It’s not about the coffee. Owning a coffee shop is about connecting with people. So says Roberto Torres, president of Blind Tiger Coffee Roasters. What started as a local coffee concept has grown into a company with eight locations across Tampa, including a presence in Tampa International Airport.We met up with Torres at Blind Tiger’s Ybor City location. In this conversation, Torres shares his journey from being an accountant in his native Panama to owning one of Tampa Bay’s most revered local brands with his business partner, Luis Montanez. He also pushes back on the romanticized idea of owning a coffee shop and explains how entrepreneurship is like a classic video game.

How do you eat healthy when it feels like the system is set up for you to fail? For indigenous Floridians, it’s become especially challenging to eat the foods that sustained their ancestors for thousands of years.Having been pushed off of their land, given ultraprocessed government foods and finding their surroundings polluted, many members of Florida’s Seminole Tribe wrestle with lifestyle-related health issues.Karen Two Shoes knows this all too well. After being diagnosed with diabetes, she decided to make some changes. She lost 80 pounds and went back to school to become a registered dietitian. Today, Two Shoes works as nutrition coordinator for the Seminole Tribe of Florida, helping her fellow community members reclaim their health by incorporating traditional Seminole practices into the 21st century.Two Shoes chatted with Dalia about her own health journey and how she’s inspiring others.

NOTE: Since the time of this recording, Community Harvest SRQ has merged with Sunshine Community Compost to form Sunshine Community Harvest.Andrew Hudson is on a mission. An organic gardener and program director for the nonprofit organization Community Harvest SRQ, Andrew wants to connect the people of Sarasota with its local food.Dalia met Andrew through a mutual friend, Chef Steve Phelps of Indigenous Restaurant. Steve describes Andrew as “rebooting the community food system in Sarasota.” So of course I wanted us all to meet him.As Andrew explains in this conversation, he connects restaurants and neighbors to get surplus produce off the field and onto people’s plates. We also dig into Sarasota’s Eat Local Week, food sovereignty and what it means to give communities more control over what they eat. As I learned in this conversation, Andrew is also a Mennonite minister. So he brings a really thoughtful perspective to the sacredness of food and the idea of giving farmland time to rest. He reminds us all that caring for the soil and each other go hand in hand.

Michael Twitty isn’t giving up his Klondike Bars. On April 29, the celebrated food historian will appear at the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg for a public discussion about how we can apply our ancestors’ culinary traditions to live a healthier life. Click here to register for free tickets. But even as we strive to eat healthier, Twitty says there’s still room for the occasional treat.Based in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Twitty is the author of several groundbreaking books including the James Beard Award-winning The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South, as well as Koshersoul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew and Rice: A Savor the South Cookbook. His newest book is Recipes from the American South.You might also recognize Twitty from his appearances on shows like Bizarre Foods America, High on the Hog, Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi and Michelle Obama’s Waffles and Mochi! Ahead of his visit to St. Pete, Twitty chatted with Dalia about culinary lessons from our ancestors, how ingredients change as they migrate across the South and how he enjoys his soul food favorites while keeping a kosher kitchen.

Get you a friend like George Geary. He’s a cookbook author and culinary media personality. So of course he makes the best food and tells the best stories. Earlier this month, George released his 17th cookbook. It’s called Citrus, Illustrated: A Cookbook of 35 Sweet & Savory Recipes.Based in Southern California, George has lots of helpful tips for us citrus-loving Floridians. In this conversation, he discusses how to select the most flavorful oranges and offers advice for cooking and baking with all parts of the fruit. Then he spills the tea about his time working as a pastry chef for the Walt Disney Company, including baking countless cheesecakes for the set of The Golden Girls.As you’ll hear in Dalia’s voice, she was under the weather during this remote recording. Thank you for bein’ a friend and enjoying this conversation with George Geary.

It’s a meal so beloved that it counts as two meals. We’re talking about brunch.And for decades, no list of Tampa Bay’s best brunch spots was complete without Oystercatchers. Opened in 1986, the waterfront restaurant sits on the property of Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay, overlooking Tampa Bay. During the covid-19 pandemic, Oystercatchers’ legendary Sunday brunch buffet went away and stayed away. Until now. On Feb. 1, 2026, the restaurant celebrated the return of its brunch. At the helm was Chef de Cuisine Shelby Farrell. Farrell grew up on Florida’s Gulf Coast, influenced by her family’s roots in Biloxi, Mississippi, and Naples, Italy. She brings these influences to the Oystercatchers menu, not just for brunch but throughout every meal.Before Oystercatchers, Farrell served as Chef de Cuisine at Four Flamingos in Orlando, collaborating with celebrity chef Richard Blais. She has appeared on the TV series Moveable Feast and Guy’s Grocery Games.Chef Farrell stopped by our studio to discuss what makes a good brunch, regardless of whether it’s in a restaurant or at home. In this conversation, she also shares how her love of gardening and photography influence her work in the kitchen. And she shares her secret to putting together a delicious meal at a moment’s notice.

