SHARE:
Florida Life
Partnerships and Collaborations: Winning Recipes for Restaurateurs
A Mediterranean Collaboration
 Chef Steve Cook (left) runs Carmel Café's kitchen, and Terry Ryan is company president [Photo: Rod Millington] |
Catering to a new decade a different way is Carmel Café and Wine Bar, a stylish, 140-seat Mediterranean restaurant in the Northwood Plaza area of Clearwater. Here too, chain veterans are collaborating with creative independent chefs.
In this case, the man at the door and chatting diners up at tableside is no less than a laid-back Chris Sullivan, better known as the founder of Outback.
Times have changed, but he clearly enjoys it. The economy may be tough, but "people aren't going to stop eating and drinking," he says, "and they still want to go out somewhere."
They are eating differently, in smaller bits and pieces, healthily and less formally, Sullivan says. His favorite dish on the menu is the mezze platter — three kinds of hummus and baba ganoush, starring muhamarra, the smoky Syrian dip of red peppers pomegranate, molasses and ground walnuts.
 Carmel Café's lamb lollipops |
The menu came together from an honor roll of local chefs and is now in the hands of Steve Cook, formerly of Mise en Place in Tampa. Most sides of fries, soups and dips run from $2 to $4. And most pastas and entrees come in small and large portions (none over $13). Likewise for wine: Three-ounce pours start at $3, and a long list of "interesting" whites and reds can be had for $29 to $82 a bottle.
Sullivan isn't talking about big numbers — yet. "I just want to get this one right and maybe a second." However, he and former Outbacker Nancy Schneid have assembled a team of top restaurant veterans. Just in case.
