Bay Magazine Restaurant Guide 2015

2015

TAMPA BAY’S TOP RESTAURANTS

A MAGAZINE OF THE TAMPA BAY TIMES

It has been a period of explosive growth for Florida’s small farmers and artisanal foods. Our top restaurants are taking all that great stuff and engaging in national trends without wallowing in trendiness. In addition to our home-grown successes, the country’s celebrity and big-name chefs have begun to look to Tampa Bay as potentially rich new territory. And the future looks even rosier, with dozens of exciting projects in the works. Many of them are additional concepts for existing restaurant owners, and many of them aim to bring something fresh to the table. Across price point, cuisine and geography, here are the Tampa Bay area’s top restaurants, starting with the Top 10 ranked by number. The rest are grouped geographically. Bon appetit!

— Laura Reiley, Times Food Critic

TAMPA BAY’S TOP RESTAURANTS

price key$ Most entrees under $10$$ Most entrees in the $20s

$$$ Most entrees in the $30s$$$$ Entrees over $40

Photographs by Tampa Bay Times staff. Design by Brittany Volk.

The Tampa Bay Top Restaurants supplement to Bay magazine is published by Times Publishing Company. Copyright 2015.

Have questions or comments? Let us know. Contact Chris Galbraith at (727) 893-8535 or [email protected].

TAMPA BAY’STOP 10 RESTAURANTS 2015

1

Ava718 S Howard Ave., Tampa; (813) 512-3030; $$

It is not the fanciest restaurant, nor the most ambitiously cutting-edge. But it’s the whole package: It has brains and beauty, with a flirty, fun-loving spirit and a whole lot of warmth. The Michael Stewart/Joe Maddon collaboration has been the talk of the town since its November opening (some of that talk being “waaa, I can’t get a rez”). The design is casual but knockout (seriously, look at the sink in the ladies room or the pendants made from aircraft carrier spotlights: gorgeous); chef Joshua Hernandez is killing it on the Neapolitan-style pies in the focal-point Acunto oven (these are knife-and-fork pizzas); chef J. Ward is doing equally remarkable work with pastas, house-cured meats and grilled proteins; and the bar program has savvy cocktails, a smart lineup of craft beers and an all-Italian by-the-glass wine list that is gently taking people out of their comfort zone. In short, it’s a lively, affordable, hip, big-city restaurant that we’re lucky to have and that, given its success already, will doubtless bring more projects of this nature to Tampa.

WHAT TO ORDER: It’s easy to fall in love with the housemade ricotta dusted with fennel pollen and served simply with grilled rustic bread, as well as the retooled tiramisu (new pastry chef). Still, you have to get pizza, which spends less than two minutes in the oven until it is bubbled and blistered and perfectly chewy at its outer edge.


2

Rooster & the Till6500 N Florida Ave., Tampa; (813) 374-8940; $$

What Ferrell Alvarez and crew have managed to do with three induction burners in a closet-sized kitchen is a kind of clown-car magic. Which is why we’re a little queasy about the fact that Rooster will double in size this summer with a completely new French suite-style kitchen with full gas, an expanded kitchen bar and a total of 66 indoor seats and 12 more outside. It’s different if 30 clowns come out of a stretch limo, right? Nonetheless, Rooster remains one of the most ambitious restaurants in the area, with a commitment to sourcing locally (Urban Oasis, Pasture Prime, etc.) and a penchant for delicate jewel-like presentations with beads of shimmering sauce and doodads that require surgical tweezers to place just so. Alvarez and partner Ty Rodriguez have retained a tremendous team, from chef Brian Lampe to manager Myles Gallagher, and nearly every server exhibits encyclopedic menu knowledge.

WHAT TO ORDER: Servings are small, so order a lot and share. The charcuterie slate and pork belly with corn bread and pickled apple have been staples, but the veggies vary seasonally. From Brussels sprouts to greens to turnips, they are often nudged into greatness with the addition of chicken livers, ham jus or other meaty accent.

3

Edison Food + Drink Lab912 W Kennedy Blvd., Tampa; (813) 254-7111; $$$

Settling into its third year, Jeannie Pierola’s Edison has found such a nice groove. The kitchen is dense with talent, from Allie Beasman, who has been promoted to chef de cuisine, to pastry chef Erin Kelly (watch out for her riff on milk and cookies using the anti-griddle). On the beverage side, there’s bar manager Ryan Pines, who took the full bar (a late addition) from zero to 60 swiftly (and added house-bottled and barrel-aged cocktails) and wine director Tyler Westlund, who has introduced wines on tap and has recently launched a fresh wine dinner series. Tampa native Pierola is self-taught, with passion and curiosity that continually allow her to create mashups and juxtapositions that have the power to shock as much as charm.

