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CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Andrew Zelman CHIEF OFFICERS 40 Music: Tampa Bay OPERATING Blues Fest ........................... Chris Keating, Michael Wagner Music Week ................................................... 42 VP OF DIGITAL SERVICES Stacy Volhein Music: review: Tampa Bay Fest ........................... Concert ArticBlues Monkeys ..........................40 42 DIGITAL OPERATIONS COORDINATOR Music ................................................... 42 The ListWeek .......................................................... 46 Jaime Monzon Concert review: Artic Monkeys .......................... 42 Movie reviews ..................................................... 63
Some ‘safe’ ways to do NYE, p. 32.
Movie ........................................................... reviews..................................................... 63 Puzzler 66 cltampa.com
Free Will Astrology......................................... 64 Savage Love ...................................................... 69 cldeals.com Puzzler ........................................................... 66
clspace.com Savage Love ...................................................... 69 EDITORIAL POLICY — Creative Loafing Tampa is a weekly newspaper covering public issues, the arts and entertainment. In our pages appear views from across the political and social spectrum. They do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher.
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Such a ranking felt almost immoral.
A different kind of ‘best restaurants’ list, p. 21.
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THERE’S SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT BASEBALL IN TAMPA BAY. It started with a little boy dreaming of playing baseball. This boy, AL LOPEZ, became Tampa’s first Major League player, manager, and Hall of Fame inductee. Now, his rehabilitated childhood home is getting ready to welcome fans to celebrate more than 130 years of local baseball heritage. Nearly 90 professional players from Tampa will be honored, along with the people and places that shaped them. Local baseball traditions will shine at the TAMPA BASEBALL MUSEUM at the AL LOPEZ HOUSE when it opens… and stand alongside some of the best baseball towns in the nation.
AL LOPEZ
STEP UP TO THE PLATE! Please join our efforts to ensure that Tampa Bay’s baseball memories play on to inspire future generations! With six new exhibits in the works, community support means everything to our game. Your donation today at www.TampaBaseballMuseum.org will help get us to home plate. All donations will be matched 100% by a Hillsborough County Historic Preservation Grant, doubling the value of your generous contribution.
Located in Historic Ybor City P.O. Box 5421 • Tampa, FL • 33605
813.247.1434 www.TampaBaseballMuseum.org
The Tampa Baseball Museum at the Al Lopez House is owned by the Ybor City Museum Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Federal Tax ID No. 59-2274494.
8 | DECEMBER 24-30, 2020 | cltampa.com
POLITICS ISSUES OPINION
SP-C-EEN AND HEARD: SPC President Dr. Tonjua Williams looks forward to having future discussions with the faculty. STPETECOLLEGE/FACEBOOK
Hear me out
SPC faculty moves to unionize and hopes administration gets on board. By McKenna Schueler
S
t. Petersburg College faculty leaders with the United Faculty of Florida (UFF) met St. Petersburg College (SPC) President Dr. Tonjua Williams last Friday to notify the college administration of their plans to unionize and to seek voluntary recognition of their full-time faculty union, which faculty leaders say would give them a legally recognized voice at the bargaining table. “We bring a lot of valuable knowledge and experience,” Dr. Jessica Magnani, an English professor and UFFSPC faculty leader told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay on Dec. 18. “Including us in a formal way through a union, I think, would improve the college overall and the experience of our students.” Unionizing efforts by full-time faculty members at SPC began in earnest earlier this year,
after the college administration announced plans to cut the salaries of faculty and staff, and to amend annual and continuing contracts for all employees who make over $26,000 a year. According to a petition created and circulated by concerned faculty members in July, the new contracts required that faculty consent to “an adjustment or salary reduction on a temporary basis in accordance with the College’s strategic personnel plan, and based on a financial urgency, decrease in state appropriations or student enrollment, and other such factors as may adversely impact the budget and operations.” Both the announced salary cuts and contract addendum became a rallying point for faculty members, according to three UFF-SPC faculty leaders CL spoke to Friday afternoon.
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They said faculty have been given little information on how much their salaries would be reduced, for how long, and whether their salaries would eventually return to their previous levels. They also were not told what the consequences would be if they refused to sign. All in all, the petition ended up getting more than 800 signatures. While this gave the administration pause, Magnani said faculty members were “strongly encouraged” to sign the new contract addendum. “We understand that there’s a pandemic and that things are changing, sometimes by the minute,” she said. “But I think that was when we really felt like we had really been left out of the conversation.” Faculty leaders told CL they had a respectful and diplomatic discussion with Dr. Williams. But they confirmed the president had said she wasn’t ready to make a decision at that time. “She said she would consider it carefully and do some research,” Magnani said. “And so we look forward to hearing back.” When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the college told CL that Dr. Williams would
be looking into the matter further, and that the president looked forward to having future discussions with the faculty. What’s next for St. Pete College faculty According to Florida statutes, if a public employer—such as SPC—refuses to recognize an employee organization, the union has the right to file a petition with the Public Employees Relation Commission (PERC) for certification. This petition must be accompanied by signed statements from at least 30% of the college’s faculty, to indicate a “desire to be represented for purposes of collective bargaining by the petitioning employee organization”. And according to a Dec. 14 press release shared by UFF, this threshold has been met, and more. Two weekends ago, over 50% of SPC faculty submitted authorization cards and a formal petition to the Florida PERC to request that a union election be held to allow UFF to represent them in future negotiations with the Board of Trustees. In addition, over 50% of SPC faculty have also signed UFF membership cards. continued on page 10
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continued from page 9 It should be noted that this year’s attempt to unionize SPC faculty isn’t the first. In 2016, SPC faculty gathered authorization cards from over 50% of the college’s faculty to submit to the Florida PERC. Magnani, who was involved in that effort, said the faculty was unsuccessful in 2016 as a result of several factors. For one, it didn’t have as large an organizing committee that it does now, she said. Magnani and other UFF-SPC faculty leaders like associate professor Manoli Gerakios, who volunteered to return to the SPC campus to teach this fall, told CL they’re optimistic about getting voluntary recognition from Dr. Williams and securing their seat at the negotiating table. “We’re really hopeful that they will voluntarily recognize us,” Gerakios told CL. The college administration has the opportunity to recognize their union at any point in the election process up to the election day. That election date won’t be determined until PERC defines the bargaining unit and handles a few more administrative items. And doing so, Gerakios said, would be “a huge boost to morale”. His colleague, Professor Nappi agreed. “It would be a fantastic gesture of goodwill,” he said, if the college administration were to recognize their union. “It would mean a lot to us to work with them. That’s all we’ve ever asked for is to be included.”
weren’t comfortable with the idea of returning to brick-and-mortar teaching on-campus. “They’ve been great. They’ve kept everyone safe. And for that, I applaud them,” Professor Anthony Nappi told CL. “Now… for how we start going back to campus, we just want to be included in that conversation.” A wave of academic organizing In recent years, Florida has appropriately been referred to as a “hotbed” for academic organizing. Since 2018, UFF has unionized faculty at several state colleges, including: Pasco-Hernando State College, Lake-Sumter State College, College of the Florida Keys, St. Johns River State College, and now St. Petersburg College. Altogether, the United Faculty of Florida (UFF) now represents over 20,000 faculty members and graduate assistants at 28 state colleges and public universities across the state, in addition to faculty at Saint Leo University. UFF represents full-time faculty members. The union is a local affiliate of the Florida Education Association. SEIU Faculty Forward, a union that represents part-time faculty, has also been hard at work organizing thousands of Florida faculty members in the last few years. This includes adjuncts at SPC and other state institutions like Valencia College in Orlando—where adjunct faculty members have protested pay cuts, lack of job security, and unsafe working conditions over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Higher education—like many other public sectors—has been hard-pressed to accommodate the economic impact of the coronavirus. Namely, what we know of its effects on the budgets of Florida’s chronically underfunded public education institutions. You might recall the University of South Florida (USF), for example, toying with the idea of gutting its College of Education’s undergraduate programs earlier this year, earning a strong, oppositional reaction from the general public. The university has since reconsidered. And unfortunately, these cuts from the state aren’t new. Public education advocates and educators have long bemoaned Tallahassee’s failure to adequately invest in their teachers, students, and institutions. Between 2008 and 2017, state funding for Florida’s higher education institutions fell 20%, according to the Center on Budget Policy and Initiatives. But according to UFF-SPC faculty leaders, it was really the moves made by the college administration earlier this year that drove their unionizing effort. “If those pay cut announcements had not been made in July, we probably wouldn’t be here right now,” Magnani said.
“Florida has been referred to as a ‘hotbed’ for academic organizing.”
St. Petersburg College faculty looking for a seat at the table According to UFF-SPC faculty leaders, what they’re really looking for is a seat at the negotiating table. Forming a union isn’t intended to be a combative effort, they said, but rather an opportunity for collaboration with the college administration. Having union representation would allow SPC faculty to negotiate with the college and at a legislative level as a collective, legally-recognized voice. As demonstrated by academic unions statewide, a faculty that is unionized gains the power to negotiate for things such as annual salary raises, tuition reimbursements, affordable healthcare benefits, paid sick leave, and fair office hour requirements. And as state colleges and universities face likely budget cuts for the next fiscal year, forming a union would give faculty the ability to sit down with the administration and negotiate how those cuts could impact faculty members and their colleagues. With the pandemic, faculty is also looking to be part of the conversation regarding the administration’s reopening process. UFFSPC faculty said the college administration has generally been pretty good about providing accommodations for faculty members who
10 | DECEMBER 24-30, 2020 | cltampa.com
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Get stuck
This Tampa ER doctor got his COVID-19 vaccine. You should, too. By Jason Wilson, MD
L
ess than a year ago, I had no idea that a novel coronavirus had emerged. Today, I’ve taken care of hundreds of patients with that virus, redesigned an emergency department to safely care for patients with and without COVID-19, helped roll out 3D printed swabs to make up for a short supply of test kits, studied numerous potential viral therapeutics, found ways to virtually care for COVID-19 patients using wearable monitoring devices and telemedicine, and worked daily to show that data from our local community demonstrates that masks save lives and that we should stay out of crowded, indoor bars, restaurants and nightclubs when case numbers are high. Editor’s note: Jason W. Wilson, MD is a clinical emergency medicine physician and critical medical anthropologist at Tampa General Hospital and the University of South Florida. Follow @tampaERdoc on Twitter, and read the full version of this op-ed via cltampa.com/magazine. I can even hold my own speaking in R0 (pronounced “R-naught”) and exponential growth curves. Most stunningly though—less than a year after the SARS-CoV-2 virus was genetically sequenced—I have received my first dose of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. If given the chance, I think you should, too. Here’s why.
and rent—would help small business owners, workers and the unemployed make decisions that protect us all. Vaccinations shouldn’t be political Equating mask requirements to an assault of freedoms, political rhetoric and disinformation are all weapons that could doom a large-scale rapid vaccine distribution campaign even before it ramps up. Couple that with more factors—historical racism, trust of science, the vulnerability of undocumented residents, plus those weary of healthcare and “Big Pharma”—and you risk falling short on the herd immunity vaccines are supposed to help us reach so we get back our lives and stop this suffering. In other words, while vaccine distribution may be political, we must ensure that vaccination remains medicine, allowing public health experts to speak loudest, tamping down on
Essential workers and vulnerable populations don’t have the same option The risk for who gets infected and who does not is partly structural and partly cultural (driven unnecessarily by heated political rhetoric and disinformation). Some people can stay at home, often struggling through web meetings, or with kids that have opted out of “brick-andmortar” for the year. Some of you have kids—like my 11-year-old currently playing Xbox—on a mandatory two week quarantine after being exposed to another positive student. Healthcare workers never could opt for safer at home, but have better access to PPE than other workers also deemed essential for service (some of whom are simultaneously deemed less essential for protection). Essential workers cannot choose to stay home. We need food and groceries, and incomes must be earned. Those essential workers are both at higher risk for contracting COVID-19, but also for transmitting the virus because of survival decisions that mean showing up to work even after exposure. Those same essential workers may also return to life in densely packed houses. A second relief package—especially one that gives workers the tools (read: money) to stay home and not have to go out to earn a living to pay for food
mom may convey benefit to an infant by passing antibodies through the placenta and breast milk.
Almost everyone should get a COVID-19 vaccination Unless you have had a significant allergic reaction to vaccines in the past. Eventually, there may be different vaccines best suited to different individuals, but right now mRNAbased vaccines are what is available and what I received. Some should get the vaccine before others (healthcare workers, long term care facility residents, EMS workers, teachers, and then older, more vulnerable people, further stratified by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines).
What happened in the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine study? Phase three clinical trials are the big studies that directly test a new drug against a placebo. On Dec. 10, the study for the Pfizer vaccine was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Over 21,000 people received the vaccine; about the same number received placebo. The trial didn’t examine whether a person gets COVID-19 or not, but whether a person gets sick from COVID-19 (this is why we still need to wear masks for now, even if we’re vaccinated). Instead, participants were followed after receiving vaccine and were tested for coronavirus if they had COVID-19 symptoms. The mRNA technology alone was a moon-level landing breakthrough, but the results themselves matched the rigorous scientific awe! In the placebo—the group of people who did not get vaccine—169 people got sick with COVID-19. Among those who received the vaccine, only nine developed COVID-19 symptoms and a positive test. In layman’s terms, this means the vaccine was 95% effective in the phase three trial. But it gets better.
