Happy belated 4th! I hope your day was marvelous, full of sparklers and barbecue. I spent my Independence Day working and generally lazing about with the pups, protecting them from the booms and flashes of downtown fireworks. After work and before all the revelry was underway, though, I spirited myself away to Tampa for lunch at Oxford Exchange with my mom, my sister Kelly, and our sweet friend Stephanie. It only opened last September, but after a lunch there with my friend Nicole in the spring, and over many return trips since, it has become my favorite restaurant in Tampa.
Oxford Exchange was originally built in 1891 as a stable for the Plant Hotel. It has been through several transformations in its 122-year history - in the 1920s an arcade of shops ran through the center of the building from Kennedy to Grand Central, a feature that is echoed in the current design - bookstore on one end, coffee and tea ateliers with couches and chairs in the middle, a shop - and the restaurant, of course - on the other end. Its tony atmosphere brings to mind a favorite restaurant in New York City, The Standard Grill, tucked away under the High Line and home to some of the best doughnuts I have ever put in my mouth.
Entering on Grand Central, you'll find yourself in a cozy, inviting bookstore where the books are organized not by category, but instead shelved under quirky headings like “Complicated Women,” “Solace,” “Co-Existing,” and “Swashbuckling” (yo ho). The traditional, impersonal cash wrap has been replaced by a vintage librarian's desk, and handwritten quotes can be found everywhere, tucked into cleverly arranged displays and alongside the author's works.
A long hallway connects the bookstore with Buddy Brew Coffee and Tebella Tea, two local (and locally famous for their respective beans and leaves) shops that have opened additional locations inside Oxford Exchange. There, you can sit at tables, on couches and chairs, reading and talking and drinking to your heart's content.
At some point, you'll want to move your party into the shop...
and then take a right into the restaurant, if you don't want to miss your reservation.
My dining companions, my sweet mama:
Steph and Kelly:
We started with kale chips, hot chili sauce and aioli on the side. Now, I love kale so I might be biased, and some might think it's an acquired taste, but I firmly believe that kale chips, properly done, will make anyone a convert. These are delicious.
I almost always have the burger and spicy sweet potato fries. I can only ever eat about 1/3 of it, but it is the most delicious 1/3 of a burger and fries I have ever had in my life. Sheer perfection. What you don't see here is the kiwi cherry coconut tea that I started with, and the lavender lemonade that accompanied my lunch, but trust me, they were there. I'm still daydreaming about them.
The shop is a gorgeous, thoughtfully curated collection of decor items, dreamy kitchen additions, perfect gifts, and every other needful thing you can think of, including Cire Trudon candles which, while perfectly splendid, will set you back about $85 each.
Their hours were abbreviated at the last minute due to the holiday and a fairly thin crowd, but we still managed to sneak in a few minutes of browsing around the shop after our thoroughly delicious lunch, soaking up the atmosphere. Next time I'll pick up some tea to take home (something I typically do but missed out on this time thanks to the early closure), and take a trip upstairs for a peek into The Shaw Library. If you ever visit me in Florida, I'll take you to Oxford Exchange for lunch. It's a given.
