Retro Oven Bakery – St. Pete, FL

My friend Vimmi invited me to go check out this brand new bakery called Retro Oven that her friend Ivana opened in St. Pete.  We each invited friends who invited their own friends, so we had a nice group of girls join us to test out her treats!

Ivana has already been baking wholesale for a few years, but she decided to add a storefront just last week.  So far, the only advertising has been word of mouth, but it already seems to be very popular. 

This place is a hidden gem. I’m sure if I didn’t know it was there, I would drive right past the strip center (the outside definitely doesn’t do it justice).  It was a rainy Saturday morning with the remnants of Hurricane Hermine, but as soon as we stepped through the door, we were welcomed by the cozy, modern interior. 

There was a mix of sweet and savory pastries, cakes, and breads.  Ivana uses a lot of family recipes, and because of her Serbian background, the sweets aren’t quite as sugary as the typical American dessert (which is actually a relief – some bakeries add so much sugar to their concoctions that you get a headache afterwards). 

She gave us several samples and even had slices of all her cakes for us to test out (I loved the European Hazelnut Walnut).  We also tasted her homemade bread, which was hearty and full of all sorts of grains.  I ended up ordering a cinnamon roll and cup of coffee to dip it in.  And since Lance had to work, I picked him up a giant cookie to go. 

Wishing her lots of success! If any of you are in the area, go and visit.

We ended up spending the afternoon in St. Pete. We visited the Indie Market at the Morean Center for Clay where I stocked up on my stash of Urban Canning Company’s D’anjou pear, ginger & habanero jam, got a cup of blueberry jalapeño ginger beer from Tidal Boar, and found a cool piece of art from The Messy Painter. 

We finished with lunch at Bodega on Central – it was hot and sticky outside, but I really enjoyed my arepas and maduros.  I’d love for Tampa’s downtown to eventually become as vibrant as the St. Pete scene since I’m on this side of the bay – we’ll get there one day. 

Retro Oven Bakery is located at 2803 38th Ave N, St. Petersburg, FL 33713.  They are open Monday – Friday 7:30am – 3:30pm and Saturday 8am – 3pm (they are closed on Sundays). 

Bodega on Central is located at 1120 Central Ave, St. Petersburg, FL 33705.  They are open Sunday – Wednesday 11am – 9pm and Thursday – Saturday 11am – 11pm. 

Six Ten Brewing & Cigar City Brewpub – Tampa, FL

 

We planned to go to TopGolf on a double date with our friends Tony & Katie – but unfortunately there was an OVER THREE HOUR wait, so we had to change plans. 

Six Ten Brewing was having a 1 year anniversary party, so we headed there to check it out.  It’s just north of the airport on Benjamin Road – we’d never been there before, so we were excited to cross another brewery off our list!  They had 17 of their own beers available plus 6 guest taps. 

 

Katie and I decided we liked the Vanilla Porter best.  The Peanut Butter Porter actually didn’t have a lot of peanut taste, but you could definitely taste the vanilla flavor.  I also had a sample of the Schofferhofer Grapefruit Hefeweizen – which tasted more like juice than beer to me.  The boys enjoyed their IPAs. 

 

The flyer said they’d have food trucks, so we were expecting several, but there was actually only one truck there.  We decided instead for our dinner we’d head over to Cigar City Brewpub since we were already on the north side of Tampa.  One of my first blog posts was actually a double date with Tony & Katie at Cigar City! 

 

There was a bit of a wait, but it was a Saturday night, so that’s expected.  We had drinks at the bar while waiting for our table.  We were pretty hungry by the time we sat down, so we ordered some appetizers – the beer cheese pretzels and cheese board (lucky none of us are lactose intolerant – lots of cheese at our table…)  The brown ale cheese dip was great, but I’m still most impressed with Brew Hub’s beer cheese & pretzels.  The cheese board was fantastic though – nice variety of different types, along with pickles and berries. 