What about pregnant women and the COVID19 vaccine? We don’t have a lot of data since kids, pregnant, and lactating women are routinely excluded from clinical trials. However, the CDC and the American College of Gynecology (ACOG) have both stated that the vaccine can be administered to pregnant and breastfeeding women and should be offered. If anything, an mRNA vaccine that leads to antibody production in a
C/O JASON WILSON, MD
OP-ED
information that takes away from the clear message.
12 | DECEMBER 24-30, 2020 | cltampa.com
HE’S GOT TWO EYES: Jason Wilson, MD is ready to bust myths about the COVID-19 vaccine.
Digging into the weeds a little more, the noted similarities are not in the area of the protein where our antibodies will attack. Myth busted!
C/O JASON WILSON, MD
LITTLE PRICK: Disinformation is the enemy when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines. Of those in the trial who had severe COVID19—requiring hospitalization, ICU level care and oxygen support, aka the really sick people — nine were in the placebo group and only one was in the vaccine arm. Clearly, this vaccine prevents people from getting sick from COVID19. Data released for the Moderna vaccine looks similar. Since the mRNA vaccines do such a good job of preventing symptomatic COVID19, even those who’ve already had COVID-19 should be vaccinated. The mRNA in this vaccine won’t become part of your genome The mRNA is outside the cell nucleus (the inner rubber part of the baseball where the sausage making of DNA takes place). But what about all of these cells floating around with spike protein? How long will you be making this spike protein? Well, it turns out that eventually your very own cells that are making spike protein are also signing their own death warrants because that very spike protein will lead your body to come hunting for those cells as well when seeking out COVID-19 virus to destroy. In short, you won’t churn out weird spike protein cells or keep spike protein instructions around forever (this is why we still don’t know if the built in memory immunity your body gains will be enough to forgo future vaccine doses).
The COVID-19 vaccine does not cause infertility I try not to engage too much in dispelling BS (because you just end up with more mounds of BS), but the nonsense that this vaccine can cause infertility must be shut down now before the rabbit hole continues to grow wider. This is an especially harmful form of disinformation because there are so many women of reproductive age on the frontlines who need this vaccine. The “logic” of the nonsense goes like this: A former Pfizer employee (who last worked there in 2011, but not on vaccines) notes that spike protein has some similar mRNA sequences with a broader group of proteins that support cell adherence (the process by which cells form contacts with each other). One of those similar proteins is found in humans and promotes placental growth. Keep following me. The “logic” behind the nonsense then says that since the mRNA sequences have similarities, the mRNA vaccine will cause infertility. Idaho is a state and New York is a state, so, they are basically the same, right? Wrong. That nonsensical line of thinking falls apart pretty quickly and most easily by looking at reality. There have been millions of cases of COVID-19, but no corresponding infertility epidemic in the real world.
What about side effects and the general safety of the mRNA vaccine? As I sit here writing after my first dose, I am already developing some protection—and a little arm soreness—against COVID-19, and that protection will soar after I receive the second dose in 21 days (it’s 50% effective after dose one and 95% effective after the second dose administered 21 days later). Let’s turn to the data we have—and some personal experience. Side effects are mostly benign and seem more likely to occur after the second dose when the body is more primed to mount an inflammatory response. In fact, healthcare professionals may stagger second doses among our workforce in anticipation of some fatigue and, less commonly, low grade fevers after the injection. On the day after I received my first dose, it felt like I got punched in the arm. In a completely unscientific poll conducted by a colleague of the other docs who received the vaccine with me, three of us had arm soreness, two docs felt completely fine and one, who had COVID-19 previously, developed some pain, skin sensitivity and a headache at the 24 hour mark—48 hours later, all symptoms have resolved. That’s it. I had no redness, no fever, no nausea, nothing else. Like me, most people (84%, data says) will report some pain at the injection site while only about one in 20 will have any redness or swelling. One in six people may have a low-grade fever after the second dose while half feel a little tired. Symptoms like diarrhea and vomiting occurred about the same amount in the vaccine and placebo arm (about one in 50 people).
Minority enrollment, trust and transparency Minority enrollment was an important part of the vaccine study — 10% of participants were African-American and 26% were Hispanic/ Latino. In addition, the first person to receive the Pfizer vaccine after the FDA’s emergency use authorization was a Black nurse in New York City, Sandra Lindsay. With the atrocities of Tuskegee and the horrible record of gynecological experimentation on enslaved Black bodies still in the rearview mirror, this representation of people of color is important. But will that be enough to gain trust in the vaccine? Florida Shots—a free, statewide, centralized online immunization information system— will help monitor who has been vaccinated. Monitoring vaccination information and linking names and personal information creates worries that undocumented people may be scared away because they’re willing to take the risks of COVID-19 and transmission to family over the fear of deportation. There are no easy answers to the long history of exploitation against those with less power than governments and corporate conglomerates. Recognizing these issues and attempting transparency is a start. Disinformation and histories of structural violence are complicated. Again, you should definitely get vaccinated if you have the chance In sum, the message around COVID-19 vaccination can remain simple, persistent and consistent. The best available data demonstrates that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer (and Moderna) are safe and effective. Almost everyone should plan to take some version of the COVID-19 vaccine when the time comes for you to choose. If you are not in the first wave group—those getting vaccinated before Jan. 1—go get your flu shot right now and help prevent a “twindemic.” We don’t need a flu surge on top of this ongoing COVID-19 surge. Plan for two doses of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine (21 days apart) or the Moderna vaccine (28 days apart) and get the same brand of vaccine at dose one and dose two. Keep wearing your mask, keep maintaining social distance and avoid crowded indoor spaces. Help your healthcare workers help you and help this society get past a horrible pandemic. There will likely be no cost to anyone receiving the vaccine for the foreseeable future. We will struggle with the disinformation if we do not start battling back with the set of facts that arise from reality. Disinformation drives fear and fear leads to the symbolic transformation and heated rhetoric we have witnessed among masks. Vaccines cannot become the new mask!
“There are no easy answers to the long history of exploitation against those with less power...”
Does the COVID-19 vaccine cause Bell’s palsy? Bell’s palsy is a neurological condition that, oddly, paralyzes half of the face but usually resolves. Not surprisingly, internet myth makers have picked up on four cases of Bell’s palsy that occurred in the vaccine group of the Pfizer study, claiming that the COVID19 vaccine causes Bell’s palsy—but there is no evidence for this. There were 21,000 people in the phase three Pfizer study who got the vaccine. Bell’s Palsy occurs normally—on it’s own in about 25 out of 100,000 people— meaning we expected there to be five cases of Bell’s palsy in the vaccine group. Certainly we can ensure that this math stays true, but, for now, that’s another myth debunked.
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Have a seat
Tampa says $500 fines possible for repeat COVID-19 violations. By Colin Wolf
L
ast week, in an effort to crackdown on local business owners who ignore social distancing and mask orders, Tampa Bay leaders announced a new regional effort to combat the recent surge in coronavirus cases. The Dec. 17 virtual meeting, which involved City of Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard, Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioner Patricia Kemp, and Pinellas County Commissioner Pat Gerard, aimed at highlighting local efforts to curb the virus, as well as announce new punishments for local businesses who ignore mandates. On Dec. 17, the City of Tampa started to send officials out to enforce the city’s mask mandates at local businesses, as well the two Dec. 16 expansions of Hillsborough County ordinance, which now ban packed dance floors, and loitering at bars and restaurants. As it stood, folks inside Hillsborough businesses had to wear masks or face coverings when they were unable to practice social distancing, but there was an exception for people eating or drinking. The change, which went into effect on Dec. 16, says folks must also be seated—not standing—if they want to take off their mask to eat or drink. On Dec. 17, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said repeat offenders can receive a civil citation and a fine up to $500, or a 2nd degree misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $500. On Dec. 18, officials told CL that MacDinton's in South Tampa, and Ybor City's King Corona, Mojito House and The Purple Heart, all received $150 fines. On Dec. 17, Commissioner Patricia Kemp reiterated the 5-2 decision by the board to expand mask restrictions and tighten up on bars and nightclubs.
Pinellas County leaders also pledged to crackdown on violators. “Well, there is no issue that is more regional or nationally that’s on our mind right now,” said Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard, who added that officials will be out looking for local business violating mandates. “We in Clearwater, as the other cities, are not tolerating people who are breaking the ordinances,” said Hibbard. “We are going to be out there looking for the bad actors, we hope for voluntary compliance.” Pinellas County Commissioner, Pat Gerard discussed a recent report from Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri that showed 40% of bars weren’t following the county order. “We have new signs off in bars and restaurants. And you know, we’re going to be enforcing it if people can’t behave, said Gerard. "We’re actually having a lot of people ask us to enforce the more stringently this ordinance that we’ve had in place for months.” St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman added that the city has already issued 189 citations. “We want our businesses to be able to stay open,” said Kriseman. “We want our people to continue to be employed and the easiest way to do that is to follow the rules in St. Petersburg, we’ve been enforcing the ordinance.” The Dec. 17 announcement brings Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties closer to having similar restrictions. Both counties now require masks to be worn indoors at businesses, and only allow patrons to remove masks when seated. Both counties now also ban congregating on dance floors.
LOCAL NEWS
MICHAEL JOHNSON
THANKS, BUD: A new Hillsborough ordinance says you must be seated to take off your mask and drink.
16 | DECEMBER 24-30, 2020 | cltampa.com
The worst people of 2020 (who aren’t Trumps) Part 2: Deniers and shitheads. By Jeffrey C. Billman
W
elcome to part 2 of the Worst People of the Worst Year Ever (who aren’t named Trump). In part 1, we lifted our leg on the seditionists who undermined democracy and the authoritarians who made a mockery of the constitution. To cap off our rogues gallery, this installment raises a glass (of antifreeze) to the criminally negligent COVID-19 deniers and a potpourri of shitheads we’d just as soon drop off the face of the earth.
significant change “in the frequency of unwanted sexualized comments from customers,” and 25% said they “have experienced or witnessed” increased sexual harassment. Adding insult to injury, 83% said they’ve seen their tips decline, and 66% said they’ve seen their tips decline by at least half. Folks, this isn’t hard: If you can’t dine out in-person without being a cheapskate superspreader dick, get takeout. The reopen assholes For a brief moment this spring, we all seemed to understand that this new, unknown virus demanded a serious response despite the economic hardship. The consensus lasted about a month. By late April, the same rich assholes who ginned up the Tea Party were fomenting the ReOpen movement, an astroturf rebellion egged on by the president that aimed to turn a public health crisis into a political opportunity by charging swing-state Democratic governors with tyranny. In North Carolina, some ReOpeners marched through downtown Raleigh with rifles, then went to Subway. In Michigan, heavily armed protesters stormed the Capitol menacing lawmakers. Later, militia members plotted to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. (Honorable mention: Though they cleared the low bar of not facilitating Trump’s coup, Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and House Speaker Lee Hatfield refused
Group 3. Deniers Dr. Scott Atlas Few people provided pseudoscientific cover for Donald Trump’s sociopathic indifference to the pandemic like Atlas, a radiologist who fell into Trump’s orbit via (what else) appearances on Fox News and eventually became his special COVID-19 adviser by telling Trump what he wanted to hear—herd immunity, open everything, masks don’t work, etc. Atlas had no training in infectious diseases or public health, yet the White House took his quackery seriously. We’ll never know how many people died because of it. Florida Gov. Ron Desantis Nowhere has DeSantis’s leg-humping obsequiousness toward Trump been more apparent than with the coronavirus, which has killed more than 20,000 of his state’s residents. Following Trump’s lead, DeSantis dismissed the virus’s dangers. His health department stopped talking about it. He forbid local governments from enforcing mask mandates and capacity restrictions. He reopened businesses in early May and boasted of how he’d tamed the pandemic without “draconian orders.” (Two months later, Florida was the virus’s global epicenter.) His minions (allegedly) fired an analyst who refused to manipulate COVID-19 numbers, then the state cops raided her house. He hired an Ohio sports blogger and COVID-19 conspiracy theorist as a data analyst. He blocked newspapers and academics from accessing records and hid federal warnings ahead of Thanksgiving. And I’d be remiss not to mention that DeSantis wants to give the state’s George Zimmermans license to kill anyone they think might vandalize a business. What could go wrong? Pandemic restaurant diners Sure, you’re fine—you sit outside, respect the waitstaff, tip well, and mask up. But you’re in the minority. A recent survey of hospitality workers in New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., not only showed that food service workers are at greater risk of COVID-19 exposure, but 41% noticed a
Group 4. Shitheads Jeff Bezos More than 20 million Americans are on unemployment assistance, and an eviction crisis looms. But in the first seven months of this national emergency, the net worth of America’s 614 billionaires grew by $931 billion, and none more than Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, who added more than $90 billion to his fortune, nearly doubling his wealth. (The U.S. government spends $68 billion a year on food stamps.) At the same time, he hired Pinkerton spies to prevent his low-wage warehouse workers from organizing. Just because Trump hates him doesn’t mean he’s a good guy. (Honorable mention: Elon Musk, whose net worth jumped 277% during the pandemic, responded to California’s COVD restrictions by moving to Texas. Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth nearly doubled while his website facilitated right-wing disinformation. And the rich, who should be eaten.) U.S. Sen. Richard Burr Being chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee means you know things before everyone else— and if you’re North Carolina’s Richard Burr, a chance to profit from other people’s misery. On Feb. 13,
with his committee receiving top-secret coronavirus briefings—and just a few days after Burr co-authored an op-ed assuring Americans that the government had everything under control—Burr dumped up to $1.7 million in stock holdings, most of his net worth; that same day, his brother-in-law unloaded up to $280,000 in stocks. A week later, the market crashed. Burr is now under federal investigation. (Honorable mention: No list would be complete without Mitch McConnell, who broke his own made-up rule to ram through the Supreme Court confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett without blinking at the blinding hypocrisy.) Paula White It’s only fitting that Donald Trump’s “spiritual adviser” is a private-jet-setting, prosperity-preaching charlatan who loves the Lord almost as much as the donation plate. Paula White earned her place on this list the day after the election when, in a live-streamed service at her Florida church, she babbled incoherently—sorry, “spoke in tongues”—while calling on “angelic reinforcements” to ensure Trump’s “victory.” “I hear a sound of victory,” she said. “The Lord says it is done. For angels have even been dispatched from Africa right now. ... In the name of Jesus from South America, they’re coming here.” Guess they got lost. Get more Informed Dissent delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe today at billman. substack.com.
