Visitors in town? Here are 4 Tampa Bay hotels with solid food options
When you live in a tourist area like this one, you’re adjacent to the industry even if you’re not always partaking in it. While some local tourist traps are cringe, others are delightful. I always jump at the chance to dine at one of our many luxury/waterfront/historic hotels with visitors, a fun way to check out spaces I otherwise wouldn’t. And some of them have quite good dining options. Here are four of my favorite recent hotel dining experiences.
Dinner at the Don CeSar’s Maritana: Visiting the Pink Palace for a day is always a treat, whether to hang with someone staying there or to pop in for a spa appointment or seat at the lobby bar. I recently had dinner at the hotel’s high-end restaurant Maritana, which opened in 1991 but was recently revamped when the hotel underwent a massive renovation. Current chef Alex Reyes came on in 2018 and presides over a menu that shifts seasonally. Maritana has made our Tampa Bay Times Top Restaurants lists in the past, and I was pleased to see it’s holding up nicely. I dined on a weekday in October, so the menu was showcasing fall fare; there’s a winter menu now, but many classic items are the same. I had the beef tartare starter, a luscious dish that pairs raw marinated beef with capers, mustard seed and shaved cured egg yolk on top. The casarecce pasta dish was also delicious, house-made pasta tossed with short rib, heirloom tomato and fragrant black truffle. For entrees, the corvina fish dish was a standout, served with summer beans, baby squash, lacinato kale and a beautiful cream sauce.
The Don CeSar, 3400 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach. 844-959-0071.
Pastries at the Vinoy’s new Lottie: One of Tampa Bay’s most gorgeous pastry displays can be found at Lottie, the new bakery in the lobby of the Vinoy Resort & Golf Club. Open all day, the Parisian-inspired cafe serves up coffee, tea and other beverages, plus breakfast and lunch. But its specialty is decadent pastries, from full cakes (like the pistachio cake, with pistachio custard, poached pear and pistachio mouse) to a wide selection of macarons and gelato, and very solid croissants. My favorite treat on a recent visit was the almond croissant. It’s a really lovely place to stop for an afternoon pick-me-up. Also new this year at the hotel is Parasol, a full-service Latin American restaurant overlooking the resort’s pool that opened in July. When the weather is nice, it’s an ideal spot for lunch or a cocktail.
Vinoy Resort & Golf Club, 501 Fifth Ave. NE, St. Petersburg. 727-894-1000.
Brunch at the Edition: I have written before about The Edition’s solid dining options, especially its Punch Room and lobby coffee bar. And earlier this year, the five-star hotel’s restaurant Lilac, which offers a multicourse prix fixe menu, was one of just three Tampa restaurants to earn a Michelin star. I recently had a nice meal at The Market, a more casual option at the hotel in Tampa’s Water Street development. I met someone for breakfast, and we split the eggs Benedict, which came on a thyme-seasoned English muffin and was topped with mortadella and classic hollandaise. For something sweet, we tried the Tiramisu French Toast, which had a prominent cocoa flavor and was topped with whipped mascarpone, fresh berries and cocoa dust.
The Edition, 500 Channelside Drive, Tampa. 813-221-4600.
Drinks and snacks at the J.W. Marriott Clearwater Beach: If you’re looking for a tranquil beachside spot along Clearwater Beach, make a reservation at one of the restaurants at the J.W. Marriott, which opened earlier this year. Their first-floor dining options are open to the public and come with gorgeous views of the Gulf. Their more casual restaurant Eskape, which sits right along a private sandy beach, has a solid cocktail lineup, many of which are served in actual coconuts. They’d be good without that novelty, but it sure is fun to sip a strong rum drink out of the hollowed-out husk. My favorite cocktail on a recent visit was a play on a Mai Tai called the Ohhh Mai. Made with coconut rum, fresh lime juice, almond orgeat, dry orange curaçao and a Myers dark rum float, it was a strong yet balanced drink perfect for the tropical setting. Grab a table outside for maximum beachy vibes. The food is good, too. Me and my dining companion ordered a couple items and shared: the chef’s signature Butter Chicken bowl, which comes with nicely spiced chicken and jasmine rice, cucumber salad, toasted almonds and pickled onions; the Greek-Style Lamb Burger that’s topped with tomato, arugula, pickles, feta, crispy fried onions, tzatziki and mint aioli; and the lovely Chopped Caesar Salad.
691 S Gulfview Blvd., Clearwater Beach; 727-677-6000.
