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Everybody's business

Pro cooks up Nuevo Cafe

A seasoned restaurateur is dishing up "Tampa Spanish" at 3301 S Dale Mabry.

By MARTY CLEAR
Published April 8, 2005

You probably haven't eaten at Nuevo Cafe yet, but there's a good chance you're already a fan of owner Bobby Fernandez's food.

Fernandez has owned several popular Tampa restaurants over the years - 11, to be exact - and cooked at La Septima, his brother Ron's Spanish restaurant in Brandon.

Bobby Fernandez was the original owner of Cafe by the Bay and currently owns and operates La Cocina on Fowler Avenue and Las Palmas in New Tampa.

He's offering the same kind of fare, which he calls "Tampa Spanish," at Nuevo Cafe, 3301 S Dale Mabry Highway, in the former El Fogon.

The menu includes palomilla steak, ropa vieja, arroz con pollo, Spanish bean soup, picadillo and other Latin classics. Prices range from $4 to $8.75, and everything is available for takeout.

"Right now we're open for lunch and dinner, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., but we're probably going to be getting into breakfast pretty soon," Fernandez said. "Everybody who comes in here has been asking us about breakfast."

Nuevo Cafe opened March 28, replacing El Fogon, a longtime South Tampa cafe that closed a few months ago. Fernandez took over the building and renovated the space, giving it a fresher and more upscale look.

BALI-HOO: The Bali Bay Trading Co. store at 3423 W Bay to Bay Blvd. is closing, but that doesn't mean business has declined.

It's just that the owners - and customers - saw little need for the small South Tampa store, given the Bali Bay warehouse store is just minutes away, at 4222 N Florida Ave.

"Basically, the Bay to Bay store is about 1,000 square feet, and (the Florida) store is 10,000 square feet, so most of our customers prefer to come here," said general partner Carol Pavesi. "So it's just a consolidation."

Bali Bay specializes in handmade teak furniture and accessories from Indonesia. It opened the Bay to Bay store first, followed by the wholesale import location on Florida about six years ago. About a year and a half ago, it opened the Florida location to the public. Bali Bay's newest location is on Fourth Street in St. Petersburg.

The company's unique and elegant wares are more affordable than people might think, Pavesi said, because Bali Bay imports directly from Indonesia. Consolidating should also keep prices down, she said.

Bali Bay is in no big rush to close the Bay to Bay store, Pavesi said. The company owns the building and won't close the store until the building is rented.

For information, call Levin Realty at 832-5500.

UNDER THE RUG: The good news is that Persian Rug Gallery, at 3309 W Bay to Bay Blvd., is offering discounts of 77 to 80 percent on its entire stock.

The bad news is that owner Reza Roghani is closing shop.

"Our lease has expired and the landlord does not want to negotiate, so we're out," Roghani said.

"We did not want to close. I hate like hell to close my business. We've been here five or six years, and we have a lot of great customers. Our customers are calling us. Some of them are even crying."

Roghani said he's looking for a new space but hasn't been able to find anything he can afford. Several customers have offered him space, but so far none has been large enough.

He's hoping for the best and preparing for the worst by discounting his entire stock.

"If I knew I had a space tomorrow, I would stop offering these deals because I'm losing money," he said. "It's better to lose money and at least cash them out."

The Persian rug business is the only work he and his family have ever known.

"I'm fourth generation," he said. "I don't know what I'm going to do. It is scary."

[Last modified April 7, 2005, 08:55:10]