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INFORMED DISSENT
to ban weapons in the Capitol, with Shirkey calling it “cowardly” to not want to be shot while doing your job. And hours after the kidnapping plot against Whitmer came to light, Shirkey and Hatfield appeared at an anti-Whitmer rally.)
HUMPTY HUMP: Nowhere has DeSantis’s obsequiousness toward Trump been more apparent than with the coronavirus.
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Shit Happened
KNIGHTPARADE/FACEBOOK
As expected, Tampa’s Gasparilla ‘Knight Parade’ gets officially postponed until this spring. Don’t worry, Tampa Bay, you’ll still be able to spread the ‘rona on its new date: May 1.
Jurassic Quest, a new drive-thru dinosaur robot exhibit, announces plans to come to Tropicana Field from Jan. 1-Jan. 10. At $49 a car, it’s a better racket than rapid coronavirus testing.
WEDNESDAY 16 HAYWORTH PR
DONKEYHOTEY, CC BY-SA 2.0
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won’t call Joe Biden “President-elect,” and says “It’s not for me to do,” adding that Trump’s loss will make his own job harder. Hold on,DeSantis actually tries to do his job?
JURASSICQUEST/FACEBOOK
TUESDAY 15
TBBJ breaks the news that Pinellas Park is getting a motorcycle-themed restaurant from ‘American Chopper’ star Paul Teutul Sr. There’s a meme for that right?
THURSDAY 17 After a historic ass kicking, Hillsborough’s Ione Townsend wants a shot at running the Florida Democratic Party. There’s really no where else to go but up, so godspeed.
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BEST RESTAURANTS OF 2020 RESTAURANTS RECIPES DINING GUIDES
Comfort and joy
Bay area chefs and foodies share the plates that got them through a nightmare year. By Ray Roa What follows is not a list or a ranking by any means, but a simple look into how and where you might find a good plate of food to make you feel a little bit better about what’s still unfolding in front of us. Be well, eat well, and don’t forget to try and do more for the folks who don’t have the luxury of wondering which local restaurants they can support this week. Find a listing of the restaurants mentioned at the end of this article, and vist us at cltampa.com/magazine to find a more clickable and sharable version of this story.
Wafer thin, juicy ribeye, caramelized onions, and sharp Provolone combine in an ethereal creamy texture on a crispy Amoroso roll. Perfect for pandemic takeout—but cash only! Ferrell Alvarez Every Friday I go to Antojitos or Mi Tierra Latina for Colombian food with my pops. We always get a fresh, natural juice and then typically sancocho to eat. It’s delicious and heartwarming. The people working at those restaurants are so grateful and genuinely kind. I guess I love this place because not only is the food good, but it’s an hour and a half of family time for me in every sense, which I’m trying to focus more on these days. For that level of restaurant, Rocca is my favorite in Tampa right now. It’s thoughtful, progressive and done properly. Plus it’s relatively new, so it’s a break from the norm. continued on page 22
COVER REDEFINED: Servers meet at Seminole Heights’ Rooster & the Till in May 2020.
SKYLER JUNE C/O ROOSTER & THE TILL
I
’m not sure about you, but March 20 feels like a couple of lifetimes ago for me. That was the day Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order calling for all Florida restaurants and dining establishments to immediately suspend onsite consumption of food and alcohol. The order ushered in this new era of kitchens pivoting to takeout and/or delivery of meals and booze. Anyone paying any kind of attention to the news cycle knew the development was inevitable, and signs of the devastation coming to the local restaurant industry were already there. A week before DeSantis’ announcement, Cigar City Brewing Hunahpu’s Day—one of the biggest beer celebrations in America—canceled. Three days before that, I was on the phone with Tampa chef and James Beard Award semifinalist Ferrell Alvarez audibly choking back his sadness as he told me that Proper House Group—which oversees his restaurants Rooster & the Till, Nebraska Mini-Mart and two Gallito taquerias—was laying off 41 of 53 employees. Since that day—through some innovation, but mostly grit and an unwavering belief that a company’s employees are what makes it great—Proper House Group has been able to rehire every one of those laid off employees who wanted their job back. While other local restaurants also pivoted, with just enough success to stay afloat, that wasn’t the case for so many more. By September, as we all tried to figure out what positivity rates, new restrictions and a bungled response to COVID19 really meant for the local restaurant scene, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay alone had already counted more than 30 restaurants—including iconic Clearwater concept Café Ponte, Ybor City staple La Tropicana and 40-year-old Skipper’s Smokehouse—that shuttered doors (we’ll share more about closures in the Dec. 31 issue). To put it bluntly, it’s been a nightmare year for restaurants and the people who love them. And while CL’s food critic Jon Palmer Claridge might normally use this week to definitively name the best restaurants of the year, doing such a ranking felt almost immoral considering what’s unfolded over the last nine months. So instead, CL asked Claridge and a few local chefs and foodies to share some restaurants that got them through, well, **gestures at the entire world.**
Jon Palmer Claridge Food, like music, is intertwined with memory. It provides touchstones in life for us to hang our feelings as we move along. So, even for a food critic who now worships at the altar of truffles, there are indelible memories of hot dogs and brownies. And, for a teenage carnivore, Philly cheesesteak looms large. In years long past, I used to frequent The Philly Hoagie Shop in a strip mall on Cleveland Street. It was my introduction to this American classic and formed a base upon which all other cheesesteaks would be measured. My first column for CL back in 2012 recounts my disappointing pilgrimage to Philly to sample the iconic goods at Geno’s and Pat’s. These touchstones didn’t measure up to my boyhood benchmark. But since returning to Dunedin after a multi-decades long hiatus, I discovered Delco’s on Main Street. They do a range of subs, but the simple cheesesteak of my youth is reincarnated here.
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continued from page 21 You know I try to eat healthy, so I tend to stay away from going big on the pastas although I have tried them all, and always work my way through the menu since I go often enough, but the salads and crudos are definitely my go-tos. They also have great Italian wines and always turn me on to something new and delicious. Hands down Nikki’s favorite spot, too so I’m sure that plays a role in me going there often—lol. I go to Harvest Bowl a lot because I can grab something quick and healthy during the day on my way into Rooster. It’s hard to eat clean and quick, so this fills a good void for me. Haven and Bern’s are always in my rotation. David [Laxer, son of Bern’s Steak House’s founders, Bern and Gert Laxer], Brooke [Palmer Kuhl], Hab [Habteab Hamde], Chad [Johnson] and Courtney [Orwig] have my utmost respect and I support them at both locations. Bern’s is a huge driver for wines for us, and Haven is delicious and we love sitting outside in the courtyard.
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DJ Ku Four days after DeSantis’ March order, Tampa DJ Ku told CL that he lost his income to the coronavirus. He lamented the struggle he
A neighborhood joint I ride my bike to frequently is Swann Ave Market & Deli. I’ve had every sandwich on the menu, and they’re all amazing (highly suggest the Ultimate Turkey Bacon Melt, Gobbler, and The Gambler). Also available on Uber Eats if you don’t do the bikes. Kooky Coconut is all the way over on Indian Rocks Beach—a major hike for me—but it holds the title of my favorite Cuban sandwich at the current moment; the sandwich is made traditional Tampa style (with salami) and Kooky Coconut has nothing but outdoor seating on the beach.
JENN THAI/@THISJENNGIRL
Suzanne Crouch In April, chef Suzanne Crouch was tapped by James Beard winning chef Edward Lee to take part in the Lee Initiative’s Restaurant Workers Relief Program, which provided grant money so that Crouch’s kitchen could provides meals and provisions to laid off hospitality workers every night, for 21 days straight. A month ago, Cass St. Deli’s founding chef moved to Rocca (a hands-down favorite of 2020 among those who spoke to CL) where she’s been finding peace by making some of the finest bread and pasta in Tampa Bay. One of few amazing things to happen to the food scene during 2020 was Instagram ghost kitchens. With restaurants closing due to the pandemic, displaced chefs created guerilla home kitchens serving their own, unsolicited passions before marketing the meals on social media. Rad and delicious. My favorite is @bravojesus, home to Jesus Bravo’s most amazing queso birria tacos! My family’s go-to comfort restaurant for over a decade has been Sa Ri One Korean Restaurant. Intimate seating, absolutely no frills, just damn good food. We love to feast there, and I am pleasantly addicted to the Buldak “fire chicken”—it burns so good! Koya is ever evolving, always outstanding. While I am defiantly in the “working class” tax bracket, this restaurant is a special splurge for me. Koya is Tampa’s only Omakase restaurant. The experience alone is so worth it, and the perfection and rarity of the ingredients served makes it even better. With my mother being from Guyana, Caribbean food is in my blood. I could literally eat dhal puri and curry goat from Tara’s Roti Shop every day of my life. R.I.P. Mrs. Maraj (Tara, passed on July 20 at 76 years old). We celebrated our anniversary at Rocca in October. The food, the ambiance, the service, and the vibe were exceptional. I absolutely loved Rocca and found myself thinking of the food days later.
The quality of ingredients and technique applied is absolutely stunning. So I just had to go back! And back! I revisited Rocca about six times in less than two months. I carved out a perfect spot at the end of their bar where I would decompress after work, drink Amarone, listen to their killer playlist, and admire the restaurant’s mechanics. It is my happy place. An honorable mention in my quarantine regime goes to Bella’s Italian Café—#Netfllixandchoppedsalad, yo.
TTEOKBOKKI, TOO: Spicy stir-fried rice cakes at Sushi Ninja, which has its COVID-19 pickup procedure on lock. and his colleagues were going through, but in a way, he was OK with clubs trying to be safe. “The worst part of it all is that there’s no definitive way of knowing how long this will last,” he said at the time. Nine months later, he gets a rapid coronavirus test weekly and masks up whenever he plays a gig. As this went to press, Hillsborough County put the kibosh on congregating on the dance floor, so we’ll see how it plays out for the club scene. Thinh An Kitchen & Tofu, hands down, is the most frequent place I’ve been ordering from this year. Comfort Vietnamese food, and great price points; even with the Uber Eats delivery fees and tips, I still feel like I’m getting the best food and deal for my dollar. Renzo’s has great steaks and seafood without the pretentiousness. The spot has outdoor seating, frequent deep cleans, and is available on Uber Eats.
My man Jason Rodriguez (@clammasterjay) switches it up every week for Ol’ Dirty Sundays at Crowbar, the best Sunday party in the city. He puts his own flare on classic grill top creations like Philly cheesesteaks and cheeseburgers (often involving his own pepper medley that’s amazing). Pair that with great tunes, the above and beyond social distancing rules, mask requirements and capacity restrictions implemented by Ybor City’s mayor Tom DeGeorge—all within the outdoor setting, and what you get is the “safest” place outside of delivery I feel comfortable eating at. Chris Fernandez In May—despite having taken a huge financial hit and DeSantis’ opening of phase one—Red Mesa’s Executive Chef said he’d continue operating carryout until it was safer. That same month, Fernandez, who also opted out of St. Pete’s Fighting Chance
Fund so even harder hit businesses could have relief, re-invented his concept by introducing Red Mesa Quatro test kitchen so his team could try twists on new dishes from Cuban sandwiches to pad Thai. Ted Peters Famous Smoked Fish has been in its spot for over 60 years and was one of the first smoked fish houses in the area. For me, it’s home to one of the best fish spreads that I have had. Chef David Benstock’s Italian cuisine comes from his heart, and I can tell. All the pasta at IL Ritorno is made in house and he has great chef’s course dinners. Sea Worthy Fish + Bar has been open since around the beginning of the pandemic, which says a lot. It specializes in creative seafood dishes, and my go-to there is the secret off menu ceviche, but I also love the fried chicken sandwich. The Wheelhouse is a really cool little place with a unique selection of beers. I love their chicken wings and the Drrd Birdy (stylized “DRRDy Birdy”) sandwich. Siam Garden Thai is one of the first Thai restaurants in St. Pete. All of its curry dishes are awesome, but order the panang curry chicken and shrimp Thai spicy if you like it hot! Jenn Thai When it comes to safe dining and supporting local restaurants during the COVID19 pandemic, Jenn Thai—a Bay area blogger who posts about food and occasionally style and beauty—pretty much got takeout ordering strategy down to a science. "The less amount of contact, the better,” she wrote to Tampa Bay. Here are her picks for the top five local making ordering and picking up food a stress-free experience. Cru Cellars Palma Ceia has takeout charcuterie and cheese. Need I say more? The online ordering includes food, beer and wine kits, and you can call the restaurant upon arrival to have them bring your order to you. Must order: Cheese Curds and a Farmer’s Platter with sottocenere truffle cheese A newer-to-Tampa restaurant, Matteo Trattoria, serves fresh pastas made in-house that certainly don’t lose their luster in a takeout box. You can order online via their website and pick up quickly from the host stand. Must order: Matteo chopped salad and carbonara With online ordering and their weekly Sunday Supper offerings, Rooster & the Till has plenty of options for takeout. Good news: the fan-favorite gnocchi tastes just as delicious after a 20-minute drive back home. Must order: Smashburger and gnocchi. You’ll have to call to place your order from Sushi Ninja in Tampa, but the pickup process is seamless. They’ve got plexiglass set up nice and tall at the host stand and their sushi rolls and Korean food are always packed beautifully. Must order: Spicy tuna salad and tteokbokki (spicy stir-fried rice cakes). continued on page 26
HAPPY HOUR AT AMSO Monday - Friday, 4pm-7pm Saturday 3pm-6pm
$4, $5 & $6 Liquor, Beer & Wine $8 Hand-Crafted Cocktails cltampa.com | DEC. 24-30, 2020 | 23
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MELISSA SANTELL
EVERYTHING ROCCS: Rocca is a consensus favorite among local chefs. continued from page 22 At St. Pete’s Three Generations Food Truck, chef Melly serves delicious eats, and you can order and pay online before heading over to pick it up. It’s OK if you sit tight on the grassy lot and eat it all in your car, we’ve done it. Must order: Fried lobster, shrimp and crabby fries Antonio Santiago After training at Michelin star restaurants and under Tampa’s top chefs, Antonio Santiago—together with pastry chef Johanna Petel—is rejuvenating old flavors at Tapas Spanish Café in East Tampa. Besides knowing their food quality Rooster & the Till has been one of the most consistent restaurants when it comes to safety with everything going on. What I like about Pickford’s Counter is that besides food, you can find many other things while you’re there at the shop stocked by David Hansen. There’s enough spacing in between tables and chairs to keep distance, plus chefs Adrianna Siller and Ben Pomales are offering a modern twist on classics with non-dairy items and vegan items as well. Strandhill Public has an awesome brunch with a new chef and great atmosphere, and in St. Pete, and Wepa is serving great Puerto Rican food in an equally top-notch atmosphere. But I had one of the best nights of my life on my first vist to Flor Fina at Hotel Haya;the service was excellent, the food was great, and it all made me feel like I was back home in San Juan.
