PF Chang's China Bistro in Sarasota: Asian Fusion

With over 230 restaurants around the world, P.F. Chang's is the largest full service, casual dining Chinese restaurant chain in the United States. Founded in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1993 by Paul Fleming, the restaurants serve American Chinese cuisine from a menu originally conceived and planned by chef Philip Chiang. Interestingly, P. F. Chang's is the namesake of Paul Fleming (P.F.) and Philip Chiang, whose surname was simplified to Chang. Born in Shanghai, Chiang grew up in Tokyo before relocating to San Francisco. In the early 1960s, his legendary mother Cecilia Chiang, opened The Mandarin, one of the first restaurants in the U.S. to serve Chinese food from regions other than Canton. After graduating with a B.F.A. from the Art Centre College of Design in Los Angeles, Chiang ran The Mandarin for several years before opening an off-shoot concept called The Mandarette in West Hollywood. As a smaller, less expensive café, the restaurant served "grazing food" which became an immediate hit and attracted the attention of restaurateur Paul Fleming.

After successfully opening Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Beverly Hills, Fleming was looking for a new opportunity, and in 1992, Chiang agreed to consult on a Chinese restaurant in Arizona where Fleming had recently relocated. One year later, the first P.F. Chang’s China Bistro opened and quickly turned into an Asian food phenomenon. In his current role, Chiang acts as a culinary consultant and also oversees new dish development and is responsible for the current menu. The new P.F. Chang’s in downtown Sarasota is enormous, with a menu that starts with a selection of pan-Asian hits, from dumplings and wontons, to spring rolls and Chang's popular chicken lettuce wraps. There’s also a variety of noodle dishes, chicken, beef, seafood and fish creations, with vegetarian and gluten-free options for those with specific diets. Although P.F. Chang's does appeal to a distinct demographic with a menu that is aimed at those who are not true connoisseurs of authentic Chinese cuisine, but who are game for something different without being overly adventurous, the food is chef-driven and made from scratch every day — "from farm to wok". The dim sum rollers are among the first to arrive. They roll, fold, and stuff egg rolls, dumplings, and wontons by hand, and they are undeniably delicious. With restaurants scattered over the globe, Mr. Chang is obviously doing something right.

Co-founder of P.F. Chang’s, Philip Chiang, learned from his mother, James Beard award winner Cecilia Chiang who is founder of the Mandarin Restaurant in San Francisco

Modern interior of the new P.F Chang's in Sarasota

Server at P.F Chang's

Cecilia's Pan Fried Pork Dumplings

Hand-Folded Crab Wontons with spicy plum sauce

Steamed Pork Dumplings drizzled with a light chili sauce

Flaming Wontons in a spicy garlic and sesame soy sauce garnished with scallions

Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps 

Long Life Noodles & Prawns with roasted chili peppers, chopped black beans

Shrimp with Lobster Sauce, Asian mushrooms, chopped black beans, peas, egg and green onion

Wok’d Spinach with Garlic

Singapore Firecracker Chicken with Black pepper garlic sauce, fresno peppers and onion

www.pfchangs.com

The Don César: The Pink Palace of St. Petersburg

Built at the height of the Gatsby Era in 1928, Florida’s “Pink Palace” has a long and acclaimed history. Exquisitely located on the white sands of St. Pete Beach, this iconic 1920s resort became a favourite among the rich and famous of the Jazz Age including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Clarence Darrow, Al Capone, Babe Ruth and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Thomas Rowe purchased 80 acres of land in St. Pete's for $100,000 to begin his dream of building a "pink castle" and hired Indianapolis architect Henry Dupont to design the hotel and Carlton Beard as the contractor. The architecture is a blend of Mediterranean and Moorish styles modeled after hotels and developments that Rowe and Beard saw in Palm Beach, Coral Gables and Boca Raton, including arched openings, red clay tile roofs, balconies, stucco over hollow tile and tower like upper stories. Named after Don César de Bazan, the hero of William Wallace's opera 'Mariana', the hotel is a member of the esteemed Historic Hotels of America, and features refined New American cuisine in the elegant Four Diamond Mariana Grille, the Don César and also more casual Caribbean and Mediterranean dining in the relaxed beachfront Sea Porch and Rowe Bar overlooking the azure blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico and sugar white sands of beautiful St. Pete Beach.

