I escaped to sunny Florida over the weekend to watch the O’s play (and, yay, beat the Red Sox), soak up the rays, and eat lots of seafood. Grouper, stone crabs, red snapper. Bring it on.

And, given Baltimore’s interconnectedness, it’s probably no surprise that I ended up with a waiter who was originally from Baltimore. Meet Robert Parelhoff, McDonogh class of ’76. He’s livin’ the good life in Sarasota, he says.

I actually met Rob on my last trip about a year ago, and it was a coincidence that I ended up at his table again, eating a fat grouper sandwich and a half-dozen oysters. Rob is a server at Crab & Fin on St. Armands Circle, a shopping and restaurant destination across Sarasota Bay.

I always sit outside at Crab & Fin, so I can listen to the live piano music. It’s kitschy but fun. It’s also a great people-watching spot. (I once saw Jerry Springer walk by.) The piano player asked me where I was from, and Rob overheard me say Baltimore.

The next thing you know we were talking about the O’s and steamed crabs, which Rob says he always gets when he comes back here to visit his mother. Rob started in the hospitality industry many years ago at the Baltimore Hyatt Regency restaurant Pisces. Eventually, he transferred to Sarasota. He left the Hyatt but was hooked on his new state and stayed.

I also met a family of New Yorkers at Banana Cabana, a terrific Caribbean restaurant in nearby Bradenton Beach on Anna Maria Island. The curry ginger shrimp and cracked conch are truly terrific dishes. (It was also a favorite restaurant of Denzel Washington when he was filming the thriller Out of Time on the island in 2002.)

It’s the kind of friendly place where you start talking to your neighbors. It turns out that the teen in the family group is considering attending Hopkins and is heading to Baltimore soon. Once again, we’re talking about steamed crabs!

I imagine there will be more Baltimore interactions as the O’s become more ingrained in the community. I can’t wait until my next visit.

Tapabar in Little Italy never made a lot of noise on the culinary scene—unfortunately. Now, this small, corner restaurant on Eastern Avenue is closed.

I talked to co-owner Carolina Llaguno on the phone and she said that business had not been good. She sounded sad.

It’s hard to understand why the tiny space wasn’t able to hang on. The dining room was sleekly modern, and the tapas were creative. Just to name two: the parrilla Argentina (char-grilled steak with peppers, cod roe, chorizo, and chimichurri sauce) and the seafood paella were delicious.

It makes you wonder why some restaurants are more successful than others, especially as more tapas places are opening. Maybe it’s the location—or something I missed.

For now, adios, Carolina. I wish the best for your future.

The results for the James Beard Foundation finalists are being tweeted from the Palace Cafe in New Orleans.

This just in:

Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic: Cathal Armstrong, Jeff Michaud, Peter Pastan, Michael Solomonov, Bryan Voltaggio

A complete list of finalists will be available at noon on the James Beard Foundation website.

Bryan, of course, is the chef/owner of Volt in Frederick and the Top Chef contestant who came in second after his brother Michael in the last season of the Bravo show. The Beard chef awards will be announced May 3 in New York City. Way to go, Bryan!

Centro Tapas Bar in Federal Hill opens at 5 p.m. tomorrow (March 20). It joins a growing number of restaurants in town offering small plates. Chef/owner George Dailey, who grew up in Venezuela, will focus on Spanish and South American tapas.

George isn’t new to the food business. He’s been operating On the Hill in Bolton Hill for five years. "We always wanted to do this," says George, about Centro and referring to his wife Jessica. "We saw the Bicycle up for lease and fell in love with it."

(Former Bicycle owners Nick Batey and his wife Saundra now run Ullswater in South Baltimore.)

George and Jessica, a Baltimore native, met in Boston before relocating here. They now have a five-year-old son named Jack. "We wanted to move closer to family," George says.

Now that Jack is older, George was ready for the challenge of another restaurant. "I’m looking forward to being hands on and getting in there," he says. "It’s exciting. That’s a good word to describe it."

Wegmans in Hunt Valley is going all out for a fish-friendly weekend, showcasing varieties rarely seen in the U.S. The store is flying in an array of fish from the famed Tsukiji Market in Tokyo, considered the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world.

Uni (sea urchin), taki (prepared octopus) and masago (sweet and spicy capelin roe) are just some of the items that will be featured. Chefs will also be giving sushi, sashimi, and nigiri demonstrations. And you can also learn about nabe pots, often used for making soups.

And it’s free! The event is being held from noon-7 p.m. tomorrow (March 19) and Saturday (March 20).

Actress Vivica A. Fox was at the new Milan restaurant yesterday, according to a tweet by chef Stephen Carey. She and a guest were enjoying small-plate specials during Monday’s happy hour, including fried lobster fritters, spinach dip, crispy polenta cakes, and lobster mac ’n’ cheese.

She also had a dirty martini with blue-cheese stuffed olives—and was wearing skinny jeans. She wears her food well! I was told she is performing in a play in D.C.

The chef’s table at Volt in Frederick has to be one of the most coveted seats in town. Demand was so great that it was booked through 2010. Now, there’s room for more.

The table, which offers 21 courses to the lucky diners who shell out big bucks for the privilege of sitting in the kitchen, has been expanded to seat eight now, according to the restaurant’s blog. The reservations have changed, too. Diners can book Table 21 at 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. every night of the week.

Volt’s chef/owner Bryan Voltaggio may have come in second in Bravo’s Top Chef last season, but he’s got the magic touch. He’s also a 2010 James Beard Awards semifinalist for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic along with Baltimore’s Spike Gjerde, chef/owner of Woodberry Kitchen among other chefs.

But the old Table 21, which sat four, isn’t gone, says Hilda Staples, Voltaggio’s business partner who pens the Volt blog. It will live to see another day, "somewhere, somehow," she writes.