cooking products like lamb sausage, chimichurri marinated skirt steak, and brussel sprout kimchi. Brick & Mortar always has great specials, and the classics are always incredible; market fresh produce and a fun experience, Jason [Ruhe, chef] is always bringing the freshest fish. I also love Red Mesa, because anything that comes out of Chris Fernandez’s kitchen is incredible. From the appetizers to the tacos, filet, and local fish entrees, it’s the best Mexican in Tampa Bay. Wild Child is a really cool, fun new spot with lots of energy. The octopus is delicious, along with the squash and burrata, tuna tostada; the Korean fried chicken is out of control. Rob [Reinsmith]’s food is always super clean and creative. Castile has also come a long way thanks to Jeff Thornsberry who took the reins and created an amazing experience with a waterfront view. The burrata with eggplant caponata and olive oil crisped bread is insane, and the arancinis are pure perfection along with the scallop appetizer and a caviar beurre blanc. Hats off to him for what he has done to that program over there. I love the food Chef Josh [Breen] does over at Annata and Alto Mare Fish Bar. The flavors are so clean, the technique is great. The house made charcuterie is a must get, I love his crudo plate plate, and his pastas are the jam. Everything is always super-balanced with good spice, salt and sweet; it;s always fun going here to share a bunch of dishes. Chef Artem crushes at Sola Bistro, and nobody in Tampa Bay can pull off the ingredients he does. On my last visit, I had camel tartare—it was incredible. His rabbit is insanely tender, the bread is great. Staff makes you feel like family there, and you won’t leave without having an amazing experience—it’s the best hospitality on the beach. continued on page 30
“It all made me feel like I was back home in San Juan.”
David Benstock In August, IL Ritorno’s chef, in partnership with Hype Group’s Brooke Boyd, launched St. Pete Meat & Provisions a digital butcher shop that gives the community a new approach to buying restaurant-quality meats and
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MELISSA SANTELL
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The best restaurants of 2020 according to some of Tampa Bay’s most influential chefs and foodies
BRIAN MAHAR
Annata and Alto Mare Fish Bar 300 Beach Dr NE, St. Petersburg. altomarefishbar.com Antojitos Latin Cravings 2302 W Columbus Dr., Tampa @AntojitosTampa on Facebook Bella’s Italian Café 1413 S Howard Ave., Tampa bellasitaliancafe.com Bern’s Steak House 1208 S Howard Ave., Tampa bernssteakhouse.com Jesus Bravo @bravojesus on Instagram Brick & Mortar 539 Central Ave., St. Petersburg @brickandmortarkitchen on Facebook Castile 3701 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach castilerestaurant.com Cena 1120 E Kennedy Blvd. no. 112, Tampa cenatampa.com Cru Cellars Palma Ceia 2506 S MacDill Ave., Tampa crucellars.com/palma-ceia Delco’s Original Steaks and Hoagies 1701 Main St., Dunedin delcosdunedin.com Dooriban Korean Restaurant 5600 56th St. N, St. Petersburg @dooribanstpete on Facebook Edison: food+drink lab 912 W Kennedy Blvd. Tampa edison-tampa.com Flor Fina at Hotel Haya 1412 E. 7th Ave, Ybor City hotelhaya.com Harvest Bowl Eatery & Market 6109 N Florida Ave., Tampa theharvestbowl.com Haven 2208 W Morrison Ave., Tampa haventampa.com Ichicoro 5229 N Florida Ave., Tampa (with locations in Armature Works and St. Petersburg) ichicoro.com Il Ritorno and Greenstock 449 Central Ave., St. Petersburg ilritornodowntown.com and eatatgreenstock.com Independent Bar & Café 5016 N. Florida Ave. Tampa independentbartampa.com King State 520 E Floribraska Ave., Tampa king-state.com Koya 807 W Platt St., Tampa noblericeco. com/koya La V 441 Central Ave., St. Petersburg lavfusion.com Matteo Trattoria 2402 S MacDill Ave., Tampa matteotrattoria.com Mi Tierra Latina 6802 W Hillsborough Ave. no 14, Tampa @MiTierraLatinaTampa on Facebook Nebraska Mini-Mart 4815 N Nebraska Ave., Tampa nebraskaminimart.com
JAY DAY: Jason Rodriguez (@clammasterjay) during Ol’ Dirty Sundays in Ybor City, Florida in Feb. 23, 2020.
Jeffrey Jew Last month, in response to COVID-19, Jeffrey Jew pushed the opening of his new St. Pete restaurant, Lingr on 6th St, back. While Lingr—which will serve Nordic and Asian-inspired food—gets outfitted with new technology to enhance safety, Jew has opted for takeout during the pandemic, but these were some of his favorites before it all went to shit. Still, he’s optimistic. “Restaurants I can’t wait to get back to and new ones to try: Brick & Mortar, Rooster & the Till, Alto Mare, Baba, and Rococo,” Jew wrote to CL “New ones I can’t wait to try are Rocca, Wild Child, Urban Stillhouse and Sea Worthy Fish + Bar.” Here were his favorites of 2020. Dooriban Korean Restaurant has amazing flavors, is authentic and the service is great. Sushi Sho Rexley‘s service is fun and attentive, their fish is always fresh, and the presentation is the best. At Il Ritorno and Greenstock, David Benstock’s food is always full of flavor; the service is wonderful, and they were ahead of the game when the pandemic hit. Red Mesa Restaurant Group, like Benstock, saw Chris Fernandez and his team stay ahead of the pandemic and take all the steps necessary for safety; the food is always amazing. La V’s food is consistent with authentic flavors and their team is wonderful. Joe Dodd Mr. King of the Coop has been busy, and he told CL that his pandemic go-tos have been The Independent (“very friendly team, great ownership, the food and beer is awesome”), Rooster & the Till (“who doesn’t love them”),
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Wicked Oak BBQ (“I’m a sucker for their Sunday sliced brisket”), Ichicoro (“ramen done right, no frills, just great ramen”), and Saigon Deli (“definitely my favorite spot in Tampa for pho”). Rachel Bennett In February, we watched St. Petersburg chef Rachel Bennett—a 2019 James Beard award semifinalist and chef at The Library in St. Petersburg—on Guy Fieri’s “Grocery Games,” where she went to the final round. She shared her favorite restaurants of the year: Oxford Exchange, Steelbach, Cena , Edison and IL Ritorno. Eric Fralick Noble Rice and Koya’s Erick Fralick says that his wife Adriana are regulars at Rocca and Thinh An Kitchen . Editor’s note: My personal favorite of the year was King State, a neighborhood spot I can walk to—it’s home to an amazing staff and relentless mask and COVID-19 policy (the WiFi is even off to discourage hanging out), but the stars are obviously Eric Parker’s beer, the coffee and the simple, yet out of this world breakfast sandwich. When it came to a place to sit down for a meal, New World Brewery was the place I felt safest—not just because the vibe, pizza and wings remind me of the old Ybor location, but because the staff are mask nuts and ridiculously friendly. And if you want to take it easy outside, Nebraska MiniMart , with its new devotion to In-N-Out style burgers and crispy, Duke’s mayo-kissed chicken sandos, was the spot for comforting food.
DAVE DECKER
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New World Brewery 810 Skagway Ave., Tampa newworldtampa.com Oxford Exchange 420 W. Kennedy Blvd, Tampa oxfordexchange.com Pickford’s Counter 2606 W Hillsborough Ave., Tampa pickfordscounter.com Red Mesa Restaurant Group various locations redmesagroup.com Renzo’s 3644 W Kennedy Blvd., Tampa (additional locations in North Tampa and St. Petersburg) renzoeats.com Rocca 323 W Palm Ave., Tampa roccatampa. com Jason Rodriguez @clammasterjay on Instagram Rooster & the Till 6500 N. Florida Ave., Tampa roosterandthetill.com Saigon Deli 858 W Waters Ave., Tampa @ saigondeli on Facebook Sa Ri One Korean Restaurant 3940 W Cypress St., Tampa sarionegrill.com Sea Worthy Fish + Bar 1110 Pinellas Bayway S, St. Petersburg @seaworthyfishbar on Facebook Siam Garden Thai 3125 Martin Luther King Jr., St. Petersburg siamgardenthai.com Sola Bistro & Wine Bar 6700 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach solabistrostpete.com Steelbach 1902 N Ola Ave., Tampa steelbach. com Strandhill Public 309 W Palm Ave. and 10288 Causeway Blvd. in Tampa strandhillpublic.com Sushi Ninja 3018 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa sushininjafl.com Sushi Sho Rexley 214 2nd St. N, St. Petersburg rexleysushi.com Tara’s Roti Shop 10006 N 30th St., Tampa @ tarasrotishop on Facebook Ted Peters Famous Smoked Fish 1350 Pasadena Ave. S, St. Petersburg tedpetersfish. com Thinh An Kitchen & Tofu 8104 W Waters Ave., Tampa thinhankitchentofu.com Three Generations Food Truck 2830 22nd Ave. S, St.Petersburg chefmellys.com Wepa 222 22nd St. S., St. Petersburg @ WEPAsaintpete on Facebook The Wheelhouse 7220 Central Ave., St. Petersburg thewheelhousestpete.com Wicked Oak BBQ 6607 N. Florida Ave., Tampa wickedoakbarbeque.com Wild Child 2710 Central Ave., St. Petersburg @wildchild_stpete on Instagram
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cltampa.com | DECEMBER 24-30, 2020 | 31
DROP IN: Shake that 2020 energy off by riding a roller coaster at Busch Gardens.
COURTESY
Resolutions and ‘rona
Can’t stay home? Here’s what organizers are doing to keep you safe on Dec. 31. By Jenna Rimensnyder
F
inally, the light at the end of the tunnel; 2021 is around the corner, and Tampa Bay is pulling out all the stops to make sure we ring in the new year with booze, music, fireworks and even roller coasters. Here are some NYE options outlined with ways organizers are trying to keep festivities safe for guests and staff. But at the end of the day, it will be at your own discretion if crowd control is getting a little too dicey. Be smart, keep your distance and bring a mask. Snag your RSVPs, lineup your designated driver (or download a rideshare app) and prepare to give 2020 the boot. While we’re all ready to say goodbye to the dumpster fire of a year that is 2020, we can’t forget that we’re (hopefully) in the last leg of a pandemic. If you’re feeling under the weather, stay home and celebrate on FaceTime—and if you’re out, keep your mask handy, social distance and try to save your midnight kiss for someone you know and truly trust.
32 | DECEMBER 24-30, 2020 | cltampa.com
Armature Works The food hall’s third annual New Year’s Eve celebration will be pandemic party-friendly with outdoor festivities. Bring the gang to countdown 2021 and enjoy a riverfront concert and fireworks display over the Hillsborough River. General admission gets you access to satellite bars and the AW residents. VIP tickets get you prime fireworks viewing on the pier, VIP seating and tables, a private bar and restroom, a complimentary champagne toast at midnight, access to the hydration station, and a swag bag with an Uber ride pass. This year the event will be ticketed and held at less than 50% capacity to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines and social distancing. The event space can fit up to 3000-plus people, but for this event, tickets will be limited to 600. $20-$75. 8 p.m.-1 a.m. 1910 N. Ola Ave., Tampa. armatureworks.com Black Dress NYE Party Hosted by Queen B of 95.7 the Beat alongside some special guests,
attendees can party indoors or out on Nova 535 courtyard. If you’ve been dying for an excuse to dress up after all of the quarantine madness, now is your time. GA ($20) gives you access to the downstairs and the courtyard, while VIP ($40) allows you to roam upstairs. If you have a group, you can snag a table package. The event reads, “We have over 10,000 square feet of space and the best looking courtyard for those that aren’t ready to party indoors.” CL sent a message regarding capacity and the number of tickets sold to the venue’s information line and will update our web post with any news. $20-$350. 10 p.m.-3 a.m. 535 Dr. MLK Jr. St. N., St. Petersburg. nova535.com
All attendees are encouraged to wear a mask unless seated. All servers and bartenders during the event will be wearing masks for the duration of the evening. For the “buffet,” all dishes will be pre-plated for safety purposes. If needed The Blind Goat can supply any guest with a mask upon request. The restaurant says it’s hosting ample seats and tables outside. The staff will pour champagne for all attendee’s starting at 11:50 pm. The Blind Goat has stayed up to date on all COVID-19 cleaning precautions and receives bio-fogging weekly to ensure all surfaces have been sanitized properly. $75-$100. 8 p.m.-3 a.m. 4106 Henderson Blvd., Tampa. blindgoattampa.com
The Blind Goat This New Year’s Eve party is a dress to impress event, so ditch the sweats and prepare to party (maybe fix that quarantine cut).
