International Plaza mall is my go-to for shopping…and eating. If I want a meal after browsing through Nordstrom or Forever 21, I can head upstairs and choose from several options. The newest restaurant coming to the shopping mall is Whiskey Cake Kitchen & Bar. The Texas-based restaurant chain brings their “farm-to-fork” concept to the Tampa Bay area, where the concept steadily grows in popularity. All of their foods come fresh from the farm, straight to your plate. The most interesting part about the eatery is everything on the menu, besides the ice cream, is made from scratch. That means no freezers or microwaves anywhere in the kitchen…when’s the last time you heard of something like that?!

I’m fortunate enough to have been able to speak to Whiskey Cake Kitchen & Bar CEO Steve Shlemon about the history of the restaurant and what’s on their menu. One thing making me salivate: their version of chicken and waffles. Yes, maple syrup is part of the dish but when have you ever had a savory helping of gravy on top of the chicken? Never, right? Exactly.

Here’s an excerpt from our Creative Loafing interview:

“In less than a week, International Plaza will be home to the seventh location of Whiskey Cake Kitchen & Bar. The restaurant will offer just over 500 bourbons, whiskeys, and ryes — making it one of the largest whiskey libraries in the country.

The 8,000-square foot eatery opens to the public March 11th at 4 p.m., and will solely be offering dinner service until the following week when it’ll expand for lunch hours.

The “farm-to-fork” restaurant will showcase made-from-scratch menu items including sandwiches, deviled eggs with seasonal toppings, and their spin on chicken with waffles topped with creamed gravy-topped and fresh maple syrup.”

To get a taste of what’s on the menu for International Plaza, go here and here.