The Zest

Today, we’re dishing up a second helping of a conversion we enjoyed so much that we wanted to make sure you got a chance to listen, in case you missed it the first time around. If you’re a longtime Zestie and you remember this classic episode, we hope you’ll enjoy it even more the second time and of course share it with a friend. Zest editor Andrew Lucas has such a fondness for key lime pie that h...

Today we’re getting to know Ana Quincoces. Long before she was a cast member on The Real Housewives of Miami, she was an attorney and avid foodie . The daughter of Cuban immigrants, Ana chats with Dalia about the latest of her four cookbooks, Modern Cuban: A Contemporary Approach to Classic Recipes . Related episodes: ​​Miami Herald’s Carlos Frías on Cuban Coffee, Edible Iguanas & Winning the...

New year, same us. We could resolve to eat more kale, do 100 burpees a day or rein in our online shopping. But let’s be real… we’re not going to stick to any of that. Here at The Zest, we’re about adding joy to our life—especially if that joy comes in the form of food. In that spirit, we’re kicking off 2025 by sharing some of our favorite gastronomic splurges—foods, restaurant meals, kitchen appli...

‘Tis the season for lofty resolutions. Maybe you’ve vowed to stop drinking alcohol, run a daily 5k or cut your takeout budget to zero and cook every meal at home. Whatever your goals for the new year, Jo Bakal says to start small. Jo is a Tampa-based wellness coach and cookbook author who’s sworn off meat, dairy products and cane sugar. She even makes her own oat milk. We can feel your eyes rollin...

Head to Lakeland to hang out with Kadean and Laures Dockery. They're the husband-and-wife team behind Our Noire Kitchen . Noire is French for black, and yes, they are a proud Black-owned company. Kadean is the chef; Laures runs the business side and takes all the great photos you see on Instagram . The pair run Our Noire Kitchen out of the business incubator Catapult Lakeland , and they travel wit...

For many chefs, the road to running a kitchen starts with culinary school. But Hart Lowry forged his own path, working in restaurants across the United States, Europe and Asia, convincing chefs to take him under his wing. It worked. Today, Hart is culinary director for Hi Hospitality Group , where he oversees five Sarasota-area restaurants: Speaks Clam Bar, Kojo, Bar Hana, Palm Avenue Deli and Cen...

Surviving breast cancer gave Rujel Buggs the motivation to eat right and exercise. It also gave her a new appreciation for comfort food—in moderation. Moderation is the name of the game for Rujel, who shares healthy recipes and fitness inspiration on social media. But for holidays and Sunday dinners with family, she goes all out preparing Southern favorites like mac and cheese and peach cobbler po...

This week, we’re dishing up excerpts from conversations related to Thanksgiving and the holiday season. First up, historian Andrew Batten discusses some of the food that might’ve been on the table at that first Thanksgiving meal in St. Augustine, and he explains why Florida is the birthplace of fusion cuisine. Then, Jacksonville media personality Yanira “Yaya” Cardona shares Puerto Rican holiday t...

Whether you’re eating rack of lamb or chicken wings, make it beautiful. So says Debbie Wilson-Berment, better known as Chef Sagajo . (The nickname is a mashup of her kids’ names.)  Based in Delray Beach, the private chef is the author of the cookbook The Sagajo Experience: Recipes for Lifestyle & Entertaining, which came out earlier this year. Dalia chatted with Chef Sagajo. In this conversat...

It seems like there’s a coffee shop on every block, and they all offer more or less the same stuff. But one coffee company in Tampa is serving up much more than lattes and muffins. Coffee Uniting People , or CUP, is a nonprofit coffeehouse that employs mostly people with disabilities. With three locations in Tampa, CUP teaches valuable life skills to folks who are too often overlooked for employme...

Fabricio Zambrano is one of the most dapper men you’ll ever meet. Perpetually dressed in fitted clothes and a panama hat, Fab looks, well, fabulous. But he didn’t always dress like this. Because he didn’t always feel like this. For most of his life, Fabricio wore oversize T-shirts to hide his 5-8, 300-pound frame. He subsisted mostly on fast food and did not exercise. But after Fab hit a life-thre...

By Dalia Colón Whether you’re a coffee fiend or you’ve sworn off caffeine, you’re likely to find a beverage you’ll love at Kahwa Coffee . Headquartered in St. Petersburg, the boutique coffee company specializes in—what else?—java. But since starting Kahwa, owners Raphael and Sarah Perrier have expanded Kawha’s offerings—and its footprint. Today there are 18 locations; that’s one for every year Kah...