Busch Gardens New Year’s Eve Celebration Shake that shitty 2020 energy off by riding rollercoasters like Sheikra and Tigris. The theme park will
NEW YEAR’S EVE
Don CeSar The celebration is going down in the hotel’s newly renovated lobby bar with DJ Coro and “American Idol” contestant, Kayla Ember. The event will abide by county ordinance 20-14, requiring attendees to be seated for food and beverage service, walk-up service is not permitted. All patrons must wear face coverings indoors except when seated and dining, and practicing social distancing. Table and bar seating must be spaced so that groups are separated six feet from others. Tickets begin at $75. 9 p.m. 3400 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach. doncesar.com Downtown Countdown This Glazer Museum festivity doesn’t require you to keep the kids awake until midnight to celebrate. You can, however, tire them out so the babysitter has an easier time. Let your kids explore the Glazer Museum’s elaborate family play projects, and get some lastminute playtime in at the Gingerbread Village hands-on exhibit. The interactive museum follows strict cleaning protocols, has reminders to socially distance posted throughout the space and requires masks to be worn on guests five and up. Event is included with admission. $13$15. 10 a.m.- 3 p.m. 110 W. Gasparilla Plaza, Tampa. glazermuseum.org
Fire & Ice Jackon’s Bistro is hosting this bash and will end the night with a massive firework show (same as American Social as the concepts are neighbors). Tickets include a complimentary midnight champagne toast, party favors maskand multiple balloon drops. There will also be uringa DJ on-site, special entertainment and access dura-to the restaurant’s outdoor area for some openishesair moments. The capacity has been lowered in eededorder to assist with social distancing. Masks are y anyrequired for entry and when moving about the quest.restaurant. $50-$150. 10 p.m.-3:30 a.m. 601 S. stingHarbor Island Blvd., Tampa. jacksonsbistro.com tside. agneMidnight Mask-erade The 5th Annual New Year’s ng atEve Party at Bizou returns and it has plenty of t hassafety precautions on the agenda. Masks are aningmandatory when entering the lounge, staff in kly togloves and masks as well as sanitizer stations perly.will work throughout the space. Expect fire acts, Blvd.,music, photo booths, and a champagne fountain. This event is 21 and up. $25. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. 601 N. Florida Ave., Tampa. bizoutampa.com Shake coast-Missed Holidays 2020 American Social has k willtapped DJs to spin inside and out on its patio to
get guests amped up for 2021. You’ll basically be partying to make up for all of the missed holidays throughout 2020 due to COVID-19. Tickets include an open bar from 9 p.m.-1 a.m., complimentary champagne toast at midnight as well as prime views of a massive fireworks display. The restaurant will be using QR code menus and has sanitation stations throughout the space. Additionally, minimal GA tickets are being sold to account for social distancing and there will be distanced VIP tables and sections so guests can comfortably and safely view the fireworks. A rep for told CL that, “American Social will be following all the recommended guidelines set for Tampa.” $150 until Dec. 26, $200 afterwards. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. 601 S. Harbour Island Blvd., Tampa. americansocialbar.com NYE Beach Bash Ring in 2021 with your toes in the sand. Whiskey Joe’s has two stages with live music, a champagne toast and party favors. There will also be a fireworks show at midnight. Want your own space? Reserve a six-person palapa package for an additional charge. Bring your mask and follow social distancing guidelines. $20-$25. 7 p.m.-1 a.m. 7720 W. Courtney Campbell Causeway, Tampa. thewhiskeyjoes.com
O’Briens Irish Pub Live music and cold beer await at O’Briens to ring in the new year. If you’re looking for something a little low key but still a good time, this might be your ideal NYE hangout. Seating is socially distanced, and masks are required. Free, bring money for food and drink. 8 p.m.-midnight. 15435 N. Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa. @tampaobriens on Facebook Shephard’s Beach Resort The event is doubling down on musical entertainment with a live performances, DJs and a light show. The event is following all local and CDC guidelines. Customers are to be seated for service, masks are to be worn indoors until seated. Dancefloors and standing in groups are not permitted. You can book table and couch reservations as well as bottle service through the Shephard’s website. 619 S. Gulfview Blvd., Clearwater Beach. shephards.com Skywalker Adventures Presents: A Grateful Dead New Years’ Eve Celebration Cage Brewing will be running at 50% capacity to ensure social distancing for guests during this NYE event. While there is bench seating available, you can bring your own lawn chairs to space out and feel more comfortable. Dead Set Florida will take the
stage at 8 p.m. followed by Unlimited Devotion at 10 p.m. Stick around for a complimentary hard seltzer toast at midnight. $35 in advance, $50 day of show. 8 p.m.-12:15 a.m. 2001 1st Ave. S., St. Petersburg. cagebrewing.com Winter Wonderland Crafty Squirrel is hosting an NYE party filled with a live DJ, drink specials, VIP packages, and a champagne toast at midnight. The event posting reads, “The safety of our guests + staff is important to us; masks required for entry.” $10 in advance, $15 at the door. 8 p.m.-3 a.m. 259 Central Ave., St.Petersburg. craftysquirrel.com Editor’s note: On the day this article went to our printing press, Florida added 13,148 coronavirus cases. That number, at the time, represented the highest daily number of new cases reported since mid-July. What's more, is that Tampa Bay added 2,467 cases on that day, too. We say it over and over: You need to take COVID-19 seriously. We say this with all respect and reverence for local venues, but NYE is already amateur hour; what’s it gonna be like in the age of ‘rona? But, most of you just YOLO, so read the updated version of this post via cltampa.com/magazine. If you want to support small businesses without going out, buy ‘em all out of gift cards.
KEIR MAGOULAS | VISIT TAMPA BAY
also stage seasonal live performances for guests of all ages like “Elmo’s Christmas Wish” (during the day) and “Christmas on Ice” before the fireworks pop off at night. In order to manage capacity and maintain physical distancing, the event will have two reservation sessions; a separate reservation is required for show and fireworks viewing. $95.99. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. or 6 p.m.-1 a.m. 10165 McKinley Dr., Tampa. buschgardens.com
FLASHING LIGHTS: The City of Tampa isn’t planning any official fireworks, but there’s plenty to do downtown on NYE.
cltampa.com | DECEMBER 24-30, 2020 | 33
HAPPY HOUR AT AMSO Monday - Friday, 4pm-7pm Saturday 3pm-6pm
$4, $5 & $6 Liquor, Beer & Wine $8 Hand-Crafted Cocktails 34 | DECEMBER 24-30, 2020 | cltampa.com
DAVE DECKER
Recently Reviewed: Takeout in Tampa Bay
In the 2,117 months since coronavirus upended the Bay area food scene, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s Jon Palmer Claridge—the Bay area’s longest-running food critic—switched gears, stayed home and went to reviewing local takeout options. Until it’s 100% safe to be shoulder-to-shoulder with each other in restaurants, I don’t see CL moving away from takeout reviews and back to restaurant ratings. In the meantime, enjoy the last five takeout reviews from JPC. If you think there’s an outof-this-world takeout experience he needs to try, please shoot me an email at comments@ cltampa.com. Oh, wear a mask and wash your hands, too. —Ray Roa Avo’s Kitchen at Iberian Rooster Each dish we try is full of flavor and well-balanced. There’s lots of variety inside the broader world of curry spice. I’m seduced by “Prawn Stars” yummy bread bowl, which catches all the juices; the moist curried shrimp are just scrumptious surrounded by cauliflower rice and chickpeas topped with tart and crunchy rings of colorful pickled red onions, which add a lovely pink accent. The loaf is surrounded by mixed greens. I can’t resist tearing the empty bowl into pieces to enjoy the amalgam of flavors. The meal is definitely worth it—another triumph of experiencing world cuisine without the 9,000 mile journey. $3-$16. 475 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. 727-258-8753; avoskitchen. com Taqueria Margarita Elia Maldonado proudly shares Abuela’s recipes homemade with the freshest ingredients, which instantly recall the pure flavors and aromas of food stalls in the Mercado de Coyoacán (abuela comes from México, Mexico). The array is mostly a familiar list: asada (beef), pollo (chicken), el pastor (marinaded pork), carnitas (pulled pork), campechano (meat combo), and chorizo (spicy sausage). On some days, there’s decadent and juicy quesabirria served traditionally, as a twice-cooked taco, or Instagram-ready as a tortilla “pizza” with the carne spread between
two browned tortillas—and, yes, with a drool worthy consommé for dipping. $2.25-$11. 4001 W. Dr. Martin Luter King Jr. Blvd., Tampa. 813466-2484; @taqueriamargaritatpa on Instagram and Facebook Bodega on Central Perfectly designed to thrive in the face of the challenges facing the industry, Cubans and pork sandwiches are favorites, and the chicken version is a flavor explosion with contrasting textures, as well. The flattened breast meat is balanced with smooth avocado and mango against crunchy jicama and fiery pickled chilies with some mango mayo. It’s a memorable mouthful for fans of spice. $0.50-$9. 1120 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. 727-623-0942; eatatbodega.com Bon Appétit There’s no denying the drop dead gorgeous views from Bon Appétit out over Saint Joseph Sound. The lobster bisque has a de rigueur hit of sherry. It’s dotted with meaty bits in a flavorful stock that’s on the less creamy side; tasty, if not sigh-inducing. A homemade Key lime pie that’s sweet-tart and creamy. $4.95-$85.95. 148 Marina Plaza, Dunedin. 727-733-2151; bonappetitrestaurant. com Parkshore Grill Executive Chef Tyson Grant’s team has put a lot of thought into what works best to be transported is their handsome recycled brown cardboard boxes. The juicy Parkshore burger sits on a toasted brioche bun and is smothered in a seductive mix of sweet caramelized onions, crisp bacon, and tangy blue cheese. A large meaty piece of roasted organic Scottish salmon has plenty of flavor even without the yummy shallot-tarragon butter and the bright green jumbo asparagus are delightfully al dente. So often, this veggie ends up mushy and unpalatable even in restaurants, so this is a welcome takeout surprise. $2.50-$72 Beach Dr. NE No. 104, St. Petersburg. 727-896-9463. parkshoregrill.com
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In the wake of concerns about the novel coronavirus, it’s best to call or visit the websites of these breweries to check on their offerings. 3 DAUGHTERS BREWING One of the Warehouse Arts District’s most popular hangouts, and a beautiful facility in which to drink some great brews. 222 22nd St. S., St. Petersburg. 727-495-6002, 3dbrewing.com 3 KEYS BREWING South-of-the-Skyway restaurant and brewery specializing in small batches. 2505 Manatee Ave. E., Bradenton. 951-218-0396, 3keysbrewing.com 7VENTH SUN BREWING Some of the best sours, IPAs and collabs going. Two locations. 1012 Broadway, Dunedin. 727-733-3013/6809 N. Nebraska Ave., Tampa. 813-231-5900, 7venthsun.com 81BAY BREWING CO. South Tampa’s first craft brewery boasts a wide variety of styles. 4465 W. Gandy Blvd., Tampa. 813-837-BREW, 81baybrewco.com ANGRY CHAIR Crazy-good Tampa beer, open Tuesday-Sunday. 6401 N. Florida Ave., Seminole Heights. 813-238-1122, angrychairbrewing.com ANTIBREWERY Dunedin’s secret Sundays-only nano. 1367 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., Dunedin
brewery. There’s also a taproom at Amalie Arena. 3924 W. Spruce St., Tampa. 813-348-6363, cigarcitybrewing.com CLEARWATER BREWING CO. Community-oriented and socially and environmentally conscious. 1700 N. Fort Harrison Ave., Clearwater. clearwaterbrewingcompany.com COPPERTAIL BREWING CO. Some of Tampa’s best beer, in one of its best tasting rooms. 2601 E. 2nd Ave., Tampa. 813-247-1500, coppertailbrewing.com COTEE RIVER BREWING Craft beer in the heart of historic downtown New Port Richey. 5760 Main St., New Port Richey. 727-807-6806, coteeriverbrewing.com CRAFT LIFE BREWING Small-batch local brews and a sort of playground or LoL’s craft brewing guild. 4624 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., Land O’ Lakes. 813-575-8440. facebook.com/CraftLifeBrewing CROOKED THUMB BREWERY Safety Harbor’s first brewery boasts homegrown flavor and local guest taps. 555 10th Ave. S., Safety Harbor. 727-724-5953, crookedthumbbrew.com
HOB BREWING CO. Rotating taps; some of the beers are brewed on-site and alongside a combination of local breweries plus local and international craft beer makers. 931 Huntley Ave., Dunedin. hob.beer IF I BREWED THE WORLD This self-described “mixtape of breweries” offers a bit of everything from the classic to the fun and outrageous. 2200 1st Ave. S., St. Petersburg. 727-201-4484, ifibrewedtheworld. com IN THE LOOP BREWING Family-friendly Land O’ Lakes brewery with a lot of community support and plenty of events. 3338 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., Land O’ Lakes. 813-997-9189, intheloopbrewingcompany.com INFUSION BREWING CO. Another great location in the good-beer-packed Trinity/New Port Richey area. 7813 Mitchell Blvd. Ste 103, Trinity. 727-312-4512. INOCULUM ALE WORKS These folks are crazy for sours, and know how to craft ‘em. 554 1st Ave. N., St. Petersburg. inoculumaleworks.com JDUB’S BREWING COMPANY You know ‘em, you love ‘em. A favorite statewide phenomenon. 1215 Mango Ave., Sarasota. 941-955-2739, jdubsbrewing.com
brewing its own in early 2018. 2244 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. 727-360-0766, stpetearcadebar.com ROCK BROTHERS BREWING Brews named for national and local bands have a home in Ybor City. 1901 N. 15th St., Ybor City. 813-241-0110, rockbrothersbrewing.com SARASOTA BREWING COMPANY House-crafted brews, pizza, and sports out toward beautiful Siesta Key. 6607 Gateway Ave., Sarasota. 941-925-2337, sarasotabrewing.com SILVERKING BREWING CO. This space in Tarpon Springs complements a label that’s been around since 2012. 325 East Lemon St., Tarpon Springs. 727-4227598, silverkingbrewing.com SIX TEN BREWING A wide variety and a real passion for the craft-brew community. 7052 Benjamin Rd., Tampa. 813-886-0610, sixtenbrewing.com SOGGY BOTTOM BREWING More Dunedin goodness, including some truly original flavors and inventive brews. 660 Main St., Dunedin. 727-601-1698, soggybottombrewing.com
AVID BREWING This Grand Central brewing supply shop added a taproom for its beers crafted in-house. 1745 1st Ave. S., St. Petersburg. 727-388-6756, avidbrew.com
CUENI BREWING CO. Located off the Pinellas Trail in Dunedin. 945 Huntley Ave., Dunedin. 727-266-4102, cuenibrewing.com
LAGERHAUS BREWERY & GRILL A Palm Harbor bar and eatery that offers seasonal brews to complement their regulars. 3438 East Lake Business, Palm Harbor. 727-216-9682, lagerhausbrewery.com
SOUTHERN BREWING & WINEMAKING Multiple brews only available in its tasting room, as well as products and guidance for local homebrewers. 4500 N. Nebraska Ave., Tampa. 813-238-7800, southernbrewingwinemaking.com
CYCLE BREWING One of St. Pete’s favorites. 534 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. 727-320-7954. cyclebrewing.com
LATE START BREWING This beloved Tampa label does its thing inside the Pour House. 1208 E. Kennedy Blvd. #112, Tampa. 813-402-2923, latestartbrewing.com
ST. PETE BREWING COMPANY Beers crafted specifically for the climate. 544 1st Ave. N., St. Petersburg. 727-692-8809, stpetebrewingcompany.com
BARRIEHAUS BEER CO. Lager-specific brewery, carrying on an over 150 year brewing legacy. 1403 E 5th Ave., Ybor City. barriehaus.com
DARWIN BREWING CO. Unique beers crafted with South American influence. 803 17th Ave. W., Bradenton. 941-747-1970, darwinbrewingco.com
BAY CANNON BEER CO. West Tampa's first craft brewery, offering a variety of ever evolving beers, beer slushies and wine that pair perfectly with appetizers and entrées from the kitchen. 813-442-5615, baycannon.com
DE BINE BREWING CO. This addition bolsters the Northern Pinellas craft beer scene. 933 Florida Ave., Palm Harbor. 727-233-7964.
