While Chilly Florida Temps Kept the Race on Ice, Coast Packing’s ProCharger Pro Mod Camaro Qualifies Well at U.S. Street Nationals; #FatMap941 Expands with New Lard and Tallow Spots
View Taste the Difference – Tampa & St. Pete in a full screen map
R&E Racing’s Promising First Outing of the Season Cut Short by Weather at Bradenton Motorsports Park; Latest FatMap Pinpoints 60 Eateries in Tampa-St. Pete
If you can’t race, at least you can eat well.
Kicking off the drag racing season at the 17th Annual U.S. Street Nationals Presented by Diamond Pistons, Coast Packing Company’s R&E Racing took its multi-award winning ’69 ProCharger Pro Mod Camaro to the Florida Gulf Coast – qualifying in fine style only to bow to late January’s chill, perhaps the better to enjoy a new crop of restaurants on an updated #FatMap941.
Known since 2005 as “the Outlaw Winter Warm-Up,” the Bradenton track hosts the year’s first points event, with R&E qualifying in 5th position out of 48 total cars. Cold weather ultimately applied the brakes to the weekend’s race schedule.
Coast, the leading supplier of animal fat shortenings in the Western U.S and the second largest in the nation, also brought to Bradenton its latest online gastronomic #FatMap941, trumpeting 60 stellar spots in the Tampa/St. Petersburg/Sarasota area.
In Sarasota, Boca’s now offers bacon-glazed Brussels sprouts. Ophelia’s on the Bay, also in Sarasota, pairs various seafood dishes with bacon jam, while The Fountain Kitchen & Wine Bar serves up brunch potatoes made with bacon fat. When in Sarasota, don’t miss The Overton’s thin cut, beef tallow fries. In Riverview, carnivores can savor offerings at Donovan’s Meatery, with beef tallow adding depth to charred Brussels sprouts. And if you prefer your lard straight up, check out Detwiler’s Farm Market in Sarasota, where 16-oz. tubs are available.
Over in St. Petersburg, Burger Monger’s beef tallow fries and onion rings are a Tampa Bay staple. In that same vein (or vat), The Frog Pond in St. Pete serves up home fries cooked in bacon fat. Ella’s Americana Folk Art Café in Tampa plates its wino burger with bacon jam, and pork chops with apple bacon jam. La La’s Sangria Bar features a “Pup-Menu” where your four-legged friend can enjoy Bronx Peanut Butter Flatbread topped with bacon fat and a special bacon ice cream for canines.
Tampa’s Portillo’s Hot Dogs (now located at 2302 Tyrone Blvd N. in St. Petersburg) sells fries made with beef tallow and vegetable oil, while The Boozy Pig opts for beef tallow fries. The Haven roasts its mushrooms in beef tallow while SIX enlists tallow to prep its potatoes with rosemary and garlic. In Siesta Key, Summer House Steak & Seafood is the place to go for beef fat fries. In Ybor City, La Segunda Bakery is known as “the Home of Cuban Bread,” made, of course, with lard. At Oak and Stone in Bradenton, you can order up kung pao cauliflower finished with beef tallow.
“While we would love to have raced Bradenton this year, the trip was a gastronomic hit,” said Coast CEO Eric R. Gustafson. “What’s especially gratifying is that #FatMap941 includes more eateries offering lard and beef tallow than last year’s list. In terms of freshness, flavor and texture, foods prepared with the animal fats lard and beef tallow are natural standouts, which is why we’re so delighted when consumers can taste for themselves, as they can in and around Tampa-St. Pete.”
About Coast Packing Company
Now marking its 100th year in business, Coast Packing Company (www.coastpacking.com), a closely held corporation, is the number one supplier of animal fat shortenings – particularly lard and beef tallow — in the Western United States. The company sells to major manufacturers, distributors, retailers, smaller food service operations and leading bakeries. The company participates actively in diverse ethnic markets – from Hispanic retail chains, with its VIVA brand, to various Asian specialty markets. Based in Vernon, Calif., Coast Packing Company is regional, national and, increasingly, global. In some cases, supplier relationships are multigenerational, extending back 50 years and more. Coast is a founding member of the Healthy Fats Coalition.
For more information about Coast Packing Company, visit: www.coastpacking.com. Follow us via social media on Facebook at www.facebook.com/coastpackingco, Twitter @coastpackingco and Pinterest www.pinterest.com/coastpackingco.
