Pre-pandemic photos #2: Roberto “Blind Tiger Café / Endeavr / Cass Street Deli” Torres at Café con Tampa

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Here are some photos from Roberto Torres’ appearance at Café con Tampa, which happened on Friday, March 6th — a mere two months in the past, but it feels like a lifetime ago. He gave a talk titled Choosing Tampa as the destination to live, work, and play.

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Roberto is the founder of Blind Tiger Café, which started with a single shop in Ybor City, and has since expanded to 7 locations. Six of these locations operate under the Blind Tiger name, with the last one being Endeavr Coffee, which operates in the Embarc Collective startup accelerator center. Roberto also bought Cass Street Deli earlier this year.

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He’s a pillar of the community, always extending a helping hand whenever he can. Among his recent good deeds is participating in the Restaurant Workers Relief Program, which converts restaurants across the country into relief kitchens. Cass Street Deli provided meals to service industry workers who lost their jobs or had their hours cut.

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I’ve written a fair bit about Roberto in this blog — here are all the articles that mention his name.

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Back in January, I wrote:

Someday, perhaps a decade from now, when we’re all looking back at how far the Tampa Bay area has come, we’ll look back and remark at the key role that Café con Tampa played. Every Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. in the Oxford Exchange’s Commerce Club, Tampa’s most active, engaged, involved, and well-dressed citizens gather to hear important topics given by interesting speakers while enjoying a delicious breakfast in beautiful surroundings.

(Again, this was just in January, but it feels like another life.)

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Back in the pre-pandemic era, every Friday morning at 8:00 a.m., some of Tampa Bay’s most engaged citizens come to the main room in Oxford Exchange’s Commerce Club to attend Café con Tampa, a weekly gathering where guest speakers talk about issues that the Bay and the world beyond. It’s attended by an interesting audience that’s often a mix of movers and shakers from the worlds of arts, business, academia, and government, and hosted local heroes Del Acosta,President of the Historic Hyde Park Neighborhood Association, and Bill Carlson, Tampa City Council Member for South Tampa, and President of the communications agency Tucker/Hall.

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Café con Tampa’s in-person gatherings at Oxford Exchange may be on hold for the time being, but they still people coming to speak — online! Check out the Café con Tampa Facebook page and the Café con Tampa YouTube channel to see past and upcoming guests.