LEAVEN BREWING Riverview’s first brewery is run by folks who’ve got experience brewing big and small. 11238 Boyette Rd., Riverview. 813-677-7023, leavenbrewing.com
STILT HOUSE BREWERY This friendly Palm Harbor joint specializes in high-ABV ales and other styles you won’t find at other breweries in the area. 625 US Hwy Alt. 19, Palm Harbor. 727-270-7373, stilthousebrewery.com
MAD BEACH CRAFT BREWING Brews, ciders, and meads by the beach. 12945 Village Boulevard, Madeira Beach. 727-362-0008, madbeachbrewing.com
SWAN BREWING Nearly 4 decades of combined brewing experience go into the offerings at this petfriendly joint. 115 W. Pine St., Lakeland. 863-703-0472, swanbrewing.com
MARKER 48 Hernando’s first production craft brewery, with its own tasting room and beer garden 12147 Cortez Blvd, Weeki Wachee. 352-606-2509, marker48.com
TBBC Formerly Tampa Bay Brewing Co., local favorite for nearly two decades. 1600 E. 8th Ave., Ybor City/13933 Monroe’s Business Park, Westchase. 813247-1422, tbbc.beer
ARKANE ALEWORKS A wide variety of styles and flavors from the second brewery to open in Largo. 2480 E. Bay Dr., #23, Largo. 727-270-7117, arkanebeer.com
BIG STORM BREWING CO. Stop by this Pasco brewery’s Storm Room for a flight, or visit their taproom on 49th Street in Clearwater, too. 2330 Success Dr., Odessa. 727-807-7998, bigstormbrewery.com BIG TOP BREWING Perhaps Sarasota’s premier purveyor of locally crafted beer, Big Top’s reputation has spread far beyond the region. 6111 Porter Way, Sarasota. 941-371-2939, bigtopbrewing.com BOOTLEGGERS BREWING CO. This Brandon taproom from Bootleggers Beer & Wine Home Brewing Supplies offers house-made suds and guest beers. 652 Oakfield Dr., Brandon. 813-643-9463, bootleggersbrewco.com BRASSERIE ST. SOMEWHERE Award-winning Belgian farmhouse ales from veteran Bay area brewer Bob Sylvester. 1441 Savannah Ave., Tarpon Springs. 813-503-6181, saintsomewherebrewing.com BREW BUS BREWING BB brews its own suds, boasts 20 taps and offers food at its Eatery, too. 4101 N. Florida Ave., Tampa. 813-990-7310, brewbususa.com BREW HUB Some of the area’s best beers are produced here along with suds for their own label. 3900 Frontage Rd. S., Lakeland. 863-698-7600, brewhub.com
DISSENT BREWING CO. Unique flavors and adventurous style outside downtown St. Pete. 5518 Haines Rd. N., St. Petersburg. 727-342-0255.
BAY AREA BREWERIES
DUNEDIN BREWERY Florida’s oldest. Beer, eats and live music. 937 Douglas Ave., Dunedin. 727-736-0606, dunedinbrewery.com DUNEDIN HOUSE OF BEER This beer stop brews its own, and also has 40 guest taps. 927 Broadway, Dunedin. 727 216-6318, dunedinhob.com
ESCAPE BREWING CO. Another very worthy Odessa/Trinity destination. 9945 Trinity Blvd., Suite 108, Trinity. 727-807-6092, escapebrewingcompany.com FIVE BRANCHES Veteran-owned brewery, small batches from IPAs to stouts. Serving up brews and a clear view of the Tarpon Bayou. 531 Athens St., Tarpon Springs. fivebranchesbrewing.com FLYING BOAT BREWING COMPANY St. Pete aviation history and tasty homegrown suds. 1776 11th Ave. N., St. Petersburg. 727-800-2999, flyingboatbrewing.com
BREW LIFE BREWING Ultra-small batches, and a lot of ‘em. 5765 S. Beneva Rd., Sarasota. 941-952-3831, brewlifebrewing.com
FOUR STACKS BREWING An always-changing lineup of local and regional guest suds, along with trivia, live music and more. 5469 N. US HWY 41, Apollo Beach. 813-641-2036, fourstacksbrewing.com
BULLFROG CREEK BREWING CO. A multitude of styles from former garage brewers is on tap in Valrico. 3632 Lithia Pinecrest Rd., Valrico. 813-703-8835, bullfrogcreekbrewing.com
GREEN BENCH BREWING COMPANY A space worthy of the adventurous beers it produces. 1133 Baum Ave. N., St. Petersburg. 727-800-9836, greenbenchbrewing.com
CAGE BREWING Custom brews in the Grand Central District from one of the ‘Burg’s newest. 2001 1st Ave. S., St. Petersburg. 727-201-4278
GOOD LIQUID BREWING CO. Thirty taps and food (and a coffee roaster!) from a husband-and-wife duo. 4824 14th St. W., Bradenton. 941-896-6381, thegoodliquidbrewing.co
CALEDONIA BREWING Great in-house beers in the historic Dunedin Times building. 587 Main St., Dunedin. 727-351-5105, caledoniabrewing.com CALUSA BREWING Family owned and operated, opened Tuesday to Sunday. 5701 Derek Ave., Sarasota. 941-922-8150, calusabrewing.com CARROLLWOOD BREWING CO. “Secret” brewing action inside the Carrollwood location of craft-bar chain The Brass Tap. 10047 N. Dale Mabry HWY, STE 23, Tampa. 813-969-2337 CIGAR CITY BREWING Tampa’s most famous craft
GRINDHAUS BREW LAB Small batches and no extracts. 1650 N. Hercules Ave., Clearwater. 727-2400804, grindhausbrewlab.com GULFPORT BREWERY + EATERY Small batches with an artisanal food menu. 3007 Beach Blvd., Tampa. facebook.com/GulfportBrewery HIDDEN SPRINGS ALE WORKS This Tampa Heights brewery features a rotating tap selection. 1631 N. Franklin St., Tampa, 813-226-2739, hiddenspringsaleworks.com
MASTRY’S BREWING CO. From CD Roma’s restaurant to sweet new digs on St. Pete Beach. 7701 Blind Pass Rd., St. Pete Beach. 727-202-8045 mastrysbrewingco.com MOTORWORKS BREWING A taproom and beer garden featuring full liquor and wine as well as 30 taps. 1014 9th Street West, Bradenton. 941-567-6218, motorworksbrewing.com MR. DUNDERBAK’S The longtime restaurant, biergarten and homebrewers’ hangout is serving up its own beers. 14929 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa. 813-9774104, dunderbaks.com NAUGHTY MONK BREWERY Naughty Monk brings a love of Belgian styles to Manatee County. 2507 Lakewood Ranch Blvd., Bradenton. 941-708-2966, naughtymonkbrewery.com OVERFLOW BREWING St. Pete’s newest, courtesy of local Rapp head brewer Troy Bledsoe and company. 770 1st Ave. N., St. Petersburg. 727-914-0665, facebook.com/overflowbrewingco PEPPER BREWING The Angry Pepper Taphouse’s in-house label, available “on a limited basis.” 9366 Oakhurst Rd., Seminole. 727-596-5766, angrypeppertaphouse.com PESKY PELICAN BREW PUB This beachy restaurant also offers up its own beers thanks to an in-house nano system. 923 72nd. St. N., St. Petersburg. 727-3029600, peskypelicanbrewpub.com PINELLAS ALE WORKS PAW offers a dog-friendly environment in addition to tasty brews. 1962 1st Ave. S., St. Petersburg. 727-235-0970, pawbeer.com RAPP BREWING COMPANY Greg Rapp’s awardwinning styles are carefully crafted and delicious. 10930 Endeavor Way, Seminole. 727-544-1752, rappbrewing.com RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER This video gamecentric Grand Central District craft beer bar started
TAMPA BEER WORKS At the former site of ESB Brewing, TBW focuses on American craft styles. 333 N. Falkenburg Rd., Suite D407 Tampa. 813-685-1909, tampabeerworks.com TIDAL BREWING COMPANY Small batches in Spring Hill. 14311 Spring Hill Dr., Spring Hill. 352-701-1602,tidalbrewingfl.com TWO FROGS BREWING COMPANY Tarpon Springs’ latest brewery and taproom focuses on American ale styles. 151 E. Tarpon Ave., Tarpon Springs. 727-940-6077, facebook.com/ twofrogsbrewing KEEL FARMS AGRARIAN ALE + CIDER Tasty brews from the folks behind Keel & Curley winery. 5210 W. Thonotosassa Rd., Plant City. 813-752-9100, keelandcurleywinery.com TWO LIONS WINERY & PALM HARBOR BREWERY Wine and beer brewed in-house. 1022 Georgia Ave., Palm Harbor. 727-786-8039, twolionswinery.com ULELE SPRING BREWERY Beer crafted in accordance with traditional Bavarian purity laws. 1810 N. Highland Ave., Tampa. 813-999-4952, ulele.com THE WILD ROVER BREWERY What started as an English pub in Odessa is now a higher-production facility in Westchase. 13921 Lynmar Blvd., Tampa. 813-4755995, thewildroverbrewery.com WOODWRIGHT BREWING COMPANY Traditional German styles in downtown Dunedin. 985 Douglas Ave., Dunedin. 727-238-8717, facebook.com/ woodwrightbrewing ZEPHYRHILLS BREWING COMPANY East Paco’s first microbrewery. 38530 5th Ave., Zephyrhills. 813715-2683, zbcbeer.com ZYDECO BREW WERKS Craft brews in Ybor thanks to an award-winning brewmaster, as well as full bars and NOLA-influenced cuisine. 1902 E. 7th Ave., Ybor City. 813-252-4541, facebook.com/Zydecobrewwerks
cltampa.com | DECEMBER 24-30, 2020 | 37
FROM OUR
Moffitt Family to Yours
Wishing you a Happy and Healthy 2021! As we move into the new year, create your plan to promote the health and safety of your family. At Moffitt, we are committed to helping you understand your risks and have the expertise to diagnose and treat all types of cancer. Early detection can help save more lives. Together we can make a difference. Learn more about Screenings. Call 1-888-456-2839 or visit Moffitt.org/Screening
Courageous DURING COVID-19, YOUR SAFETY IS A PRIORITY AT MOFFITT
38 | DECEMBER 24-30, 2020 | cltampa.com
Learn traditional printmaking Workshops in - Etching - Lithography - Letterpress - Silkscreen and more. Our gallery space has local and handmade gifts for your holiday budget! Drop by during normal hours Tuesday thru Friday 11-4 Saturday 11-6 • Sunday 12-4
MOVIES THEATER ART CULTURE
Ghost train
A decades-old ‘monorail’ car is for sale in Pinellas Park, here’s how it got there.
