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Be Seen At Village's B'Szene

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By MICHAEL H. SAMUELS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 2, 2008

TAMPA - A new designer boutique has joined the ranks of Hyde Park Village shops.

B'Szene Boutique, 1607 W. Snow Circle, opened in November next to longtime village tenant Color Me Mine.

The shop is owned by Sabine Rada and her husband, Ignacio.

"We are an upscale boutique," said Ignacio Rada, who works mainly behind the scenes with the store. "My wife studied in Milan. It has always been our dream to have our own store."

Sabine Rada has been in the retail business 12 years, her husband said, mainly in New York and Washington. The couple moved to Tampa 10 months ago to open the store.

Ignacio Rada, an actor, originally planned to work in the banking business after moving, but decided to help out his wife.

He does the bookkeeping and technical parts of the operation, including the store construction with help from family, and she runs the shop and buys the clothes.

"My wife has very good taste picking out clothing," Ignacio Rada said. "She's the one that has the nice gift of putting things together."

The store carries what Rada calls casual upscale clothes. The average price is $108, he said.

"Our customers do not come here to show off their money," he said. "The clothes are not as fancy or glamorous right up front."

The store is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

For information, call (813) 259-0123.

New Cupcake Spot Hits The Spot

Nicole Rogers knew what she was doing when she left the public relations business.

She says the trend across the country was that cupcakes were the new culinary rage, and she decided she was as qualified as anyone to open a cupcake shop.

That's how The Cupcake Spot, 2401 S. Dale Mabry Highway, Suite B, came to fruition.

"I've been baking since I was 4 years old," Rogers said. "With my parent's supervision, of course."

Her recipes come from family, friends, the Internet and other cookbooks. The creations are her own.

There are typically a dozen flavors of cupcake at the store, but an infinite number of possibilities, she said.

"I think Tampa was ready for something like this," she said. "With all of its growing trendiness, it was ready to embrace something like cupcakes."

She said cupcakes first became popular when the Magnolia Bakery in New York City was featured in a "Sex in the City" episode.

Next, Sprinkles Cupcakes opened in Beverly Hills and got the endorsement of the likes of Katie Holmes and Courtney Cox.

Now Rogers is putting Tampa on the cupcake map.

"I imagine the store will continue to evolve with their tastes to see what is most popular," Rogers said. "We will rotate and introduce new flavors."

The store is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

For information, call (813) 258-3111 or log on to www.the cupcakespotinc.com.

Westshore Pizza Owners Waiting On Beer, Wine

It's a whole new world inside Westshore Pizza, 3900 S. West Shore Blvd.

In a couple of months, customers might be sipping beer and wine there as well.

New owner Richard Maduca has put $90,000 into renovating the inside of the pizza parlor, getting rid of the 1970s decor and adding flat-screen televisions.

He said it's all a way to make the popular pizza joint more successful.

"We never want to be a bar," Maduca said. "We are a restaurant, but we want you want to come in and have one or two beers. We want to still be a family restaurant that serves beer and wine."

Maduca is waiting for a Tampa City Council public hearing Feb. 14 for approval of wet zoning to serve alcohol. A hearing in December was continued because neighbors expressed concerns about parking.

He said he worked out the problems with the neighbors by committing to hire a parking attendant to work Friday and Saturday nights.

"That's the future of this place," Maduca said.

He said the wet zoning is important to compete with nearby restaurants CDB's Southside and Galley's Pizza, which serve alcohol.

He said many customers say they do not come to Westshore Pizza as often because they can't drink there.

"Once we get the beer and wine, it will finally be the restaurant I envisioned," Maduca said. "Everything on the inside has changed but the food."

The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

For information, call (813) 832-5331.

Opening a new business? Expanding or relocating? Contact reporter Michael H. Samuels at msamuels@tampatrib.com or (813) 835-2109.

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