MLS average franchise value up 30% to US$313m

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http://www.sportspromedia.com/news/mls-franchise-values-2019-atlanta-united-most-valuable

MLS average franchise value up 30% to US$313m

US$500m Atlanta United remain North American soccer league’s most valuable team.

The average value of a Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise has climbed 30 per cent from US$240 million to US$313 million, according to Forbes.

The business outlet says the year-on-year growth outpaces the rising team values in the National Basketball Association (NBA), which were up 13 per cent, as well as the 11 per cent increase in the National Football League (NFL), an eight per cent rise in Major League Baseball (MLB) and the six per cent climb in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Atlanta United remain the North American soccer league’s most valuable franchise for the second straight year at US$500 million, up from US$330 million in last year’s rankings. The club’s revenue soared from US$47 million to US$78 million, resulting in an operating income of US$7 million.

MLS Cup play-offs net ESPN highest TV ratings in seven years

Atlanta United are closely followed by the Los Angeles Galaxy (US$480 million), with Los Angeles Football Club (US$475 million), Seattle Sounders (US$405 million) and Toronto FC (US$395 million) rounding off the top five.

Despite the increase in team values, Forbes estimates that just seven of the league’s 24 teams – Atlanta United, LA Galaxy, Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers, DC United, Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake -  turned a profit last season, with Toronto FC recording the biggest loss of US$19 million.

However, that has not stemmed the demand from investors looking to own an MLS franchise, even though expansion fees have soared to US$200 million. That is the price both St Louis and Sacramento will pay to join the league in 2022, with David Beckham’s Inter Miami and Nashville SC set to begin play next year before a team in Austin joins in 2021.

The confirmation of a Sacramento expansion club in October leaves just one spot left to fill if MLS is to stick to its target of 30 teams. A Charlotte bid led by David Tepper, the owner of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, is considered the front-runner to claim the last available place.

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https://www.11alive.com/article/sports/soccer/atlanta-united/atlanta-united-is-most-valuable-mls-team-getting-more-lucrative/85-248ae5c1-c6c3-4705-adac-bf710ffe656c

ATLANTA-UNITED

Atlanta United is the most valuable MLS team and getting more lucrative, report shows

The team is worth a half-billion dollars and climbing according to a Forbes report.

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https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019/11/05/whats-cup-get-know-philip-f-anschutz-trophy-mls-cup

MLS Cup: The Philip F Anschutz trophy is the winner's prize

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https://www.dailyrecordnews.com/news/state/captain-morgan-with-the-assist-fellow-morgans-will-get-free/article_03f206a7-2b9a-532e-abc2-f554c7e9c04f.html

Captain Morgan With The Assist: Fellow 'Morgans' Will Get Free Tickets To The 2019 MLS Cup In Seattle

Adults of Legal Drinking Age Only Need a First, Middle or Last Name of Morgan* To Grab Premium Seats at the 2019 MLS Cup in Seattle

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https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/forbes-vancouver-whitecaps-mls-franchise-values-2019

Vancouver Whitecaps ranked as one of MLS's least valuable franchises

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https://mlsmultiplex.com/2019/11/05/philadelphia-union-team-outperforming-money/

Philadelphia Union: The team outperforming the money

The Philadelphia Union were one of the premier teams in MLS this season. Given their club value and spending, they are the one team far outperforming their spending.
While like other American sports, Major League Soccer attempts to implement parity across the league, in reality, that is very much a feigned and facadian concept. Three of the last four MLS Cups have been contested between the same two teams.

The LA Galaxy have dominated across the decade, Atlanta United won MLS Cup last season, made the Conference Finals this year and won the U.S. Open Cup. Toronto FC have played in three of the last four MLS Cups. These are the dominant teams in MLS, and they are beginning to separate themselves from the rest of the pack. An elite is being established.

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https://mlsmultiplex.com/2019/11/05/mls-mesut-ozil-buyer-beware/

MLS and Mesut Ozil: Buyer beware

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil is being linked with a move to MLS again this offseason. The World Cup winner should come with a ‘buyer beware’ sticker, however, as his attitude could be a problem.

David Villa was the perfect player for New York City FC to build their franchise upon. The Spain international was more than just a brilliant footballer; he was — and still is — a committed, humble, hard-working, infectiously brilliant individual and character.

As Major League Soccer clubs have increasingly turned to ageing European stars, the need to evaluate more than just their quality on the pitch has only intensified.

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https://pittsburghsoccernow.com/2019/11/05/pittsburgh-hotspurs-sc-reveal-the-addition-of-womens-first-team/

Pittsburgh Hotspurs SC reveal the addition of women’s first-team

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https://www.jcnewman.com/investing-in-the-future/

Investing in the Future

Company Updates

As the oldest, family-owned premium cigar maker in America, J.C. Newman Cigar Co. has 124 years and four generations of history. Although my great-grandfather’s legacy and the lessons we have learned along the way are an important part of our company’s culture, J.C. Newman is anything but stuck in the past.

In preparation for our 125th anniversary next year, my father, uncle, and I are making a series of strategic investments in our family business. Some of these changes are operational while others are more cosmetic. However, all of these are investments in our long-term future. Our one goal as a company is to continue our family’s four-generation tradition of handcrafting premium cigars for another four generations and 100 years.

New Shipping Department

This summer we converted an old cigar box factory adjacent to El Reloj into a new, 10,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art shipping warehouse for Arturo Fuente and J.C. Newman cigars and accessories.  This modern facility is three times the size of our old ship-ping department.  It has significantly increased our shipping capacity and will allow us to provide faster order processing and delivery to our authorized retailers throughout the United States.

