Update 27 July 2006: Now you can take a look at all of Matt’s Tampa Bay restaurant reviews.
Remember when we met Kevin Lacassin? We asked for suggestions on local restaurants for the self-proclaimed foodie to try. He eventually responded in the comments, thanked us for the suggestions, and promised to try some of our selections.
Well, offline I asked Kevin if he wanted to post his findings on Sticks of Fire. Turns out he had already began the process of starting his own new website. The City Times got in touch with me for a profile of Kevin a while ago, and they reiterated his intention for “Tampa Bay Eats.” An introduction was posted on the Tampa Bay Eats website almost a month ago; hopefully we will soon see some actual reviews.
Meanwhile, Matt Ragas has begun his own Tampa restaurant blog. I invite you to take a look at Taste Tampa Bay. Since I have been looking for a restaurant reviewer, Matt has offered to give us first dibs on all his reviews. Catch what Matt has written in the past at Taste Tampa Bay, and keep reading Sticks of Fire to see all future reviews.
dreaming
3 years ago
hhmmm….this guy sounds like hes of the ‘i-never-ate-a-meal-i-didnt-like’ school of polite restaurant reviews. meanwhile, the dude at the weekly planet, i forget his name, has been cranking out the region’s best, by-far the most honest, reviews of local eateries ive read..check him out..plus he appears to sport some culinary credentials to boot, so theres none of the trib’s ‘we ate the most expensive stuff on the menu and it was all great’ blather…
jason
3 years ago
I guess my tastes are pretty simple, I still like Estella’s though
tampafilmfan
3 years ago
Welcome to SoF, Matt!
matt
3 years ago
Dreaming,
Late response on my part, but…. I’m not gonna bash a place unless it deserves to be bashed. And certainly when I’m spending my own dollars I’m not gonna purposely go somewhere where I think I’m gonna get a sub-par meal.
I enjoy finding good places to eat and sharing my findings with friends (and now strangers). Crappy meals will be chronicled as well but I’m not on the hunt for ‘em. As for my culinary cred, I’m glad I’m not a foodie – I just love to eat, foodies border on snobbery.
tampafilm- thanks for the welcome
cheers
matt
Kevin Lacassin
3 years ago
Hey guys, thanks for the wake up call!
After nearly a month of planning, thinking and eating (read: writer’s block), I’m back on the horse with the food writing. I’m trying to juggle the cooking and recipes on the NolaFoodie site, the Tampa restaurant and food reviews on the http://www.TampaBayEats.com site as well as working on a cookbook project. Although I only have two posts this past week, I plan to keep up with the plan for two thoughtful and useful posts per week, so keep checking back. I will have a lighthearted and honest view of eating and drinking in Tampa.
I’m also glad to see Matt has started a site and have enjoyed all of his writing thus far. Please keep it going! There are too few people writing about food in this city, and as mentioned above, the only decent “paid” food writer is at The Weekly Planet.
Happy Eating!
-Kevin