WHAT TO ORDER: One evening we sat in the bar and plowed through an order of Buffalo cauliflower, the hot florets dipped in a version of spicy Buffalo sauce, paired with a crunchy/zingy carrot-celery-date salad and a velvety Maytag blue cheese dressing. With more textural interest than chicken, it beat a hackneyed wing version hands down. Her playful sensibility runs throughout the menu, as in crispy duck confit paired with, wait for it, rutabaga banana mash, sherried raisins and a foie gras emulsion. Rutabaga-banana, whaaa? But it is risk-taking that almost always works, causing you to rethink what traditions might be trounced. And that’s the definition of an iconoclast right there.


4

The Refinery5137 N Florida Ave., Tampa; (813) 237-2000; $$

Greg and Michelle Baker’s new Fodder & Shine hasn’t yet risen to the heights of their flagship Refinery, but it deserves kudos for sheer chutzpah in trying to re-create early Florida Cracker fare. Perhaps because some staff has been focused on Fodder, our last Refinery visit wasn’t as transformative as earlier ones, but its core tenet is no less laudable. As Greg says, it’s about “how chefs and farmers are mutually dependent for their success.” Having strategically positioned himself in a national culinary conversation, the four-time James Beard semifinalist has the power to influence what the rest of the country thinks of Florida food.

WHAT TO ORDER: Set in a sweet two-story house saved from demolition in 2000 when Hillsborough Avenue was widened, the Refinery changes its menu almost entirely every couple weeks because as Greg says, “After two weeks of something we’ve perfected it, but we’re so over it. If we can’t think of a way to make something better, it’s time to move on.” There’s a stable burger and hanger steak, but be willing to take some chances, from soft Florida peanuts in romesco to head cheeses and something called the House Spam Torchon.

5

Il Ritorno449 Central Ave., St. Petersburg; (727) 897-5900; $$$

This lovely newcomer is where we like to eat when not working, partly because of the intimate and attractive dining room (with its modest noise levels and flickering candles) and partly due to the warmth of owners David and Erica Benstock. But the bigger reason is that you see the person behind the food in every dish, each plate a reflection of the aesthetic and diligent efforts of an individual. David makes his own ‘nduja sausage and cured meats, he makes his own pastas, he pickles ramps and preserves tangerines, bakes his own focaccia and little salt-flecked ciabatta rolls and sophisticated cakes. It’s very contemporary Italian, with sensible portions and precise presentations. This year there have been some changes, from expanded outdoor seating to new kitchen toys like a sous vide Searzall (David Chang’s Kickstarter project) and a heavy-duty gelato machine.

WHAT TO ORDER: We’ve been swoony over the steamed mussels and the short rib mezzaluna and the squid ink pasta with littleneck clams, but Benstock has set his sights on veal loin wrapped in guanciale (so he can use his Searzall) and pork cheek cavatelli with toasted garlic, smoked pecorino and crispy pig ear garnish. After that? Maybe the maple-bourbon-cinnamon gelato.


6

CastileHotel Zamora, 3701 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach; (855) 926-6721; $$$

What chef Ted Dorsey has done at this newcomer is fresh, exciting and downright trendy. The starting chef at Boca in Tampa, he began his career working at Mise en Place and the now-defunct Chez Bryce, both in Tampa, developing a globe-trotting palate that swings gracefully from South America to the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia. Not beachside, the 50-room boutique Hotel Zamora makes best use of its canal-side setting, with a knockout pool and patio visible from the elegant dining room. In shades of persimmon and turquoise, the room hints at equatorial spots like Brazil (echoed by a cocktail list crowded with caipirinhas and drinks called things like “the Brazilian”), but the menu pays equal homage to Spain.

WHAT TO ORDER: St. Pete Beach doesn’t have much fine dining, which makes this date-nighter extra special, the ideal setting for an indulgence like seared scallops set atop creamy corn and dotted with candied pancetta and a bit of smoked tomato or yellowfin tuna a la plancha with chipotle crema and tangy yuzu gastrique.

A truegem

in

Established in 2005by Chef Karim andhis wife Catherine,The Pearl is apriceless gem tuckedaway on TreasureIsland.

Offering Continental-MediterraneanCuisine, eachdish is preparedand cooked to perfection. Book your part now, we cater for alloccasions on and off premises.

With exceptional service and an excellent wine selection,The Pearl staff will make your visit a comfortable, delightfulexperience – like a special dinner at the home of friends. Find thishidden gem ... and enjoy!

elegant dining.