I
n a driveway of a Pinellas Park residence, a monorail car welded to a trailer has sat mostly untouched for the better part of two years. Then, late last month, it was listed for sale on Facebook. Skaia Colocado, the car’s current owner, says there has been some interest in the unique item, but most people seem not to understand what exactly it is. For that, you have to turn back the clock nearly five decades and travel a thousand miles north. A year before Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, San Diego-based SeaWorld opened their second park, SeaWorld Ohio, setting off a tourism boom throughout the state. Two years later, in 1972, Cincinnati-based amusement park Coney Island moved to a larger site and changed its name to Kings Island. The park was filled with roller coasters, live entertainment, and what was at the time one of the most expensive dark rides found outside of a Disney park. Owner Taft Broadcasting used some of the tactics that Disney had successfully harnessed in Disneyland and the year prior at Walt Disney World — in 1973, both The Partridge Family and The Brady Bunch filmed episodes in the Ohio park. These cross-promotions and a string of special events kept the turnstiles busy, but after two seasons of new rides and promotions it was clear something else was needed. Taft decided to compete against SeaWorld and differentiate itself from parks like Disney’s, so it turned to a budding Florida based animal park company, Lion Country Safari. Its South Florida location had just turned six years old, and it had recently opened new parks in California, Texas and Georgia. The partnership saw Taft transform 100 acres of its Kings Island site into Lion Country Safari at Kings Island, opening it during the 1974 season at the park. Taft also opened a second Lion Country Safari in Virginia, where it was still building Kings Dominion, a sister park to Kings Island. A two-mile-long monorail was added to set apart the Ohio animal park from the other four Lion Country Safari parks. While marketed as a monorail and called that by most guests, it technically wasn’t one — it ran along two parallel rails placed close together.
The animals were an immediate hit, but management issues and multiple incidents of animals escaping caused conflict between Taft executives and Lion Country Safari. In 1976, after a lion mauled an employee, Taft executives decided it was time to take over the attraction themselves. The name of the attraction was changed to the more generic Wild Animal Safari. Lion Country Safari was out, but the animals, and monorail, remained. To help offset rising costs, the park began charging for monorail rides, making it one of the park’s first upcharge attractions. But with its busbar-style electrical connections, the monorail posed issues in the animal habitats — it sat not far off the ground, so animals could lie down on the track and block trains, or mud and water could create electrical issues. Increasing demand for thrills and declining attendance at the safari park caused park officials to shutter the attraction in 1993 and donate the animals to a nearby animal conservation center. The monorail sat backstage at the park for another five years until in 1998 it was sold for $1 to local businessman James O. Bonaminio, better known as Jungle Jim. The trams were sent to his famous roadside attraction-esque grocery store, Jungle Jim’s International Market in Fairfield, Ohio. It took 15 years for the monorail to come back into operation at Jungle Jim’s, where it shuttles event guests between a parking lot and the Oscar Event Center. The trams were updated to replace the problematic busbar electrical system with an onboard engine. The original plans featured a much longer track, but not all seven of the cars purchased are needed for this route, which is less than a mile long. An inoperable monorail also sits above the entrance to Jungle Jim’s Eastgate location. Bonaminio has transformed his grocery store into a six-and-a-half-acre wonderland that’s now one of the nation’s most unique foodie destinations, thanks to his ever-expanding collection of animatronics, fiberglass items and one-of-a-kind displays. Many of those largerthan-life items were found and transported to the site by Bonaminio’s friend Michael Testa, a Cincinnati-based auctioneer who is always on the hunt for the unusual.
LOCAL NEWS
JUNGLE JIM’S INTERNATIONAL MARKET/FACEBOOK
By Ken Storey
NEXT STOP, PINELLAS: The monorail at the Jungle Jim’s Fairfield location. For years, Testa had tried to convince Bonaminio to give him one of the trams. Finally, once it was clear the extra tram wasn’t needed, Bonaminio sold the tram to Testa. Testa, familiar with shipping oddly shaped items, knew the tram cars posed a unique challenge. To make it easier to move, he had it welded to the trailer it still sits on. The conductor car has a sweeping split windshield that, to Testa, looked like the front of a rocket ship. Testa decided he wanted to turn the tram car into a retro rocket-styled food truck, inspired by his childhood memories of Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland. Down in Florida, Testa’s nephew and sister were thinking about opening a small ice cream truck. The rocket-resembling tram seemed like the ideal option, so Testa headed to Florida with the trailer and tram attached to the back of his 20-year-old pickup truck. But as the food truck idea evolved, it became clear the monorail car wouldn’t work. That’s when Skaia Colocado purchased it, and Testa transported it from his sister’s place on Florida’s east coast to its current location near Tampa.
The rocketship food truck idea was out, replaced with a new dream: Colocado wanted to create a tiny home where she could live as she headed out west. But with no working electrical or plumbing, turning the small tram car into a fully functioning mobile tiny home was a bit more than Colocado, who plans to join the military, was ready to take on after all. So now the tram sits in her mother’s driveway while Colocado searches for the right person to bring life back into this historical theme park relic. Testa holds out hope that someone else will create the rocket ship food truck he envisioned, but to him, its real charm comes from its history. As Testa puts it, “part of what makes it so special is the romance of it. It’s unusual. I hope one day it can once again bring joy to people as it did for all those years at Kings Island.” The trailer is registered in Florida. It is listed for sale for $2,500 OBO, and Colocado has expressed interest in possibly trading it for a used truck. This story originally ran in our sibling paper Orlando Weekly, see photos of the monorail via cltampa.com/magazine.
cltampa.com | DECEMBER 24-30, 2020 | 39
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40 | DECEMBER 24-30, 2020 | cltampa.com
Rap game on
Fans welcome when Toronto kicks off its season at Amalie Arena. By Ray Roa Ric Flair says WWE plans to build a wrestling ‘hall of fame’ in Florida Wrestling legend “the Nature Boy” Ric Flair dropped a bombshell in an interview this week: World Wrestling Entertainment is apparently planning to build a physical “Hall of Fame” in Orlando. Flair revealed the big news to Rachel Nichols on a Tuesday appearance on ESPN’s The Jump. When discussing his new Adidas and Damian Lillard sneaker collab based on his signature gold ring robe, Flair said that WWE had purchased that robe from him for inclusion in this very Hall of Fame, Flair told Nichols that WWE “was in the process of building a Hall of Fame, a physical structure … in Orlando,” though this undertaking was delayed by COVID.
SPORTS
RAPTORS/TWITTER
L
ast Tuesday, the Toronto Raptors announced plans to allow a limited number of fans to attend games at Tampa’s Amalie Arena. Tickets for the first 11 regular season games went on sale Thursday, Dec. 17 and started at $30. Because of COVID-19, the regular season matchups will see 3,800 seats available; there will also be no floor seats or seats within 30 feet of the court. “Fan attendance protocols will involve extensive health and safety measures, including socially distanced seat availability,” Roven Yau, the Raptors Senior Manager of Basketball Communications, wrote in a release. Additional safety measures including requiring all fans two years of age or older to wear a mask for the duration of their time at Amalie Arena. “Enhanced surface and air disinfection systems; physical distancing in the stands and while navigating the venue; a health survey screening for all guests as they enter the facility; cashless payments in the parking lot and for food and beverage services,” the release added. Bags are also prohibited for all Raptors games at Amalie Arena. Last month, citing Canada’s COVID-19 travel restrictions, the team announced plans to play at least half of its home season in Tampa Bay. “Ultimately, the current public health situation facing Canadians, combined with the urgent need to determine where we will play means that we will begin our 2020-21 season in Tampa, Florida,” Masai Ujiri, president of basketball operations for the Raptors wrote in a statement. “We commit to continuing our work together, planning for a safe return to play in Toronto... For now, I’ll ask you to cheer for us from afar.” It was initially unclear whether the Raps would be able to have fans at Amalie. But last month, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the NBA sent a memo to teams detailing the protocols for teams allowed to have fans at games. At the time, not every team was allowed to do so, and the ones that were had to implement very specific mask rules, adhere to strict food and drink regulations and also test for coronavirus depending on the county’s positivity rate. As last Friday, Hillsborough County had a positivity rate of about 8%, well above the World Health Organization’s recommendation of 5% or less for at least two weeks before loosening social distancing protocols. If you live in Tampa Bay and still wouldn’t go to a professional sports event, Canadian English language sports network TSN is slated to broadcast the games.
ORGANIZED BY THE HEARD MUSEUM, PHOENIX, ARIZONA MADE POSSIBLE BY TINNEY RUG CLEANERS, STATE OF FLORIDA DIVISION OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS AND THE FLORIDA COUNCIL ON ARTS AND CULTURE, WITH ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FROM BANK OF AMERICA AND THE GARTH FAMILY FOUNDATION. Venancio Francis Aragon, Navajo, b. 1985, Prism of Emotions, 2019, Heard Museum Collection, Gift of the Heard Museum Council
WELCOME HOME: The Toronto Raptors’ next ‘home game’ is on New Year's Eve in downtown Tampa.
cltampa.com | DECEMBER 24-30, 2020 | 41
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42 | DECEMBER 24-30, 2020 | cltampa.com
THU DECEMBER 24–WED DECEMBER 30
Oxford Noland
OXFORDNOLAND/FACEBOOK
And the soundtrack was always great, too. Though there are shows happening around town, New Granada head Keith Ulrey told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that “...it was just an early assumption that I wasn’t going to do it and just stayed with that mindset.” He’s not judging people who are safely putting on shows, but adds that he’s just not personally ready to be out there playing. “So I kind of feel weird asking bands to play when I’m not ready to play myself, ya know?,” he added. And Ulrey has to be extra careful. His wife and Pohgoh bandmate Susie has multiple sclerosis, so it’s definitely a safer than sorry situation—more people should take heed. New Granada Records—Ulrey and Susie’s nearly 30-year-old Tampa-based record label—has been pretty quiet, but next up is an April 2021 release from Brooklyn band Lapêche (stylized “LAPÊCHE”). If you miss Ulrey’s bearded face you can stop by his Seminole Heights record store Microgroove, which has been staying steady upon reopening. “People are trending toward what I would call ‘inside activity,’ so listening to music falls under that,” Ulrey said. Merry Christmas, kiddos.
SAT 26 C The Husky Moonlighters The Husky Moonlighters, the only Morphine cover band this town has ever seen, is bringing the bluesy opiate-soaked sounds of the ‘90s band to Hooch and Hive. The trio of John Nowicki, Pete Nuffer and Scott Miller will do an hour of acoustic performances before trading guitars for two-string slide basses and drums to transform into the tribute act. And naturally, Nowicki, is the man who gets closest to the vocal husk of the Morphine singer Mark Sandman, who died on stage at a show in Italy in 1999. Can I request “Cure for Pain” or is that like requesting “Free Bird” at a Skynyrd show? The free show is outside at the designated Safe & Sound venue so bring your mittens. No cuddling with strangers! (Hooch and Hive, Tampa)
By Stephanie Powers
Designated 'Safe & Sound' venue Last Saturday, The Florida Department of Health reported 11,682 coronavirus cases and 74 deaths, bringing the death total to 20,764 (Tampa Bay accounted for 2,198 of those cases and eight of the deaths reported Saturday). Last week, the state added 10,885 cases and 102 deaths per day on average. Statewide, daily positivity rates ranged from 7.41%-9.69% from Dec. 4. to last Friday (well above the World Health Organization’s recommended 5%). Still, the live music scene is trying to find its feet. We’ve marked the
gigs at venues that have joined a local “Safe & Sound” initiative that pledges to strictly enforce limited capacity, mask wearing and social distancing.
FRI 25 New Granada Xmas Night Show (not happening in 2020) There is a giant gaping hole in concert listings this week. That’s because since the early ‘90s, local scenesters, music lovers and musicians could look forward to the New Granada annual Xmas Night show—a joyous night of drinking your family-fueled holiday cares away, with folks you really wanted to be with.