Expanded Capacity at J.C. Newman PENSA

The most important ingredient of any great cigar is high quality, aged tobacco.  There is simply no short cut to the years that it takes to properly ferment and age premium cigar tobacco.  As our sales of Brick House, Perla del Mar, Quorum, and our other brands continue to increase, we have run out of space to store and age our tobacco at our J.C. Newman PENSA factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.  Therefore, this month we are opening, a new, two-story tobacco warehouse adjacent to our factory so that we can increase our long-term tobacco inventory and ensure consistent blends for decades to come.

Restoring El Reloj

Our iconic El Reloj cigar factory in Tampa, Florida has been our home since my great-grandfather bought this historic building in 1954.  As a 109-year-old factory, however, El Reloj has been showing its age. This year we are investing in restoring El Reloj so that it can proudly continue Ybor City’s cigar legacy for another century. Among other things, we are replacing decades-old electrical systems and original plumbing.  We are reinforcing structural supports and repairing damaged floors.  We are updating our offices and restrooms throughout the factory and are rebuilding our terrazzo entrance steps. While all this work is taking place in El Reloj, we are still rolling 60,000 cigars per day and are shipping thousands of packages to customers around the country each week.

Creating the American Cigar Destination

When we rededicate El Reloj and reopen it to the public in early 2020, we will unveil what will become a premier destination for cigar tourists in the United States.  Our factory will be open to the public for tours.  We will have three floors of exhibits and event spaces, including a new, cigar museum with a theater showing historic cigar films.  We will have a new factory store showcasing cigars from Ybor City.  We will open a new handmade cigar factory on our third floor where we will roll The American and other cigars by hand.  We will have a rolling school where we will teach visitors how to roll cigars and will offer classes on cigar blending and tasting.  Just as wineries, distilleries, and breweries attract large crowds, we expect to welcome a thousand visitors per week to El Reloj next year. We hope that you will visit us!

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/21199

Kapok Tree Inn - Gaudy Excess

Clearwater, Florida

The Kapok Tree Inn operated as a restaurant from 1957 to 1991, and while that is a time long gone, its legendary gaudy gardens live on. Lavish landscapes are filled with Roman inspired fountains, kitschy statuary, and tiled plazas. Three businesses operating out of the old building have maintained much of the exterior Kapok Tree experience.

When the Inn opened in 1957, the huge, adjacent kapok tree was already a firmly established tourist attraction (grown from an alien tree species brought from India in the 19th century). The Kapok Tree Inn was created by businessmen Richard B. Baumgardner and Jim Jones -- it ultimately contained 12 dining rooms, seating hundreds.

The property's over-the-top architecture is a pastiche of classical Italy, Greece, and other influences. A long row of Italian Fountains spews 60,000 gallons of water an hour. In the South Garden, towering Caryatid statues share the undergrowth around a pond with lawn deer statues.

Stick you head into the Sam Ash store, and you can still see some of the interior vestiges of the Kapok Tree Inn. The actual namesake kapok tree is in front in the West Garden.

The Kapok Tree Inn was spectacular in its prime. But it's pretty good in its current state, too -- and enjoyable to wander and appreciate (when no events are scheduled).

Fountains.

While some of the statues need a good mold scraping, in general everything is in decent repair -- and very otherworldly in the heart of Clearwater.

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https://photos.cltampa.com/remembering-the-legendary-kapok-tree-inn-floridas-most-insane-restaurant/?slide=1&com07121

Remembering the legendary Kapok Tree Inn, Florida’s most insane restaurant

Kapok Tree Inn restaurant at 923 McMullen Booth Rd. in Clearwater, Florida.

During it's heyday, from the 60s through the 80s, the Kapok Tree Inn in Clearwater was one of the most over-the-top restaurants in the country.

Named after a kapok tree sapling that was brought over from India, in the 1870s, the land was later purchased Richard B. Baumgardner, who decided to transform the grove into an ambitious destination restaurant, which opened in 1958.

Eventually there were a few different locations, but the Clearwater one was by far the most extravagant of them all, and featured a world-renown garden, Renaissance-inspired architecture, impressive waterfalls, beautiful chandeliers, and twelve different themed dining rooms.

In 1988, the Chicago Sun-Times called the Clearwater Kapok Tree Inn the number 15 restaurant in the country, with sales of $10 million.

Despite being a massive success, the Kapok Tree Inn closed in 1991, but elements of it have been preserved and can still be seen at the Sam Ash Music Store, and the Kapok Special Events Center & Gardens, which now occupy the space.

All photos via Florida State Archives

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http://studiohourglass.blogspot.com/2011/01/large-than-life-kapok-tree-restaurant.html

Larger than life: the Kapok Tree Restaurant

Growing up in Florida, I was vaguely aware of the Kapok Tree Restaurant, but I never dined there because I never visited Clearwater. As I began collecting vintage Florida ephemera I kept coming across postcards of the restaurant that looked more like a palace in Europe than any place I'd ever dined. And when I saw photos on Flickr and discovered the website dedicated to preserving the memories of this amazing place, it quickly made my list of places to visit in the Sunshine State. Unfortunately on the day I visited near Thanksgiving, it was anything but sunny, but that did not diminish the grandeur and opulence that was once one of this country's premier eating establishments.