Established in 2005by Chef Karim andhis wife Catherine,The Pearl is apriceless gem tuckedaway on TreasureIsland.

Offering Continental-MediterraneanCuisine, eachdish is preparedand cooked to perfection. Book your part now, we cater for alloccasions on and off premises.

With exceptional service and an excellent wine selection,The Pearl staff will make your visit a comfortable, delightfulexperience – like a special dinner at the home of friends. Find thishidden gem ... and enjoy!

163 107th Avenue • Treasure Island727.360.9151 • thepearlfinedining.com

Treasure Island’s #1Rated FineDiningRestaurantThe Pearl Restaurant


7

Ulele1810 N Highland Ave., Tampa; (813) 999-4952; $$

Richard Gonzmart (who has more projects on the horizon with Goody Goody and a Sicilian restaurant in Ybor City) is a Tampa booster extraordinaire, partnering with Keith Sedita on what clearly is the best visitor destination we’ve gotten in this new century (all right, Gonzmart has the other one with his Ybor Columbia). In a handsome new vision for the 1906 Water Works Building, employing dozens of local artisans, it’s an homage to early Florida settlers and the area’s early Indian tribes. The whole thing cost Gonzmart in the ballpark of $6 million, but its spring-side setting, which will eventually be the terminus of Tampa’s Riverwalk, may pay dividends.

WHAT TO ORDER: Brewmaster Tim Shackton produces a handful of accessible yet rigorously constructed lagers and chef Eric Lackey explores what early Floridians might have eaten if they’d had a lot of good ingredients and kitchen equipment. Best dishes include the fried (but not battered) okra, the side of white limas and collards, the buttery, garlicky, Parmesany broiled oysters right off the barbacoa pit and steaks from Jim Strickland’s Florida-born-and-raised ranch.

8

Pearl in the Grove31936 St. Joe Road, Dade City; (352) 588-0008; $$$

Curtis and Rebecca Beebe launched Local Public House and Provisions in San Antonio last summer, a casual beer-and-burger gathering spot in a century-old former general store. Since then, they’ve shuttled back and forth between the new baby and their flagship Pearl, building a following at both. Pearl’s chef de cuisine, Patrice Murphy (impressive dreads; formerly at the Refinery and Edison), keeps the wheels on the bus, serving sophisticated fried chicken and catfish meunière, while Hunter Dempsey takes the lead on house charcuterie (bacon, bresaola, tasso) and new pastry chef Austin Whitty works her magic with ice cream (goat cheese; brown sugar) and corn bread brown butter cake.

WHAT TO ORDER: It is down-home but fine dining, with the kind of service that seems too rare these days. The menu hews to a New Southern perspective, but one of the culty dishes of the moment is pure New Orleans Jazz Fest: A spin on ya-ka-mein — Beebe says it’s “ramen on steroids” — features homemade beef consomme, a little spicy, floating house tagliatelle, rabbit confit and a soft-poached duck egg. Cures hangovers and the evil eye, we’re told.


9

Cafe Ponte13505 Icot Blvd., Suite 214, Clearwater; (727) 538-5768; $$$

It’s finally happening. Chris Ponte has been looking around for restaurant No. 2 for a while, and with partners John and Trudy Cooper will open On Swann in Tampa’s Hyde Park Village this year. With a community bar and open kitchen, the 4,000-square-foot space will be no-tablecloths casual with a Josper Spanish oven turning out tapas. At his award-winning fine-dining flagship, last year was the busiest and most lucrative year yet, with catering ratcheting up substantially. General manager Andrew Bayus has further fine-tuned service, bathrooms have been remodeled and a new brass die press pasta maker has glamorized the pasta options. Still, Cafe Ponte continues to be about consistency and exacting plate presentations of New American dishes with classical French underpinnings. (Ponte trained at Taillevent.)

WHAT TO ORDER: At one end of the spectrum there’s the $90 six-course tasting menu and at the other there is the bargain $33 four-courser before 6:30 p.m. (choice of soup, choice of salad, any entree off the menu, and the dark chocolate semifreddo with peanut butter macaron that Ponte made at the James Beard House in New York). During recent months, that new pastamaker has been turning out butternut rigatoni, which Ponte tops with a lamb bolognese, and Moroccan-style short ribs are paired up with curried carrot puree and sesame dates.

