Locale Market & Pair O' Dice Brewing

 

One of my birthday gifts was a gift card to Locale Market from my Uncle Mark & Aunt Cynthia.  I LOVE getting gift cards and consumable gifts – I’d much rather enjoy a great meal than get another physical thing to fill up space in my home that I might not even use. 

I wrote a longer post about Locale a few months back the first time I visited.  I just want to buy out the entire market – but it’s a lot higher price than my go-to Trader Joe’s.  We’ve found that their pre-made meals are well worth the trip though and actually not a bad price at all for the quality you get. 

Their menu changes seasonally, so there were different choices this time than our previous visit.  This time, Lance had their spice-rubbed brisket with herbed potatoes, braised greens, and red onion jus.   I ordered the peanut-crusted Faroe Island salmon served over vermicelli noodles with salmon skin cracklings, radish, and sweet chili dressing. I was happy that they carried cans of St. Pete Brewing's Orange Wheat so I could drink something local with my meal.  

 

I would expect either of these dishes on a high-end restaurant menu for twice the price.  The portions were surprisingly large – especially the brisket.  And it’s clear that their chefs know what they’re doing when they create these dishes. We ate our meal out on their patio (a pigeon kept inching closer hoping we'd drop some crumbs, but unlucky for him, we ate everything...) 

Afterwards we headed to Pair O’ Dice Brewing in Clearwater for their Stout Smackdown.  As part of Tampa Bay Beer Week, they paired about a dozen different stouts with cupcakes from Culinary Nerds Cakes.  I was surprised that they had so many beers on tap – not only the huge variety of stouts, but also porters, IPAs, and pale ales as well. 

 

 

 

We got two cupcakes – one chocolate/peanut butter and the other chocolate/coffee.  They paired great with our stouts, especially the Hot Cocoa Imperial Stout!  Lance had his with a pint of Let It Rye’d IPA, which won a gold medal at the 2015 Best Florida Beer Championships. 

 

I’m becoming a big fan of spicy beers.  Their Chili Little Joe Stout was great, but my favorite was the Mexicali Jalapeño Lime Pale Ale.  The lime cut the spiciness so it was perfect – I’d love to try that beer with Mexican food.  Somehow we always forget to bring our growlers from home when we visit breweries – otherwise I would have brought some home. 

Locale Market is located at 179 2nd Ave North  St. Petersburg, Florida 33701 and is open 10am – 9pm Monday – Saturday and 12pm – 8pm on Sunday.  

Pair O’ Dice Brewing is located at 4400 118th Ave N #208, Clearwater, FL 33762 and is open 4 – 10pm Wednesday & Thursday, 4 – 11pm Friday, 3 – 11pm Saturday, and 1 – 7pm on Sunday.

Localtopia 2015

 

I was really excited to have off work on February 7^th because two of my best friends, Tony & Katie, got married!  Since I work most Saturdays, I wanted to make the most of it.  So that morning, I headed to St. Pete with my friend Vimmi for the 2^nd Annual Localtopia. 

 

It’s an event run by Keep Saint Petersburg Local featuring all sorts of local businesses.  It took place in Williams Park in downtown St. Pete.  Since I wanted plenty of time to get ready for Tony & Katie’s wedding, we went right at 10am when the event started. 

I was especially excited because The Hole Donuts teamed up with The Urban Canning Company to create the Glazey Susan – a glazed donut filled with strawberry balsamic & cracked pepper jam and topped with pecans and pretzels!  I love it when local companies collaborate together. 

Vimmi and I were looking for the donuts, but couldn’t find them anywhere.  Then we realized we were at the wrong park (the St. Pete Saturday Morning Market takes place a few blocks away at Progress Energy Park).  That market runs every Saturday 9am – 2pm from October to May.  While we were there, we picked up some coffees at Bay Coffee and Tea Company (I had an Almond Joy latte), and Vimmi found some gluten-free goodies at one of the local stands. 

