Feasting at Timpano Chophouse
Hello friends!
I was rather bad last week and did not post any lovely content last Friday, but please don’t be mad. I have a totally good reason for doing so….
and that reason was stuffing my face at Timpano ChopHouse in Hyde Park Florida.
I rarely get to see my parents now that we live so far from each other, so when I come to visit I try my best to have the best time possible. Whether this means going to flea markets, antique shops, or sipping on wine while eating delicious Italian fare, I’m all for it.
So my mom and I had a lovely Friday afternoon to ourselves and traveled over to downtown Tampa to an area dubbed Hyde Park, to enjoy the wonderful weather and grab a bite to eat.
Timpano Chophouse specializes in steak (obviously) and fresh pastas, seafood, and all sorts of Italian meals. Florida restaurants take advantage of the fresh produce available nearly all year around, not to mention to easy-to-come-by seafood, so we were rather excited to try it out.
For an appetizer we ordered Deconstructed Bruschetta, which I fell in love with at first sight. An impressive presentation, laden with uber-fresh mozzarella, plump cherry tomatoes, freshly grilled ciabatta, and four dreamy spreads. It was hard to decide: did I want the roasted garlic, the tapenade, or the apricot jelly?
I settled on the apricots first, more out of curiosity than anything else. This time, curiosity left the cat feeling quite satisfied ;).
My mom ordered a Red Snapper Piccata, laden with capers and roasted artichokes (her favorite). I settled on the Shrimp Fra Diavolo, which I can honestly say was the best I’ve ever had. The shrimp were huge and cooked to perfection; the tangy goat cheese nicely contrasted the creamy, decadent sauce.
I believe we may have said “oh my god this is so good” roughly a dozen times throughout our meal, and enjoying it outside in the gorgeous Florida sun didn’t hurt.
We had tried Timpano once before, at brunch-time with great success. I can safely say after this second lunch, this is one of our new favorite restaurants.
Now don’t you worry – I’ve been cooking lots of delicious meals while I’ve been visiting, and I plan to share these out-of-this-world carnitas later this week. But before I go, I have to have to have to mention something else I tried a few days later…
This is poutine. Poutine rocks. Why don’t we have poutine everywhere?! My parents, while out at a farmers’ market, noticed a tiny food truck rally happening and Wicked Wiches’ was there! I’ve always wanted to try them after seeing their decadent food on Cooking Channel’s Eat Street, and my parents happily brought me back Lobster Poutine.
All I can say is Woah. Oh and that cheese curds need to become an every day happening in my life.
Until we eat again!
Jess
One Comment on “Feasting at Timpano Chophouse”
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Wow, it all looks so good! I need to try the orlando location soon!