As you walk into Brightside Café on North Morgan Street, the first impression is that it is aptly named; from the high ceilings painted white to the smiling employees, everything seems bright. The counter service restaurant has been run by Lisa Monk for a little over a year now.
“It used to be a club, and everything was dark – the ceiling was painted black.” Monk grimaces a little at the memory. The space that the café inhabits is tall, but there is almost no natural light. The white opens it up though, and it is peppered with green and orange accents. Monk has been in the restaurant business for 20 years and cites Chef Scot Hill – a 30 year food service veteran – as one of the main reasons for the café’s success. “He’s one of those creative chefs…what I’m saying is he’s crazy passionate,” she laughs “he comes up with great stuff.”
Brightside is open 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, serving breakfast and lunch. The menu has plenty of options for everyone, without being overwhelming, a specific goal of Monk’s. For breakfast, one of the employees enthusiastically recommends “La Cubanita”, the little Cuban sandwich. “It’s the best” she gushes. Tampa is the home base of Cuban sandwiches, and if someone is staking claim to “the best” title, it’s worth a try. To go along with the sandwich, she recommends one of their smoothies; I chose the “Pro-Berry-otic”.
The smoothie comes out first. The Pro-Berry-otic contains mixed berries, blueberry kefir, vanilla whey protein, and ice. All of the Brightside smoothies contain protein, which I was wary of. Protein smoothies tend to have a powdery, bitter aftertaste. Happily, this is not the case with the Pro-Berry-otic. It is amazingly smooth thanks to the kefir, and the whey protein is balanced well by the natural sweetness of the berries. The bases for the smoothies are all mixed in house, rather than the pre-made mixes many places purchase. The smoothie is healthy without tasting healthy – a small miracle.
Next comes La Cubanita. At first glance, La Cubanita looks like any other pressed Cuban sandwich, the toasted Cuban bread and melted cheese look delicious, but does it stand up to the long legacy of Cuban sandwiches in Tampa? Yes, yes it does. In addition to the usual smoked ham, swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard, Chef Scot Hill adds his “magic Mojo pork”. It manages to elevate the sandwich while sticking true to its roots. The mojo pork works with the pickles to balance out the sweetness of the Swiss cheese and is so delicious that I can’t argue with the “magic” moniker. The “Little” Cuban is the perfect breakfast serving, big enough to keep you full until lunch, without being so much that you need to take a carb nap afterward.
Brightside is also great value. Even with a tip, my meal barely hit the ten-dollar mark, and the lunch pricing is similar. It is hard to believe that such fresh and healthy options are so reasonable.
It is fairly common knowledge that the food service industry is a competitive career, but that doesn’t seem to slow Lisa Monk down. “We love coming to work. Our whole mission here is optimism and brightness,” she says “that’s where Brightside comes from.” The café accomplishes that mission, in its setting, food, and service. If you are looking for a way to step up your morning, or need a lunch pick me up, stop by the Brightside Café.
Cena has a great vibe, a bit old school, but also a bit industrial. Our meals were amazing, the menu is rotational, and always features in season ingredients; starting with the Antipasti and Insalata. I had the Octopus salad, which was spiced up with some Calabrian hot sauce and fried cauliflower. Now I’m a bit of an authority on octopus, having eaten my way across the Iberian Peninsula, where they hand out awards to the tapas bar that serves the best pulpo. The Cena version of this was fantastic, with some innovative surprises in flavor and texture. My wife had the baby kale Cesar; the chickpea croutons were an awesome touch! And Michael is not afraid to use anchovies to keep it authentic. We had the gnocchi for a pasta course, which was equally inventive as the octopus. The tomato sauce included braised oxtail, again a combination you’ll not find almost anywhere! The gnocchi had a finishing touch of being lightly braised in the skillet, which gave it an even deeper flavor and texture. Absolutely delicious. My secondi was the Parmesan crusted halibut, which was seared to perfection with a fabulous faro and risotto. Again, another twist on a theme, but next level in flavor! This superb meal was finished off with gelato and of course, some house made limoncello!
Being that local and national restaurant icons Hugo’s and Bern’s Steak House are located on Howard Ave in Tampa, when you choose to open your first restaurant on this same hallowed street, you better have your food act together! And when you aspire to healthy food, that tastes great, and is served fast? Well usually you pick two of those three! When Fresh Kitchen bought that hip building on Howard in 2012 and set up shop, they got all three right.
