TAMPA - Remember when it was cool to say "I'm not into the bar scene"? Well, that was before bars like Blue Martini served chocolate cake.
Not just any chocolate cake, but one of those 17-layer numbers that stands almost 6 inches tall. It's a half-foot of rich, dark cake that's as moist as the icing, the kind of cake most sit-down restaurants dream about.
That cake and bar food menus that run from sushi to hummus show how a new generation of high-priced bars is more than than tutti frutti martinis.
These new school watering holes are part of the casual dining scene that includes sushi and tapas bars, and even the cappuccino joints, but they are infinitely more adult and, yes, sexy. Yet, they're not traditional "guy places." At Blue Martini, the female waiters wear low-riders and tank tops (the only pale blue in a cobalt world), and the male employees are hunky: Johnny Bravo bouncers squeezed into black suits. Somehow, the looks are comfortable for both sexes and not considered Hooters tacky. (Perfume peddlers in the restroom add that, waddyacallit, class.)
Behind the flash and glam come-on, Blue Martini and its ilk reflect substantive changes. Certainly neo-Prohibition is over for a young crowd whose search for retro sophistication and designer brands has brought back post-midnight posing and cocktails at top-shelf prices.
In more sedate hours, bars such as Blue Martini, the Chic-a-Boom Room in Dunedin and Whiskey Park in Tampa cater to post-modern casual dining that scoffs at reservations, full-size entrees and fussy sit-down formality. You're not limited by time or table size; drop in for a minute, scan the crowd and go, or stick around if the conversation and prospects are hot.
For these singles, a bar that mingles mate shopping with the mundane chore of Wednesday night supper is a more efficient use of the Night-Timer than a slick restaurant. And less expensive. Even at sushi prices and call-brand premiums, this bar food is cheaper than a full-course meal at a traditional restaurant.
At Blue Martini, an import from West Palm Beach installed at International Plaza as the drinking person's Cheesecake Factory, a few aspects of bar life haven't changed. Smoke will get in your eyes; cigars, cigarettes (but no cigarillos on my visits) are popular among both sexes . . . for now. Lights bounce off the disco ball, and the playlist still includes Sade's Smooth Operator.
The big difference is the solid food. Blue Martini calls it heavy appetizers, but there's not a chicken wing or O-ring in sight. Most plates run $7 to $12, and the short menu comes from contemporary Asian-Mediterranean fusion. If the food is not from the most creative gourmet kitchen, the flashily dressed plates look the part and show a chef's touch.
Some taste it, too. A big square plate was outlined with sesame-seared tuna, perfectly executed, and a mound of the best calamari salad I've had, bright with rice vinegar and ginger. A fine, light supper, and you get chopsticks, too.
Blue's other sushi-style plate was more dramatic. The rolls are made with purple rice surrounded by dots, dashes and squiggles of sauces, but they are less satisfying. There are two slices of three kinds of rolls, six slices in all, but they are best for a lone dieter with a big wallet.
More traditional fare was less interesting. Sliced beef tenderloin with horseradish and spring mix is a good Atkins idea, but the beef was overcooked and dull. I'd like the meat rare and punched up with chili and lime. Pepperoni pizza was crisp but tame.
For sharing, the best bet is the dips - honest, dips with pita chips. Hummus, spiked with lemon, is as light and creamy as garbanzos and tahini have a right to be. The smoked fish, made from rainbow trout and cream, is surprisingly subtle and good enough to tempt finger-licking.
The drinks menu didn't impress me as much, and I am not just raising my swizzle stick to rail against the Kool-Aid tide. Ian Fleming might object to a 007 of orange-flavored rum and 7UP, but I'll admit to enjoying a key lime pie 'tini with a graham cracker crust. And the silliest martini of the dozens on the menu, the white chocolate macadamia nut ice cream martini, is as lush a dessert as you can drink. It's good enough for a birthday (that might be a good way to ration them).
Though the namesake Blue Martini is smoothly round and mild on the tongue, its scarlet partner, Sex in the City, seems timid. But there's still booze behind the lollipop flavors. I won't sputter about the $9 price tags on martinis, either. Expensive well brands are used, and an ice-cool personal cocktail shaker with another half drink is provided.
My chief complaint is the foolish focus on name-brand vodka and gin. These are relatively flavorless, especially in sweet, fruity concoctions. I take my spirits savory, like Blue's strong but crisp gimlet of gin and lime. A dry martini of Van Gogh with blue cheese-stuffed olives was promising, but the cheese was bland. The quality of mixers matters most to me in vodka drinks: Fresh-squeezed orange juice, a few real raspberries and good chocolate beat any flavored liqueur.
For all the Ketel One, Belvedere, Stoli and Absolut, the rest of the bar shows little connoisseurship. There are some single-malt Scotches, small batch bourbons and budget-busting Cognacs, and that's it. Wines by the glass are few and dear; at $12.01 for Cakebread sauvignon blanc, white wine's not a cheap date. Capt. Morgan and Malibu are available, but good rums such as Barbancourt 5-Star are unheard of. The beer list is a shameful half-dozen, as if the last 20 years of brewing never happened.
Yet the presence of Blue Martini, and a crowd that can fill most of its seats on a Wednesday plus keep the valets busy with Jags and limos and draw a line behind the velvet rope, shows that life has changed.
Shopping malls have replaced downtowns, and dining theme parks sub for sidewalk cafes on city streets, but somehow urban diversity survives at International Plaza's Bay Street. And at Blue Martini, you can take an outside table and sup on great calamari salad and killer chocolate cake as you watch the world spin by.
BLUE MARTINIBay Street at International Plaza West Shore Boulevard at Boy Scout Boulevard Phone: (813) 873-2583 Hours: 4 p.m. to 3 a.m Monday through Friday, 1 p.m. to 3 a.m. Saturday and Sunday Details: Reservations, no; credit cards, yes. Wheelchair accessible. Features: Full bar; limited menu, live music Tuesday through Saturday, outdoor seating Prices: $7 to $12 
