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By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 13, 2001
Independent woman that I am, I'll not often follow some fickle fellow from hither to yon, not even for a good time.
But for Enzo Cassese, I'll make an exception.
Cassese -- or simply "Enzo" to the faithful -- was a bright spot on Pasco's rather dreary dining map until about five years ago, when he announced that he was hanging up his spoons and spatulas for good.
In the preceding 14 years, Enzo had held culinary court in a charming little place with its back facing Main Street in New Port Richey and a couple of other places with less, well, cachet.
People (including me) followed him wherever he went because they knew at the end of the trek they'd find his fantastic homemade focaccia bread and scrumptious paglia e fieno alla Enzo, my personal favorite.
Now Enzo has taken over dinner chef chores for the 100-seat dining room at the Clarion Hotel in New Port Richey (by Queen of Peace Church on U.S. 19). He'll be doing his well-known Italian milkfed veal, chicken and seafood dishes -- at the same prices as 1996 -- but also American steaks for the out-of-towners who might not realize that a motel dining room can turn out food fit for the pickiest gourmand. Hours are 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday (the restaurant will have a regular menu for breakfast and lunch).
Enzo said he left the kitchen when he had to have a hip replacement and couldn't stand the long hours of standing.
When he got a call from the new managers at the Clarion, though, he couldn't resist.
"I had gotten tired of doing nothing," he said. Besides, "I've lost 80 pounds, and I'm better looking than I ever was."
Same old modest Enzo.
When Enzo opened his first restaurant in 1982, his was one of the very few "special place to go" places in West Pasco.
Now we have quite a few, plus some neat restaurants up the road in Spring Hill and Brooksville and across county in Dade City. (And, of course, the wonderful Pancho's Villa in San Antonio.)
Even so, it is likely that Enzo's legion of fans will find their way to his present spot.
A few weeks ago, when I wrote about the Charlie Daniels 11th annual Angelus Jam in Clearwater on Jan. 20 and 21, I said that tickets are available at Circle K., TicketMaster and Winn-Dixie.
Turns out that the information I got from the central ticket office was incorrect.
It isn't Winn-Dixie selling the tickets, according to Sue Campbell, an Angelus Jam publicist. It's really Albertson's.
"They were giving out the wrong information," Sue e-mailed me this week. But now it's been corrected.
Diana Forgione, who directed the Avenue Players at Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center for more than eight years before her recent departure for other fields, was recently chosen to direct Neil Simon's comedy, Barefoot in the Park, at Richey Suncoast Theatre in New Port Richey.
She is holding auditions for the show at 7 p.m. Jan. 21 and 22 at the theater on Grand Boulevard. The show plays March 1-4, 9-11 and 15, 16 and 18 (they're skipping Chasco parade night on March 17).
Meanwhile, she is taking her Avenue Players to Stage West Community Playhouse on Feb. 2, 3 and 4 for a reprise of the drama Amadeus, which had a successful run in Tarpon Springs in December. Call (352) 683-5113 for tickets.
If you hoped to see the touring company musical 42nd Street at Pasco-Hernando Community College on March 4, you're too late.
The show is sold out, every last ticket, according to the PHCC Foundation office, which sponsors the entertainment series.
It seems that no matter how many Broadway musicals come to this area or how many venues do a particular show, the crowds always show up to see them. Example?
The musical Hello, Dolly has played at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Golden Apple Dinner Theatre, Stage West Community Playhouse and several other area venues in recent years, but, still, the production of Dolly opening Feb. 16 at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre had sold more than 5,000 tickets by the first of the year.