The website created by Ben Mancine is very comprehensive, if you want to know any thing about the amazing place, the information is already online. So thanks to Ben, here is a little history of the Kapok Tree:

The namesake Kapok Tree was planted with seedlings from India by citrus grower Robert Hoyt who came to the area in the late 19th century

By the 1940s the tree had grown to such a size that it was already a popular local attraction

The Kapok Tree Restaurant was created by musician and restaurateur Richard Baumgardner in 1958

Postcards of the restaurant read " Country Dinners served beside Florida's Famous Kapok Tree in the midst of exotic tropical gardens." According to the website: "...menu choices were ham, fried chicken, fried shrimp or T-bone steak... all came with roasted potatoes, hush-puppies, green peas served family style and a lazy susan relish tray with creamy cole slaw and famous apple butter..."

The Kapok Tree Inns Corporation went public in 1970 and opened other Kapok Tree restaurants in Madiera Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Daytona Beach

In 1976, the same year it was named one of the top 100 restaurants in United States, founder Baumgardner passes away

After ownership changes and litigation among family members for control of the restaurant chain in the 1980s, the restaurant closed for good in 1991

Today the property is owned and maintained by 3 separate business: the Sam Ash Music store, the Players School of Music and the Kapok Special Events Company

The Florida Room featured native plants, floor to ceiling fountains and twenty statues

The Italian Fountains, "the carvings are the work of Morselletto from Vencenza, Italy, whose grandfather built the DuPont mansion in Delaware," says Ben Mancine

The Kapok Tree Mall was over 300 feet long and featured Italian sculpture, gift shops and the ticket booth where one purchased tickets for a ham, chicken, steak or shrimp dinner.

Diners in the Florida Room in 1978

The popular Grand Ballroom featured views of the South Garden and had decorations recreated from the Medici Palace in Florence

Fountain in the Mall as it looked in the mid-twentieth century
Images from the State Archives of Florida
Map of the entire complex

From Ben's Tribute To Clearwater's Fabled Kapok Tree Restaurant website

Vintage postcard of the Red Velvet Lounge

Vintage postcard of the namesake Kapok Tree

Vintage postcard of the Patio Dining Room

My visit to the site was unexpected and I thank my friend Simon for acting as chauffeur. The tree itself is huge and still a powerful presence from the road. We visited the North Gardens first where they appeared to be preparing for a wedding. Despite icky green water in the Italian Fountains, the place appeared to be pretty well maintained. Next we entered the Mall near the ticket booth and were immediately overwhelmed at the scale of the room. Even with musical instruments allover the place it is still a grand space. My immediate reaction was regret that I had not seen it in its prime. But I am still grateful it is largely intact.

The Kapok Tree today

The North Garden

Indoor plants press against the glass, survivors of more glorious days

After wandering around what was the Mall we ducked into the Gallery Room to marvel at the great chandelier. Much of the statuary, light fixtures and interior decoration still remain and seem odd juxtaposed to the garish retail fixtures of the music store. Certain areas are closed to anyone but employees, but we poked our head into to see more amazing spaces, hidden from public view.

The Mall today

The Gallery Room

Much of the building's exterior is covered in beautiful wallpaper-like covering and there is still a great deal of architectural detail. We concluded our trip after exploring the West Garden beneath the canopy of the great tree. I could just see excited snow birds in the 1960s, lined up here to for a big family style dinner in the grandest place they had ever set foot in. If you get a chance to visit pay homage to the remnants of this over -the-top mid-century dining experience, by all means do it!

Labels: Kapok Tree Restaurant, Richard B. Baumgardner, Sam Ash

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https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/florida/kapok-tree-inn-fl/

This Legendary Restaurant From Florida’s Past Has Been Transformed Into Something Amazing
If you lived in Florida in the 60s, 70s or 80s, you might have fond memories of one of the most impressive restaurants that ever existed. In its heyday, the Kapok Tree Inn was one of the top restaurants in the country, and real attraction in its own right. There were actually three locations (Clearwater, Davie, and Madeira Beach), but the Clearwater location was the most well-known. Greek and Roman-style statues, cascading waterfalls, magnificent fountains, grand chandeliers and exotic plants filled the restaurant’s 12 dining rooms and expansive gardens.

It welcomed thousands of visitors and reportedly made millions of dollars a year, right up until it shocked the public by abruptly closing its doors in 1991.

Though the beloved restaurant is long gone, many elements have been preserved at the Kapok Special Events Center & Gardens and inside the Sam Ash music store that now occupies the once impressive entrance. Below are some photos of the Kapok Tree Inn in its heyday and today.

Entrance to Kapok Tree Inn

www.kapokspecialevents.com

Entrance foyer

State Library & Archives of Florida

Tree at Kapok Tree Inn

State Library & Archives of Florida

Statues and fountains

State Library & Archives of Florida

The exotic Italian Gardens

State Library & Archives of Florida

Emerald lounge

State Library & Archives of Florida

Garden wall

State Library & Archives of Florida

Fountain

State Library & Archives of Florida

15th century Renaissance inspired fountain

State Library & Archives of Florida

Patio room

State Library & Archives of Florida

The Florida room

State Library & Archives of Florida

Kapok Tree Inn's Grape Bar

State Library & Archives of Florida

Chandelier Room

State Library & Archives of Florida

The Grand Ballroom

State Library & Archives of Florida

East Garden

State Library & Archives of Florida

Interior view

State Library & Archives of Florida

Interior view

State Library & Archives of Florida

Kapok Gardens today is used for special events.

www.kapokspecialevents.com

www.kapokspecialevents.com

It still makes a beautiful venue for weddings.

www.kapokspecialevents.com

Many elements of the restaurant can still be seen here and in the Sam Ash music store.