10

Mise En Place442 W Kennedy Blvd., No. 110, Tampa; (813) 254-5373; $$$

Marty Blitz and Maryann Ferenc were at the party before anyone else, all dressed up (well, maybe not Marty) and waiting for the Tampa food scene to ignite. Their 29-year-old flagship restaurant is the elder statesman on the increasingly rich Kennedy corridor, but there’s never anything stodgy about it and Blitz doesn’t miss a beat, embracing trends and new technology in real time. It’s still glamorous, still a proper place for an important business meeting or special night out. Blitz’s food has garnered plaudits from USA Today and dozens of national publications, and partner Ferenc is an indefatigable Tampa booster. Other projects include Sono Cafe (which recently launched a grilled cheese menu) at the Tampa Museum of Art and Flight Wine Bar at Tampa International Airport.

WHAT TO ORDER: Mise was one of the first in the area to offer a sophisticated cheese service (interestingly, now offered paired with TeBella teas), and the wine list is always a joy to spend time with. These days Blitz is stretching out in his Get Blitzed six-course tasting menu, exploring interesting new products and leaning heavily on game (with wine it’s $84.28, a nice round number), and there’s almost invariably a fascinating vegetarian entree option (pumpkin coriander-crusted tofu with farro and beluga lentils). Ranging from South American to Mediterranean and Southeast Asian flavors, Blitz’s knack is balancing sweet with tart, umami with a bit of heat.

Haven2208 W Morrison Ave., Tampa; (813) 258-2233; $$$

A 2015 newcomer set in the old SideBern’s location, this Bern’s sibling is less old-school fancy than Bern’s, and less expensive than SideBern’s, but no less ambitious than either. It has without a doubt the area’s most encyclopedic and ambitious cheese program, set in a glass-fronted cheese cave, its contents arrayed beautifully and architecturally in tall columns and fat pyramids. Now add to that a list of more than 300 whisk(e)ys and an outrageous wine list (some of it available via a Coravin program, a curious device that works with a fat surgical needle to extract wine from an unopened bottle, replacing the empty space with inert argon gas) and it’s a high-profile new playground for Tampa Bay foodies.

WHAT TO ORDER: Executive chef Chad Johnson and chef de cuisine Courtney Orwig have taken a number of their SideBern’s preoccupations and blown them up big. Charcuterie, which will eventually be almost all housemade, for now features a number of lovely terrines, sausages, torchons and pates. And cheeses crop up all over the menu, from a trio of stunning savory housemade macarons to a changing mac and cheese offering. But there are also stunning vegetable preparations: Something described simply as sweet corn marries corn in every guise from ears of caramelized baby corn to corn sprouts, roasted corn niblets, corn nuts and popcorn brought together with grassy-caramely Zamorano cheese and a hint of chile heat.

TAMPA BAY’S RESTAURANTSHYDE PARK/SOHO/PALMA CEIA

Bern’s Steak House1208 S Howard Ave., Tampa; (813) 251-2421; $$$

Zipping in for dinner at Bern’s, we spied chef Zack Gross from Z Grille and chef B.T. Nguyen from Restaurant BT in the ornate, red-flocked vestibule. Gross was having several caviar courses with foams, a foie gras course and then splitting a 24-ounce strip four ways. B.T. enthused about the Champagnes and the joys of trying wines unavailable anywhere else. We were aiming to have a Delmonico like the hoi polloi: French onion soup, house salad, packed baked potato, onion rings and two side veggies, a veritable bargain at $36.34. It occurred to us that the 59-year-old institution, among the best-known steak houses in the country, can be two entirely different restaurants depending on your objectives: You can pull out all the stops, dive deep into the wine list with the help of sommelier Brad Dixon and avail yourself of the best caviar selection in the state, or you can steadfastly adhere to the old-school steak house route at a price more affordable than many of the nearby chain steakers.

WHAT TO ORDER: You can choose every detail but your steak’s eye color. Dishes often don’t have the contemporary sophistication of Haven or the playfulness of Elevage across the street, but it’s still a Tampa rite of passage with its cellar and kitchen tours followed by a visit to the Harry Waugh Dessert Room (50 dessert choices, a pianist who will play One Direction without snarking).

Oxford Exchange420 W Kennedy Blvd., Tampa; (813) 253-0222; $-$$

They experimented with adding dinner recently, also taking the plunge to serve liquor, but it remains a lunch/brunch/tea hot spot, largely on the strength of its TeBella tea kiosk and Buddy Brew coffee stand. (Buddy Brew down the block, by the way, has expanded, added beer and wine and a short menu of fetish-worthy toasts.) Settling into its third year, Oxford is still one of the most stunning spaces in the area, with a charming bookstore at one end, a smartly curated giftware shop, rentable office space upstairs and the kind of grand staircase that gets would-be brides scheming. Owners Blake and Allison Casper recently closed the juice shop next door to make space for a larger private-events kitchen (hear that, brides?), but the success of this mixed-use concept has spawned builders in the area thinking similarly (Station House in St. Pete, for example).

