Columbia Restaurant
Tampa, Florida
Gina Hamadey
From Every Day with Rachael Ray
November-December 2005
Each month in Every Day with Rachael Ray, we'll write about a restaurant with a story that's got to be told. Subscribe today or check back here for more stories like this!
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Artist Lynn Pauley visits the flamenco-filled, palm-tree-dotted Cuban-Spanish restaurant in its 100th year.
Columbia Restaurant in the Tampa area's historic Ybor City no doubt qualifies as mass production: 1,700 seats in 15 dining rooms that together span a full city block, making it the biggest Spanish restaurant in the world--including, you know, Spain. At least 1,000 people show up daily, and on weekends the place is bursting.
Folks seek out this landmark for its live music and flamenco dancers and its rich history--co-owner Richard Gonzmart's great-grandfather founded it to
feed local cigar-rollers before it expanded and served the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Babe
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Ruth--but the food keeps them coming back. The Cuban sandwiches are melty masterpieces, the "1905" salad, a citywide obsession. According to illustrator Lynn Pauley, who has a house in southern France near Spain, the paella is the real deal. So how is food
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Columbia's Original "1905" Salad
4 Servings
PREP TIME: 25 Minutes
1/2 head of iceberg lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
2 ripe tomatoes, each cut into 8 wedges
1/2 cup thin strips of Swiss cheese (2 ounces)
1/2 cup thin strips of ham (2 ounces)
1/4 cup pitted green Spanish olives
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, preferably Spanish
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons grated pecorino Romano cheese
1.
In a large bowl, toss together the lettuce, tomatoes, Swiss cheese, ham and olives.
2.
In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic, oregano and Worcestershire sauce. Gradually whisk in the olive oil, continually beating to form an emulsion. Stir in the vinegar and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
3.
Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well. Add the pecorino, toss and serve.
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produced in such huge quantities so tasty?
As Pauley witnessed while shadowing the staff (snapping the 13 rolls of film that inspired her paintings), theirs is a seamless operation. La Segunda, a trusted local bakery, delivers bread three times a day. The rest of the food is made in-house and mostly to order by a staff that works together like a symphony orchestra: Every person has a function, from cooking Valencia rice for the paella to icing fresh slices of chocolate cake.
And if an empanada is below par, Gonzmart doesn't hesitate to toss it. "My grandfather threw out 60 gallons of bean soup because it was too salty," he says. "Perfection is impossible, but you have to strive for it." Though he's tough, Gonzmart treats the staff like family. Many of them actually are: His brother is company chairman (overseeing all seven Columbia restaurants); his 28-year-old daughter, Lauren, worked her way up from host to vice president; his youngest daughter, Andrea, 26, develops recipes. Others stick around because they're offered careers rather than jobs. George Guito, general manager, just celebrated his forty-third anniversary, and Lula Mae Tollaman has been the ladies' room attendant for 46 years. "I love the Columbia too much to leave," she says.
Check out our other travel stories: Rachael Ray in NYC; San Diego; Boulder
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