But a full bakery, with lots of amazing choices!  That’s what I’ve been waiting for!  And it happened, early yesterday morning, at the new Cassis Bakery on Beach Drive. French pastries, croissants, eclairs, artisan breads, even homemade sorbets and ice cream.  If you’re a sweet lover and a downtown St. Pete lover, now’s your chance – you definitely have an excuse to indulge!  Take a sneak peek by checking out the photos below – for a better look at any of them, click on the photo for a full-size version.

So, with that prelude out of the way, I want to tell you today about Bowled Restaurant, at 3451 4th Street North in St. Petersburg. If you don’t know about Bowled, and if you enjoy eating out, you really owe it to yourself to try them.  After driving past the place for a year and a half, always meaning to stop by ‘someday’, my wife and I finally went into Bowled for the first time just a couple of months ago. We were incorrectly sort of expecting Bowled to be one of those Asian ‘noodle’ restaurants that have become so popular in recent years.  I guess it was because of the ‘Bowled’ name.  To be sure, they do offer Pad Thai as one of their entrees, so if that’s what you want, they can take care of you just fine.  But there is so much more!

Bowled is casual, but with a touch of class.   Their menu could be described, in the very best sense possible, as eclectic.  The offerings range from light to rich to downright decadent!  There are options, fantastic ones, for meat lovers, for vegetarians, and for vegans. In addition to being absolutely delicious, the food is also a feast for the eyes, always.  In the photo below, which was dinner for my wife and I a couple of nights ago, I ordered chicken picatta; my wife, a filet.  She ordered it without the Gorgonzola and caramelized onion topping and with the Barolo demi-glaze on the side, and still it came out looking elegant! (Please click on the photo for a larger version/better view.)

Something else that attracts patrons to Bowled is the attitude of the owner and staff and the feeling that they are truly happy that you’re there.  If he can possibly find time, owner Michael Cecere will step out from the kitchen to greet you, to ask you how things are, and to thank you for coming.  And he strongly encourages feedback and input.  On the Bowled Facebook page, which just topped the 1,000 mark for Fans, Michael often mentions the specials of the day and asks patrons whether they think that a particular item should be added to their menu. 

I could go on and on, but I’ll stop.  If you know me and you trust me, you should try Bowled.  If you don’t know me (or you don’t trust me), try Bowled anyway!  You won’t be sorry!

Anyway, just a quick and easy post today to remind everyone that this weekend, A Taste of Pinellas will once again take place downtown, at Vinoy Park.   And remember, this event is not only great fun and a chance to indulge in some of the most delicious food by some of the best chefs in the area, but it’s also for a great cause!  A Taste of Pinellas is an annual benefit that provides huge support for All Children’s Hospital, and the ‘good causes’ don’t get much better than that.

In addition to great food, there’s entertainment on all three days of the event, including Huey Lewis and the News on Friday night and Martina McBride on Saturday night.  Try to find some time this weekend to indulge your taste buds, hear some great music, and support All Children’s.  For complete details, check out this link. 

And a new bakery!  For me, this is one of those areas where my response today is pretty much the same as it would have been when I was a child.  I am ecstatic!  I remember the days of bakeries scattered all over St. Pete when I was a kid.  Even the Publix grocery store bakeries were separate entities in the ‘old days’, branded as ‘The Danish Bakery’ and situated in separate shops next to Publix.  But most stand alone bakeries have become a thing of the past.  I know of only a handful in all of St. Petersburg.  And none downtown.  While I love The Cupcake Spot on Central Avenue, it’s not a full bakery – as good as Cuppy is at making cupcakes, sometimes I long for more.

So, when I saw these signs in the window of the shop space next to the new Cassis American Brasserie on Beach Drive, my heart skipped a beat and I felt a serious adrenalin rush!  Bakeries rule!  I am very excited and can’t wait for this bakery to open it’s doors!

I have not tried Cassis yet, but I promise that I will, and soon – it looks beautiful inside, and I love the arrangements for outside seating – these high-tech swing-out umbrellas each have a built-in light, so that you’re not eating in the dark at night!  And the bar inside the restaurant looks just amazing from my window view.  As soon as I have a chance to eat here, I’ll post again with more details any my very objective opinion of the place.  But I was in the neighborhood one early morning a few days ago and had a chance to get this photo and wanted to mention Cassis right away – I love the fact that we have new restaurants opening downtown, and I’m happy to spread the word! (Please click on the photo for a larger image)

New York Style With Sausage and Pepperoni

Some people love New York style thin pizza.

