Author: opinionstogo

Time was when a gourmet meal meant out-on-the-town fine dining.

Increasingly, however, there are creative alternatives to the ritzy restaurant scene. The cachet and convenience of at-home gourmet dining has caught on.

Take it from Margaret Franklin, the co-owner of Tampa’s Franklin Travel Inc. She and her husband work long hours and travel a lot. Time is something they don’t have a lot of – and they don’t like allotting it to shop, cook and clean up.

At least once a week, Franklin stops by Chavez at Home in Tampa’s SoHo section for “Gourmet Take-Home Cuisine.” Typically she calls ahead and orders off the a la carte menu. For something special, she’ll allow for a two-day turnaround. “You can get whatever you want,” says Franklin, “including a fantastic Lobster Thermidor.”

Denise Chavez’s year-old, take-out enterprise has found a South Tampa, disposable income niche spanning empty nesters to young singles to Mayor Pam Iorio.

Menu entrees range from prime rib to a shrimp and crab casserole; sides include baked apricots, brandied fruit gelatin, twice-baked potatoes and even a Brunswick Stew.

“I can get anything you want,” says Chavez. “I’ll get you a server if you request one.” Indeed, she can accommodate requests for wine, linens, china, flowers or musicians.

The popularity of at-home fine fare has even drawn the attention of the Schwan Food Co., one of the largest, branded frozen-food companies in the U.S. In October 2004, it launched the Impromptu Gourmet Complete Meal Experience. Diners can go online (www.Impromptugourmet.com) to access and assess menus for entrees, appetizers, soups, sides, breads and desserts and, in effect, design their own meals. Culinary agents also stand by for orders and/or questions (877-632-5766). Delivery is 3-5 days.

“We looked at the trends out there,” says Glenn Bader, Schwan’s director of emerging channels, “and we thought corporate gifting could work for us. We also saw the rise of the ‘foodies,’ an aging demographic and people who have money and want to pamper themselves. We saw an opportunity to sell ‘an experience.'”

To that end, IG’s “You-buy-the-wine-and-turn-on-the-oven” service also includes a CD (jazz, blues or classical) and a guide to cooking, seating, table-setting and wine-pairing. Early menu favorites, says Bader, include the lobster bisque for starters, entrees Beef Wellington and a Seafood Cannelloni and the sweet-tooth pleasing tiramisu.

Yet another variation on the convenient cuisine theme is storefront kitchens, where ingredients and recipes are ready and waiting. According to the Easy Meal Press Association, there are now more than 200 companies across the U.S. and Canada offering this “make-and-take” main course service. Among the dozen or so in the Bay Area is the Tampa Bay Supper Club in Safety Harbor that opened last December.According to co-owner David Stender, it’s been a “gangbusters” response from those who appreciate the turnkey approach with a collegial atmosphere. It’s become a venue where friendships can be fostered and mother-daughter relationships fortified.

TBSC has 16 stations, with no more than 10 in use at a time. There are three (1 3/4 hour) sessions Wednesday-Saturday, with a single session on Sunday. The menu, which changes monthly, features 12-16 items. Sample entrees have included lobster strudel, bacon-wrapped artichoke chicken and the surprise favorite: Cape Capensa South African white fish. Diners choose 4-packs ($77), 8-packs ($148) or 12-packs ($199).

“The concept has taken off,” says Stender. “The food they take out is as consistent as any good restaurant’s and our guests – not ‘customers’ – have a wonderful time.”

The most recent Tampa Downtown Partnership breakfast meeting was billed as “A Tale of Two Cities.” As in Portland, Ore., and Tampa. The common denominator: Each has a streetcar system. Both were started in the last few years.

End of comparison.

Portland, which is also heavily invested in light rail that intersects and integrates with the streetcar system, is known in transit circles as progressive. Tampa isn’t.

Portland reduces per-capita vehicle miles traveled; Tampa talks of a beltway. Portland’s developers, property owners and governmental entities get it; Tampa has to defend its downtown interests against the provincially myopic Hillsborough County Commission.

The 4-mile, circulator Portland system, which was designed as a magnet for downtown residents, attracts nearly 60,000 riders a week. The 2.4-mile, Convention Center-to-Ybor City TECO Line Streetcar System, which accommodates mostly visitors, less than 6,000.

And yet.

In the opinion of a streetcar expert from Portland, we may be on the right track if we don’t derail ourselves.

“You’ve already experienced some (synergistic) success with Channelside,” noted Rick Gustafson, executive director of Portland Streetcar Inc. and chief operating officer of the Portland Streetcar. “If you complete your downtown loop, it would be dynamite.

“You have your (Southern Transportation) Plaza, the corridor to Ybor, and then you add attractions, including the Performing Arts Center,” added Gustafson. “And then you connect them.”

He then underscored the context that a streetcar system’s success requires.

“It’s a 90 percent economic development tool and 10 per cent transportation,” noted Gustafson. “You have the same potential here.”

Then he cited a downtown rule of thumb: “Poor transit, no mixed-use; good transit; good mixed-use.” One example: the $2.39 billion in private investments generated by the Portland streetcar.

But, no, the formula doesn’t work well with buses.

“You have to think of your customers,” explained Gustafson. “The (streetcar) ride is superior. Noise is an issue. Do you want a latte or a cup of coffee?”

At present, only 600 residents live downtown. That will soon double. And more than 2,200 residential units are now under construction. Many more are planned. But units are not residents. Amenities – from retail to transit – will become paramount in attracting those who want the downtown experience.

But first things first, although community shakers such as Al Austin and Mayor Pam Iorio are increasingly vocal about the need for regional rail. Now in the planning stage is a .3-mile extension of the streetcar system that would run north on Franklin Street to Whiting Street and the Fort Brooke parking garage. A little closer to the heart of downtown.

This is, indeed, a tale of two cities. And, no, Tampa is no Portland. But, yes, it can certainly avoid the worst of times.

Someone had to say it.

But it had to be someone who’s not a Central Casting, American infidel. Someone not in the traditional mold of a politically incorrect, Western bigot. Someone not on the ACLU’s hit list.

Someone whose shoes most of us can never walk in.That someone is Sam Rashid. Yes, THAT Sam Rashid, the conservative political rainmaker from suburban Hillsborough County.

In a recent Tampa Tribune column, the Pakistani native addressed head-on the controversial issue of profiling in the post-9/11 world. As in, “Profile me.”

There was an epiphany, and it came after Rashid saw a young blond woman in a business suit pulled out of a flight-boarding line and subjected to a thorough security check. She had been randomly selected, and he had not.

“I would have felt a lot safer had I been pulled out of line,” wrote Rashid. “After all, I came a lot closer to looking like the face of Islamic fundamentalism than a young blond business woman.

“It would be safer if everyone who looked even remotely like me were profiled,” continued Rashid. “This doesn’t mean we stop the security checks on others; it simply means that we take a closer look at certain individuals.”

Rashid knows that we profile, in effect, for all kinds of things – from car insurance to Hooters’ employment. Why not when we’re at war with crazed jihadis that don’t tend to come in all colors, creeds, genders and ages? When lives – obviously including Rashid’s – could well be at stake?

Granted, Sam Rashid, a U.S. citizen whose children are being raised Catholic, doesn’t speak for all those 17-40 males born in Middle Eastern countries. Would that he did.