Exterior of the Don Cesar with the pool and waterside Sea Porch & Rowe Bar

Cool cocktails and coastal cuisine at The Rowe Bar

Sea Porch Chef de Cuisine Jose Cuarta III

Lemonade

Iced Tea

Yeungling Beer

Gulf Fish Tacos

Golden frites

Fish & Chips with homemade tartar sauce

Mahi Mahi Reuben Sandwich

The lounge area of the Rowe Bar for watching sunsets on St Pete's Beach

www.loewshotels.com/don-cesar

Sous Vide Escolar with Salsify Purée, Marble Potato, Tomato & Fennel
Serves 2
Recipe courtesy of Executive Chef Kenny Hunsberger

Salsify Purée:
3 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup white wine
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp ground white pepper
2 salsify roots, peeled and diced, stored in water with juice of 1 lemon
1/2 white onion, diced
1/2 potato, peeled and diced, stored in water with juice of1 lemon
1 bunch fresh thyme

Sous Vide Escolar:
2 fillets escolar, cut into 6-ounce, 1-inch-thick portions
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fresh tarragon

Vegetables:
2 cups marble potatoes, blanched and halved
2 cups heirloom tomatoes, halved
1 cup shaved fennel, lightly blanched
Shaved white truffles, optional


For the salsify purée, combine the cream, wine, salt, pepper, salsify, onions and potatoes in a saucepot. Wrap the thyme tightly in cheesecloth and add. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer and cook until the mixture is reduced by one-third and the vegetables are tender, 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool slightly. Carefully remove the thyme pouch and discard. Puree the mixture until smooth using an immersion blender. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. Adjust the seasoning with more salt and pepper, if needed.

If using a sous vide, heat the water to 140°F. Drizzle each portion of fish with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top each piece with 3 to 4 fresh tarragon leaves and place the fish into individual bags and vacuum seal. Cook the escolar pouches for 18 to 20 minutes, then remove from the bags and pat dry. Sauté the fish in olive oil over high heat just long enough to lightly brown the outside.

If not using a sous vide, sauté the fish in some olive oil over medium heat, 3 to 4 minutes per side.

For the vegetables, sauté the blanched potatoes until golden brown in a separate pan. Add the tomatoes and fennel and continue to sauté until the tomatoes are warmed through but not cooked.

To assemble, place a small pool of salsify purée in the centre of each plate. Spoon a small pile of the vegetable mixture into the centre of the purée, and rest the escolar atop the vegetables. Top with shaved truffles if desired.

Frida Kahlo Exhibit at The Dali Museum in St Pete's

Considered one of Mexico's greatest artists, Frida Kahlo at The Dali Museum in St. Pete's showcases the extraordinary career and life of the acclaimed 20th century artist. The exhibition is an intriguing exploration of the life of Kahlo, her striking artwork and her fascinating psyche. Together with the exclusive photographs of family, friends and lovers, the exhibition gives a complete view of Kahlo’s world, along with the joys, passions and obsessions of this remarkable artist. More than 60 Kahlo pieces are on display until April 2017, including 15 paintings, 7 drawings and numerous personal photographs from the celebrated artist and influential icon. The exhibition, which extends outdoors, features a special collection of flowers and plants representative of those in Kahlo’s own garden at Casa Azul, her home in Mexico. While Kahlo largely rejected the term 'Surrealism' and felt that her works were as real as her life, Andre Breton, known as the founder of Surrealism, took great interest in her work and described her painting as a bomb wrapped in a ribbon. "With her dreamlike images, Kahlo has stirred huge public interest beyond the traditional art audience. In a way, Kahlo created a persona that serves as a contemporary feminine ideal – both tender and fierce," says Dali Museum Executive Director, Dr. Hank Hine. "Much like Dali, Kahlo constructed an eccentric identity through the iconography in her paintings and then dressed and carried herself as the personality she created in her art. Painting by painting, she becomes a heroic figure of struggle and perseverance." 

The spectacular Dali Museum in St Pete's

The Frida Kahlo Exhibition at the Dali

Frida Kahlo in 1940

Photograph of the Kahlo family with Frida standing far left, dressed as a man

Frida in the garden of her home in the Coyoacán neighborhood of Mexico City

Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in Mexico, 1933 / photo © Martin Munkácsi

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera in Detroit, 1933

Inside the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Dali Museum

More than 60 Kahlo pieces are on display including 15 paintings, 7 drawings and numerous personal photographs from the celebrated artist and influential icon

Illustrations from Kahlo's journal

Another page from her journal depicting as a phoenix rising from the fire

A series of projections were used in the exhibit showing photographs taken during Kahlo's lifetime

Frida Kahlo, Self Portrait with Small Monkey, 1945

Without Hope, 1945

A Few Small Nips, 1935

"My Nurse and I", 1936

Detail from the entrance wall to the Kahlo exhibit

View through the windows of the Dali Museum towards to Tampa Bay and Marina

The Duke Energy Centre for the Performing Arts, across from the Dali Museum

Beautiful blooming Bougainvillea

thedali.org