Even if you're not planning a special event, you can still stroll through the gardens and take a walk down memory lane.

Call ahead to make sure no events are being held at the time you'd like to tour the grounds.

The Kapok Event Center & Gardens is located at 923 N. McMullen Booth Road in Clearwater. It’s open Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m,and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Call 727-725-8733 for more information on the best time to visit.

Did you ever visit the Kapok Tree Inn? Are there any other bygone attractions you wish would come back to Florida?

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http://blog.kellywilliamsphotographer.com/kapok-tree-restaurant-clearwater/

Kapok Tree Restaurant

If you grew up in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area in Florida as I did, then you no doubt have fond memories of the Kapok Tree restaurant in Clearwater. This fabulous restaurant was as over the top as it comes, complete with its own garden of earthly delights. Sadly, the restaurant passed into culinary oblivion many, many years ago, but the ghosts of the past still remain…and I have the photos to prove it.

Kapok Tree Restaurant ballroom

Main ballroom

For those of you from New York, the Kapok Tree was a little bit like Tavern on the Green in Central Park at its height of popularity. Built in 1958 by Richard Baumgardner, the Kapok Tree was at one time one of the top 100 restaurants in the United States. There were three locations (Clearwater, Davie, and Madeira Beach), but of the three, the Clearwater location was the best known and, of course, the most ostentatious. In addition to the magnificent gardens, complete with fountains and waterfalls, the restaurant had 12 dining rooms that featured stunning chandeliers worthy of the grandest ballrooms in Europe and a grand staircase that would look great on the Titanic.

Kapok Tree Restaurant staircase

The grand staircase

Speaking of the Titanic, the restaurant closed its doors in 1991 due to mismanagement. Seeing the building during its heyday, it is clear that another restaurant on the scale of the Kapok Tree will never again see the light of day. It is with a nostalgic tear in my eye that I decided to spontaneously visit what remains of the structure. I am happy to report most of the original restaurant and gardens have been preserved: the main restaurant has been turned into a special events venue and music school, and what used to be the shopping galleria is now a Sam Ash music store. As a quick comparison, you can view photos of the original Kapok Tree restaurant here.

Shirley, at the Kapok Tree Event Center and Gardens, was kind enough to give me a tour of the building and grounds. My memory of the Kapok Tree comes from a family wedding that was held at the restaurant when I was just a little kid. The restaurant originally had shops on the lower level, tropical plants everywhere, and even birds in cages. For a kid in Florida, a visit to the Kapok Tree was a visit to another world, and I loved every minute of it. It is a bit surreal to now see guitars and percussion equipment side-by-side with the Grecian statues, but it brings an extravagant twist to the usual musical instrument shopping experience, which I am sure would have made Richard Baumgardner smile.

Kapok Tree Restaurant interior

For anyone in the Clearwater area looking for a great wedding or party venue, the Kapok Tree is a decadent option not to be missed. (This video shows a wedding at the Kapok Tree in all of its glory.)  Aside from the close proximity of the venue to the traffic nightmare that is McMullan Booth Road and US Highway 19, you can still escape to a magical dreamland in the Kapok Tree’s garden. If you are in the area, take a minute to get off the highway and check out this gem of Florida history.

Kapok Tree Restaurant exterior

Kapok Tree Restaurant exterior

Kapok Tree Restaurant exterior detail

Detail of the raised tile exterior

Kapok Tree Restaurant exterior

Kapok Tree Restaurant exterior

Kapok Tree Restaurant interior

The store’s manager is very much a KISS fan. I like what he has done with the place.

Kapok Tree Restaurant interior

Drum room with one of the world’s most stunning chandeliers

Kapok Tree Restaurant interior

Kapok Tree Restaurant interior

Kapok Tree Restaurant interior

Kapok Tree Restaurant interior

Kapok Tree Restaurant exterior

Kapok Tree Restaurant gardens

These are the garden waterfalls, though not turned on at the time of my visit

Kapok Tree Restaurant ceremony room

The ceremony room where most of the weddings take place

Kapok Tree Restaurant ballroom

Main ballroom

Kapok Tree Restaurant ballroom chandelier

Kapok Tree Restaurant staircase

The grand staircase

Kapok Tree Restaurant chandelier

Kapok Tree Restaurant cocktail hour room

The main cocktail hour room

Kapok Tree Restaurant gardens

Kapok Tree Restaurant gardens

Kapok Tree Restaurant gardens

Kapok Tree Restaurant gardens

Kapok Tree Restaurant exterior

The restaurant’s namesake tree is still standing

For more history on the Kapok Tree restaurant, please visit this site.

To find out more about the Kapok Tree Events Center and Gardens, please contact Shirley at 727.725.8733 or info@kapokspecialevents.com.

To view more of my travel photos, please visit my personal website – www.Kelly-Williams.com.

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https://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/fl-kapok-tree-memorablia-20150724-story.html

Memories of the Kapok Tree restaurant

Once upon a simpler time, there was a magical place that stood alone deep in Davie's wild western woods.

Once upon a simpler time, there was a magical place that stood alone deep in Davie's wild western woods.

Huge Grecian columns marked its entrance. Peacocks roamed the gardens surrounding a cluster of extravagant themed rooms, a tropical veranda just down the hall from a Middle Eastern bazaar.

The Kapok Tree was more than just a restaurant and catering hall during its glory days four decades ago. It was THE place where memories were made, say the many who drove over the deserted, two-lane country roads to celebrate their weddings, graduations, first dates and anniversaries.