What do the rapper Drake , basketball player Magic Johnson and countless Floridians have in common? They've all enjoyed a meal at Donatello in Tampa. The Italian restaurant was started in 1984 by the late Guido Tiozzo, a native of Venice, Italy. Today, Guido’s son Gino Tiozzo is at the helm, balancing classic Italian dishes with customers’ ever-changing expectations. This week, The Zest continues...

This week, it’s our cheesiest episode yet. We’re heading to Cheeseology . Located in a 125-year-old building in Tampa’s historic Ybor City neighborhood, the shop offers cheesemaking classes , tastings, take-home cheeses and other local products for sale. Dalia and The Zest’s brand manager, Alexandria Ebron , visited Cheeseology for a conversation with co-owner Kelly Hays. In this conversation, Kel...

Today’s episode was supposed to be a light-hearted conversation we recorded back in June with Dan Bavaro. He’s the owner of Bavaro’s Pizza, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. The restaurant has five Tampa Bay locations, along with a successful line of sauces . Back in June, Dalia caught up with Dan at Bavaro’s downtown Tampa location during lunchtime. In that conversation, Dan shares...

When Dalia arrived at Giuliano Hazan’s home in Sarasota, the first thing he did was offer her a cappuccino and a plate of biscotti. She had eaten breakfast on the drive down from Tampa, so she was not at all hungry. But when Giuliano Hazan offers you an Italian breakfast, you take it. Giuliano is the only child of Marcella Hazan, the Italian-born food writer and cooking teacher who is credited wit...

DONATE TO THE ZEST There was a time when theme park food meant hot dogs and giant turkey legs. But these days, amusement parks offer something for just about every palate, from gluten-free and allergy-friendly to kosher and halal. If you’re vegan or leaning into a plant-based diet, you’ve got more options, too. And finding them is easier, thanks to the website and social media account Universal Or...

DONATE TO THE ZEST It’s the most delicious time of year at the Most Magical Place on Earth. We’re talking about the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival . The annual event takes place through Nov. 23 at EPCOT’s World Showcase. That’s the area of the theme park whose architecture replicates a bunch of different countries. One minute you're taking a selfie in front of a replica Eiffel Tower...

A lot of people we interview on the podcast come to feel like family. But this week’s guest actually is family. Dalia is chatting with her stepdaughter, Ariel Colón , who is a 25-year-old professional basketball player. Ariel has been playing basketball since she was in elementary school, which is when Dalia first met her. And she hasn’t stopped. She played throughout high school and college, and...

DONATE TO THE ZEST When Marques Clark was a kid growing up in St. Pete, he lived on food stamps at home and free lunches at school—in other words, low-quality food. Now as an adult, Marques is on a mission to teach healthier options to kids, particularly Black children. So in 2014, he started YES CHEF Village . Short for Youth Enrichment Service (YES) Children’s Healthier Eating Foundation (CHEF),...

DONATE TO THE ZEST Fall is busy for a lot of us, whether you’ve got kids back in school, a big work project to finish before the end of the fiscal year, or you’re trying to get your garden planted. Whatever your situation, the last thing you need is to stress about cooking. Dalia and the Zest team recently met up remotely to discuss our favorite ways to save time, money and sanity in the kitchen....

DONATE TO THE ZEST AND GET A COOL STICKER! Randy Wayne White is the author of dozens of novels set in Florida, including the fan favorite series about fictional marine biologist Marion “Doc” Ford. White’s latest Doc Ford novel is One Deadly Eye —as in, eye of the storm, just in time for peak hurricane season. The novel took him on a book tour that included stops at—where else?— Doc Ford’s Rum Bar...

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If brewing your own beverage sounds like your cup of tea, then this bonus episode is for you. Back in March, we brought you an interview with Riverview resident Ginain Grayes of the website CookPraySlay and the podcast Cook the Garden . Today, we’re sharing an episode of Cook the Garden that we think you’ll enjoy. In this conversation, Ginain chats with Nicole Wilson of Tea for Me Please . The New...

Dietitian, nutritionist and occasional Zest guest Wendy Wesley chats with Nanette Wiser about Wendy's new podcast, St. Pete Eats. Related episodes: 7 Tips for Eating More at Home: Advice from Dietician/Nutritionist Wendy Wesley For Young Adults—Especially Those with Special Needs —Cooking Skills Bring Independence 10 Tips for Cooking with Kids