It's possible that Miami has been getting all the attention as of late, but its sister city, which is located an hour's flight north, has quietly become one of the most fascinating locations in Florida.
My fellow Cuban Americans in South Florida and I have always been aware that our group is mostly concentrated in two cities within the state: Miami, where I was born and raised, and Tampa. Our Cuban presence in Miami is well-known all over the world, but here in Tampa, we have maintained a lower profile than in neighboring cities. It's true that the city has always had a reputation for being a throwback destination for excellent sandwiches and cigars (often sold by fourth- or fifth-generation Cuban Americans). Its downtown was primarily used for commercial purposes and was not a desirable location to reside in.
It has evolved over the course of the previous few years.
It hit me all at once when I made the one-hour flight from Miami to spend a week in the city last year, which included a stay at the freshly opened JW Marriott Tampa Water Street. During that trip, I stayed at the JW Marriott Tampa Water Street. The remarkable glass and steel high-rise was designed to be a part of the Water Street Tampa neighbourhood, which spans 56 acres and is now under construction. The hotel is emblematic of the transformations that are taking place in the central business district and has developed into a gathering place not only for visitors but also for members of the community that surrounds the hotel.
I saw suit-clad businesspeople revving their entrepreneurial engines after the pandemic; basketball players from the Toronto Raptors, in town for the season; and Floridians like me, having a cocktail and checking out the type of high-end hotel that, just a few years ago, would have been unimaginable in this city. The JW Marriott's soaring lobby is a people-dream. watcher's
Other newcomers to the hospitality industry, like as the Tampa Edition, which will open in the same development as the JW Marriott later this month, have joined the JW Marriott. The 172 guest rooms in the tower's 26 stories were designed by Roman & Williams, a firm based in New York that is well-known for its work on the hip Ace Hotels in New York and New Orleans as well as the recently renovated British Galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The tower has a total height of 26 stories. Chef John Fraser, a former employee of the French Laundry, will be responsible for developing the menus at three of the establishment's restaurants and bars.
It is possible that Tampa's gleaming new image will appear to have materialised out of thin air to a casual observer. The state of Florida's third-largest city (after Jacksonville and Miami) was overdue for a facelift, and former investor and current Tampa resident Jeff Vinik is largely responsible for much of the city's rebuilding. In 2010, he purchased the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team and immediately began purchasing property in the area of Amalie Arena, the downtown stadium where the team plays. The majority of the property was taken up by parking lots and the kinds of restaurants and bars that one goes to when they have a need for frozen daiquiris or hot wings (Hooters, incidentally, was founded right here in the area). Vinik continues to purchase further waterfront property while working in conjunction with a private investment firm. His plan, which was extensively disseminated, was to make the metropolis that will exist in the future significantly more livable.
On the basis of my trip, I would say that Vinik was successful. Downtown Tampa now has the feel of a walkable community, and within a square mile of the area, you can live, bike, run, ride a scooter, buy groceries, go to the gym, watch a hockey game, and dine in some of the best restaurants in Florida. Other areas of the metropolitan region, such as the Cuban-American enclave of Ybor City (just north of downtown), and even St. Petersburg (just across Tampa Bay), are now garnering newfound attention as a result of everything that has happened.
During my stay at the JW Marriott, I began each day by going for a jog along the Riverwalk, which is a 2.4-mile-long pathway that winds along the Hillsborough River. While I was there, I joined the growing population of young professionals and digital nomads in the area who were getting some exercise before beginning their workdays. Sparkman Wharf and Armature Works are located at opposite sides of downtown Tampa and are connected by the Riverwalk, which runs through the middle of the area. Both of these open-air complexes, which were also created by Vinik's investment business, centre on food and drink as its primary attractions. In the middle of the city, between these two points, you'll discover an eclectic mix of cafes, restaurants, beer gardens, and yes, Cuban sandwich shops. This eclectic blend is the city's lifeblood.
At Jotoro, located near Sparkman Wharf, I sampled grilled corn on the cob prepared in the style of Mexican cuisine and flavored with the ideal combination of lime, chilies, and cheese. The cuisine of Chef Joe Isidori conjures up images of celebration and offers a taste of Tex-Mex to diners in Tampa.
An additional feature of Sparkman Wharf is an area that presents the cuisine of the city's version of street food in a collection of shipping containers that are rented for short periods of time and serve as a testing ground for cooks of all levels of experience. I was able to wash down all of the tequila that I sampled at Jotoro with roasted sweet potato tacos from Gallio Taqueria, which are prepared by chef Ferrell Alvarez. He is recognized for restaurants such as the Rooster & the Till, which is located five miles north of downtown and serves New American cuisine produced with ingredients found locally. The neighborhood of Seminole Heights is becoming increasingly popular, and the restaurant is located there.
Dining tour of @Marlins Park continues w/ Cuban Sandwich & chips at Latin American Grill in Taste of Miami. pic.twitter.com/JlMWVSsZ
— Glenn Geffner (@GlennGeffner) April 15, 2012
But, discovering the city shouldn't solely revolve around discovering new things. In addition, I went to Bern's Steak House, which is located in the Hyde Park neighbourhood and is widely considered to be one of Tampa's all-time best restaurants. Bern's is the antithesis of the sleek style of modern Tampa; it is decked out in gold and red trimmings, rococo busts, and chandeliers. Nonetheless, it serves excellent steaks and has a wine list that is the size of a bible and is one of the largest in the United States. In most cases, reservations are necessary; nevertheless, I went late at night without one and headed up to the unique dessert area upstairs, which has the atmosphere of a speakeasy but only serves desserts. I went with the macadamia ice cream and a Bern's Cappuccino, which is made with coffee that has been infused with liqueur before being brewed.
