Novel approach

St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman recently revealed the city's choice for one of the two new restaurants that will be part of the new St. Pete Pier.

Doc Ford's Rum Bar & Grille, a seafood restaurant chain owned and operated by Sanibel-based HM Restaurant Group LLC, will build its fourth and newest eatery along the pier approach on Second Avenue Northeast, in an area currently used for parking. The Doc Ford chain has restaurants on Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island and Captiva Island. The city's plan for the project calls for another, yet-to-be announced restaurant to be part of the Pier Head itself.

So who is Doc Ford? Avid readers will recognize the name from Randy Wayne White's series of best-selling mystery novels. To date, White, a co-owner of the restaurant, has published 24 Doc Ford adventures; the Florida-centric series includes titles such as “Sanibel Flats,” “North of Havana,” “Everglades” and “Tampa Burn.”