St. Pete's new 'Chef's Table,' a Tampa Starbucks votes to unionize, and more local food news

Openings

Chef’s Table Chef’s Table by Lolita’s, a multi-course tasting menu from the owners of St. Pete’s Lolita’s Wine Market, welcomes its first customers this weekend. Inspired by Lolita's Wine Market owners Kelly and Chef Alex Rodriguez’s global travels, their new Chef’s Table experience is aimed to give guests an “artistic” and curated culinary experience, vastly different from the wine bar’s casual tapas offerings. While some tasting menus can be formal and avant garde, Lolita’s wants its Chef’s Table experience to be fun and interactive, offering gourmet twists on everyday fare. For example, one course that folks may expect is a playful interpretation of the classic steak frites dish, where Chef Rodriguez offers what can be described as a “fancy tater tot” topped with steak tartare and garnish. The first installments of Chef’s Table happen this weekend on May 17-18, featuring 12 courses and wine pairings for $200. There’s still a few slots for both Friday and Saturday night’s dinner; folks can call or text (954)-854-6082 to snag seats at the Chef’s Table debut weekend. Sales tax and gratuity are included in the price. 16 18th St., St. Petersburg. lolitaswinemarket.com

Grove Surf Cafe St. Pete Beach’s go-to spot for craft coffee and trendy beach gear just expanded northward—and its new sister concept is even closer to the water. Grove Surf + Coffee's full-service sibling—aptly named Grove Surf Cafe—soft opened last week and now offers a variety of pastries, breakfast and light lunch options alongside lattes, matcha and other specialty beverages. Located at 1309 Gulf Blvd. less than a block away from beach access, Grove Surf Cafe is an expanded version of the flagship coffee shop on St. Pete Beach, although both concepts share a similar drink menu using beans from St. Pete’s Bandit Coffee Co. While Grove Surf + Coffee boasts a massive retail section with surfing gear, beachy souvenirs and branded merchandise, Grove Surf Cafe on Indian Rocks Beach will focus more on an expanded food menu. Daytime bites on the new cafe’s menu include whipped ricotta and avocado toast, a traditional bacon egg and cheese breakfast sandwich, hearty hash brown bowl, chicken Caesar wrap and a yogurt parfait. Pastries like croissants, “Pop Tarts,” cookies and doughnuts are also made in-house. Grove Surf Cafe is now open from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday and is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, although operating hours may expand in the future. 1309 Gulf Blvd., Indian Rocks Beach. grovesurfandcoffee.com

Events

Pinellas Ale Work’s “Bark & Boogie” party If there are two things that the city of St. Petersburg loves—it’s craft beer and dogs. One popular brewery that’s been quite successful at combining those two things is celebrating its 8th year in The ‘Burg. Pinellas Ale Works (stylized as “PAW”) hosts an all-day “Bark & Boogie” party filled with specialty beer releases, live music, local vendors, food trucks and a free disco-themed photo booth. A few new drinks folks can expect include Paw’s pineapple and blue raspberry sour, a glitter-infused piña colada seltzer, a tropical fruit-inspired IPA and a peanut butter and jelly amber ale. Besides slinging over 30 craft beers, ciders and seltzers, The brewery—once regarded by chewy.com as the most "Dog-Friendly Brewery in the U.S."—also hosts a variety of dog-related fundraisers, including its weekly “Yappy Hour” in collaboration with Pet Pal Animal Shelter and various adoption events throughout the year. There’s no cover for the Pinellas Ale Works’ 8th anniversary party happening Saturday, May 18 in St. Petersburg. 1962 1st Ave. S, St. Petersburg. pawbeer.com [event-1] Lowry Parcade’s 8th Anniversary Lowry Parade is a place where both your inner child and beer-loving 20 something-year-old can have a great time. The arcade, beer bar and retro event space—that boasts everything from themed pinball machines and air hockey to throwbacks like "Pacman," "Tetris" and "Donkey Kong"—is celebrating its eighth year in Tampa with a weekend full of festivities and drink specials from May 24-26. The party kicks off next Friday with classic ‘80s tunes courtesy of DJ AcidBitter and a fresh keg of Deadpils—a video game-themed collaboration brew with Florida Avenue Brewing Co.—and continues the next day with a cosplay-inspired burlesque show featuring local performers Magnolia Minx, Lilabelle Quaintrelle, Indie Sinclair and Paris Cyte. Lowry Parcade's 8th birthday party wraps up on Sunday, May 26 where the arcade’s games will be free to play all day-long and patrons can snag deals on beer and merchandise. Tickets to Saturday's 21-and-up burlesque show run for $8 at the door (or $15 if you'd like front row seating and your first drink on the house). The Tampa spot, which is located at 1213 W Waters Ave., also regularly hosts live music, video game tournaments, DJ’s, karaoke nights and other events throughout the year. [event-1] ICYMI

