Visiting Tampa on Super Bowl Sunday

Now that we know "who's who" in the Super Bowl this weekend, come with Let's Travel! this week and visit some of the very interesting sights that await you in Tampa before and aft the game. First, visit historic Ybor City, America's "cigar capital" where the best "stogies" were made up to the Second World War and dine out at the world-famous Columbia Restaurant, America's oldest Spanish-American restaurant. Walk a few blocks and you can visit The Florida Aquarium to see tropical sea-life in a 1/2 million gallon tank. (If you want to hear the complete interview with Tom Wagner, see below). And, of course, the beer is flowing at Busch Gardens with its five parks, including some of the scariest roller-coaster rides on the planet. And if you have the time the Henry B. Plant Museum on Kennedy Blvd. is a must. This historic sight will take you back in time when the city of Tampa was the resort capital of Florida.

So, whether your money is on the Arizona Cardinals or the Pittsburgh Steelers, it's all happening in Tampa this week-end.







Where we'll be exploring

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Tampa, Florida

Tampa is a United States city in Hillsborough County, on the west coast of the state of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2000 was 303,447. According to the 2007 estimates, the city has a population of 382,060.

Tampa is a part of the metropolitan area most commonly referred to as the "Tampa Bay Area". For U.S. Census purposes, Tampa is part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida MSA. The four-county area is composed of roughly 3 million residents, making it the second largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the state, and the fourth largest in the Southeastern United States, behind Miami, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. The "Greater Tampa Bay" area has just over 4 million residents and generally includes the Tampa and Sarasota metro areas. The Tampa Bay Partnership and U.S. Census data showed an average annual growth of 2.47 percent, or a gain of approximately 97,000 residents per year. Between 2000 and 2006, the Greater Tampa Bay Market has experienced a combined growth rate of 14.8 percent, growing from 3.4 million to 3.9 million and hitting the 4 million people mark on April 1, 2007.

Tampa is known to have a lively and diverse culture. It is home to a variety of performance halls and theaters, including the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, the Tampa Theater, the Tampa Museum of Art, the Stageworks Theater Company, the Gorilla Theatre, and the USF Contemporary Art Museum. The Florida Orchestra also is based in the Tampa Bay area. The Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center is the largest performing art center south of the Kennedy Center.

The city of Tampa operates over 165 parks and beaches covering 2,286 acres within city limits; 42 more in surrounding suburbs covering 70,000 acres, are maintained by Hillsborough County. These areas include the Hillsborough River State Park, just northeast of the city. Tampa is also home to a number of attractions and theme parks, including Busch Gardens Africa, Adventure Island, Lowry Park Zoo, and Florida Aquarium.







Guests

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Casey Gonzmart, Chairman
Columbia Restaurant


Casey Gonzmart is the great-grandson of Casimiro Hernandez, Sr., the founder of the world-famous Columbia Restaurant in Tampa's Historic Ybor City. The Columbia was founded in 1905 and is the oldest restaurant in Florida, and the largest Spanish restaurant in the world.

Casey learned food preparation at an early age in the Columbia kitchen. Casey graduated high school from Tampa's Jesuit High School and his formal education in hotel and restaurant administration continued at the Ecole Hoteliere in Lausanne, Switzerland, and at La Escuela Sidical de Hosteleria in Madrid, Spain. He apprenticed at the Ledoyen Restaurant in Paris, France, and the Inter-Continental Hotel in Geneva, Switzerland. He is now chairman of the board of the Columbia Restaurant Group.

Through the years, Gonzmart has participated in a number of community organizations. He currently sits on the Board of the Ybor City Development Corporation. He is a member of the Industry Liaison Council for the International Hospitality & Tourism Management program at Saint Leo University. He is the past chairman of the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce in Tampa, Florida, and he was inducted into the Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame.

Gonzmart resided in Sarasota, Florida, operating the Columbia Restaurant on St. Armands Circle for over 20 years before returning to Tampa. While in Sarasota, he served as president of the St. Armands Circle Association, and as president of the Suncoast Foundation for Handicapped Children. He served on the board of the Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Mote Marine Laboratory. He was honored by the City Commission of Sarasota as an Outstanding Citizen of Sarasota and was named Business Person of the Year.

Casey lives in Tampa and has six children who represent the 5th generation. His oldest daughter, Cassandra, has joined the family business as a manager.



Some recipes from Casey


Flan


Ingredients

Custard Ingredients
1 cup condensed milk
1 cup evaporate milk
¾ cup milk
3 eggs
1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Caramelized Sugar Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon water


Preparation

Mix all ingredients in a bowl for custard. Set aside.

To make caramelized sugar topping, cook sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until sugar is golden. Pour immediately into custard cups.

Pour custard mixture into custard cups with caramelized sugar in bottoms. Place cups in pan of hot water and bake at 400°oven for 30 minutes. Do not let water boil.

Remove from pan and cool in refrigerator.

To serve, unmold by pressing edges of custard with spoon to break away from cup, then turn upside down on a plate. Spoon caramelized sugar from bottom of cups over top of each custard, serves 6.





Paella "A la Valencia"


Ingredients

4 Oz. Pork loins, cut in chunks
6 Oz. Chicken breast
6 Oz. Peeled and deveined shrimp
4 Oz. Scallops
4 Oz. Calamari rings
4 Oz. Grouper fillet, cut in chunks.
6 Clams Little Necks
6 Fresh mussels
1 Onion, julienne cut
1 Green pepper, cut in strips
4 Garlic clove minced
4 Oz. Olive oil extra virgin
1 Vine ripe tomato, peeled, seedless and chopped
8 Oz. White wine
1 Bay leaf
1 Pinch Saffron
1 Teaspoon Salt
½ Teaspoon Ground black pepper
20 Oz. Chicken stock
6 Oz. Green peas cooked
6 Strips Pimentos
6 White Asparagus Spears
1 Lemon
10 Oz. Uncooked Valencia rice



Preperation

In a Paella pan, heat the olive oil and sauté the pork and chicken. Then, add garlic, bay leaf, onions, and green peppers. Sauté until onions are transparent. Add white wine, tomatoes, saffron, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Then, add rice and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Then add seafood and cover the paella and bake in oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Garnish with peas, pimentos, asparagus, and lemons. Serves 4-6 people.


Suggested Wine

We recommend pairing the Columbia Restaurant’s Paella “A la Valenciana” with our private label wine, the Adelita® "Gold Label Chardonnay". This 100% Chardonnay wine was chosen for its full flavor and light spirit. Aged in French oak. Made in honor and memory of Adela Hernandez Gonzmart, the granddaughter of the founder of the Columbia Restaurant.