Eight Italian crystal chandeliers hung from the vaulted ceiling of this dining room
that featured an imported marble floor.
at the restaurants led June to offer
her controlling interest in the public
company for sale. As a result, her stock
was offered to Fast Food Operators
Inc. that owned and operated Popeye’s
Famous Fried Chicken and Biscuits.
Even though the Kapok restaurants were
losing money, Aaron Fodiman, Popeye’s
president, (who is now my husband and
co-publisher of Tampa Bay Magazine),
decided he personally would buy the
shares after the Popeye’s board members
turned the offer down. He believed the
sale of the large parcels of land that the
restaurants sat on would generate a
healthy profit on his investment when
they were sold for development.
In 1983, Fodiman resigned his position
as president of the Popeye’s operation,
which was headquartered in New
York City, and moved to Clearwater to
take over the five existing restaurants
in Clearwater, Madeira Beach, Ft.
Lauderdale, Peter Pan in Maryland
and Baumgardner’s, which was located
across the road from the Kapok Tree in
Clearwater.
He began by expanding the menu,
designing computerized reservation
and service systems for the servers,
adding novelty shops to turn the large
Ask Margaret
116 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
entry/waiting room into a mall-like
entertainment center, and converting
Baumgardner’s into the Savoy, a gourmet
dining experience with tableside service
and tuxedoed servers. A harpist played
during dinner, and the Savoy became
the most romantic restaurant in the
Tampa Bay area. By 1989, the restaurants
had doubled their income with the
Clearwater Kapok Tree achieving more
than $13 million in sales and serving over
1 million guests per year. The Kapok Tree
restaurant continued to start each meal
with its famous relish tray and baskets
of warm muffins. Its culinary reputation
also soared as Fodiman’s recipes won
the U.S. Chefs Open in 1987 and 1988
for his Georgia ribs with peanut butter
sauce and his coconut shrimp.
Fodiman began the long process of
selling properties to obtain their true
value as potential development sites.
Peter Pan was the first to go, as the
Washington, D.C. expansion into its
outskirts had exploded, turning the
Maryland property into an ideal home
development site. The next property to
be sold was the 13½-acre Madeira Beach
restaurant that was purchased by the
Florida Holocaust Museum. Broward
County bought the 65-acre property in
One of the popular extras at the Kapok
Tree was its tableside entertainers, such
as “George the Minstrel,” who is pictured
here with then-restaurant general
manager Gary West.
This stuffed leaping tiger was typical of the
type of unusual décor that could be seen at
the Kapok Tree restaurant.