 

 

While the Saturday Morning Market was big, the Localtopia event was huge!  It had over 100 vendors with all sorts of products, arts & crafts, food, and drinks.  There was live music on the stage and the park was packed!

 

I managed to score the last two Glazey Susan donuts (brought one home for Lance since he was working…but I could have easily eaten both myself). 

The filling was so good that I bought a jar of the Strawberry Balsamic & Cracked Pepper Jam too. 

Vimmi found some gluten-free cupcakes that looked amazing!

 

And we both purchased some awesome soaps from Bodhi Basics.  Their soaps are all organic with no artificial ingredients.  The company is named after their dog, Bodhi, so a portion of their profits goes to local no-kill animal shelters.  They’ll be opening a retail location on 1^st Avenue next month.  I got the Moroccan Clay soap which smells fantastic – with a variety of oils, shea butter, Moroccan rhassoul clay, and spices like cloves, cinnamon, and turmeric.  They even have a soap that’s made with local pork fat from Bodega on Central!

 

 

 

O’Berry’s (which was featured at Green Bench’s Brew Brunch) had some really pretty arrangements of cacti and succulents in fun containers. 

I was also excited for the Drink Like A Local truck – which had about 2 dozen different beers from local breweries, some of which aren’t even officially opened yet.  I tried the Kumquat Hefeweizen from Urban Comfort, which opens soon on Central Ave.  It was sweet, but not too sweet.  I’m looking forward to checking their brewery out soon!  My only complaint about the truck was that the people pouring the beers didn't seem to know much about the different breweries...I was hoping there would be a representative from Green Bench, 3 Daughters, Urban Comfort, etc. 

 

 

We grabbed some lunch before heading back to Tampa.  I had a meatball hoagie from Mazzaro’s which was huge. 

It was certainly a popular event, so I’m sure there will be a Localtopia 2016 to look forward to! 

Duckweed Urban Market – Tampa, FL

 

I bought a LivingSocial deal for $10 that gave me $20 to spend on meat and seafood at Duckweed Urban Market. 

It’s in the lower level of the Element tower, and it’s the only local grocery store for all the residents of downtown Tampa.  I had never been before, but since I sell lots of furniture to residents of the Element, I’ve heard good things about it. 

The first impression was very good – the outside is decorated with plants in brightly colored pots and has seating for people wanting to grab a quick bite.  It looks like something you’d find in New York City. 

It’s a pretty small store, but they do have many of the essentials along with some really great local venders.  When I told them about my coupon, they said I could actually use it towards anything in the store, not just meat and seafood. 

I was excited to see that they had Whatever Pops – fantastic gourmet popsicles that are normally sold at food truck events and farmer’s markets in Tampa.  I picked up a Strawberry Basil and Earl Grey Lavender Lemonade. 

I also bought some lobster ravioli from Tampasta, granola with vanilla and chocolate clusters, a dark chocolate bar with chilies & cherries by Chocolove, and a jar of pear dark chocolate cinnamon jam from The Urban Canning Company. 

We had the ravioli for dinner last night and it was delicious.  The granola I’ve been eating for breakfast in parfaits, and we’ve been savoring the chocolate bar (I love the sweet & spiciness).  The chocolate had a Shakespeare poem inside, which was a nice touch.  

 

 

I haven’t had the chance to eat the popsicles or jam yet, but I’ve had several other Whatever Pops and they’ve always been incredibly fresh.  We have a few other jellies to use up before I crack this one open, but if it tastes as good as it sounds, I may have to go back for more. 

I will say that the quality of what I bought was fantastic.  But the prices are out of my normal grocery budget – the 6 items I bought came to a total of $33.  I’m all for supporting local businesses and I love the unique products, but I’d have to make a bit more money if I wanted to shop here regularly. 

Duckweed Urban Market is located at 803 North Tampa Street, Tampa, FL 33602 and is open 10am – 10pm Monday – Thursday, 10am – 11pm Friday, 8am – 11pm Saturday, and 8am – 10pm on Sunday.