Cooper's Hawk Winery, Restaurant Opens First Florida Location, Tampa

Offering award-winning wines and a contemporary American menu, Chicago-based Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant will open the doors to its first Florida location in Tampa on Monday, March 11th.

Tampa Bay region's newest winery will move into an 11,229-square-foot space at MetWest InternationalMetLife's 32-acre mixed-use development in Westshore at 4110 W. Boy Scout Blvd.

Featuring a traditional winery setting, Cooper's Hawk will also act as a full-service restaurant offering contemporary American cuisine with signature dishes such as pistachio crusted grouper, red wine and mustard short ribs and Mexican drunken shrimp.

"Each dish on our menu has been created with our proprietary wines in mind,'' says Melanie Pierce, Cooper's Hawk manager of marketing communications. "Florida is a long ways from California, but we have the ability to bring a taste of California Wine Country to Florida.''

The Tampa location will mark the company's 12th opening with an additional location set to open in Orlando by the end of 2013; a third Florida location is planned for 2014.

With the capacity to seat 400 guests in a one-of-a-kind winery atmosphere, Tampa's Cooper's Hawk will feature a Napa-style tasting roomwine club and retail shop. According to Pierce, one of Cooper Hawk's goals it to give guests a unique experience, capturing the romantic world of wine in an approachable manner.

"Our goal is to make it fun and easy for people to learn more about wine and food, try new flavors and expand their palates,'' says Tim McEnery, Cooper's Hawk founder and CEO. "We've brought together some of the best talents in winemaking and the culinary arts to create inventive, flavorful food and wine pairings. At the same time, we want to be affordable.''

Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant will offer lunch and dinner seven days a week.

Writer: Alexis Quinn Chamberlain
Source: Melanie Pierce & Tim McEnery, Cooper's Hawk Winery and Restaurant
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