December Restaurant of The Month: Wild Iris Cafe
Happy Holidays everyone! We’re ending 2021 with a bang! Our DECEMBER 2021 Restaurant of The Month is the Wild Iris Cafe in the heart of Downtown Dunedin, Florida. Not only is it one of our favorite restaurants with awesome service, good prices and delicious food but it also has one of the coolest vibes in the entire Tampa Bay Area. You may recognize the owner, Jody Pucello, from one of his 32 appearances on screen (as listed on Imdb) and keep an eye out for this delightful Dunedin restaurant on an up and coming Hallmark or Netflix movie or on season 2 of Amazon Prime’s “Life’s Rewards.” Kyle and a couple of our favorite clients joined me for lunch and we sat on the front porch of this charming, quintessential Old Florida style restaurant. We ordered several items including the Roast Beef Hash, Biscuits and gravy, Turkey Club and Chicken Chili Sandwich. The Dirty Chai Tea Latte was a huge hit at our table from the “fancy drink” category. Jody sat and joined us and had a cappuccino and a Toasted chocolate chip muffin that looked simple but delicious.
Dunedin’s own movie star originally hails from Syracuse, NY. As a kid, Jody would save up every year and buy season tickets to see the AAA Blue Jays games in Syracuse. In the 10th grade, while purchasing his season pass, the Stadium workers offered him a job running the clubhouse, which entailed Jody cooking meals for all of the players and staff. This became like a business inside the business.
Jody flourished in this role and continued to work on and off for the Blue Jays for the next 20+ years. From the beginning of his tenure with the Blue Jays, they would send Jody back and forth to Dunedin where he quickly bought a home and became a local resident during the baseball season.
In one of his other endeavors over his 20 years with the Blue Jays, Jody acquired a sports bar close to the Blue Jays Stadium in Syracuse. It was there where he began the restaurant owner experience. During his ownership of Pooch’s Sports Bar in Syracuse, he had a chance meeting with two “Hollywood Higher Ups,” which lead to his bar being used in several films as well. After a while, Jody moved on from the bar and said he’d only open another restaurant if it was in Dunedin, Florida. Having now put it into the universe, Jody came together with Tamara, the previous owner, and was able to purchase and carry on the wonderful traditions of The Wild Iris. The name Iris comes from Tamara’s grandmother’s name. When Jody acquired the restaurant he wanted to ensure that he would carry on the legacy of everything that had been built by these wonderful restaurateurs, and make it the best breakfast and lunch restaurant in Dunedin. He kept the menu and recipes in tact and definitely shares their love and passion for quality food and service. Jody does have future plans to add more kitchen space allowing for more menu items and dinner service, as currently Wild Iris is only open until 3pm. This dinner service will also allow Jody to introduce some of his own heritage, including traditional Italian cuisine with some of his best of the best, one of a kind, homemade recipes which have been collected from his years of cooking with family and friends. When dinner service begins, Jody plans to add live music, local entertainment and a lovely, romantic ambience under the rope lit oak trees on the side patio. He may even add another bar area to increase service in the patio area. Needless to say, we can’t wait for that!
Jody is also one of the most down to earth and friendliest people you could ever meet. Don’t be shy if you stop by…. Let Jody know we sent you. Please remember to like The Wild Iris on Facebook and all of the other social media channels and Please share this post if you enjoyed it! Thanks a million Jody! We had a blast doing this blog. Another special thank you to Brenda for bringing us together and making this happen.