"It felt like you were in your own world. There were swans on the premises, and it was so serene," said Penny Aldahonda, a Pembroke Pines retiree. She was married in a gazebo at The Kapok Tree in 1983, "and it was better than any place I could have imagined," she said, even though she ruined her white silk shoes when the photographer posed her too close to the lake.

Today, that lake and the paths where partygoers wandered with their drinks through the tropical hammock are part of Long Key Natural Area and Nature Center in Davie, which is country no more. Six lanes of Flamingo Road traffic barrel close to Long Key's gates, and the suburbs press in on its flanks.

The fountain and a few towering columns scattered about the Broward County park's 65 acres are the most visible reminders of the once romantic Kapok Tree.

In its honor, the recently formed Friends of Long Key (FOLK) nonprofit organization is paying tribute to the iconic restaurant and its beautiful gardens that have returned to their wild roots.

FOLK, a group of volunteers that does projects and raises funds for Long Key, will be showcasing The Kapok Tree at its fundraising gala on Nov. 6 at the nature center. And they are looking for all the trivia and memorabilia they can get.

Do you have one of those hurricane-style souvenir glasses that held the killer Kapok Tree punch? A story about how your quinceanera dress got wet when the photographer posed you next to a fountain? A technicolor postcard from the restaurant's gift shop?

"We'd love to hear from people if they had memories being here at The Kapok Tree, any souvenirs or photos they might have," said gala chairman and FOLK treasurer Ann Haeflinger.

The event organizers want to set up a display at The Kapok Tree auction and gala, and perhaps create a permanent exhibit at the nature center.

Kelli Whitney, a naturalist with the Broward County Parks and Recreation Division, already has scored a few Kapok Tree punch glasses at thrift stores and on eBay. She said that sometimes, when she leads a night walk at Long Key, she'll ask how many of her hikers once came here to eat the famous Kapok hush puppies and fried chicken.

"It's rare when no hands go up," said Whitney. "Coming to The Kapok Tree was an event. You didn't just go there to grab a beer after work."

If anyone could spice up The Kapok Tree gala's storybook, it would be Aaron Fodiman. A serial entrepreneur, he purchased an entire restaurant chain that included three Kapok Trees in Florida (the other two on the west coast) from its original owners, the Baumgardner family, in 1983.

One bit of trivia? The actual kapok trees at the restaurants actually were Indian bombax ceiba trees, Fodiman said. There also is supposedly an Indian burial mound on the Davie property, "but we never went near it," he said.

Fodiman, who today is the owner of Tampa Bay magazine and lives in Clearwater, said he originally bought the properties as real estate investments, as they were on large pieces of land in developing areas.

But he was intrigued by the Disney World-like feel of the restaurants, filled with exotic statues and decorations, so he opted to be a restaurant owner. But by 1988, The Kapok Tree closed, and the county bought the property in 1990. The park opened in 2008.

The menu was simple, Fodiman said: a few entrees, bolstered by unlimited hush puppies, potatoes and vegetables. Oh, and the famous rum punch? "It wasn't always rum," Fodiman said. "If we got a good buy on gin, we used that. But it always was colorful, sweet and good to drink."

Keeping the food coming and the drinks flowing provided jobs for plenty of local teenagers, said Valerie Lockwood Moran, 56, who grew up in Davie and still lives a short walk from Long Key today.

Lockwood had a friend in college who was a bartender at The Kapok Tree, "and she loved it," Lockwood said. "They were 18-year-old kids in charge and it was a big party. And so many cute guys."

It may be the brides, however, who have the most vivid Kapok Tree memories.

The first time Beverly Merz went to the The Kapok Tree, "I thought, if I ever get married, I am getting married here," she said. Flash forward two years to 1983 and she had the man, the gazebo and the reception in the Bird Room.

"It was bright and cheerful and beautiful," said Merz, of Delray Beach. "We should cherish what we experience. Did it keep us together, our wedding? Maybe."

Ten years later, she and her husband, Stephen Merz, wanted to show their young son where they were married. But The Kapok Tree was gone.

"We were so disappointed," Merz said. Until she recently learned that Long Key Nature Center has an event hall where a wedding could be held on almost the exact same spot as The Kapok Tree.

Will there be new chapter in The Kapok Tree's story? "We'll see," Merz said.

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g34678-i156-k3868957-Kapok_Tree_Restaurant-Tampa_Florida.html

Kapok Tree Restaurant

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.florida-backroads-travel.com/kapok-tree.html

KAPOK TREE

Florida natives and tourists old enough to have been around the Tampa Bay area for a while will remember the dining room shown in the postcards below.

Just after the Civil War, a local resident planted a kapok tree from India on his property near the western shore of Tampa bay in Clearwater.

Kapok Tree, Clearwater

People came from miles around over the years just to look at this tree.

The 200-seat Kapok Tree Inn opened on the property in 1958 and immediately became a hit with locals and tourists alike.

It offered fried chicken, broiled steak and baked ham served in a setting of fabulous antiques and tropical palms with the backdrop of the famous kapok tree and its offspring.

The food was great, but even if it had been mediocre the dining ambiance and experience would still have been worth the visit.

By the 1960's the New York Times and Holiday magazine named the owner of the Kapok Tree, Richard B. Baumgardner, as one of the top ten restaurant operators in the world.

Kapok Tree, Clearwater

At its peak, the Kapok Tree had 12 dining rooms.

