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Food

Organic food for all the little seedlings

By Sharon Ginn
Published June 8, 2007

Marlene Sundquist has fond memories of growing up on a diet of homemade meals prepared with fresh, simple ingredients. So after she had her own daughter two years ago, she tried to replicate her mom's efforts in the kitchen, painstakingly devising, making and freezing mini-meals so her baby would have tasty foods from the beginning.

Her daughter loved them, but making the meals "was time-consuming and messy, " Sundquist said. "Very, very messy."

Sundquist tried switching to traditional jars of baby food, but neither she nor her daughter was happy. She said she searched for, but could not find, better tasting commercially prepared food. So she headed back to the kitchen - and the seed of a new business was planted.

With her new store, Seedlings, Sundquist hopes to feed many more babies. The shop at 1530 S Dale Mabry Highway opens early next week and will offer organic frozen baby food prepared for her store in a commercial kitchen and frozen in small meal-sized containers.

Offerings range from typical Stage 1 foods like butternut squash and bananas to more complex toddler meals. She says that hers will be the only flash-frozen baby foods available in the southeast.

"It's very custom, " she said. "Each batch is very small."

Foods are the centerpiece, but Seedlings also will carry baby gifts and gear, from strollers to books, toys and accessories. Much of the baby gear will be high-end, hard-to-find and modern, she said, including high chairs from Stokke and Svan and push bicycles from LIKEaBIKE. The store also will host special events and activities, Sundquist said.

Hours will be 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11-4 on Sunday.

The 'med' in medspa

South Tampa's newest medspa is actually the private practice of a Tampa doctor of osteopathic medicine. Jean Allen, who until recently worked with a group practice on S Manhattan Avenue, is expected to open South Tampa Medspa and Wellness Inc. this month at 1502 S MacDill Ave.

The standalone building, which most recently was home to a weight loss and smoking cessation center, will house Allen's family medicine practice. She'll focus on women's health, office manager Sophia Harvill said, but will add massage therapy and cosmetic procedures such as Botox, Restylane and laser hair removal to the menu of services.

Such practices exist in other cities but Allen's new venture is unusual for Tampa. Medspas have been cropping up all over the area but tend to be geared only toward cosmetic procedures, with some also targeting weight loss. Allen will offer well-woman visits and prescribe hormones and other medications, often having them customized or "compounded" at a local pharmacy.

Harvill said Allen, licensed in Florida since 1986, wants the freedom to take a holistic (or whole-body) approach to medicine, along with giving women the boost that cosmetic procedures can provide.

"She wants to be able to spend more time with her patients, " Harvill said. "The concept of the office is to bring out the total well-being of a woman."

Such freedom comes with a caveat, of course: Insurance coverage may vary. Hours will be 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; 10-7 Tuesdays and Thursdays and 10-2 on Saturdays.

Catering to partiers

Neighbors often get skittish anytime the words "alcohol, " "rezoning" and "variance request" suddenly appear on one of the city's "Public Notice" signs planted next to a business.

The first thing that pops into said neighbors' minds usually is "bar."

But well-known local caterer Rita Carlino wants to make it clear that no bar or on-site alcohol sales are planned for the building that houses her company Rita Carlino's Cafe and Catering at 2507 S MacDill Ave.

Yes, there is a sign planted and a variance request in the works, but the plan is to add a liquor catering company that would be owned by family members of Carlino, who also own the building.

If granted the variance this month, the liquor catering company would move into Carlino's space as a separate, yet complementary, business to hers, Carlino said. It would provide alcohol for off-site events like weddings and parties. No alcohol would be sold on the premises.

The large, prominent empty storefront adjacent to Rita Carlino's, which used to house an antiques and home furnishing store, still does not have a tenant, Carlino said.

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

[Last modified June 9, 2007, 12:16:07]