CUAISR ITNE
A SAFETY HARBOR FIND
The Kitchen & Bar
at Green Springs
By Margaret Word Burnside and Aaron R. Fodiman
Photography by Noraa
The red grouper at The Kitchen & Bar at Green Springs is served bronzed
and topped with honey garlic peppers, along with roasted balsamic
Brussels sprouts and classic southern hush puppies.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018 | TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 171
S afety Harbor was once
called Green Springs,
but since the post
office at that time had
a similar listing, its name
became Safety Harbor.
In honor of that history,
the Green Springs Café
opened on Third Avenue
18 years ago and moved
to Fourth Avenue a few
years later, where it built
up a loyal following. Now
the original owners have
sold the restaurant to new
owners who have spruced
it up wonderfully and have
named it The Kitchen & Bar at Green
Springs. There is a new menu, keeping
the best of the old, while adding fresh,
new touches. Housed in a 1930s bungalow,
the restaurant and bar never looked better.
Well-trained servers and Jason Rodis, the
new chef, have made this restaurant one
of the best new places to dine in the entire
Tampa Bay area.
The menu offers both small plates and
big plates, depending on the portion sizes.
They are served when ready, instead of
being brought to the table together. The
small plates we selected were the Saganaki
of Greek Kefalograviera cheese in a sizzling
cast iron skillet, which was perfection, as
was the Louisiana Gumbo. However, it
was the Mushroom Risotto with shrimp
and scallops in a basil lime beurre blanc
that had us tipping our hats to Chef Jason.
The menu has four salads
that range from a small one
of mixed field greens with
basil balsamic vinaigrette to
a large spinach salad with
a thyme roasted shallot
dressing that is topped
with oranges and sautéed
shrimp.
For dessert, we had a
cobbler of blackberries
and blueberries, plus bread
pudding, mini-donuts
and Key lime pie from
Tampa’s Mike’s Pies that
was dressed up with a hard
coat of chocolate.
There is a nice selection of local
and national draft and bottled beers.
In addition, the wine list is diverse and
well priced with California favorites such
as Freakshow from the Michael David
Winery and Fess Parker Viognier from
Santa Barbara County. They also make
three sangrias in house, a red, a white and
a ruby red grapefruit that we will surely
order when we return. This is the type of
restaurant we need more of in our area.
The new Kitchen & Bar at Green Springs
is a welcome addition to the local dining
scene. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Kitchen & Bar at
Green Springs is located at 156 Fourth Ave.
N. in Safety Harbor, a block off Main St.,
(727) 669-6762.
Of the big plates, we found the bronzed
red grouper to be true to the recipe for
which Chef Paul Prudhomme became
famous. It doesn’t get any better than
this dish anywhere. The lamb chops were
served over creamy feta cheese grits with a
side jar of tasty, perfectly seasoned jalapeño
mint jelly. The Salmon en Papillote was
oven baked with spinach and a lobster
cream sauce. The paper wrapping gave
it an interesting twist, while sealing in
the moisture and flavor. Our fourth item
was a large, grilled rib-eye pork chop that
was dressed with apple pine nut chutney
and served with a vanilla white pepper
sweet potato mash. It was tender and
tasty, hitting just the right notes. There
are several other steaks and choices on
the menu, and we will have to return to
try them.