C Opera Tampa: “Home For the Holidays” Stay outside at the Straz Center’s Riverwalk Stage, which gives music fans a chance to extend Friday’s merriment when it hosts four Christmas carol libretto performances on Saturday and Sunday. Hell, let’s extend the season until March—there’s no Oscar season to look forward to, and it may as well be Christmas 2021 until we can go to the movies again. If jingles aren’t your jam, there are more Opera Tampa Riverwalk shows coming up including “Gilbert & Sullivan” next month. (Riverwalk Stage at David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa) Unlimited Devotion There seem to be a plethora of Grateful Dead cover bands throwing miracles around left and right these days. If you have to choose, Unlimited Devotion is
the way to go—especially because it’s playing a free show at Jannus Live. This year has been a long strange trip, but those of you who don’t want to be sittin’ and cryin’ at home should at least take the space Jannus is trying to give concert goers in the courtyard (that means social distance by not crowding near the stage). The unticketed show is first-come, first-served with gates opening at 7 p.m., so if you want to secure a spot you might want to line up early keeping six-feet-away from the other Deadheads—unless you want to risk going to the hospital and possible ending up un-gratefully dead yourself. We know being apart isn’t a hippy characteristic, but do it for grandma. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)
SUN 27 C Sam Farmer Have Gun, Will Travel’s new drummer, Sam Farmer, steps out from behind the skins to play a solo acoustic show presented by that fancy monk-crafted beer Chimay. The early, free and outdoor Americana gig show provides the perfect soundtrack to watch the sun setting over New World’s neon Bop City sign. And don’t forget to hydrate because that fancy monk beer has a high alcohol content and goes down real easy, especially during the stressful holidays an extra stressful pandemic. (New World Brewery, Tampa)
WED 30 Collective Soul If you don’t have the Collective Soul hit “December” in your head for three weeks after one listen, are you even human? I have a theory that ‘90s radio altrock is going to be for Gen Zs what yacht rock is for the millennials and Generation X-ers. You start out playing it as a joke at parties, and the next thing you know you’re hooked. Plus it’s all the stuff your cool parents won’t listen to, so get a headstart on the not-so ironic comeback, kids, when the band plays Ruth Eckerd, where temperatures and taken and masks are required along with the you-must-buy-tickets-in-pairs mandate (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater) DTSP Live: The Green Room sessions w/Oxford Noland Since we’re in a COVID19 surge around here, you might want to stay inside and just enjoy this virtual hump day show with Oxford Noland, and while the band is a duo, the sound is much bigger than you’d think. Shua Harrell provides vocals while playing his guitar upside down while Aaron “Bucky” Buckingham has one hand on the drum set and the other one working some synth magic. Also, can we give some appreciation to streaming services like DTSP Live that have really come forward and provided bands a safe place to get heard and music lovers a way to hear them? No bra? No problem! No mask? No problem! No internet? Problem! (@DTSPlive on Facebook)
cltampa.com | DECEMBER 24-30, 2020 | 43
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44 | DECEMBER 24-30, 2020 | cltampa.com
Where the vinyl is: a list of Bay area record stores
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) mid-2019 revenue report said streaming music accounted for 80% of total industry revenues, which rose 18% to $5.4 billion. Vinyl album revenue grew 13% to $224 million, but the RIAA also pointed out that sales of wax still only accounted for 4% of total revenues. Rough translation: Yeah, people are buying more records, but your local shop still needs you more than ever. If you’re reading this page, then you probably already know this, but you need your local shop, too. So many of the spaces listed to the right are so much more than stores. They’re community centers for ArtPool Records (2030 Central Ave., St. Petersburg) 727-433-5195, artpoolrules.com Asylum Sights and Sounds (6566 Central Ave., St. Petersburg) 727-384-1221 Bananas Records (2887 22nd Ave N., St. Petersburg) 727-327-4616 ext. 1, bananasrecords.com Bananas Records Warehouse (2226 16th Ave. N., St. Petersburg) 727 327-4616 ext. 2, bananasrecords.com Blue Moon Antiques, Books & Music (1413 Cleveland St., Clearwater) 727-443-7444 The Clearwater Record Shop (1610 N. Hercules Ave., Clearwater) 727-755-1201, clearwaterrecordshow.com
music lovers. Some of them are venues for local bands. The staff at most of these shops have more musical knowledge in their left ear than you’ll ever have in your entire life; they’re willing to share it with a smile on their face, too. Patronize these brick and mortars… frequently. Make friends with your neighbor behind the counter. Your wallet might be a little lighter, but your mind will be happy in return. You don’t have to stop streaming — let’s face it, no one will — but opening an app will never live up to the feeling of opening the door at your local record store. —Ray Roa
Daddy Kool Records (2430 Terminal Dr. S., Side B, St. Petersburg) 727-822-5665, daddykool.com
Kingfish Records (Main Store) (26024-B US Highway 19 N., Clearwater) 727-351-5177, kingfishrecords.com
Sound Exchange Tampa (14246 N. Nebraska Ave., Tampa) 813-978-9316, soundexchangetampabay.com
Disc Exchange (6712 Central Ave., aSt. Petersburg) 727-343-5845, thediscexchange.com
Kingfish Records (Flea Market) (180 Race Track Rd., Tampa) 727-455-9923, kingfishrecords.com
Dunedin Records & Audio (757 Main St., Dunedin) 727-423-4108, dunedinrecords.com Dustin’s Vinyl Shop (180 Race Track Rd., Booth F25 W, Oldsmar) 727-678-6829, facebook.com/pg/dustinsvinylshop
Microgroove (906 N. Florida Ave., Tampa) 813-667-7089, microgroovetampa.co
Sound Exchange Pinellas Park (66th Street N and 86th Avenue N., Pinellas Park) 727-545-0042, soundexchangetampabay.com
Green Shift Music & Comics (5713 N. Nebraska Ave., Tampa) 813-238-4177, greenshiftmusicandcomics.com
Patrick’s Book and Record Store (15215 US Hwy.19 C, Hudson) 727-868-3168, patricksbooksandre.wixsite.com/patricks
Hello Darlin’ Records (Roving VW Camper) 727-479-6783, hellodarlinrecords.com
Planet Retro Records (226 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N., St. Petersburg) 727-218-7434, planetretrorecords.com
Mojo Books & Records (2540 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa) 813-971-9717, mojotampa.com
St. Pete Records (6648 Central Ave., St. Petersburg) 727-490-8861, stpeterecords.com Steelworker Records (708 W. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Tampa) 813-666-4933, steelworkerrecords.com Unique Music & Collectables (123 Main St., Dunedin) 727-240-0757 Vintage Vinyl (38874 U.S. 19 N., Tarpon Springs) 727-940-8301, vintagevinyl.biz
cltampa.com | DECEMBER 24-30, 2020 | 45
46 | DECEMBER 24-30, 2020 | cltampa.com
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Built inBuilt 2010in by 2010 interior by interior designer designer Paul Lewis. Paul Lewis. 3,517 3,517 sq ft , sq 3 BR, ft , 43 BA BR, 4 BA 2 CG, +2 CG, workshop/storage, + workshop/storage, Dock Dock w/ lakew/access, lake access, + pergola! + pergola! 50 YR 50 YR SLATESLATE ROOF,ROOF, 10’ ceilings. 10’ ceilings. WALNUT WALNUT CABINETRY, CABINETRY, BRAZILIAN BRAZILIAN STAR BEAC STAR BEAC ANITE,ANITE, CABINET CABINET FACEDFACED SUB-ZER SUB-ZER fridge/freezer, fridge/freezer, Enjoy Enjoy the LAKE the LIFE LAKE LIFE to advertise to advertis b by email dlan on yourondeck, your pergola, deck, pergola, overlooking overlooking by email SERENE SERENE CYPRESS CYPRESS trees &trees FRENCH & FRENCH INSPIRED INSPIRED landscape. landscape. Located Located in in the highly the highly coveted coveted STEINBRENNER STEINBRENNER SCHOOL SCHOOL DISTRICT. DISTRICT. offeredoffered at at $1,495,000. $1,495,000.
LICENSED PROFESSIONAL PROFESSIONAL Built in 2010 by interior designer ALICENSED Warm Lotion Therapuetic Massage. P/T COMM P/T COMM ONLY ONLY MULTIMULTI GENRE GENRE Paul Lewis. 3,517 sq ft, 3 BR, 4 BA, Therapuetic Massage. Built in 2010 by interior designer Once is not enough. www.chansonsnow.biz www.chansonsnow.biz by interior designer 2Built CG in w/2010 workshop/storage, Once is not enough. Lewis. 3,517 sq ft , 3 BR,Dock 4 BA SERIOUS SERIOUS ONLYONLY 727-455-7139 727-455-7139 Paul Paulw/ Lewis. sq+ft Pergola! , 3 BR, 4 BA lake3,517 access A TRULY A TRULY 2 CG, + workshop/storage, Dock chansonsnow3@gmail.com chansonsnow3@gmail.com YR+SLATE ROOF, 10’ ceilings. 250CG, workshop/storage, Dock Lic# MA33860 w/ access, ++ pergola! pergola! 50 YR YR Lic# MA33860 IMMACULATE IMMACULATE WALNUT BRAZILIAN STAR w/ lake lakeCABINETRY, access, 50 10’ ceilings. WALNUT BEACHROOF, GRANITE, CABINET FACED Licensed Licensed Massage Massage & Spas & SpasSLATE LUTZ LUTZ ESTATE ESTATE Real Estate For Sale SLATE ROOF, 10’ ceilings. WALNUT SUB-ZERO fridge/freezer. Enjoy theLIVING CABINETRY, BRAZILIAN STAR BEACH LOCATED LOCATED IN SANCTUARY IN SANCTUARY AT LIVING AT CABINETRY, BRAZILIAN STAR BEACH LAKE LIFECABINET on your deck, FACED SUB-ZERO GRANITE, STON!CABINET STON! 4 CG &4An CG ABUNDANCE & Anoverlooking ABUNDANCE of of RELAXATION RELAXATION MASSAGE MASSAGE FACED SUB-ZERO GRANITE, SERENE CYPRESS trees & FRENCH fridge/freezer, Enjoy the LAKE LAKE LIFE to advertise advertise by by phone phone 813-739-4800 813-739-4800 windows. windows. Ornate formal formal rooms rooms w/ w/ to From From Deep Deep TissueTissue to Lighter to Lighter Pressure. Pressure.INSPIRED fridge/freezer, EnjoyOrnate the landscape. Located LIFE in the on your pergola, overlooking TRAVERTINE TRAVERTINE & CROWN &overlooking CROWN MOLDING. MOLDING. by by email email dlancaster@cltampa.com acarbone@cltampa.com onhighly your deck, deck, pergola, coveted STEINBRENNER Call for Callspecials. for specials. 727-744-0254 727-744-0254 SERENE CYPRESS trees & FRENCH FR w/ FR stone w/ FP, stone LUXURIOUS FP, LUXURIOUS KITCH KITCH SCHOOL DISTRICT. at SERENE CYPRESS treesOffered & FRENCH EN, GRANITE EN,landscape. GRANITE COUNTERS, COUNTERS, CUSTOM INSPIRED Located inCUSTOM $1,495,000. INSPIRED landscape. Located in CABINETRY, CABINETRY, PENDENT PENDENT LIGHTING, LIGHTING, the highly coveted STEINBRENNER the highlyLaRocca coveted STEINBRENNER John REALTOR® butler’sbutler’s pantry, pantry, wineoffered cellar, wine cellar, &atGAS& GAS SCHOOL DISTRICT. SCHOOL DISTRICT. offered at A TRULY John@MyHomeTB.com COOK TOP. COOK OFFICE, TOP. OFFICE, MasterMaster BR FP,BR FP, $1,495,000. $1,495,000. IMMACULATE 813.990.748 pool access, pool access, & custom & custom walk inwalk in EROTIC PHONE CHAT closet..closet.. MasterMaster BA w/DOUBLE BA w/DOUBLE SINKSSINKS ADULT/Models LUTZ ESTATE REAL Fun Singles! huge your SHOWER huge SHOWER & TUB.&AllTUB. BR’sAllw/ BR’sorw/ Have Thanksgiving LOCATED IN SANCTUARY AT LIVING 800-SEXY-GAL Christmas moments large walk large inwalk closets. in closets. LARGE LARGE MEDIAMEDIA STON! 4 CG & An ABUNDANCE of MASSAGE MASSAGE BY BUTCH BY BUTCH captured inw/ by ROOMROOM w/ bar &your PATIO, bar &home PATIO, POOL &POOL SPA.an & SPA. windows. Ornate formal rooms w/ 800-7399425 @ THE @RELAXATION THE RELAXATION STATION STATION award-winning Offered Offered at $1,290,000 at $1,290,000 TRAVERTINE & CROWN MOLDING. Strong Strong Hands Hands with a Gentle with a Touch Gentle Touch professional FR w/ stone FP, LUXURIOUS KITCH 19 years 19 experience years experience HARDCORE photographer. J EN, GRANITE COUNTERS, IN CALL IN/CALL OUT CALL /CUSTOM OUT CALL ADULT TALK. J LaRocca REALTOR® LIMITED John CABINETRY, 8amPENDENT till8am 10pm tillLIGHTING, 710pm days7 days BOOKINGS, Busty John@MyHomeTB.com butler’sBabes, pantry, wine Ebony cellar, & GAS 817.228.2990 817.228.2990 SO DON’T 813.990.7488 COOK Cash/Credit TOP.or OFFICE, Master BR Accepted FP, Hotties Older Cash/Credit Cards Accepted Cards WAIT! pool access, &MM#6181 walk in MM#6181 Ladies - Ur custom Choice closet.. Master BA w/DOUBLE SINKS ADULT/Models Starting at $400 866-515-3699 huge SHOWER & TUB. All BR’s w/ large walk in closets. ONLY $10 PerLARGE CallMEDIA ROOM w/ bar & PATIO, POOL & SPA. TAMPA BAY CAR SEAT CONCIERGE Offered at $1,290,000 METROSEXUAL CAR SEAT INSPECTIONS & INSTALLATION CONNEXIONS Located at: 7621 Pennsylvania Drive STRAIGHT, GAY or BI Tampa, Florida 33619 Trans Model 800-538-2428 Hillsborough County
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