The fresh, faintly yeasty smell of pan de cristal just out of the oven wafted from the kitchen of Lumbre on Tuesday morning.
The new Spanish-inspired concept helmed by executive chef and partner Nick Orr opens July 15 at the Rome Collective in Tampa.
The restaurant is the latest from the Tastes Pretty Good hospitality group, which currently runs Bar Terroir, Streetlight Taco and Michelin-starred Rocca in Tampa.
Pan de cristal (meaning “glass bread,” for its airiness and large pockets within) takes only about 90 minutes from mixing to baking, Orr said at the restaurant Tuesday. He was chopping up sections of wet dough to rest before baking.
Orr and the team will be making pan de cristal every day at Lumbre, a crucial part of an essential Catalonian bocado (small bite): pan con tomate. The bread and tomato dish is a ubiquitous Northeastern Spanish tapa.
The bread will also be served to sop up what’s left of Lumbre’s gambas al ajillo made with Key West pink shrimp, extra-virgin olive oil, garlic and sherry fino.
“The food’s designed to be simple and delicious, and well-cooked with well-sourced ingredients,” Orr said.
The savory menu is organized into four sections: cheese and charcuterie, bocados, entrantes (starters), platos principales (large format). Desserts are also available.
Pata negra, a 48-month-aged, acorn-fed Iberico jamon, is on offer as part of the charcuterie and cheese selection, as is a Spanish-style chorizo, a six-month manchego sheep’s milk cheese and valdeon, a cow and goat milk blue cheese.
“We’ll be slicing that (pata negra) off the bone and then everything else (Iberico jamon) we slice to order,” Orr said.
Small bites include marinated olives with orange and fennel pollen and croquetas de jamon with bechamel.
For entrantes, expect dishes like tortilla de patatas, which are served as a smaller omelette with caramelized onions and garlic aioli, as opposed to the more common slices served from a large cake-like omelette in Spain.
Platos principales include an open fire-grilled whole seabream with garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, potato and gem salad; paella with cornish hen, artichoke and aioli; and fideua (“broken noodle”) with littleneck clams, pork belly and mushroom.
“We’re just trying to be as approachable as possible, but still cook at a very high level,” Orr said.
Lumbre will host a full bar with Spanish wines and cider, and a fresh sangria that Orr recommends starting a meal with.
The restaurant’s dining room is bathed in natural light with a large marble-topped bar that faces North Rome Avenue. The expansive open kitchen has a chef’s counter where patrons can watch the asador (grill master) work the live-fire parrilla (grill). Deep blue tiles evoke the Cantabrian Sea and its intense winds gusting over craggy cliffs.
A couple years ago, Orr spent three months learning, eating and staging throughout Spain and the Southern Basque Country. The chef spent time in Madrid, San Sebastian, Barcelona and Valencia.
He worked in the kitchen Kaia Kaipe in Geteria, which is the fishing port of the Basque region, where he did quite a bit of whole fish cooking, he said.
“There’s so much nuance to cuisines of different countries. I think you really have to get out there and immerse yourself,” Orr said. “Also, just have some time to relax and take it all in.”
Orr was an original partner with Bryce Bonsack, the culinary director of Tastes Pretty Good, and Nick Reader, chief executive officer of the group, in the opening of Rocca.
Orr’s culinary journey began around 20 years ago in Atlanta, Georgia. His mother used to drive him to work as a young teenager, as he was already working full-time in restaurants by then, he said.
Orr first met Bonsack working at Kyma in Atlanta. The two kept in touch over the years.
Through a connection with his mentor, Pano Karatassos, founder of Buckhead Life Restaurant Group in Atlanta, Orr got a chef de partie position at the famed Le Bernadin in New York City.
In 2018, Bonsack called him with the opportunity to open Rocca. Orr was chef de cuisine there for six years.
Consistency is key for Orr, and providing the same quality of experience a guest had previously at the restaurant is paramount to its success, he said.
Lumbre is located in the North Hyde Park neighborhood, which connects West Tampa and old Hyde Park. And while a set of building guidelines called the West Tampa Overlay seeks to maintain some 1920s charm, it is a young enclave.
Giancarlo’s restaurant, which is across North Rome Avenue from Lumbre, is open late and has a strong University of Tampa patronage. Willa’s is located just north of the collective and is equally as hip.
Orr clocked this from the beginning, he said.
“I think Giancarlo’s will be a great neighbor to have.”
For dessert at Lumbre there will be Basque-style cheesecake with poached pears and goat cheese, finished with shaved garrotxa, a semi-soft goat’s milk cheese. And the restaurant will offer torrijas, which is like Spanish-style French toast, Orr said, served with poached plums and whipped yogurt.
“Cheese and pears makes a lot of sense,” he said.
220 N. Rome Ave., building C, Tampa. @lumbretampa
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