The Art of the Southern Connection

6E | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Tampa Bay Times The Art of the Southern connection BY MICHELLE STARK | Times Food and Lifestyle Editor TAMPA Smith, 58, was Oprah’s personal When he thinks of Florida food, rt Smith brought me eggs. chef for years, until 2007. He has he thinks of key lime pie, “when cooked for the Obamas, and Flor- made impeccably with real key The chef and sixth-generation Floridian walked into Splitsville Southern ida governors. He has won two limes.” A fried grouper sandwich. + Social, the upscale bowling alley and restaurant at Tampa’s new Spark- James Beard awards. He was the Apalachicola oysters. Cedar key chef at Joanne Trattoria, a Man- clams. Seminole Pride beef. man Wharf, with his arms full: eggs from his farm in Jasper. He handed out hattan restaurant Lady Gaga’s par- “It’s such a fast-growing state a couple half-dozen containers, told us to wash them before eating. ents opened in 2012. — we all contribute in beautiful But what you really need to ways. A Cuban sandwich is just as A know is he’s the kind of guy who much Florida as anything else.” brings people he has never met Meyer lemons grow robustly fresh eggs from his farm. where he lives in North Flor- We sit down outside of Splitsville, ida, and a local farm store makes which has been revamped with a lemon bars that “Martha Stewart more modern design aesthetic and would be jealous of.” the new menu from Smith, and I assume he is also close per- look out at the water and the ship- sonal friends with Martha, but ping containers housing eateries I don’t ask. We have moved on to from some of Tampa’s best chefs. more stories about Oprah. He got into Tampa the night He tells me about the night before, staying at the food-cen- Oprah hosted a dinner party and tric Epicurean Hotel. He ate din- invited then-Sen. Barack Obama ner with some local friends at and his wife, Michelle. (Smith is Cheese Please in South Tampa currently one of Michelle’s chefs because James Nozar, CEO of Stra- on her Becoming book tour; next tegic Property Partners (the folks stop, Austin.) He mentions the behind Sparkman Wharf), recom- celebrity-studded launch party of mended it. Oprah’s book, The Wisdom of Sun- It took about seven minutes for days, a couple of years ago. He was him to mention Oprah. And for- in charge of the food, fried chicken mer Florida Govs. Bob Graham and Southern sides like collards and Jeb Bush. and macaroni and cheese. Attend- “When you’re in food and work- ees included Julia Roberts and ing for powerful people, you all Shonda Rhimes. know each other,” he says, then “Oprah is a very spiritual per- pauses. “I always say it’s okay to son,” he says. “Sundays were the drop names if you actually know only day the world wasn’t after the person. If not, it’s tacky.” her. She kept that very reverent.” Being a personal chef for We talk about Cardi B and Black famous people has allowed him Panther (“Angela Bassett is a good to focus on food projects he is friend”), bond over a shared love passionate about, like Common of the Puerto Rican dish mofongo. Threads, a healthy cooking pro- As we sample some deviled eggs, gram for at-risk kids that’s cele- he starts singing along to a Back- brating its 15th anniversary this street Boys song playing on the year. It’s based in Austin, Texas, overhead speaker. but has a large presence in Miami, He tells me to visit the Grey- and Smith says he’d like to bring it field Hotel on Cumberland Island to Tampa one day. in Georgia (“very nice”), a favorite “I’m not here to just cook fried spot of his originally built for the chicken,” he says. Carnegie family and used for John Fried chicken is indeed Smith’s F. Kennedy Jr.’s wedding. thing. This month, he guest- “I just did reservations for Will judged a fried chicken competi- Smith,” at Smith’s restaurant tion on Top Chef. It’s a big part of Southern Art and Bourbon Bar in the menu at Homecomin’ Kitchen, Atlanta, he says. the Florida-focused restaurant he He thinks of five things he’s opened in the rejuvenated Dis- grateful for each day, he tells me, ney Springs a couple of years ago. and rattles off a list for today’s And it shows up at Splitsville, too, Tampa trip that includes warm hot honey chicken biscuit sliders, weather, nice people and the a fried chicken plate called Tampa “beautiful” bed he slept in last Hot