Tampa Starbucks workers vote to unionize Workers at a Starbucks store in Tampa voted to unionize Tuesday, joining seven other unionized Starbucks locations in Florida and over 400 Starbucks stores nationwide. According to Starbucks Workers United, the final vote count was 13–5 in favor of unionization at the Tampa location, which was shut down Tuesday for the union election. Blake Smallen, a 24-year-old barista at the Starbucks in Tampa, told Creative Loafing Tampa that workers first began organizing in earnest with Starbucks Workers United nearly a year to the day. However, they didn’t officially file a petition with the federal labor board to unionize until May 1 of this year. Smallen’s store is the only Starbucks in the Tampa Bay area that has voted to unionize. In 2022, an Orlando-area Starbucks became the first unionized location in Central Florida. Workers at another Starbucks in Bradenton narrowly voted against unionization last summer. —McKenna Schueler

Longtime Tampa sandwich shop Brocato’s files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy The Tampa Bay Business Journal reports that Brocato’s Sandwich Shop filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week in an effort "to reorganize its debts after falling behind on payments to the Florida Department of Revenue and several vendors.” According to the recent filing, the Tampa restaurant owes about $1.4 million to its creditors and $700,000 to the Department of Revenue. The federal government says that “a chapter 11 debtor usually proposes a plan of reorganization to keep its business alive and pay creditors over time,” so it doesn’t seem like this week's filing will immediately affect operations at the beloved Tampa gem. According to its website, Brocato’s debuted in Tampa in 1948 and has experienced many evolutions since its opening, although ownership has remained in the same family over the past seven decades. It was initially a grocery store that became a meat market and eventually reached its final form as a sandwich shop and fast casual restaurant.

Chef from Tampa's Sal Y Mar will appear on Food Network show 'Supermarket Stakeout' this week A local chef from one of Tampa's most popular rooftop eateries is about to make his Food Network debut. Sal Y Mar's Executive Chef Johnathan Rodriguez is set to be a contestant on the latest episode of "Supermarket Stakeout" this week. Supermarket Stakeout, now in its sixth season, centers around chefs creating dishes in a parking lot for judges based on ingredients they buy from customers at a grocery store, all while attempting to stay under a $500 budget. "Alex Guarnaschelli asks four determined chefs to stake out and dish up a continental breakfast," says the episode's description. "Then, it's a close call to see whose culinary creations make judges Gabe Bertaccini and Damaris Phillips melt. The final two chefs must keep their cool and keep it creamy to walk away a winner." Before taking the helm of Sal Y Mar rooftop restaurant in Midtown Tampa, Rodriguez was the Executive Chef for Sea Salt in St. Pete, Embassy Suites by Hilton, and Trump National Golf Club in New York. Rodriguez's episode aired on Wednesday, May 15 on the Food Network. —Colin Wolf

Tiki Tim's Pub & Grille, a full-liquor pub dishing out regional fare from Philly and Maryland, is opening out of St. Pete’s former Pesky Pelican Pub at 923 72nd St. N this weekend. During its soft opening, the new bar and restaurant will dish out Philly cheesesteaks, chips and salsa, buffalo chicken dip and grilled chicken sandwiches. After Saturday’s debut, Tiki Tim will be open from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday.

Tampa Heights’ Woven Water Brewing Co. (456 W Columbus Dr.) hosts its third annual "psychedelic celebration" of smoothie sours on Saturday, May 18. “Gloop City” features over a dozen local and out-of-town breweries slinging their best pours, including Indiana’s 450 North Brewing Co., Texas-based Celestial Beerworks, Michigan’s Definitive Brewing Company and Froth Brewing Co. from New York. There will also be live music, local food trucks and a special smoothie sour release in collaboration with Delaware's Dewey Beer Co.

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