WHAT TO ORDER: Whether in the greenhouse atrium or the main dining room, this place gets loud. Breakfast meetings are conducted over pumpkin pancakes or smoked salmon everything bagels with chive schmear and pickled red onion and fennel salad, and at lunch the latest spreadsheets are set aside in favor of the Cobb wedge or turkey club. Tea or coffee service is a must.

Osteria Natalina3215 S MacDill Ave., Tampa; (813) 831-1210; $$

Tampa got three single-subject restaurants recently: A mac-and-cheese concept, a grilled cheese cafe and an all-lasagna grab-and-go on W El Prado Boulevard (it’s raining cheese, hallelujah). This last was a side project of Spartaco Giolito, the resident lasagna king, his kingdom an intimate storefront in a South Tampa strip mall. A recent meal there was a perfect example of why Giolito has endured while dozens of other Italian pasta mom-and-pops have disappeared: lousy winter weather (well, for Florida), nothing to eat at home, head to Osteria, in the mood for linguine with clams, can’t decide between red or white, and wish there were something spicy on the menu. Spartaco swings by, how about white wine, but a little “dirty” with chopped tomato and I can make it spicy? Done and done, heavenly yet simple. In many cases the one-page menu is just a guideline, Spartaco, with his booming voice and outsized personality, willing to work with you.

WHAT TO ORDER: His staff says “It’s nice to see you again” like they mean it, prompting a compulsive desire to be a regular. Mamma Natalina is from Rimini, a coastal city in Emilia-Romagna known for its seafood. This means lobster ravioli, polenta with mixed seafood ragu and often seafood-addled lasagna (it changes every few days), but the most distinctive dish continues to be the strozzapreti alla Bel Sit, elongated rolled cavatelli that cradle the rich, seafood-studded sauce just so.



Pane Rustica3225 S MacDill Ave., Tampa; (813) 902-8828; $$-$$$

Kevin and Karyn Kruszewski’s South Tampa institution still bakes bread for a number of the best Tampa Bay restaurants, but it has grown so far beyond the artisanal bread and pastry bakery it was more than a decade ago. At lunchtime it’s the yummy mommy set in yoga gear and NASA-designed strollers camped out with coffee at the oversized tables, and Wednesday through Saturday evenings it is transformed into a more sophisticated full-bar dinner house.

WHAT TO ORDER: Pizza by the slice still wows, with sophisticated toppings and cracker-thin crust made in the stone deck oven, and in the morning an egg sandwich with thick-cut bacon, tomato and arugula on a croissant can cause driving under the influence. (Officer, I needed another napkin.) Although the dinner menu changes daily, we remain devoted to the hamburger with its rotating array of accessories, and the twin espresso cookie sundae pairs the bakery’s most diabolical confection with vanilla ice cream and a dark rum caramel sauce.

Restaurant BT2507 S MacDill Ave., Tampa; (813) 258-1916; $$$

B.T. Nguyen is a citizen of the world. This year alone she posted pictures of herself at some of the globe’s finest restaurants. (We were totally jealous of her visit to Noma in Denmark.) Must be nice, right? It’s actually fairly essential for chefs to look up from their knives from time to time and see what people are doing elsewhere. It keeps one fresh and engaged. This year she aims to annex about 500 square feet next door to do an intimate world-beat tapas bar with small plates under $10, with more elaborate landscaping in the backyard patio area, but for now she’s steaming forward with stylish Vietnamese- and French-inspired dishes that always seem to have her punchy, incisive signature.

WHAT TO ORDER: We’ve been fans of her bo tai chanh (beef tartare jacked by ginger, garlic, basil, shallot and other dynamos) too long. So this year we threw it over in favor of Peking duck burritos and her coq au vin, very French but with shiitakes, sweet onion and Ruskin tomato. Her seductive little dining room has a way of making folks order too much wine and dessert.

Roux4205 S MacDill Ave., Tampa; (813) 443-5255; $$

Suzanne and Roger Perry (Datz, Dough) need a hobby like cross-stitch. Of course, if they embraced needle arts, the South Tampa restaurant landscape might get a lot more boring. They seem perpetually in a state of self reinvention. Datz is forever swimming forward with new menu items and bar ideas (cask cocktails, skinny cocktails, wait, bacon flights!), and Dough was re-envisioned in 2014 with a playful lineup of grilled cheeses. And in the fall they debuted their much-anticipated New Orleans-inspired Roux. They took the woebegone Wimauma space and utterly transformed it with gleaming pressed-tin ceilings, intricate wrought ironwork, heavy gilded mirrors and a vivid color scheme that hints at Mardi Gras.