Chicken. (His other favorites? night. He talks about being mind- The deviled eggs, and the fried ful of how much we have, how green tomatoes, and the hot sauce, much others don’t, how every- which is made in-house with thing we do has an effect on other Fresno peppers.) There is a giant people. Some of Oprah’s wisdom. chicken painted on the wall near “She says all of this helps for a where we’re sitting. better world.” Why fried chicken? Smith and his Venezuelan-born “Well, it was Oprah’s 50th birth- husband, Jesus Salgueiro, live with day ...” their adopted kids in a historic She wanted some fried chicken, mansion in Jasper, near the Geor- Smith brought his Southern roots gia border. He says that after lots to bear on a version she loved, and of recent traveling, he’s enjoying soon Oprah was eating it on her being in his home state. He wants Photos by SCOTT KEELER | Times daytime talk show. to get back to Key West soon, go James Beard award-winning chef and Florida native Art Smith, no stranger to celebrities (he was Oprah Winfrey’s personal This was about 15 years ago, and hiking in the Everglades, visit chef until 2007, for starters), has brought a new menu to Splitsville Southern + Social at Sparkman Wharf in Tampa. Smith says back then other chefs Cedar Key and Pensacola. called his chicken “housewife We get back to talking about food” and didn’t take it seriously. Tampa and Splitsville, and the air- “The best revenge is success,” conditioned respite it provides for Smith says. the folks walking around outside. He likes simple food steeped He was happy to lend his name to in tradition. He talks a lot about the restaurant. Smith admires the the Cuban influence in Tampa, idea behind Sparkman Wharf, dig- places like Ybor City that retain a ging the shipping containers that sense of authenticity. And then he offer customers a way to get good says this: “Miami is going to kill food in a less fussy setting. me, but I think the best Cuban “I don’t want to open restau- sandwich in the whole state is in rants just to open them anymore,” Tampa.” he says. “I’d like to do it if there’s a Where? need. And I would love to see more “It’s a tiny spot, like a small restaurants open for less money.” square place,” he says, using his He compares it to independent The menu includes the Chicken Little, a fried chicken breast The Southern-style deviled eggs, which are among Smith’s hands to draw a square. “I went movies, and the intimacy and sim- served with a cheddar cheese drop biscuit and house-made favorite offerings from the new menu, are served with with this young handsome Cuban plicity of them. pickles and mac and cheese with panko bread crumbs. crispy pecan smoked bacon. politician. I wanted to go get one of “When you travel, people are their sandwiches today. Hang on.” always eating on the street. We He sends a text, says the Colum- should get more into that.” bia Restaurant’s Cuban is also very He has heard about Tampa’s good, then tells me how he went to food halls, and loves that idea, Cuba and cooked for the Annen- too. More mom-and-pops, he says. berg Foundation, which turns into More limited menus. a story about how he was invited by “People are always trying to “some very fancy people” recently make things contrived when I to see Hamilton in Puerto Rico. think simple works best,” he says. Oh, the sandwich: It was from Smith can be seen walking West Tampa Cafe, a small spot off around the dining room at Home- Armenia Avenue with framed pic- comin’ Kitchen often. My dad still tures of politicians on the wall. talks about how Smith served him “I love restaurants that have a his fried chicken once. sense of place and age,” he says. “I’m the Mickey!” Smith says. He mentions Tampa longtimers “You know, I think I’m a pretty like Bern’s Steakhouse, across the good chef, but people want some- street from where he’s staying, and one they can see and talk to.” the Columbia. Other Florida cit- I wonder if he’s going to be at ies like Orlando and Jacksonville Splitsville as often. don’t have quite that kind of food He does love bowling, he says. history, he says. And movies. It’s the Friday before “All of that helps to build Tampa the Oscars. I ask him if he’s going as a community.” to watch. We talk about Florida cuisine, “Yeah, I hope my friend wins,” and how it is distinct and how in he says.

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