 

 

Somehow all four of us all decided we wanted burgers for our meals.  There are so many fantastic choices on the menu, but I’m glad I tried out their Grass Fed Burger – served with house-smoked bacon, sofrito, sweet plantains, pickles, and roasted garlic aioli on a brioche bun.  I upgraded to sweet potato fries (although the malanga chips they typically come with are also delicious). 

Whoever decided to put plantains on a burger was a genius.  I would definitely order it again. 

Six Ten Brewing is located at 7052 Benjamin Rd, Tampa, FL 33634 and is open 3pm – 9pm Wednesday – Thursday, 3pm – 11pm on Friday, 12pm – 11pm on Saturday, and 12pm – 7pm on Sunday (they are closed Monday – Tuesday). 

Cigar City Brewpub is located at 15491 N Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL 33624.  They are open Sunday through Thursday 11am – 10pm and Friday & Saturday 11am – 11pm.

Black Bean Deli – Orlando, FL

 

On our way to my cousin Fran’s wedding in Titusville last weekend, we stopped in Orlando for a quick bite to eat.  We weren’t sure where to go, so we used the Yelp app to locate nearby restaurants.  The Black Bean Deli was only a few blocks away and had great reviews!

I was expecting an average sandwich shop, but I think this may be one of my new favorite Orlando spots.  It is located in an old retro gas station that’s been renovated to have a cozy modern interior and a covered patio with picnic benches. 

 

I ordered the Choripan sandwich with sweet ham, chorizo sausage, and Swiss cheese.  Lance had the regular Cuban, which also had the same ham & cheese as mine, but with added roast pork and pickles.  They asked if he wanted the large Cuban – but it’s a good thing he went with the regular size!   The sandwiches were huge!    

 

 

We also split an order of maduros – I love sweet plantains.  The food was all very simple, but perfectly executed.  If I lived nearby, I’d be a regular. 

They also have a Winter Park location – and I read that they’re serving a limited menu at a concession stand in the Amway Center too.  I will say that this location was pretty busy, so parking was difficult.  Guess everyone else in Orlando knows about their great food!

Black Bean Deli is located at 1835 East Colonial Drive, Orlando, FL 32803 and is open 11am – 9pm Monday – Thursday, 11am – 10pm on Friday – Saturday, and closed on Sunday.  

Breweries, Bodega & Kalamazoo – Downtown St. Pete

Last week, Creative Loafing’s free newspaper had a huge spread about local craft breweries – we didn’t even realize we had so many in the Tampa Bay area!  Lance and I both had off today, so we decided to go check a few of them out.  When looking at a map online that outlined the “St. Pete/Clearwater Craft Beer Trail,” we saw that three of them were within walking distance of each other in downtown St. Petersburg – St. Pete Brewing Company, Green Bench Brewing, and Cycle Brewing. 

We headed to St. Pete around noon, but realized that none of them opened until 2pm (I guess most people don’t start drinking that early on a Wednesday!)  So we spent a few hours wandering downtown and checking out the local shops.  We saw a piece on the news recently about huge graffiti murals decorating alleyways behind Central Avenue – and while we explored the city we stumbled upon them.  They are enormous, whimsical designs that brighten an otherwise dreary back street. 

We stopped in a few art galleries and antique stores, then came upon the Kalamazoo Olive Company.  They have a huge selection of gourmet oils and vinegars in stainless steel dispensers that are all available to sample.  James was very welcoming and gladly let us sample as many as we wanted.  He was knowledgeable about his products, and we ended up going home with a bottle of the Garlic Olive Oil.   

Next time I’m in the area I may get a bottle of the Tangerine Balsamic (I would have bought it this time, but I still have Cinnamon Pear Balsamic leftover from Joe & Son’s).  When I brought it home, I realized that they both come from the same distributer, Veronica Foods in Oakland, CA – which is why they had a lot of the same products.  If you do want to check out Kalamazoo, they have a Groupon available for 1 more day for either $25 worth of oils or vinegars for only $12, or a $40 Trip to Italy sampler pack for $20. 

