I admit it. I am a certifiable wimp when it comes to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. But for whatever reason just the ride up makes me grip the wheel hard, and keep repeating "there’s no place like home" until I start the ride down. But Sunday’s ride? There was an angel on Ann Kelly’s shoulder, since I just made it back from a trip down to Anna Maria Island and Brandenton before that nasty weather moved in. This shot from Bay News Nine was what I was looking at approaching the bridge, and started just as I made it down. Did kind of cut the whole road trip short, since I could see the weather moving in just as I was going to find somewhere new and delicious to try and tell you all about. But hey, I still have a few things to tell you in Kelly’s Kitchen.

   First of which, would be a visit to Rise Kitchen and Bakery at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. High praise for their flatbreads, which were perfectly prepared and brick oven baked with a crust that is truly among the best I’ve ever tasted. We sampled the Rotisserie Roasted Vegetable and Goat Cheese, and the Five Cheese. What really stood out on the Roasted Vegetable Flatbread was the mozzarella (made in house) and the pesto that were a perfect complement to the vegetables. And for the amount of cheese loaded onto the Five Cheese, that crust stood up to the toppings and still had a great crunch. I also added a Pear and Gorgonzola Salad (small size) that came with a creamy white balsamic vinaigrette. That was fine, but I would have been happy with just a simple balsamic vinaigrette to be honest. But delicious all the same. Now...dessert. Do not miss the St Louis Gooey Butter Cake. It is rich, to the point of almost reminding me of a cheesecake, and worthy of sharing. The only item that I felt had room for improvement was that day’s Whoopie Pie selection, which was a lemon-blueberry. Not enough lemon for my taste, but a sweet presentation. Rise is a comfort food kind addition the Hard Rock with the breads, soups, salads and more made from scratch on site, and can be ordered to go.

   Now one slightly disappointing visit to another Bay area restaurant with my friend Laura that I’d heard good things about, and that is Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza. I checked out the one on South Dale Mabry in Tampa, and was looking forward to the crusts I so love. One out of two pies passed the test, but one had the crust burnt on half the pizza. I do understand there’s a fine art to making sure you have that desired char on the crust, but delivering a pie that’s partially burned shouldn’t happen. I will give them points for their Roasted Cauliflower pie. It was unfortunately the one that was partially burned. The roasted cauliflower was something I never thought would work, but it did, complemented with a good amount of garlic. I would ask them to back off a bit on the Romano cheese; salty to the point of almost overwhelming at times. We did appreciate the suggestion of ordering two lunch pizzas, smaller than the dinner version and a good idea if you want to try more than one, which we did. The Eggplant was interesting, but not something I’d order again for myself. But please, when the place is almost empty, should we have to keep waving for our server when we had a question or just needed water? Room for improvement there.

  Now, even though I am on vacation, there is some work to be done, and I know you’ll help out. Many offices have a day of service when they take on a challenge in the community, and many groups do the same. But now, we need every hand to help with Feeding Children Everywhere. Here at Cox Media Group, we’re asking you to join in The Florida Packing Event August 25th-30th. There are various shifts available, and please click here to register. No child should ever go hungry, and you can and will make a difference. And thank you in advance from Kelly’s Kitchen, which is officially on vacation this week. But I'll have more to share soon, including how that Rosemary Turkey Meatloaf turns out.

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM KELLY’S KITCHEN

If you can't feed a hundred people then just feed just one -  Mother Teresa