The restaurant was so popular they went public in the 1970's and opened several other Kapok Tree Inns in Florida and Maryland.

The whole operation began to founder, however, and finally the last one - the original in Clearwater - closed its doors in 1991.

Those of us who loved the place miss it a lot.

You can still see some of the remaining fountains and landscaping at the Sam Ash Store, 923 McMullen Booth Rd, Clearwater, FL 33759

(Follow link for full article.)

https://restaurant-ingthroughhistory.com/2011/10/23/hot-cha-and-the-kapok-tree/

“Hot Cha” and the Kapok Tree

What kind of career might the son of a junk dealer father and a mother who owned a restaurant end up with?

If he was Richard Baumgardner he would run restaurants raucously decorated with gilded and spray-painted objets d’art — wonderfully kitschy palatial junque bought by the ton in Europe (70 tons of statues in 1966). When his warehouse ran low on statues and urns, he would make plastic replicas with rubber molds.

His customers would find it all enchantingly “different.”

But first, he’d take a detour into the entertainment world as a jazz-era musician and bandleader known as Dick “Hot Cha” Gardner. As an introduction to his restaurant career in 1936, Dick inaugurated the Hot Cha Supper Club in conjunction with his mother Grace’s tea room, the Peter Pan Inn in rural Urbana MD. After she died in the 1940s, Dick took over the Peter Pan and transformed it into a let’s-drive-to-the-country mega-attraction for Washington DC families. In 1958, retired from bandleading, Dick opened his first Kapok Tree Inn in Clearwater FL, on the site of a tree planted in the 1880s.

It’s hard to know how to classify his restaurants. They fall into two of my classifications: 1) the high-volume restaurant, and 2) the curiosity-shop restaurant filled with quaint stuff.

The decor at the Clearwater Kapok Tree was a mix of light fixtures from Paris, chandeliers gathered from the DC Italian Embassy and old theaters in Baltimore and New York City, paneling from a De Medici compound replicated in plastic, and on and on.

Yet for all their madcap faux elegance, Dick’s restaurants followed a rigid formula designed for maximizing profits and minimizing costs. Magically, it worked. Despite ticket windows where customers were required to prepay their dinner tab, a teen-age staff, long waits for tables (in the bar), sticky sweet rum drinks, and limited menus with pedestrian cuisine, customers absolutely adored these zany buses-welcome eateries.

For years diners had just four dinner choices: fried chicken, ham, deep fried shrimp, and steak. When customers sat down at their tables, servers collected their receipts, knowing immediately by the prices what they had ordered. A complete meal included a typical 1950s melange of appetizers which never varied year in and year out, whether in Maryland or Florida — cottage cheese, (sweet) pickled vegetables, muffins, and apple butter. Sides were roast potatoes, peas in mushroom sauce, beets, and hush puppies. Ice cream for dessert and seconds on everything but the entrees. Boxes were provided for leftovers and the complimentary tall cocktail glasses. Few left empty-handed.

The Kapok Tree Inns prospered with the Pinellas County boom of the early 1970s. By 1978, two years after Dick died, there were three Kapok Tree Inns, in Clearwater, Madeira Beach, and Daytona Beach. The first remained the largest, seating at least 1,700. On really busy days upwards of 5,000 meals were served there.

Controlling interest in the Kapok Tree corporation, which also included the Peter Pan Inn and a couple of Baumgardner’s Restaurants in Florida, passed to Dick’s widow, a former waitress at the original Clearwater restaurant, who had largely been running the operation since he had a stroke in 1970. A year after his death, she told a reporter that hers was the most profitable publicly-held restaurant chain in the nation. The Daytona Beach Kapok Tree closed  in 1981, and the Clearwater restaurant closed ten years later.

I wonder what happened to all the wacky furnishings?

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https://stpetersburgfoodies.com/podcast/interview-with-lokesh-vale-of-the-twisted-indian-st-petersburg-foodies-podcast-episode-62/

Interview with Lokesh Vale of The Twisted Indian – St. Petersburg Foodies Podcast Episode 62

Interview with Lokesh Vale from The Twisted Indian

Welcome to the St. Petersburg Foodies Podcast Episode 62! Our featured interview today is with Lokesh Vale from The Twisted Indian. Lokesh studied culinary in both India and the U.S. He started with a food truck, and now has a pop-up at The Baum Avenue Market. The Twisted Indian is a fast serve spot with Indian-fusion that caters to the American palate. Our musician interview is with Taylor Raynor, and we feature his song 'Poet and a Beat'.

Listen right here with our player above, or use your favorite podcast listening app below.

Lokesh Vale - Owner / Operator of The Twisted Indian

The St. Petersburg Foodies Podcast features interviews with chefs, restaurateurs, sommeliers, bartenders, and more, and covers the burgeoning food scene in St. Petersburg, Florida. Episodes air every Tuesday.

This episode of the St. Petersburg Foodies Podcast is brought to you by Pacific Counter, The Brass Bowl Kitchen & Juicery, Buya Ramen, and Engine No. 9. Please keep them in mind the next time you are hungry for some fantastic food.

Our announcer is Candice Aviles from Food for Thought  and Channel 10 News. Our theme music is provided by The Chris Walker Band.

Links:

The Twisted Indian

Taylor Raynor Music

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https://mlsmultiplex.com/2019/11/05/inter-miami-crucial-decisions-confront-inaugural-season-countdown/

Inter Miami: Crucial decisions confront inaugural season countdown

Inter Miami will start MLS play in the 2020 season. But before that time, they have a whole lot of decisions to make, and the time to make them is looming.