Ybor City, which can be reached by taking a streetcar north for about ten minutes, is the centre of the Cuban-American community in the city, but the majority of growth is taking place in the downtown area. It is necessary to spend some time in Tampa in order to have a complete understanding of the city's foundation. Ybor City was established in 1886 by Vicente Martinez Ybor, Ignacio Haya, and a group of other businesspeople who intended to manufacture and sell cigars. Today, Ybor City is a neighborhood in the city of Tampa. Together with the establishment of this recently established business came job-seeking immigrants from Cuba, Spain, and Italy. To meet the demands of the cigar rollers for food, caffeine, and information, a metropolis of Italian bakeries, coffee brewers, and book and newspaper vendors was required. Imagine a boomtown from the turn of the 20th century, complete with clapboard houses, churches, schools, and of course restaurants, all of which sprung up around the factories. Visit the J.C. Newman Cigar Co., the oldest family-owned cigar producer in the country that is still in business, to experience part of this heritage in the present day.
The majority of traffic in Ybor City moves down Seventh Avenue. The Columbia Restaurant, a community institution that also serves as a sort of public clubhouse for Cuban Americans, is located at the easternmost tip of this neighborhood. The Gonzmart family has owned and operated the establishment continuously since it first opened in 1905. Gonzmart was the one who started using the moniker before it became well associated with Vinik. You might discover dishes like arroz con pollo and ropa vieja in the kitchen of your Cuban grandma if you're Cuban. These are traditional Cuban dishes.
Another newcomer can be found at the westernmost end of Seventh Avenue. It is called the Hotel Haya and it opened its doors two years ago. The hotel was named after Ignacio Haya, a cigar producer. The architect Alberto Alfonso, who had to flee Cuba as a child in 1960, was responsible for designing this stunningly modern building, which features 178 rooms. My dinner experience at the hotel's restaurant, Flor Fina, which consisted of nothing more than a side dish of black beans, was without a doubt one of the most memorable ones I've had in a very long time. It brought back memories of my grandmother singing me Spanish lullabies in the kitchen of my family's home in Miami, where I could smell the laurel leaves that were blowing through the open window. Even if there are dishes on the menu that are finer and more beautiful, I always come back to this one because it gives me the feeling of complete ease.
The area just off of Seventh Avenue is home to a plethora of additional hidden treasures. My favourite is the little José Marti Park, which is a patch of land that pays honour to Cuba's national poet José Marti, who passed away while fighting for the independence of the country. Also, it is truly a bit of Cuba right here in Tampa. It was given to the people of Cuba in 1956, which was three years before the revolution, and it is still the sole property in the United States that the Cuban government owns, other than the embassy in Washington, District of Columbia. My chest tightens with excitement every time I set foot on Cuban territory even though I'm still in the United States.
When residents of Tampa talk to the area around Tampa Bay, they are referring to the entire region as "Tampa." This includes the city's more culturally-inclined neighbour, St. Petersburg.
St. Pete used to have a reputation as a sleepy home for retirees, but recent development is giving the town a youthful vitality that is making it more appealing to younger people. A futuristic pier with five restaurants, an environmental teaching centre, and an exhibition of cutting-edge modern art by artists such as cultural activist Xenobia Bailey and sculptor Nathan Mabry opened in the summer of 2020.
Because of the Dali Museum in particular, art has become as one of the city's most prominent attractions in recent years. The establishment first welcomed visitors in 1982, and in 2011 they unveiled a brand new facility that had been created by architect Yann Weymouth. It is an eerie combination of concrete and glass, and on top of it is a dome called the Enigma that is constructed out of 1,062 individual panes of glass. It is the greatest collection of Salvador Dal artwork located outside of Spain and contains more than 2,000 of the artist's pieces.
The programming at this venue is consistently thought-provoking, and the current exhibition, titled "Paul Éluard: Poetry, Politics, Love," delves into the life of the French poet who was another leading figure in the surrealist movement of the 1920s. The exhibition is scheduled to run until January 8, 2023. After my visit, I make it a point to eat at the adjoining restaurant Wild Child so that I may take in its vibrant atmosphere and gorgeous interior architecture. I'll place an order for a Spritz or a Paloma and mentally unpack all of the mind-bending items I've just viewed while sipping one of those cocktails.
The Imagine Museum features an extensive collection of works in glass, some of which were created by Dale Chihuly and Trish Duggan, and provides even more opportunities to view art. In addition, those interested in handicrafts can attend exhibitions at Florida CraftArt, which feature works by Floridians and span from pottery and jewellery to sculpture and mixed media.
After experiencing such a frenzy of visual stimulation in St. Pete, I found myself spending the final day of my trip in Tampa sitting on the balcony of my room at the Hotel Haya and listening to a rooster crow down below. I was visualising the hustle and bustle of this neighbourhood in the early 1900s as I looked out past one of the city's legendary homosexual bars that was across the street from me. I was also looking past the vestiges and echoes of cigar manufacturers.
Although with all of its gleaming new buildings, new developments, and new citizens, the immigrant heritage of this town is still very much present. And at that moment, it came to me that Tampa is a representation of contemporary America. At this intersection, new pathways are being created through the ever-evolving national identity that we have. And despite that, it's a place where even a girl from Florida like me can always feel at ease and at home.