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Message from Mike Merino
Message from Mike Merino
Written by dave in Saturday, January 31st 2009   
Mike Merino ran Merino's Deli in Seminole Heights until closing down late last year. There have been some rumors floating around about why Merino's closed, and Mike writes in to clarify. *** For those who were real Merinos Deli food lovers, allow me to add more info to why Merinos went out of business. The new owner found a clause in our lease that gave him permission to open a used car lot. Well, that took up [+]
Taco Bus Hosts Diana Kennedy
Taco Bus Hosts Diana Kennedy
Written by dave in Wednesday, January 14th 2009   
Diana Kennedy will be at Seminole Heights' favorite Mexican food diner El Taconazo (affectionately known as the Taco Bus) Friday, February 14 13. She'll be signing books at 5:30 and start her cooking class at 6:30. I'm a huge fan of Kennedy's. The first cookbook I ever owned was The Art of Mexican Cooking. While she's visiting Tampa she'll also do a book signing at Inkwood Saturday the 15th 14th and offer a cooking class at [+]
Bill Moyers Interviews Michael Pollan
Bill Moyers Interviews Michael Pollan
Written by dave in Thursday, December 11th 2008   
Two of my favorite people talking about food! "Well, you have to understand that that department of the government [the Department of Agriculture], the $90 billion a year behemoth is captive of agri-business. It is owned by agri-business. They're in the room making policy there. When you have a food safety recall over meat, sitting there with the Secretary of Agriculture and her chief of staff or his chief of staff is the head of the [+]
Local Agriculture
Local Agriculture
Written by dave in Sunday, November 16th 2008   
I missed this when it came out. Brian Ries at Creative Loafing has a great write-up of the Tampa City Council special discussion about local agriculture (posted Nov. 5). "Two weeks ago, Tampa City Councilmember Mary Mulhern held a special discussion meeting on community-supported agriculture to address some of Pollan's very issues. Fellow members John Dingfelder and Linda Saul-Sena were there, along with Tampa's Green Officer Thom Snelling, Rick Martinez of Sweetwater Organic, Andrea Hildebran of [+]
A COOL New Era
A COOL New Era
Written by dave in Thursday, October 2nd 2008   
Over the next six months you should start seeing more and more products carrying a country of origin label (COOL). The six-month phase-in began September 30th. "Covered by the new rules: ground beef, chicken, pork, veal, steak, lamb and goat, along with fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, macadamia nuts, pecans and peanuts." So, is this a bad law because of the extra financial burden it adds to supermarkets and food retailers? Or, is this a good law [+]
No Faux Grouper
No Faux Grouper
Written by dave in Thursday, September 4th 2008   
Sysco did not admit to wrongdoing, but agreed to change their practices when it comes to grouper. They also agreed to pay $300,000. $200,000 to the state of Florida to pay for the cost of the investigation, and $100,000 to Florida soup kitchens. You may remember that a recent investigation into Tampa grouper sales revealed that 17 out of 20 restaurants were serving something other than grouper. [+]
Green Dunkin’ Donuts in St. Pete
Green Dunkin’ Donuts in St. Pete
Written by dave in Sunday, August 3rd 2008   
Unlike Pizza Hut mentioned below, Dunkin Donuts is working on something a little more substantially green. "Dunkin' Donuts, the largest coffee and baked goods chain in the world, broke ground in May and aims to open its first LEED Gold-certified restaurant in St. Petersburg, Fla., in September." This has the potential to have a lot more positive "green" impact than switching to organic tomato sauce for one pizza style. [+]
Pizza Hut Tries Their Hand at Greenwashing
Pizza Hut Tries Their Hand at Greenwashing
Written by dave in Sunday, August 3rd 2008   
Hungry for some of that green money (the lifestyle, not the ink color) Pizza Hut has announced a new "all-natural pizza." They're rolling out this pizza in Dallas and Tampa. What makes this "green-washing?" This line is a dead giveaway - "The Natural pizza will be served in boxes made from up to 75% recycled material -- great news for anyone looking to add some 'green' to their order." Er, why only the natural pizza? Couldn't you deliver [+]
Chiquita Banana
Chiquita Banana
Written by dave in Friday, July 18th 2008   
Here's the adorable Chiquita Banana commercial produced by Disney in the mid-1940s. Not so adorable is that last year Chiquita pled guilty to funneling money to terrorist organizations. [+]
Is It OK to Serve Lion?
Is It OK to Serve Lion?
Written by dave in Thursday, July 17th 2008   
I missed this review when it came out a few weeks ago, but apparently it stirred up a mini-brouhaha at the St. Pete Times. The review in question is of Spoto's, a Dunedin restaurant that serves exotic game like lion, elk, rattlesnake, kangaroo, bear, and boar. Some folks were appalled, and expressed their repugnance freely in the comments. Some stood on principle. Eating any meat is wrong. Others were just set off by the thought of eating [+]

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