I had a lovely conversation with Harold Seltzer, co-founder and former President of the Sam Seltzer’s Steakhouse chain, at the end of last week. He’s got a new venture that he’s extremely amped about. It’s called the Floridian (4424 Kennedy Blvd., Tampa), named after the original  in Treasure Island, an oldtimer with a long record of winning best Cuban sandwich in the area. This new Floridian opened on March 12 and sells eight different varieties of pressed sandwich ($4.95 for 7 inch, $6.95 for 10 inch; the sandwich ingredients also available as a salad), breakfast sandwiches, fresh squeezed orange and grapefruit juice, black beans and rice, “butt-twister” chili and a dessert napoleon made famous at Sam Seltzer’s.

It’s a 1000-square-foot quick-serve environment (only a handful of seats), open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and they deliver to most of the Westshore District. He painted a lovely picture of what he’s trying to do. And then he started talking about the fries.

I sat up straighter. He’s kickin’ it Euro style with the fries. That means real potatoes, cut up then blanched and dried. Then fried once at a low-temperature oil, then a second time at a higher temp for super greaseless, crispy spuds. These are the kind of fries that would make me consider being an expat hunkered down in Belgium or the Netherlands.

Then, I got a call from the owner of Carino’s Italian Cuisine in St. Pete Beach. He, too, has just branched out and opened Parmigiano at 17001 Gulf Blvd. in Redington Beach, (727) 397-6200. He says it’s fine dining, traditional Italian.

And wait, there’s more. I have it on good authority that Spartaco Giolito, former owner of Vino e Pasta and Spartaco Trattoria, is opening a new restaurant at the end of this week in Tampa. I can’t yet say where this new puttanesca palace is, so stay tuned.