Tampa Community Leader Maruchi Azorin interviews Restaurateur and Philanthropist Richard Gonzmart during a November 2nd Florida Conversation: Cuban Music and Dance at the Tampa Bay History Center.
Tampa Community Leader Maruchi Azorin interviews Restaurateur and Philanthropist Richard Gonzmart during a November 2nd Florida Conversation: Cuban Music and Dance at the Tampa Bay History Center. Photo by Diane Egner
A question about the history of the Columbia Restaurant Group momentarily flummoxed Richard Gonzmart as he recalled his Spanish-Cuban immigrant parents and their love of food and dance.
A question about the history of the Columbia Restaurant Group momentarily flummoxed Richard Gonzmart as he recalled his Spanish-Cuban immigrant parents and their love of food and dance. Photo by Diane Egner
Tampa Architect Ray Wong asks about the design and culture reflected in Columbia restaurants, including the signature architectural structure situated on Seventh Avenue in Ybor City.
Tampa Architect Ray Wong asks about the design and culture reflected in Columbia restaurants, including the signature architectural structure situated on Seventh Avenue in Ybor City. Photo by Diane Egner
The famous Flamenco Dinner Show dancers from the Columbia Restaurant Group perform a traditional dance with newly designed outfits.
The famous Flamenco Dinner Show dancers from the Columbia Restaurant Group perform a traditional dance with newly designed outfits. Photo by Diane Egner
Flamenco dancers have performed at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City for more than 30 years.
Flamenco dancers have performed at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City for more than 30 years. Photo by Diane Egner
The Tampa Bay History Center crowd enjoys the energetic Flamenco dancers who regularly perform at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City, Florida’s oldest restaurant and the largest Spanish restaurant in the world.
The Tampa Bay History Center crowd enjoys the energetic Flamenco dancers who regularly perform at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City, Florida’s oldest restaurant and the largest Spanish restaurant in the world. Photo by Diane Egner
On display at the Tampa Bay History Center are oil paintings depicting Tampa’s Spanish-Cuban immigrant culture that once lined the walls of the former Valencia Gardens Restaurant.
On display at the Tampa Bay History Center are oil paintings depicting Tampa’s Spanish-Cuban immigrant culture that once lined the walls of the former Valencia Gardens Restaurant. Photo by Diane Egner
Attendees at a Florida Conversation with Richard Gonzmart (his ancestors include the Gonzalez and Martinez families) mingle afterward for a few personal questions.
Attendees at a Florida Conversation with Richard Gonzmart (his ancestors include the Gonzalez and Martinez families) mingle afterward for a few personal questions. Photo by Diane Egner
The Cuban Pathways exhibit at the Tampa Bay History Center will be on display through Feb. 12, 2023.
The Cuban Pathways exhibit at the Tampa Bay History Center will be on display through Feb. 12, 2023. Photo by Diane Egner

Masthead images: Florida Conversation with Richard Gonzmart, Columbia RestaurantAt the Tampa Bay History Center

Diane Egner | Tuesday, November 29, 2022
You can watch a video recording of the Florida Conversation: Cuban Music & Dance here, which is available on the Tampa Bay History Center website.

 
Enjoy this story? Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.

Read more articles by Diane Egner.

Diane Egner is a community leader and award-winning journalist with more than four decades of experience reporting and writing about the Tampa Bay Area of Florida. She serves on the boards of the University of South Florida Zimmerman School of Advertising & Mass Communications Advisory Council, The Institute for Research in Art (Graphicstudio, the Contemporary Art Museum, and USF’s Public Art Program) Community Advisory Council, Sing Out and Read, and StageWorks Theatre Advisory Council. She also is a member of Leadership Florida and the Athena Society. A graduate of the University of Minnesota with a BA in journalism, she won the top statewide award for editorial writing from the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors while at The Tampa Tribune and received special recognition by the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists for creative work as Content Director at WUSF Public Media. Past accomplishments and community service include leadership positions with Tampa Tiger Bay Club, USF Women in Leadership & Philanthropy (WLP), Alpha House of Tampa Bay, Awesome Tampa Bay, Florida Kinship Center, AIA Tampa Bay, Powerstories, Arts Council of Hillsborough County, and the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce. Diane and her husband, Sandy Rief, live in Tampa.  

Related Tags

Architecture, Arts, Connections, Diversity, Downtown Tampa, For Good, History, Nightlife, Speakers, Tourism 
Ybor City 

Recommended Content

Sponsored By
Focus Areas
Copyright © Issue Media Group. All rights reserved.