Tampa Bay Kitchen Company offers great food, amenity spaces and high-tech convenience for Citi employees and guests

From its creative design and elevated technology, Citi’s newly branded food hall in Tampa—Tampa Bay Kitchen Company (see video tour here)—features an amenity space and programming to increase food offerings and speed up the guest experience. The new space also showcases mouth-watering food, seamless convenience and an energetic environment that allows the culinary team to focus on delivering superior dining experiences.

“We’re incredibly proud of our newly designed building in Tampa,” says Andrew Burroughs, director of Global Hospitality Services for Citi. "With its responsive design, collaborative spaces and state-of-the-art-kitchen, we’re able to deliver exceptional dining experiences and hospitality for our employees and clients every day."

The centerpiece is the Olive and Stone concept with its massive hearth/pizza oven that is so large that walls needed to be built around it. The oven can accommodate several hundred Neapolitan pizzas during a lunch service. In addition, Olive and Stone serves a variety of Mediterranean inspired dishes such as chef-crafted pastas, seafood and regional favorites from France, Italy, the Greek Islands and Northern Africa.

Chef Marco, originally from Naples, Italy, creates scratch-made Neapolitan style pizza with house made signature sauce.

Olive and Stone is also the homebase of Chef Marco Morini, a recent graduate of the Associazone Verace Pizza Napoletana pizza course. There, Morini perfected the art of scratch dough and learned true Italian cooking techniques. This education is found throughout all dishes at Olive and Stone, supplying a one-of-a-kind experience for Citi employees and guests.  Among the other concepts in the food hall:

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• Char offers the familiar flavors of the grill with added enhancements and scratch cooking techniques that feature hand-formed, grass-fed beef patties, hand-cut French fries and house brined, hormone-free chicken sandwiches and tenders.

• Savor and Spice gives diners access to some of the best street foods from around the world, ranging from Mexican tortas and Korean tacos to halal dishes, Thai noodles and ramen.

• Bay Market serves global and wholesome dishes guests can customize using seasonal, local produce with a salad bar and chef inspired entrees daily.

• Stackers has gourmet sandwiches, wraps and toasts featuring meats, cheese, homemade sauces and spreads.

• Grove Collection features local Tampa Bay area restaurants, chefs, farms, bakeries and community partners.

• The outdoor eatery, Harvest, will offer made-to-order salads, wraps, fresh pressed fruit and vegetable juices and smoothies featuring seasonal ingredients from the program’s farming partners when it opens.

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• Finally, Smokeshow includes a wood fired rotisserie and serves regional American style BBQ, cured and smoked meats, seafood and vegetables.

The wood fired rotisserie prepares house- brined smoked meats at Smokeshow.

Each concept is rooted in wellness to fuel Citi employees throughout their day.

Tampa Bay Kitchen Company has a flexible footprint that eliminates crowding and provides more room for collaboration and relaxation. Employees have space to breathe, focus, connect and socialize, helping to create a thriving community. It also highlights partnerships with area businesses such as Buddy Brew Coffee, Sweet Life Farms LLC, J and J Farms and La Segunda Bakery.

While the new footprint helped solve the congestion issues, new technology – such as the NEXTEP app for mobile kiosk ordering – is also instrumental in eliminating the bottlenecks and increasing satisfaction with a seamless guest experience.

MKT Bar showcases Better For You driven global and wholesome dishes, allowing guests to customize their meal. It has seasonal, local, produce, a salad bar and chef inspired entrees daily.

In addition, the Post, an autonomous store with ready-made meals and snacks like drinks, chips, salads and sandwiches offers even more convenience as guests simply walk in, shop and walk out.

Technology is also aiding the program’s sustainability through Oscar, an AI-powered waste sorting system that encourages recycling by telling guests which bins to use. 

The back of house is designed to handle production for thousands of guests in the dining, catering and amenity spaces, boasting four large walk-in refrigerators and freezers, roll-in blast chillers, copious amounts of prep space, a bulk cooking battery and a finishing area—all featuring the latest equipment. Four state-of-the-art Rational combi ovens are programmable to accommodate the unique and authentic recipes. 

Food safety is built into the kitchen. The roll-in blast chillers allow for safe cooling and monitoring during bulk production, and all production and holding temperatures are checked by a dedicated on-site food safety specialist who uses mobile technology to ensure only the safest operation. 

Guests don’t usually see any of that, but they do see and enjoy Tampa Bay Kitchen Company’s inviting décor and seating that encourage collaboration, the amenities that offer opportunities for relaxation and recharging.