Bern's, Paris and Sugar3 dot the resume of a pastry chef who has taken over the former Pane Rustica spot on MacDill.
By MICHAEL CANNING
Published October 28, 2005
Can storefronts have good karma? If so, then good things could await Kim Yelvington's new patisserie, Chocolate Pi.
The spot at 2821 S MacDill Ave. is the former home of Pane Rustica. Like Pane Rustica, Chocolate Pi is an independent business born of a love for European culinary traditions and an obsession with details.
There's even cool music playing, though Yelvington promises it won't be Black Flag or Fugazi that made the soundtrack to her teen life. More like Massive Attack and Thievery Corporation, the sort of low-key artsy club music that played at Sugar3, a short-lived pastry shop and dessert bar Yelvington co-founded in 2002 on Henderson Boulevard.
Yelvington actually started Chocolate Pi shortly after Sugar3 dissolved, supplying pastries for high-end weddings and other restaurants from leased kitchen space at the Tampa Airport Marriott. The Oct. 19 opening of the MacDill store is her latest effort to create a South Tampa dessert destination.
About a third of Chocolate Pi's 2,600 square feet is devoted to retail display cases and a 10-seat cafe decorated by Yelvington, a former art student. The menu, which emphasizes single servings, features candies, bonbons, petit fours, French macaroons, butter cookies, biscotti, tarts, brownies and personal-sized cakes. Coffee, teas and soft drinks are available, and Yelvington is considering adding danishes, croissants and muffins for the breakfast crowd early next year.
Yelvington started her baking career while in high school, working at the now-defunct Alessi Farmers Market. After that she worked at Bern's Steak House while studying fine art at the University of South Florida.
College eventually fell by the wayside as Yelvington delved deeper into classical French baking. She took three trips to Paris to study with famous pastry chefs. She also studied at the French Pastry School in Chicago.
Yelvington left Bern's in 2001 to co-found Sugar3.
And, yes, the math puns are intended with Sugar3 (Sugar Cubed) and now Chocolate Pi. Yelvington credits her daughter Jade with starting the joke. As a 9-year-old, she came up with "Sugar3." Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. After the new year, Yelvington hopes to stay open until 9:30 or 11 p.m.
DON'T INSULT THE CHEF: The place is run by a guy named Gengiz Khan.
Actually, we have no indication that Khan, who opened his self-named restaurant in late August, has a disposition anything like the great Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan.
Heck, Gengiz Khan is from Turkey, as is his business partner, Ertinos "Tiger" Tekin.
And so Gengiz Khan the restaurant specializes in Turkish and Mediterranean cuisine, including various kebabs, kazandibi (upside-down milk pudding), baklava and Uludag Turkish soda.
Gengiz Khan is designed to provide an authentic Turkish experience, from the seasonings to the Ottoman Empire-styled columns, Tekin said. Belly dancing will start in about a month during Saturday's International Nights, featuring flamenco and salsa dancing and live accompaniment.
Gengiz Khan is at 6102 S MacDill Ave., inside the Shoppes of Interbay. Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 3 to 9 p.m. Sunday.
NEW AT THE MALLS: International and WestShore plazas are settling up their rosters before the holiday season rush.
Recent openings at International Plaza include Sephora perfume and cosmetics, Cafe Japon sushi restaurant, Hot Topic teen apparel, Kenneth Cole shoes and accessories, and Steve Madden shoes.
Opening sometime before Christmas will be a Sony electronics store, Nestle Toll House Cafe, Clarks shoes and Sigrid Olsen women's apparel.
At WestShore Plaza, Chico's women's clothing is moving into the old Brookstone space in early November. Wilson's Leather will temporarily occupy the old Chico's space through Jan. 1.
Also opening in early November is Studio One to One photography studio. A Christmas to Remember decor shop will occupy the former Casual Corner spot through the holidays.
And the long-anticipated Mitchell's Fish Market, a seafood spinoff of Ohio's Cameron Mitchell restaurant group, is scheduled to open under the JCPenney parking garage in January or February.
Do you know something that should be everybody's business? E-mail mikecanning@hotmail.com or call 226-3394.
