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Best-selling author Rick Bragg was in town earlier this year to talk about his most recent memoir about his family, and about growing up poor in the hardscrabble back country of Alabama. He tells it through stories of food -- and the importance of a good meal in lives full of backbreaking labor and few pleasures. His book, The Best Cook In The World: Tales from My Momma's Southern Table, is also a loving tribute to his mother, Margaret.
How can a simple sandwich ignite so much controversy? Well, when it's the Cuban Sandwich, and we're in Florida, there is a bitter battle for the title of who had it first, and who makes it the best! Producer Dalia Colón spoke to Andrea Gonzmart Williams of the Columbia Restaurant, who doesn't think there any controversy at all. You can find the Columbia's Cuban Sandwich recipe HERE.
When Dan Bavaro packed up his wife and kids to move from New Jersey to Florida, he didn’t have his sights set on opening a New York-style pizzeria. Instead, Bavaro’s Pizza serves up Neapolitan-style pies, bringing a taste of Italy to its four Tampa Bay locations.
What was once a vacant lot is now an urban oasis. We take you to the St. Petersburg EcoVillage, a community garden whose mission is to reconnect people with nature. Dalia surveys the bounty with Emmanuel Roux, a longtime restaurateur who's using his food knowledge to educate the public about nutrition.
Ed Chiles is the son of the late Governor Lawton Chiles. He’s also the owner of several seafood restaurants, including the Sandbar on Anna Maria Island. Chiles's interest in local and sustainable food sourcing has led him to experiment with cooking one of the state's invasive species -- wild hogs. I spoke to him about some of the ways his restaurants' chefs have been utilizing wild boars from Shogun Farms.
Many well-known local restaurants swear by the sausages they get from The Tambuzzo Sausage company of Tampa. The butchery recently opened up its new location in West Tampa, alongside the company's cafe, "The Boozy Pig." Owner Andrew Tambuzzo says it's a new chapter in what's been a very old tradition for his family in Ybor City. He spoke with me in front of The Boozy Pig on Cypress street about changes in his new neighborhood and his business.
When Isabel Laessig's daughter left for college, she told her mom that the thing she'd miss most was their Sunday family dinner together. Eight years later,the Dunedin mother of four is the force behind #SundaySupper, a weekly virtual dinner party where foodies share recipes and inspiration for family meals. Laessig, also known as Family Foodie, reaches millions of people through social media, promoting her Sunday Supper Movement.
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