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Wine dinners, beer projects and more will wet your whistle this summer

 
Heights Public Market at Armature Works in Tampa has been drawing about 2,000 to 3,000 visitors a day during the week. On weekends, the crowd numbers 10,000 to 15,000. [MONICA HERNDON   |   Times]
Heights Public Market at Armature Works in Tampa has been drawing about 2,000 to 3,000 visitors a day during the week. On weekends, the crowd numbers 10,000 to 15,000. [MONICA HERNDON | Times]
Published June 20, 2018

FILIPINO FOOD: WELCOME CHISMIS

Have you been to the Heights Public Market at the 73,000-square-foot Armature Works yet? It's the buzzy food market in Tampa Heights with more than a dozen vendors offering up everything from rolled ice cream to Cuban sandwiches. There's a new addition: Every four months, a fresh vendor is planned for the market's rotating stall, allowing local chefs to test new concepts before deciding to take the risk and find a permanent location. First up: Chismis & Co. is now open daily. Like the masterminds behind Ichicoro bringing ramen to Tampa, this Filipino concept's goal is to bring in a largely unrepresented cuisine in these parts. Chismis means to gossip, to talk about, and that's exactly what chef Ron Vicencio wants customers to do. He has selected a handful of Filipino greatest hits. The opening menu features the national dish chicken adobo (chicken braised in garlic, vinegar, oil and soy sauce), chicken wings (with calamansi caramel), lumpia (fried pork spring rolls), a unique version of the dessert turon (banana, jackfruit, guava), calamansi-ade (a Filipino citrus refresher), plus a few other traditional sides and surprises. 1910 N Ola Ave., Tampa. (813) 250-3725.

WINE DINNER: SEA SALT

On June 27, Jade Apisuk, regional manager for Talley Vineyards, hosts a four-course wine dinner at Sea Salt restaurant in Sundial St. Pete at 7 p.m. Get chummy with this premier San Luis Obispo winery as you dine on paired dishes from the imaginative culinary mind of chef Kenny Tufo, right. First course is soft scrambled eggs with kaluga caviar, chives and salmon roe; next up is cobia with butter-poached leeks, smoked fingerling potatoes and a dill emulsion; then pistachio-crusted lamb chops and gnoccho fritto for dessert (that's airy fried dough with culatello and umbrico goat cheese). $89, plus tax and gratuity. 183 Second Ave. N, St. Petersburg. (727) 873-7964.

SAVE THE DATES: BEER PROJECT

The Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg is gearing up to do another Beer Project next month. Students from the USF Brewing Arts program have teamed up with local brewers to brew beers based on the MFA's mosaics. The breweries involved are Rapp Brewing, Flying Boat Brewing, Green Bench Brewing, 3 Daughters Brewing and Mastry's Brewing. Local home brewers are also making beers based on the mosaics. On July 19 from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., the museum will host From Gourds to Growlers — How Beer Helped Shape Ethiopia and the Mediterranean. It's part academic inquiry, part beer drinking. $35, $25 for designated drivers. And then on July 20, the museum hosts Civilized Consumption — Drinking Games Through the Ages, from 6 to 10 p.m. This evening entails a demonstration of the ancient drinking game kottobas, small group tours of the MFA's ancient mosaics and beer tastings featuring limited batch Antioch-inspired brews. Must be 21 or older to participate. $45, $25 for designated drivers. 255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg. (727) 896-2667.