WHAT TO ORDER: Even nearly a year in, it is best to make a reservation, and the dining room and bar can get a little frenetic. Cocktails are a must, from the roundhouse punch of a classic Sazerac to the more demure tipple of the Pink Fairy (vodka, elderflower, lime, coconut water and blueberries). For dinner, the skillet corn bread with brown sugar crust is difficult to resist, as are the chargrilled oysters with their sinfully rich cap of Romano, Parmesan and a bit of herbed butter. The menu’s original quail and sweet potato waffles has been retooled as fried chicken (see, the Perrys gotta keep moving), and after their dinner was rolling along nicely they added a lunch service of monster 9-inch po’ boys.


TAMPA BAY’S RESTAURANTSDOWNTOWN TAMPA/CHANNELSIDE/TAMPA HEIGHTS

Anise Global Gastrobar777 N Ashley Drive, Tampa; (813) 225-4272; $

A few years ago opening a restaurant on Ashley was a leap of faith. With all that’s going on now with Curtis Hixon, downtown cultural attractions, the Riverwalk, etc., restaurateurs like Xuan “Sing” Hurt seem prescient. She, husband Kevin and Ro Patel took over an exceedingly glamorous space, elevating it even further through the ministrations of designer Jaime Rogers. They brought the funky pan-Asian fare from their Stinky Bunz food truck, added East-West nibbles, a raft of smart cocktails and a live DJ in the late evenings. Their Achilles heel was a lousy kitchen (no gas, no hood system). That’s fixed now as they recently annexed the space vacated by Five Guys and built out a full kitchen. In addition, they have received a grant from the city to improve the sidewalk cafe with umbrellas and short hedge rows. Thanks, foodie mayor!

WHAT TO ORDER: The Chinese barbecued pork buns and red curry crispy chicken buns have always been the coin of the realm, but the new kitchen has allowed for lamb lollipops and burgers (a Greek burger, a build-a-burger with Sriracha-candied bacon as topper option).

Cena1120 E Kennedy Blvd., Tampa; (813) 374-8840; $$

Channelside Bay Plaza restaurant offerings have fallen apart just as the Channel District’s Grand Central has boomed. Pour House, City Dog, Maloney’s and Hideaway have populated a broad courtyard between two large condo buildings, but Cena is the complex’s real destination restaurant. It’s on a small scale, with a sparely decorated dining room and a pretty bar, a neutral backdrop for the gutsy Italian food of chef Michael Buttacavoli. He was fired up by a recent trip to Italy, and pastry chef Evan Schmidt continues to dazzle with anything-but-humdrum desserts.

WHAT TO ORDER: This is one of the best values in the bay area, squarely in a fine-dining paradigm but with entree prices in the low $20s and a professional staff overseen by new general manager Kate Hardy. Inspired by Buttacavoli’s Italy trip, you’ll find mortadella-stuffed olives, fried pecorino sardo with figs and crispy octopus with an agrodolce sauce and broccoli rabe, but we’re still fans of his asparagus risotto. These days Schmidt is working on a dark chocolate mousse with Grand Marnier-infused clementines and a walnut sponge cake with poached walnuts and chocolate gelato.

PelagiaRenaissance Tampa International Plaza, 4200 Jim Walter Blvd., Tampa; (813) 313-3235; $$$

Chef Brett Gardiner spent years presiding over his tiny Restaurant Hapa in Oldsmar. He closed that and came on board at Pelagia, working up to executive chef of the much larger breakfast-lunch-dinner hotel restaurant. It is among the prettiest dining rooms in town, with jewel-toned blown glass sconces (that look a little like their namesake jellyfish), lapis blue stemware and an elegant curved bar. Inheriting a strong Northern Italian focus from starting chef Fabrizio Schenardi, Gardiner continues to explore the Mediterranean in a tight one-page menu. These days he’s collaborating with the state’s Fresh from Florida program — he recently showcased a Florida strawberry-themed menu (complete with Florida strawberry grappa).

WHAT TO ORDER: The Spanish chorizo-stuffed crunchy olives are a holdover from Schenardi’s reign, but the most popular dish these days is housemade squid ink linguine studded with blue crab and seared scallops and elevated by a sprinkling of orange zest. Much of the menu is assisted by bounty from the recently planted rooftop garden (nasturtium flowers, sages, kale, red oak lettuce, fennel).

