Chic Gastrobar Provides A New Nightlife Option Downtown

Plush seating the color of honey mustard, black tables and tall bookcases welcome patrons to one of the newest businesses in town at the corner of Ashley and Zack streets in downtown Tampa.

On weekends, below sky-high ceilings and cultural artwork adorning the walls, brunch is served. Crab cake benedict. Pork belly and grits. A Bloody Mary bar.

Anise Global Gastrobar opened in March at 777 Ashley Drive, across from Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, hoping to bring a sense of revitalization among downtown Tampa's food and drink scene.

"Instead of going to South Tampa and going to Howard for restaurants and entertainment, we want to be a part of what downtown has to offer," said co-owner Xuan Hurt. "With all the new establishments being open, it gives them multiple reasons to come downtown and hang out for the night."

We recently talked to co-owner Hurt about how she and husband Kevin found the location, what a gastrobar entails and what they hope to bring to  downtown Tampa's nightlife.

On how the idea for the restaurant came about: "We've always been in the restaurant business in the Tampa area. We’ve been doing this for over 15 years. We bartended and served and managed other restaurants. We got to a place where we’d done it for so long, it's time we do it for ourselves. We opened a restaurant, Bamboozle Café, downtown a few years ago. We had a Stinky Bunz food truck, steamed buns stuffed with meats. We did that for a few months. We saw such a great following for that, and it made us want to get back in the restaurant business. We came across this place and fell in love with it."

How the name came about: "Star anise is a spice that we use a lot in our cooking. It has a very distinctive design. It has a licorice flavor to it. Gastromony is the study of eating food, your stomach. So a gastrobar is a bar with craft cocktails that also focuses on elevated bar food."

On what the restaurant serves: "Stinky bunz are very popular, truffled tater tots, red curry crispy chicken wing. We have grilled shrimp tacos with sriracha candied bacon. The great thing about being a global gastobar is that we can play with whatever genre we want."

What they hope to offer the downtown Tampa community: "We consider the space an extension of our home. We want people to feel welcomed. We kept our price points low when it comes to the food. We have great drink specials, too. We want people to come multiple times a week. We don’t want to be a special occasion restaurant."

To contact the restaurant, or to make a reservation, call 813-225-4272.