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Everybody's business

Oodles of noodles and more at B.T.

Three restaurants are swirled into one in Old Hyde Park Village. Restaurant B.T. also incorporates feng shui.

By MICHAEL CANNING
Published April 1, 2005

Months after closing her three popular restaurants and consolidating, B.T. Nguyen-Batley has opened Restaurant B.T. in Old Hyde Park Village.

Nguyen-Batley and her husband and business partner, Norman Batley, closed Yellow Door on Howard Avenue and Cafe B.T. and Noodle Lounge on Gandy Boulevard to make way for Restaurant B.T., a stylish new anchor for the village.

All items on the Cafe B.T. and Noodle Lounge menus appear on the new restaurant's menu, as well as about 80 percent of the Yellow Door menu, Ngugen-Batley said. New creations include tuna sashimi and langoustines.

The new 150-seat restaurant occupies the former Mia's and Hyde Park Diner spot. Diners may recognize the curved walls and oversized ceiling columns, but the rest of the space has been redone in adherence to feng shui principles.

Bamboo and cedar surfaces and modern track lighting hold sway in the dining room. Steel mesh curtains partition the lounge, which features a stainless steel bar and Batley's black and white portraits of staff, family and patrons. (Can you spot attorney John Fitzgibbons? Hinks and Elaine Shimberg?)

A metal awning is planned for the outdoor patio, which will provide shade and ceiling fans for another 40 diners.

Meanwhile, preliminary plans for franchising Noodle Lounge, their lowest-priced concept, are ongoing. "It's in the talking stages," Batley said. "There's definitely going to be some movement on that once Restaurant B.T. is up and going."

The chain would pretty much replicate the concept and price point of the original Noodle Lounge - Asian noodle, rice and salad bowls presented with minimalist feng shui decor and priced at less than $10, Batley said.

Restaurant B.T. is open for lunch and dinner.

FIG LEAF MOVES: A fixture in the Davis Islands business district is scheduled to move to Ybor City on Saturday.

After eight years at 221 E Davis Blvd., the Fig Leaf shop is moving to 1911 N 19th St., across from the Ybor City State Museum.

Her Ybor City store will have 1,000 square feet. She plans to devote the front half to the shop and the back half to her artist studio.

The store is part of the city's La Casitas Project, a collection of small early 20th century houses that were saved from demolition and refurbished for use by artists and merchants, such as Rose.

A drawer and sculptor by training, Rose custom decorates clothing, handbags and accessories, and also makes her own jewelry. Her wares are sold at gift shops and museums around the country.

Rose also hopes to lead small classes in jewelry making, sculpture and design theory at the new Fig Leaf.

MORE ROOM FOR DOCTORS: More procedures, more space, more business hours. Dr. Henry Weiss wants it all.

Another doctor and an elevator wouldn't be bad either.

So he and his colleagues at the South Tampa Medical Group are getting it all. Their new office is under construction on the 4200 block of Kennedy Boulevard, between Hubert and Lois avenues. It is expected to open by mid May.

The new 5,500-square-foot office will have a second story, lab space, a larger procedure room and better handicap access. The waiting room will triple in size, and an ambulance driveway will also be added.

The office will replace the group's 2,800-square-foot office at 3614 W Kennedy Blvd.

With the extra space, Weiss said he and his fellow internists - Gus Barrazueta, Leonard Mennen, A. Torralba and Flory Toribio - might add endoscopy services. One sure addition is Dr. Yasser Saloum, a former professor of gastroenterology at the University of Florida, who will join the staff on May 15.

And for the first time, the South Tampa Medical Group plans to add weekend hours.

Do you know something that should be everybody's business? Call 226-3394, or e-mail mikecanning@hotmail.com

[Last modified March 31, 2005, 08:54:10]