before the start of day two’s cooking. The mystery ingredients to be used were as follows: a choice of one of three different Michelob beers, and peanuts (in honor of sponsor Southwest Airlines, of course).

Chef Holley was the first chef up. He decided on cooking Texas Gulf shrimp deglazed with tequila, with tomato relish, prickly pear gastrique, black beans, and hominy arepas.

Next up was Chef Landry, who assembled a Shrimp and Andouille Cassoulet, using Louisiana shrimp and andouille sausage, which was smothered in a white bean casserole.

Following was Chef Campbell, who presented Pan Roasted Glazed Rockfish with Peas and Carrots, which included a sauce combining veal sauce, red wine and mushrooms.

Chef Currence then made his North Mississippi Courtboullion with Seafood Dirty Rice, using fresh Gulf shrimp, Mississippi redfish, and Gulf crabmeat.

The final entry was Chef Anders’ creation of Colorado Striped Bass Panzanella with crispy eggplant.

Each of the dishes was gorgeously presented (and mighty tasty). Each of the finalists’ score from their day two dish was combined with the score from day one to decide the King of American Seafood. In the end, Chef Currence’s Courtboullion carried the day, making him the 2008 King of American Seafood. He was presented with a crown worthy of his title, which was placed upon his head by Chef Besh. The crown proved to be a little awkward, as it kept trying to fall off. Chef Currence tried to take it off and just hold it by his side, but each time he did, the crown was immediately placed back atop his head by the other chefs or the admiring audience. Such are the burdens of royalty!

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At the same time, the Summit features the latest culinary trends in Japan and will promote Japanese cuisine to the rest of the world. This event also highlights the relationship between food and nutritional sciences. A portion of the Summit's proceeds will be donated towards food relief for impoverished children throughout the world.

Starting from 10,000 yen (about $100 U.S dollars) per day, the admission covers multiple lectures and demonstrations by prominent chefs from around the world, cooking shows using the latest tools and Japanese cuisine tastings. The featured chefs will represent various culinary fields such as French, Italian Spanish and Japanese.

Guest Chefs Include:

France:  Joël Robuchon, Pierre Gagnaire, Jacques Puisais, Bruno Menard, Hervé This
Spain: Ferran Adrià, Juan Mari Arzak, Andoni Luis Aduriz, Grant Achatz, Nobuyuki Matsuhisa
Italy: Massimiliano Alajmo
UK: Heston Blumenthal
Australia: Tetsuya Wakuda
Japan: Kunio Tokuka and Seiji Yamamoto.

Tokyo has always been known for an array of fine restaurants and cuisine with an emphasis on seasonality of food, quality of ingredients and presentation. Sushi, tempura, oden, soba, yakitori and unagi are just a small sampling of the Japanese diet. These foods have earned worldwide acclaim as healthy and popular cuisine.

For more information on this unforgettable culinary experience, please visit tokyotaste.net/.

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