It’s
been a busy couple of weeks! I went to
Boston to celebrate my friend Padma’s bachelorette weekend (more on Boston food
coming up soon…) Then the following weekend we had two weddings and a Halloween
party. Now I’ve finally got some down
time to catch up on all the October foods.
Lance
and I took part in the Heights Vibes Bicycle Ride a few weeks back. A group met at Fodder & Shine, then biked around
Seminole and Tampa Heights visiting different murals and art installations. At the
start was a big mural on the side of Fodder & Shine depicting a quilt-like
collage of some of the local Seminole Heights businesses. They were in the process of finalizing the
mural for a launch party the very next day.
Many of the logos looked familiar – including Ella’s,
Rooster
& the Till, Angry
Chair Brewing, and The Independent
Bar.
The
bike ride was sponsored by Velo
Champ bike shop – and apparently they take similar rides about once a month
(check out the calendar
here). We really enjoyed ourselves –
I’d definitely recommend taking part in one of these rides! The next one is November 29th
in Bradenton starting at Motorworks Brewing.
We
took a pit stop at Hidden
Springs Ale Works – a new craft brewery that just opened about a month
ago. They let us all bring our bikes in
and store them in the back while we cooled down with some beers. Our bartender was really friendly and I enjoyed
everything in my flight. The décor was a
little sparse, but they had literally just opened.
The
bike ride ended back at Fodder & Shine, and since we hadn’t dined there
before, we decided to grab a bite before heading home. It was opened about a year ago by Greg &
Michelle Baker, who also run The Refinery. The food is inspired by early cracker cuisine
from early Florida natives.
We
enjoyed a wedge of the bacon-fat cornbread along with cornmeal fried chicken,
collard greens, and PBR Mac & Cheese.
I cornbread was topped with butter and local honey – it was tasty, but a
little drier than I prefer. But the
fried chicken was really fantastic. Very
crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.
It’s
also a great spot to just grab a local beer and enjoy it on the patio with your
4-legged friend – they have “Yappy Hour”
every Sunday 1 – 5pm. Tonight they actually
hosted a pet costume party!
Fodder
& Shine is located at 5910
N Florida Ave, Tampa, FL 33604 and is open 5pm – 12am Monday – Thursday,
3pm – 2am on Friday, 1pm – 2am Saturday, and 1pm – 12am on Sunday.
Hidden
Springs Ale Works is located at 1631
N Franklin St, Tampa, FL 33602 and is open 5pm – 10pm Thursdays, 3pm – 12am
on Fridays, 12pm – 12am on Saturdays, and 12pm – 9pm on Sundays (they are
closed Monday – Wednesdays).