Food and Drink

👋 Ben here.

If you've been to Catrina's Tacos on Main Street in West Tampa then you know how good the tacos and quesabirria are.

• But what about the tamales?

Jenn Thai is tackling Tampa Bay one forkful at a time.

• When she's not posting mouth-watering pics on Instagram or her blog, Thai is a social media specialist for Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital.

We wanted to know what the Best of the Bay 2020 and 2019 winner for Best Food Blogger would eat if she had one meal left.

Two years into a pandemic-altered lifestyle, downtown planners have learned people really love one temporary change — outdoor dining at "parklets" or "streeteries."

• The future of parklets was a hot topic at this week's 67th annual International Downtown Association convention in Tampa.

Chef Ferrell Alvarez is co-owner of Rooster & The Till in Seminole Heights and "director of all things creative and cool" for The Proper House Group, which is slated to open two new eateries in Tampa next year.

We were dying to know: What would he eat for his very last meal?

• "It would have to be multi-course because I'm bad at favorites, but I like eating the way we cook at Rooster & The Till, with lots of courses," he told Axios.

Rachel Bennett is a meat and potatoes kind of person. But like, REALLY good meat and potatoes.

The executive chef at The Library in St. Pete, a 2019 James Beard award semifinalist and finalist on "Guy's Grocery Games" was born and raised in Tampa and got her start in Hillsborough Community College's culinary program.

Mid Peninsula Seafood Restaurant in St. Petersburg is ending its more than four-decade history as a family owned and operated business, and is now looking for a new owner/operator.

Point of intrigue: The restaurant is listed as a ready-to-go business. It's still up and running while the family waits for a new owner.

👋 Selene here! Yes, I eat food too.

I don't usually drive over the bridge for lunch, but when I do, the food better be worth it. And Casa Santo Stefano in Ybor is totally worth it.

• The Sicilian restaurant is less than a year old and is owned by the Gonzmarts, who also own Columbia Restaurant and Ulele.

David Osterweil founded meal-delivery company Fitlife Foods in 2010 to put more energy and time back into people's lives.

But we wanted to know: What would he eat if he had only one meal left?