TAMPA BAY’S RESTAURANTSWEST SHORE/ROCKY POINT

Armani’sGrand Hyatt Tampa Bay, 2900 Bayport Drive, Tampa; (813) 207-6800; $$$

We’ve been in love with Armani’s antipasti plate for years, been wild about the 14th-floor views of the 35-acre nature preserve on the northern shores of Tampa Bay, enjoyed the Thursday to Saturday pianist in the lounge, and been smitten repeatedly by the surprisingly homey Italian desserts. The fly in the ointment was that you couldn’t eat outside on the stunningly renovated patio. Well, now they’re eating on the patio. It depends on how much the winds are blowing and whether staffing permits, but on a nice evening these are the best seats in town. (Tampa cigar smokers, you already knew that.)

WHAT TO ORDER: Chef Michael Von Burg has been a force in the kitchen for years, routinely reinventing items on the 30-plus item antipasti bar (you can choose your own lineup or have them surprise you) and introducing contemporary fetish foods like a cocoa-braised pork belly with hazelnuts, onion marmalade, arugula and a sumptuous date dressing. Servers no longer work in teams and they no longer do tableside Caesar salads, which is fine because these days the best salad offering brings grilled romaine hearts paired up with roasted red peppers and artichokes. Armani’s boasts a serious wine list, but also serious prices.

TAMPA BAY’S RESTAURANTSSEMINOLE HEIGHTS

Ella’s Americana Folk Art Cafe5119 N Nebraska Ave., Tampa; (813) 234-1000; $$

An hour wait on the patio for Soul Food Sunday? Fine, we’ll cool our jets. Ernie Locke and Melissa Deming’s project opened in 2009 and was really Seminole Heights’ pioneer for edgy, sophisticated food and decor. (Rooster, Refinery and Fodder, you owe them a fancy craft beer.) With a generous wrap-around patio and outsider art throughout, it reads like the home of your most impossibly cool friend. When there’s live music, conversation reverts to all pantomime (the servers are fluent) and on Sundays (“Praise the Lard”) it’s standing-room only for barbecue.

WHAT TO ORDER: We’ve been devoted to the chicken and waffles, although the waffles with banana, nutella and peanuts have prompted a conscious uncoupling. The menu changes frequently but the veggie burger is consistently good, and so is the bacon-wrapped meatloaf, depending on your perspective. We’re not saying this is a good idea exactly, but their array of specialty shots is a compelling reason to get familiar with how to order an Uber ride.

GREATER TAMPA

Council OakSeminole Hard Rock Tampa, 5223 Orient Road, Tampa; (813) 627-7600; $$$$

Celebrating its seventh anniversary, this high-roller steak house has not rested on its laurels. This year debuted new general manager Candace Quinones, new sommelier Douglas Scagliola and new chef Michael Balles, who has worked for luminaries such as Wolfgang Puck and Bobby Flay.

WHAT TO ORDER: The tribe recently unveiled its own Seminole Pride Florida-born-raised-slaughtered beef, but that’s not what they’re serving at C.O. All beef is USDA prime, dry-aged 21 to 28 days and cut in their own on-site exhibition butcher shop. They’ve recently debuted charmers like an appetizer of house-cured bacon and a sassy lobster risotto jambalaya, but for when we hit it big at pai gow or blackjack, we’re starting with the raw bar sampler for two ($60) and then wrangling the long-bone cowboy rib eye ($60), washed down with a little Silver Oak. (Oh, and there are 40 new wines on the already notable wine list.)

TAMPA BAY’S RESTAURANTSGREATER TAMPA

Taco Bus913 E Hillsborough Ave., Tampa; (813) 232-5889; other locations; $

Savvy marketer Rene Valenzuela may have been the first Tampa restaurateur to understand the importance of social media, but it is also possible that his concept (a 24/7 taco truck with its tires permanently shackled, followed by a mobile unit and several other funky Mexican grab-and-gos) fit the zeitgeist perfectly. His taco vision has been celebrated on a national level, by Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and on many lists of the nation’s most delectable food trucks.

WHAT TO ORDER: You pick your vehicle (tacos, tostada, burrito, etc.) and then your filling and your toppings, almost all of it under $7.50. In certain crowds, the butternut squash tostada is the holy grail, in others the mild northern Mexican carne deshebrada burrito gets the tongues to wagging.

Yummy House China Bistro2620 E Hillsborough Ave., Tampa; (813) 237-3838; other locations; $$

For Chinese, Hillsborough still dominates over Pinellas County (despite strong Clearwater newcomer Asian Pearl), with a density of deliciousness around Armenia and Waters. Still, having been this year to the unlovely Waters location and the fancier Hillsborough sibling, the latter gets our vote for top-notch Hong Kong-style fare served by gracious folks in a very attractive setting.

