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Second helping
By CHRIS SHERMAN
© St. Petersburg Times,
published November 8, 2001
A true bistro: sophisticated food, everyday prices
[Times photo: Toni L. Sandys]
Dwight and Lauren Otis are running the biggest restaurant of their careers. Chandler’s is an affordable place with chef-driven cooking.
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Forget the name game and just know this: If you liked the food at the old Next City Grille or little Antipasto, both run by Dwight and Lauren Otis, or ever tried the pastas she made at the Ravioli Company, you'll find them -- and some of our very best modern cooking -- at a new address.
It's a bistro next to Starbucks on restaurant-studded Howard Avenue in South Tampa. It started out as J. Ryan's on the Grill over a year ago, a slick import from Sarasota bursting with promise and decor, but uneven food sent it downhill fast.
Enter the Otises as new partners. After months of reorganization, awkward signage over the door calls it Chandler's (for James Ryan Chandler, namesake of the first effort, too).
Not to worry. The new taste and feel about the place come from his partners. The Otises now run the biggest restaurant of their careers, but it seems as friendly and creative as their others.
The taste can be as simple as a half-pound burger or a thick steak with caramelized onions. Yet the daily menu reveals familiar signatures of sophistication and robust flavor, like artichokes in black butter and tomatoes, bold, sometimes fishy soups (like Ybor gumbo), and a curiosity about underutilized fish and meats. Cobia shows up in a tart escabeche, lamb leg might be braised with charred tomatoes and peppery Brussels sprouts (hope they try grilling sprouts sometime) or veal leg with spinach ravioli in a thick demi glace.
Chandler’s dinner entree of braised lamb leg stuffed with lemon basil pesto, pine nuts and feta served over fire-roasted tomatoes and Brussels sprouts.
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A complimentary amuse bouche lives up to its name, exploring such tastes as sushi with papaya and mint or a very clever sweet potato salad. The wine list is short, affordable and eclectic. (Find me another petite sirah this good from old Mexico!) Fresh rolls come with the zippiest tapenade in town. Only thing I miss is the crisp lavash that Otis introduced years ago, which is now widespread.
The room is still a hard-edged bit of millennial flash and Directoire brass, but the staff is easygoing, food-smart and proud (although they could use a little starch in their uniforms).
Chandler's delivers something more rare too: under-$20 affordability for chef-driven cooking. That fits the original intention of this place and the bistro idea that keeps eluding us: a spot that's both bar and restaurant, where you can drop in to eat or drink at weekday and school-night prices.
But you won't get everyday food.
Chandler's, open for lunch Monday through Friday, dinner nightly, 717 S Howard Ave. Tampa; (813) 250-1661. Prices, $5.95 to $17.95.
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