Palate and palette served with flair

By CHRIS SHERMAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 22, 2001

The Green Springs Cafe in Safety Harbor tickles one's taste in food and art, combining the two with eclecticism.

SAFETY HARBOR -- I had the oddest sensation when I came into Green Springs.

The normal emotion would be delight to be surrounded by so many bright colors in a happy zoo of artwork. The tables can be painted with the a-weem-maweh scenes from The Lion Sleeps Tonight or by a baby's feet. The paintings and the walls themselves have a palette bolder than Van Gogh or Haring. Even 10-foot garden pylons of rusting metal reveal zaftig cherubs -- or was it a butterfly?

It could provoke dismay if your taste in art finds it too modern, or perhaps not edgy enough, but most bored souls would be charmed into a little good cheer.

My reaction was deeper. Maybe it was the shelter of the porch under oaks on a blowy day. Maybe the Cat Stevens tunes or the theme from M*A*S*H. I felt a sense of trust.

So trusting that I ordered something I normally fear, a sandwich of . . . turkey breast, two of the most disappointing words on a menu, too often referring to shavings of processed turkey food product.

Yet I knew I would be in good hands here.

Those hands had shredded a real roasted turkey, pulling it apart the way you would after Thanksgiving. They had the modern wit to toss the meat with slivers of onion, olive oil, rice vinegar and smoky sesame to give it Asian spark and smoke. Add tomatoes, a slaw of cucumber threads, carrot and lettuces and a crusty whole wheat peasant loaf, put it on a big blue plate and the turkey sandwich is restored to true glory.

The hands and the wit behind them belong to Paul Kapsalis, a young chef who combines classical training with an affection for the foods of his family traditions, which means Greek flavors get as much respect here as Japanese trends.

Especially Greek cheeses, which go beyond just good feta: there is a rustic Greek treat here called beneli, rather like a bruschetta, topped with a wondrous melt of cheeses, roma tomatoes and mushroom crisps. Goat cheese never tasted so rich.

I also trusted Kapsalis because he has short menus with 10 or fewer items -- and has the confidence to give those limited slots to the beneli, a turkey sandwich, simple coddled eggs, lamb chops or salmon, lobster and asparagus en papillote.

There's also a chicken-sausage gumbo, attributed to another branch of the family, fork-thick with lots of okra (but I'd add more fire, my fran'). Small boneless chickens stuffed with sausage were roasted to a crisp and served with charred carrots and snow peas.

The best meal on my visits was a lasagna of spinach, feta and portobellos unlike any of its stolid Greek or Italian cousins. This was not a casserole or a pretentious napoleon, simply an artful and airy stack of mushrooms, greens and noodles in a robust sauce of fresh tomatoes. It was lighter than I knew lasagna could be.

Black and blue cobbler had the same handmade texture and flavor, a small ceramic bowl, filled with fresh berries and a crunchy crumb topping.

The wine list is just as short and carefully selected, 10 wines topping out with a Fife zin and Clos du Bois cab for less than $40 (by the glass stuff, however, is dreary and needs crisper white than a generic riesling and a watery chardonnay).

At the table, you are in the unfailing care of Kapsalis' partner, Kris Kubik, and a staff that is both laid back and busy. Kubik herself bounces from the cash register to play checkers with her daughter or to draft the 4-year-old to pass out menus.

When she ran out of square tables on the porch to accommodate a party of eight, she offered a couple free desserts to swap their table for a round one. "It's my favorite table," she says.

I'd trust her judgment too, for every detail of the place shows vigorous style, in brightly colored tiles, odd china and painted teapots and wire and jewel sculptures. A mere restroom is a tour de force with three-foot folk art fish to hold paper towels, stained glass windows and hand-painted "Employees must wash their hands."

This is not slick South Beach design with sharp edges and dangerous curves, this is the restaurant as art or perhaps art car, art you want to touch like a 1975 Cutlass covered with buttons, old toys, postcards and feathers.

The artists are local and they are here, for the restaurant is subtitled "A Gathering Place," and that's not just hype.

Kapsalis, who worked at Safety Harbor's Blue Gardenia before it moved to Tampa last year, has given locals a new sophisticated hangout.

At lunch, the crowd ranges from pony-tailed artists to their patrons and lunching ladies; when the sun goes down and the prices go up, there's a bigger spillover from the spa.

It's a peculiarly Safety Harbor mix. Green Springs is not a chain and not one more quaint tea room in an old house. It is neither too hip nor nouveau hippie.

It is a restaurant where the food, the art and the spirit are hand-made with a playful human touch. Every town should have one.

REVIEW: Green Springs Cafe

• 122 Third Ave. N, Safety Harbor
• (727) 669-6762
• Hours: Lunch, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; dinner, 6 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; brunch, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sunday
• Reservations: Suggested
• Credit cards: MC, V.
• Details: No-smoking section; beer/wine; good wheelchair access; restrooms not adapted
• Prices: Lunch, $4.75 to $7.50; dinner, $11.25 to $18.75
• Special features: Outdoor seating, live music, art for sale

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