The season may be winding down as the heat comes on, but Tampa Bay's bouillabaisse still is cooking and there's plenty of new wine for the cellar or the fridge.
-- The Bayfront Tower in St. Petersburg gets another high-end bite on the ground floor: Prichard & Stone's Elegant Bistro is set to replace Heimann's this week.
Bobby Prichard and Keith Stone, former chef and manager, respectively at Julian's, have handsomely revamped the space (1 Beach Drive SE, St. Petersburg; (727) (551-2001) and installed a menu of top-dollar steaks and seafood with contemporary trimmings, including a bar and private dining room. Dinner prices are $15 to $34.
-- After little more than a year, Aldo's, an Italian import from Sarasota, has bowed out; Dave Caruso, a 10-year veteran of the Palm, and partner Luis Bevilacqua, will open Cafe Anna (3671 S West Shore Blvd., Tampa; (813) (831-0694) next week. The menu mixes American, Italian and creative comforts: crusted New York strip, shrimp and crawfish cakes, chicken piccata and chocolate pancakes, fresh bread and mozzarella served on butcher block. Prices are $11.99 to 25.99.
-- Lunch beefs up: Shula's Steak House (4860 W Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, (813) 286-4366) has followed the Palm into the lunch business. You can still beef out on a full-size cut but more appropriate lunch specials include salads, an open-face prime-rib sammitch and a filet mignon caesar from $10 to $15.
CliffsNotes on wine
Although I was wowed by the new generation of California pinot noirs at the big wine tastings in Sarasota and Tampa this month, our glasses runneth over with many other reds and, of course, whites. Here are some favorites to put on your shopping list - or dream sheet given some winemakers' tastes for $50 price tags.
CABERNET SAUVIGNON: In the $50 range, Napa's Philip Togni turned out two fine cabs from 2000: The Tanbark Hill second label is especially dark and thick. From the same unsung vintage, the Carpenter from Nickel & Nickel of Far Niente is soft and floral; a treat.
MERITAGE: The best of traditional red blends with Bordeaux grapes (and Bordeaux prices) came from Cain, which makes three blends, most lushly with extra cabernet franc in its 2000 Cain Concept. The 2000 Merryvale Profile does much the same with spicy blackberry notes. More unusual and lively is the spicy mix of cabernet and peppery zinfandel in Duckhorn's 2001 Paraduxx. All $50 and up.
MERLOT: America's new favorite grapes can now command $70 for its best, the bright and clean 2000 Sterling Reserve and remarkably rich 2000 North Star from Stimson Lane. For half the price, the 2001 Regusci merlot from Napa is bigger, round and full of blueberry, and if you like your berries with a buttery cream, try the 2001 Arrowood.
ITALIAN REDS: From Italy, the most exceptional wines in the high-end class were a Barolo from the great '97 vintage, the deep dark chocolatey Bussia from Poderi Colla, and the '96 Bertani Amarone, deep purple and full of spice, yet an amarone anyone can drink. Next best and a more affordable indulgence at $35 was the 1998 Poliziano Asinone, ripe and easy drinking.
SHIRAZ-SYRAH: Now widespread on at least three continents, the champion this month was a $100 Australian, the Marquis Philips Integrity, a magic carpet of comfort and spice.
Arrowood Saralee syrah at half the price is almost as rich and soft as merlot. And at $25, the 2001 Brothers in Arms delivers an intense taste of Oz shiraz, a deep, dark fruitcake you can drink but without the sugar.
REST OF THE REDS: A 2001 petite sirah from Mettler, a Lodi, Calif., grower-turned-vintner with a passion for this oddball grape, does it handsomely for $20 or so; it's a purple jam of dark berries with a smooth texture. Barbera starred in Vincere, an original blend with sangiovese from Steven Kent ($40), and on its own in a supple, perfumed beauty from Renwood in the Amador zin country ($20).
Best taste of Spain was the 2001 Condado de Haza ($22), a happy drink already and robust enough to keep. The 2003 valdiguie/gamay from J. Lohr was the flowery pick of the bargain bouquet (under $10).
CHARDONNAY: $20 will buy a number of fine chards. Best was the 2002 from the new Darioush label from Napa: big, round and packed with figs and licorice.
Good alternatives are Devil's Lair, a honey of an Australian from Margaret River, the 2001 Olivia Le Flaive Chablis, buttery, oaky and affordable Burgundy, and a creamy 2002 Girard from Sonoma's Russian River.
SAUVIGNON BLANCS: For $20, try the spicy 2002 with a hint of anise from Frog's Leap or the smoky, full-bodied Rudd 2002 for $20. For $10 to $12, look for the 2003 Sincerely from Neil Ellis of South Africa, Sancerre-ly crisp and tropically fruity at once.
EASY WHITES: Trevor Jones Boots White is a fresh idea for 2003 for less than $15, an odd Australian blend of muscat with a little Riesling, so it's both flowery and steely. Best taste of the 2002 Germans was a basket of fruit and spice in a rich Mosel, the Urziger Wurzgarten Spatlese ($25). Most unique flavors are in the 2001 pinot blanc from Arrowood, $30 but a big friendly white full of peaches and melons that pinot gris can't imagine.
BEST OF SHOWS: For making the best of Sonoma's traditional strengths and inventing new ones, I'll take Arrowood anywhere it flies.
-- Chris Sherman, who writes about food and wine for the St. Petersburg Times, is the author of "The Buzz on Wine" Lebhar-Friedman Books, $16.95. Chris Sherman can be reached at (727) 893-8585 or sherman@sptimes.com