Others live only for Chicago style deep dish.

Most people have a particular pizza place that they think does ‘their’ style just right.

But how’d you like to go for pizza to a place that does both styles fantastically? 

I have been to Cappy’s at least ten times in the past few months, and I have gone with people who love, love, love Chicago style deep dish (and yes, these people are from Chicago!)  They love Cappy’s!

And I, personally, love New York style thin pizza.  And I love Cappy’s!

So, yes, you can have it both ways, and either one is great.  In addition to great pizza, Cappy’s has excellent Calzones and surprisingly delicious salads!  They have a cooler filled with a variety of beer choices that change with the wind, so when you walk in, you just look through the cooler and help yourself to your favorite.  Or, you can have fountain drinks or IBC Root Beer.

The menus are on old record album covers and the walls are plastered with pictures of vintage rock and roll stars and things like old Studebaker ads.  And every table has stacks of Trivial Pursuit cards to keep you entertained as you salivate while waiting for your pizza.

Probably not much else that I need to say about Cappy’s.  It’s fantastic.  If you’re in the mood for pizza, go and try it.  Even if you’re not in the mood, go.  The mood will find you.  They’re located at 2900 First Avenue North.  Oh, yeah, they won Best of the Bay for Pizzerias in Creative Loafing’s 2009 reader survey.  Their web site is not nearly as good as their pizza, but it will give you their hours and the menu, so here it is.  Photo below is of Cappy’s itself and the one above is my New York thin style pizza with sausage and pepperoni…  Yum!!!

Cappy's Pizza (click on photo for larger image)

Central Coffee Shoppe in St Petersburg (click on photo for larger image)

I don’t do a lot of posts about restaurants, partly because I’m not uniquely qualified to be a restaurant critic and partly because I really don’t want this blog to be all about commercial establishments.  But, once in awhile, I will post about a place if it strikes just the right chord with me.  And the Central Coffee Shoppe, at 530 Central Avenue in downtown St. Petersburg, is just such a place.

This is Everyman’s breakfast and lunch place.  All ages, all types of people love to eat here.  You’ll see Millenials, Gen Xers, Baby Boomers, and Long Retireds.  Folks wearing crisp shirts and ties sitting alongside of others who are adorned with intricate tattoos.  Doesn’t matter – they’re all here for the same reasons:  Great food, casual, easygoing atmosphere, excellent service, friendly staff, and a sort of a feeling that you could be stopping at a friend’s place for a quick bite.

Central Coffee Shoppe is a family owned, family run restaurant.    It was started in July of 1976, and was passed on to a new generation, the original owner’s daughters, a few years ago.  Today, when you walk in, you’ll find sisters running the place, taking orders, delivering food, pouring coffee, and making sure everyone is happy.  And this morning, when I heard our server referred to as ”Mom” by one of the sisters, I saw that it really is a family affair!  And, perhaps amazingly, they all seem very happy to be working with each other! 

To appreciate Central Coffee Shoppe properly, you just need to do one thing:  stop by and eat!  But if you want a little preview before you go, I will tell you that it’s a lot like the best of the old-time diners, complete with Marilyn Monroe posters adorning all the walls, along with a Clark Gable and a James Dean and a few other random stars thrown in for good measure.  There’s a great Central Coffee Shoppe neon sign above the grill to give you the sort of atmosphere that just feels right for such a place.  Not sure how long the sign’s been there, but I’m betting that the day it was first installed, everyone stood back and looked upon it in awe! 

The food is just what you hope for when you walk into a diner or any other home-cooking kind of restaurant – fast, plentiful, delicious, and very reasonably priced!  We’ve gone more for breakfasts than for lunches, so I’m more familiar with the breakfast menu, and I can tell you that I almost always get an omelette, because they taste exactly the way I want them to.  But they have everything else that you might want, too, like pancakes and French toast and great, crisp bacon.  If you’d like to see the menu, you can find it on their web site at this link.

Next time you feel like going out for a great breakfast (or lunch), head downtown and stop by and see for yourself what I’m talking about – you won’t be disappointed!  You’ll feel as though you walked into St. Petersburg’s Cheers, except that it’s got food and coffee instead of cocktails and beer.  Oh, and by the way, the coffee is just delicious!

Central Coffee Shoppe Sign (click on photo for larger image)