Live Music At Plaza Bella Cork & Olive Wine Bar & Cafe

Under way now at the Cork & Olive Wine Bar & Cafe in Valrico, in the Plaza Bella shopping center, is a night of live jazz music that is a featured event every Friday and Saturday, from 7:30 p.m. to midnight.

Tonight, June 28, the music is by trumpeter Chuck Weirich, who had a release party at Cork & Olive earlier this year for his CD, "You Don't Know Me."

Featured Saturday night, June 29, will be keyboardist and singer Michael Anthony, who plans to both perform and release his CD, "Images."

"Playing with Anthony will be a guitarist who played with Grover Washington Jr. for 20 years," said Cork & Olive owner Jane Studstill. "We're fortunate to get local talent that is so enjoyable to listen to and they play well to the crowd."

Studstill opened shop in Plaza Bella in January, after operating a Cork & Olive in Brandon, on Badlands Drive.

In Valrico, "we are finding Cork & Olive customers, new and old, who like our local presence here," Studstill said. Customers who frequented the now-closed Cork & Olive in Lithia Crossings "come here to fill their olive oil bottles, replenish their spices and to buy familiar wines they enjoyed at the old Cork & Olive."

Studstill said when she moved to Plaza Bells she hoped to become a community destination, "with a neighborhood feel."

"We have local people who walk their dogs up here, enjoy a glass of wine on our patio, and walk home," she said. "They just enjoy a stroll in the neighborhood."

Cork & Olive allows its patrons to sit in the wine bar and cafe with food purchased from other Plaza Bella businesses, such as Cheddar Biscuit and Joel's Pizza.

In addition to live jazz music on Friday and Saturday nights, Cork & Olive has a Wednesday happy hour, from 6:30 to 9 p.m., featuring two-for-one house wines and live music with Derrick Williams on the piano.

Call for information about in-home and in-store wine tastings, wine classes and club, charity and private events and the monthly Sip & Dip, held the last Thursday of every month, from 6 to 9 p.m.

The Cork & Olive Wine Bar & Cafe, at 1026 Bloomingdale Ave., is open Monday through Thursday, from noon to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from noon to midnight. Fall Sunday opening times will be posted online. Call: 813-315-9856.