At eight months pregnant, I couldn't have been happier to find myself in St. Petersburg/Clearwater. My appetite was voracious, and everywhere my husband and I turned, restaurants beckoned with wildly seasoned food that truly made my mouth water.
Typical pregnancy cravings like ice cream just wouldn't cut it for me anymore. I needed foods with flavor that went beyond butter and salt. Lucky for me, there's a wealth of regional and ethnic cuisines in the St. Pete/Clearwater area, and I had a husband who was willing to indulge my gastronomic desires (well, he really didn't have a say).
Saffron and Spice
Florida's Gulf Coast has always had close ties to the Cuban and Spanish communities thanks to the fishing trade. A landmark restaurant in the area is the Columbia Restaurant. Set on the fourth floor of The Pier in downtown St. Petersburg overlooking Tampa Bay, the Columbia has a menu stocked with fish, chicken and meats (or marisco, pollo and carne). The original dining room opened in 1905 in nearby Tampa and a inter-coastal waterfront location in Sand Key, just south of Clearwater beach. Today you can still feast on Columbia's traditional Spanish dishes with a Cuban flair like paella, a casserole-type dish of seafood, chicken, pork, rice and spices that is the national dish of Spain.
After much deliberation I decided on the Pompano en Papillot, a filet of pompano stuffed with shrimp, crabmeat and artichoke hearts and baked in white wine in a parchment paper. My husband, ever the steak man, opted for Palomilla, a very thin grilled sirloin topped with mojo crudo (chopped onion, parsley and lime juice) that is often found in the streets of Cuba.
Topping off our meal with fried plantains and warm Cuban bread, I began planning our next dining stop.
Opa!
Another family-run restaurant with longtime ties to the area is Mykonos Restaurant, a Greek restaurant in Tarpon Springs. In a town where most everyone can trace their heritage back to the 1880s when many Greeks moved here to establish the sponge diving community, Mykonos has proven itself as a top authentic Greek dining spot.
Beneath the blue awnings of the whitewashed building on Dodecanese Boulevard, I sorted through the tongue-twisting menu. We started with spanakopita, the creamy feta cheese and spinach pie, for an appetizer. Having had my fill of fish earlier, I had to pass by the traditional grilled octopus dish. Instead I opted for the meat dish soutzoukakia, an entree that is essentially grilled meatballs served on a skewer with tomatoes and herbs. On the side, we ordered patatokeftedes (pan-fried potato patties).
Although too full from our meal, I insisted on getting some super sweet baklava to go for later. You know, just in case the baby needed something sweet.
Colonial Curry
Having exhausted my sweet and bitter taste buds, the only challenge my prenatal palate still called for was some heat. Back in downtown St. Petersburg we found The Moon Under Water, which with its mix of Indian and British foods satisfied my need for spice and soothed my poor husband's stomach.
The pub-style restaurant overlooks the busy downtown area and Straub Park and you can dine inside or in the front courtyard area. The restaurant describes its curry dishes as "not too hot, not too bland." I chose a medium prepared vegetable curry, which was just right for me served with the rice. (You can ask for side dishes of curry to kick up the flavor if you're not sure what level is best for you).
On the lighter side – which is probably what I should have gone for at this point – The Moon Under Water also has numerous salads. My husband opted for Shepherd's Pie complemented with a dark pint of lager and stared at me in amazement as I finished yet another meal. I could see the relief in his eyes as I turned down the peanut butter pie dessert. Don't worry though. I can vouch for its sweet creaminess after having sent him back to pick some up a few weeks later.