You know Alton Brown from Food Network shows like Good Eats, Iron Chef America and Cutthroat Kitchen. Maybe you subscribe to his YouTube series, Alton Brown Cooks Food. Perhaps you’ve even caught one of his live shows, full of the scientific demonstrations and trademark humor that accompany Brown’s unique approach to food.But Brown says there’s still more to learn about him. After performing live in more than 300 cities for upwards of half a million fans, he’s embarking on a tour of more intimate events for what’s being billed as An Evening with Alton Brown. This includes a stop at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater on April 25.Ahead of his visit, we caught up with Brown. Special thanks to Katie Pedretty and Taylor McLamb at Ruth Eckerd Hall.

Call it a coffee shop with great food, or a restaurant with great coffee. For Jordan Hooten, Southern Grounds and Co. is, above all, a community gathering place.The Jacksonville-based franchise has locations throughout Florida, including one in downtown St. Petersburg that opened last year. Come for the coffee, then stay for breakfast, catch up on some emails, have lunch, grab drinks with a friend, stay for dinner and then squeeze in a workout with your run club. And if you’re us, record a podcast.So Hooten is right. SoGro—as the cool kids call it—is anything but a grab-and-go coffee spot. On a bustling Friday morning, the Zest team settled into a table for hot drinks and a chat with Jordan.

New York has pizza. Chicago has hotdogs. And Tampa has devil crab.Like so many aspects of life in the 813, our city’s iconic street food has ties to the cigar industry. Whether you grew up eating devil crab or you have no idea what we’re even talking about, you’ll develop a new appreciation for devil crab after today’s conversation.Our guest is historian and friend of the pod Rodney Kite-Powell of the Tampa Bay History Center. Of course you’ll learn all about the history of devil crab and how it’s made. In addition, Rodney shares his own passion for devil crab—an affinity that only a born-and-bred Tampanain could feel—and reveals his favorite local spots to find it.Do you say “devil” crab or “deviled” crab? Let us know on Facebook or Instagram.

Why do some people love cilantro, while others say it tastes like soap? How did Dubai chocolate take the world by storm? And how are scientists using A.I. to determine what we’ll crave next?Today we’ll learn the answers when we get a preview of the 4th International Flavor Summit, taking place March 16 to 18 in Orlando. The biennial event brings together leaders in the food and beverage science industries; it’s also open to the public. To register, click here.One of the presenters is Yu Wang, Ph.D., associate professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS). In this conversation, Dr. Wang answers our burning questions about flavor, discusses how she’s working with Florida’s citrus growers to produce better-tasting fruit and explains how to break up with your favorite junk food.

Morning radio hosts are known for having hot takes. And for many people in Tampa Bay, morning radio means Miguel and Holly.Miguel Fuller and Holly O’Connor are the real-life besties behind the Miguel & Holly Show on Tampa Bay’s Mix 1007. FM. After hosting their show in Florida for many years, the pair moved the show to Charlotte, N.C. from 2022 to 2025. Now they’re back in the Tampa Bay, where they debuted at No. 1, with a renewed love of all things Florida—especially the food.The radio veterans recently visited our studio at WUSF. They discussed what breakfast looks like when their workday starts at 4:30 a.m., the North Carolina foods they want to see more of in Florida and the Tampa Bay restaurants they couldn’t wait to get back to. Then they offer their hot takes on everything from air fryers to Uber Eats, including an opinion they say could get them run out of town.

Eating peanut brittle is all fun ‘n games… until you chip a tooth.But you don’t have to worry about that with Psalms’ Gourmet Brittle, a small-batch confectionary started by matriarch Psalms Mack and her son, Carlton Owens. Psalms learned to bake brittle in home ec class, and she later perfected her own version of the recipe. Hers is gluten-free, plant-based and most importantly, light and airy. No need to have your dentist on standby.Psalms started out baking brittle as holiday gifts for family and friends. With a nudge from Carlton, she turned her hobby into a business. Today, the two run a brick-and-mortor location in South Pasadena. They also sell brittle at markets across Tampa Bay and on their website with flavors like peanut, cashew, mixed nut, almond chocolate and hot honey pecan. You can even buy brittle-infused popcorn, ice cream, spice rub and coffee.The Zest team visited Psalms and Carlton at the Psalms’ Brittle storefront. In this conversation, they recall how Carlton talked Psalms into starting the company. They also offer advice for working with family and share why being a Black-owned business feels especially sweet.