Inter Miami have not shown great urgency in filling the roster yet. In fact, they have not shown much urgency in anything this far. And as the 2020 season looms with the offseason now here, crunch time has arrived for David Beckham and those in charge in Florida.

One key positive is the stadium. Construction of the Inter Miami Fort Lauderdale Stadium and Training Complex started on November 1. The 18,000-seat stadium will serve Inter Miami CF until the permanent MLS stadium is built in Miami. After that point, the Fort Lauderdale stadium will serve the team’s USL League One club

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https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/article-toronto-wolfpack-hope-sonny-bill-williams-can-be-the-super-leagues/

Toronto Wolfpack hope Sonny Bill Williams can be the Super League’s David Beckham

Williams is on the verge of becoming the richest player in rugby, and in just about the most unlikely place to do that – Canada.

The difference between great athletes and iconic ones is in being able to create signature moments.

Sonny Bill Williams’s moment came after the final of the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Williams’s All Blacks had just won and were slowly circling the field. A teenage fan tried to run out to the celebrating team. He was tackled by security and landed at Williams’s feet.

Rather than walk on, Williams picked the boy up, dusted him off and said, “I’ll take you back to your parents.”

Once he reached the stands, Williams took off his winners’ medal and hung it around the kid’s neck. It was a Mean Joe Greene Coke commercial come to life.

Williams, then 30, was already an electrifying and often polarizing star in rugby. But that gesture made him an international sensation.

“I seen a child that was a little bit hurt and it kinda touched me on my inside,” Williams said later. “I just done what I thought was right. I guess it blew a bit out of proportion.”

In part because of that blowing out of proportion, Williams is on the verge of becoming the richest player in rugby, and in just about the most unlikely place to do that – Canada.

The Toronto Wolfpack, rugby’s only transatlantic team, will soon begin its first season in the British-based Super League. Created from whole cloth three years ago, the Wolfpack has a negligible fanbase, little infrastructure and zero history. The ownership is a murky affair fronted by an Australian mining investor, but someone in that group clearly has money to burn.

Because this franchise isn’t a business yet. It isn’t even a charity. From the accounting perspective, it’s more like an incinerator.

In its first season, the Wolfpack assembled a group of adventurous, money-motivated pros to play in a third-division league populated largely by part-timers. It routinely annihilated the competition.

After promotion, the club required two runs at the second division before getting it right. Now in the top tier, it had talked about doing something splashier. Not just a top signing, but a rock-star signing.

“Our club would want to have a name that’s absolutely international,” Wolfpack coach Brian McDermott said a few weeks ago. “Very much [what] David Beckham did for Major League Soccer.”

In order to get their rock star, they are willing to wildly overpay.

The Super League’s (plainly malleable) salary cap is a little more than $3-million. According to reports, Toronto is offering Williams a two-year deal in the neighbourhood of $9-million total. Should he accept, Williams would become the highest-earning rugby player on the planet.

This isn’t franchise building. It isn’t about creating something sustainable. The goal is making as much noise as possible and hoping for a years-long echo.

Williams’s role in this is hitman-for-hire. Since he holds all the power in this negotiation, he has to decide if that suits him.

It’s not exactly a stretch. He’s bounced around for the entirety of his career, often burning bridges in the process. He’s excelled at both versions of the sport – rugby union and rugby league – but has not played the 13-a-side version in several years.

Williams is 34 – old by rugby standards. He’s been a heavyweight boxer. He has a reputation as an immense talent who likes to pick his spots. He has always showed up for New Zealand, but somewhat less so for his pro clubs. Injuries have been a pernicious problem. Now he’s considering a bit of lucrative slumming before he wraps things up.

The Beckham analogy fits almost perfectly here. Beckham was not quite over the hill when he arrived in America, but was definitely cresting it.

Beckham spent most of the first year in the trainer’s room. Once returned to full fitness, he began working part-time in Italy. Though his team eventually became a winner, he was not the engine of that success. He never really amounted to much in L.A. as a player.

Looking back on it, Beckham accomplished one important thing in North America – he arrived.

His MLS legacy rests entirely on his decision to bless a backwater with his presence. From MLS’s perspective, it was money well spent.

It isn’t the league it thought it might become when Beckham showed up more than a decade ago. But had he not done so, there might not be a league at all.

Should a deal be agreed, that’s what Williams can do in Toronto. He gives rugby a face and a chance to leapfrog the wretched Argos of the CFL as the city’s No. 5 team.

Williams doesn’t have to be any good. The Wolfpack doesn’t have to win. That’s not how this works for an outsider team playing a sport few locals know anything about, never mind follow.

Williams will be paid millions to create buzz. If you aren’t a rugby fan and have gotten this far in the column, he’s already doing his job.

Will it work? That depends on Williams’s personality. He is unlike Beckham in that his brand would not arrive in North America fully articulated. All people know about him now is that he is famous and that he probably shouldn’t be ending up here.

But they will respond to the superlatives – two-time world champion, All Black, highest paid. The punters love a big box-office number.

That earns him a few shots at turning curiosity into interest. It’s more important that Williams shine in front of a microphone than on a field.

He seems to have that part down. In interviews, he comes off as a charming knucklehead who speaks the international language of uplift. “I try to be where my feet are,” and suchlike. He is an enormous man with a gentle physical presence. Even his name sticks in your head.

That’s why the Toronto Wolfpack is willing to pay him so much for the simple act of arrival.

