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Whether the economy is turning up or down, the new-restaurant machine has revved up again and turned up the heat in our pot of Tampa Bay bouillabaisse.
-- Wait times are stacking up already on weekend nights at two restaurants that just opened. One is Quaker Steak & Lube (10400 49th St. N, Pinellas Park; (727) 572-9464), the first branch of a chain from, where else, Pennsylvania, that serves a dozen forms of wings (with Scoville ratings), burgers and more.
(Pepper heat is measured by the Scoville scale with a bell pepper ranking 0 and a jalapeno, 2,500.)
The other restaurant is homegrown. Hogfish Grill (1800 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd., Clearwater; (727) 446-7027) is a deep-sea barbecue from innovator Frank Chivas, the man behind Salt Rock Grill on Indian Shores and Island Way Grill in Clearwater. Hogfish combines his taste and sources of fresh fish with the fire and smoke that Young's Pit Bar-B-Q provided on this corner for 50 years. Entrees include meats and fish, barbecued, grilled, sauteed and pan-fried, priced from $7.99 to $17.99; sandwiches are less. For a sample, try the 99-cent barbecue shooter, a parfait of pork, beans and cole slaw with a hit of barbecue sauce.
-- Ybor City's Laughing Cat is laughing all the way to a second location in Carrollwood. The eclectic Italian spot takes over the former Loop restaurant in a center with Jasmine Thai and Bonefish. New Cat (13134 N Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa) should be open by early December.
It will have the same hearty lunch buffet and a lengthy dinner menu with Franco Lo Re in the kitchen (a chef for Ybor has not been named, but Lo Re will supervise and make guest appearances).
-- D. and Henry Frazier, who had Southern Garden Cafe/Cajun Kitchen in downtown St. Petersburg five years ago, now have Ragin' Roux (12543 Ulmerton Road, Largo; (727) 593-2800). They're serving gumbo, jambalaya, catfish, bread pudding and such. Lunches run $4.95 to $8.95 and dinners $7.95 to $18.95.
-- One of the beaches' oldest institutions is reopening. A beach club of the sort that used to belong to swells and now to Belleview Biltmore Resort guests, has been inaugurated as the Beach Club restaurant and bar for the public. The pool is reserved for guests but the club (1590 Gulf Blvd., Belleair Shores; (727) 595-1807), will serve sandwiches, roast chicken, grilled meats and fish from amberjack to yellowfin tuna. Lunches run $4.95 to $10.95; dinner from $14.95 to $24.95.
-- It's not a full-fledged restaurant, but you can now lunch in a pavilion amid the vines of one of Florida's rare vineyards, tiny Rosa Fiorelli Winery. The winery is 8 miles east of Interstate 75 out in the farmland of east Manatee County (4020 County Road 675, Bradenton; (941) 322-0976; 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; reservations accepted).
Rosa and husband Antonio came here from Sicily years ago and made wine from vines in their front yard. They now have 10 acres of muscadines, Conquistador, Blanc de Blois, and other grapes from which they make eight wines - red, white and blush - in varying degrees of sweetness.
Now, with a long wine-buying drive into the country, you can have salad, sub sandwiches and wine samples for $12.75 (11 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily).
Call ahead if you bring a crowd; a brick and mortar restaurant won't be ready until next year.
Bright spot for smokers
As the humidity falls, smokers can have at least one grateful thought about living and dining in Florida.
Sure, state law finally snuffed out their restaurant smoking, the inevitable arrival of a nationwide movement. But, guess what, it also kicked them outside.
One consequence, restaurants all around Tampa Bay have added patios and sidewalk tables to provide a place to puff. Florida's weather can make those areas usable much of the year and these first fall weeks are some of the best.
It may not last, but you couldn't count on outdoors being so attractive everywhere.
-- Food critic Chris Sherman writes about dining and restaurant news in the Nibbler. He can be reached at 727 893-8585 or by e-mail at sherman@sptimes.com