When 2pm came around, we headed to St. Pete Brewing Company.  It was so hot outside today that we were anxious to get inside in the AC.  We were greeted by Rob, who explained a bit about the beers and poured us flights.  I really loved the fact that you weren’t obligated to choose 4 beers for the flights – you could pick as many or as few as you liked, and they were only $1.50 each.  I got 3 of the lighter beers, and Lance got 4 of the IPAs and darker beers.  My favorite was the Summer Ale – a lemon wheat beer.  Lance really loved the I-275 Imperial Red, which was made in collaboration with the Sarasota brewery JDubs. 

 

They had an old-school TV set up with Mario Kart 64, so Lance and I raced a game while finishing our beers (I won…although to be fair, I was the one who grew up with a Nintendo 64.  Lance had the original Super Nintendo.) 

It was nice to see that the local breweries support their competition – it seems to be a tightly knit community between all of them.  St. Pete Brewing had arrows pointing to the other breweries nearby.  Rob explained that although they do all brew beer, they each have unique styles that they specialize in, so each has their own niche. 

Next, we headed to Green Bench Brewing, which was a little over a half mile down the road.  Again, it was incredibly hot outside today, so we were thirsty again by the time we got there.  I absolutely loved the design of this space – it is located in a restored 1920’s brick warehouse that used to be a mechanic shop.  The interior has a polished concrete bar with an interesting hexagon backsplash, large weathered metal pendant lights, funky industrial lights made of pipes, and of course, a green bench.  You can see the brewing process through the windows behind the bar. 

We ordered sample flights here as well – again mine are all the light beers.  I’m slowly acquiring the taste for darker beers, but most IPAs are way too hoppy for me.  My favorite was a tie between the Happy Hermit Pale Ale & the Rye Saison.  Lance liked the Surrealist – which was a sour IPA. 

When it gets cooler outside I’d love to come back with friends and drink outside in their courtyard.  They have lounge chairs and picnic tables set up out on a lawn, lights strung above, and a cool mural that says “Greetings from Green Bench Brewing Co.”   You can play corn hole or bocce ball on the lawn, and apparently they have a fire pit at night. 

We decided to take a break from the beer for lunch at Bodega – a walk-up restaurant that sells Latin market food.  It was right across the street from Green Bench and I’ve heard great reviews about it.  It doesn’t seem like much, but they have some seating in front of the order window and a cute little covered patio in the back.  The tables were decorated with succulents growing in leftover cans.

I ordered the Pollo Asado – coconut marinated grilled chicken breast that came with white rice, black beans, and maduros (sweet plantains).  Lance ordered the Cuban sandwich.  Mine was a large portion – the chicken was moist and seasoned perfectly, and the plantains are the best I’ve ever had.  I only wish they’d given me more plantains and less rice.  Lance’s Cuban was very good, but I didn’t think it was anything out of the ordinary.  This restaurant is well worth visiting!

The last brewery on our tour was Cycle Brewing – which was located back near St. Pete Brewing. They have an awesome logo with a funny creature drinking beer while riding a bike (a large metal sculpture version of it is backlit on the wall right when you enter the bar).  They have colorful art hanging on the walls, a rack to hang bikes, and a chalkboard outlining the available beers.   

Unfortunately they did not have the option to try a sampling, so we each picked just 1 beer.  I had the Ryerish Red and Lance had the Nooner #6.  I would definitely get mine again – Lance liked his but it was very strong. 

We finished our day by returning back to where we started at St. Pete Brewing – Rob had told us that his girlfriend sells boozy cupcakes at the bar Wednesdays starting at 5:30pm.  Tonight’s flavor was the “St. Pete Cannonball”, which was a chocolate imperial stout cupcake filled with Irish Whiskey ganache & topped with Baileys frosting.  WOW they were amazing – and they were only $1.50!  Check out her website – Baked by Erin.    

We are exhausted now after the long afternoon of brewery-hopping, but we had so much fun!  I’d highly recommend it!