If he decides to come, Sonny Bill Williams wouldn’t just be the best rugby player in North American pro history. He’d be the very first who mattered.

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/10285844/chris-coleman-david-beckham-inter-miami-boss-job/

CHRIS INTER MLS Chris Coleman eyes boss job at David Beckham’s Inter Miami after failures with Sunderland and in China

FROM leading his country to the Euro semi-finals to being out of work in less than three years.

That has been the stark reality for Chris Coleman, who led Wales to their greatest football triumph during the summer of 2016.

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https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/marek-warszawski/article237005389.html

No solid footing: The backstory on why Fresno’s pro soccer club folded after two seasons

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https://www.abcactionnews.com/lifestyle/taste-and-see/enjoy-ybor-citys-tree-lighting-ceremony-on-november-20

Enjoy Ybor City's Tree Lighting Ceremony on November 20

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https://patch.com/florida/southtampa/3-tampa-bay-coffee-shops-make-food-wines-best-u-s-list

3 Tampa Bay Coffee Shops Make Food & Wine's Best In U.S. List

Writer David Landsel checked out thousands of coffee shops across the country to come up with The Best Coffee Shops in America.

TAMPA BAY, FL — After more than two years of on-the-ground research, Food & Wine magazine has rounded up nearly 100 of the most essential cafes, coffee shops and espresso bars in the United States, and three of them are located in Tampa Bay.

Describing the current market as "the golden age of coffee, Food & Wine writer David Landsel checked out thousands of coffee shops across the county to come up with The Best Coffee Shops in America: 2019.

Coming in No. 8 on Food & Wine's top 10 list is King State Coffee, 520 E. Floribraska Ave., Tampa.

Originally from Tampa, King State Coffee founders Tim McTague and Nate Young spent most of their adult lives as touring musicians, playing with various bands at venues around the country.

"In 2013 after those bands broke up, the idea to start a coffee roaster began to brew over many nights in a back yard drinking beers and smoking cigars," said the roasters on their Facebook page.

McTague and Young, who are brothers-in-law, bought a commercial roaster and started King State Coffee and selling it online in 2014. As their unique coffee blends including Antigua Hunapu Guatemala, La Flores Santa Barbara Honduras, Uraga Guji Ethiopia and Huila Acevedo Colombia Decaf caught on, the roasters took the predictable next step. They converted an old abandoned gas state in Tampa Heights and opened their coffee shop in July.

In addition to being top-notch roasters, McTague and Young are also brewmasters, offering their own in-house craft beers on tap.

King State Coffee also has select menu items including The GEB - bacon, scrambled egg, house-made pesto, arugula and brie on a buttermilk biscuit; The Tony Saparnostien - corned beef, spicy capicola, sauerkraut, Russian dressing and Swiss cheese on marble rye; and The Hommie Bowl - arugula, balsamic roasted veggies, hummus, house-made pesto and goat cheese.

Also making Food & Wine's list of best coffee shops is Bandit Coffee Co. at 2662 Central Ave. in St. Petersburg's Grand Central District.

Founders Sarah and Joshua Weaver grew up in Tampa Bay and opened Bandit Coffee in 2016. The coffee shop serves a full complement of the couple's roasted coffee blends including several Ethiopian and Mexican roasts. The shop offers espressos, lattes and cold brews.

Several months ago, the Weavers expanded their menu to include craft beers and natural wines along with breakfast and brunch menus featuring vegan burritos with spiced basmati rice, drunken pinto beans, pico de gallo, pickeled onions, guacomole, brassicas blend chipotle cashew aioli and Spanish cauliflower; bacon, egg and cheese with chives kewpie mayo on a brioche bun; and avocado toast with guacomole, dehydrated tomatoes, chimichurri, radish, cotija and microgreens on sourdough bread.

And the third Tampa Bay coffee house on the list is Union by Commune & Co. in the Heights Public Market, 1910 N. Ola Ave., Tampa.

Owner Joel Davis began his coffee business pedaling through Ybor City on a trike, selling his pressure brew iced coffee from a crate attached to the handlebars. He opened his brick-and-mortar coffee shop Feb. 1, 2018.

While the beans are certainly important, for Davis it's all about the process. His unique, proprietary brewing method highlights the sweetness, nuance and characteristics of exceptional coffees.

"Pressure brew cascades like a Guinness and the head settles at the top of the glass, leaving you with a light, refreshing chilled coffee without the bitterness of a traditional cold brew," said Davis describing the results of the process.

In addition to his nitro-tapped cold pressure brew, Davis offers batch-brewed drip coffee, espresso, horchata lattes, mochas and Coffee Cola - pressure brew with citrus, bitter orange coriander, nutmeg and lavender.

Also on the menu are a selection of loose-leaf teas and chai, beer, natural wine, toast and jam made with locally sourced sourdough bread and seasonal jam, vegan bread and muffins.

Other Florida shops on the list are Miami's All Day, West Palm Beach's Composition Coffee, Orlando's Deeply Coffee and Boca Raton's Mane Coffee.

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https://www.foodandwine.com/travel/restaurants/best-coffee-shops-america-2019

The Best Coffee Shops in America: 2019

After more than two years of on-the-ground research, we’ve rounded up nearly 100 of the most essential cafes, coffee shops, and espresso bars in the United States.

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https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/nov/06/from-atlanta-to-zlatan-foreign-players-on-the-lure-of-mls

From Atlanta to Zlatan: foreign players on the lure of MLS

As the league prepares for the MLS Cup final, we spoke to five European players to understand how US soccer compares to the their careers back home