WHAT TO ORDER: Listen and learn. You begin with the salt and pepper tofu (eat all the little crunchy bits on the plate), then a tureen of the seafood hot and sour soup, then garlic snow pea tips or ong choy (water spinach), a steamed whole fish with ginger sauce and honey walnut shrimp. If you’re feeling flush, drop an order of Peking duck into the middle of it all and watch the lazy Susan spin.

LAND O’LAKES

Capital Tacos6765 Land O’Lakes Blvd., Land O’Lakes; (813) 501-4976; $

A recent taco of the month was grilled or fried chicken covered in a spicy agave nectar glaze with Chihuahua cheese, bacon, cilantro and crushed waffle bits. Maybe it’s that last ingredient that tells you this is not your granddad’s taco joint. A social media phenom, its website has a glossary. Still, Bobby Heskett’s little strip-mall taco shop is hardly pretentious, the interior like some boho Etsy business (the furnishings are of repurposed, abandoned or discarded construction materials), the chalkboard menu rife with housemade chorizo, hand-cut chips and suave regional Mexican sauces, and the to-go receptacles all made of biodegradable potato starch.

WHAT TO ORDER: Pick your filling. Maybe the Austinite (carne asada, jack and Cheddar, caramelized onions, avocado, sour cream, Chihuahua cheese, chipotle ranch salsa) or the Ranger (pulled pork, spicy slaw, jack and Cheddar cheese, sour cream, cilantro, pickled jalapeno, chipotle barbecue sauce). Then choose whether you want it as a taco, burrito, wet burrito topped with sauce, nachos, salad or bowl with rice and beans. To complicate matters, there’s an egg-centric, breakfast-all-day menu as well.

TAMPA BAY’S RESTAURANTSDOWNTOWN ST. PETERSBURG

Annata Wine Bar300 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg; (727) 851-9582; $$$

Opened last summer in the increasingly dense restaurant row of Beach Drive, Annata distinguished itself immediately for its cheese and charcuterie. Owners Mary and Kurt Cuccaro had a head start in this department, steeped in the meaty, cheesy perfume of their family’s Mazzaro’s Italian Market in St. Petersburg. They hired good people, worked with a great design team (Urban Innovation) and developed a savvy menu of small and larger plates overseen by chefs Nate Bohn and Ben DeNavarra. But when we chat with people, it’s the cheese that gets folks waxing rhapsodic.

WHAT TO ORDER: They have expanded the options recently, also adding wine flights and hip vermouth cocktails. Head straight for the robiola “due latte” (which means two milks: sheep and cow), shiny and spreadable cheese with a tang and herbal notes that stay with you, best eaten on the little flat crackers that look like husky communion wafers. Then spend a little time with the California Bay Blue and the grainy grana riserva, which cleaves along crystalline plates. And before you kvetch about parking: There are plans afoot to add valet stands on each of the major blocks of Beach Drive.

BellaBrava204 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg; (727) 895-5515; $$

This year is a huge one for the ownership team at BellaBrava, which has demolished the old Bruce Watters Jewelers space and embarked on building Stillwaters Tavern, to be presided over by Top Chef contestant Jeffrey Jew. The chef has been working for months in a test kitchen on the menu for Beach Drive’s newest 260-seat indoor-outdoor restaurant, but he has also taken over the reins at BellaBrava. It’s still the same attractive and bustling pizzas/pastas/flatbreads concept, but with subtle menu upgrades and a more rigorous focus on ingredients.

WHAT TO ORDER: Fried calamari now features Rhode Island squid that are delivered in sea water to maximize freshness, and pizzas are now topped with housemade Italian sausage flavored liberally with Calabrian chiles. A ramekin of housemade ricotta comes with a passel of crostini and a seasonal mostarda (a sweet-spicy Italian condiment often made of slow-cooked fruit). But the new item that seems to garner the most OMGs is the lobster mac and cheese, the rich goo slithering into each cavatappi swirl, all of it topped with black truffle bread crumbs.

Birch & Vine, The Birchwood340 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg; (727) 896-1080; $$-$$$

The hubbub over the Birchwood’s Canopy Rooftop Lounge has quieted to a dull roar in its second year (still St. Pete’s best place to chillax as the sun sets), and chef Jason Cline and crew have set about making the ground-level Birch & Vine a go-to destination for business lunchers, Beach Drive tourists and locals who feel like a little downtown fine dining. General manager Angela Meeker presides over a crackerjack service team while Cline does the same in the kitchen. (His dad is one of his best workers.) Teaming up with Uriah Urban Farms, they added a vertical hydroponic wall in the dining room (selfie central), from which baby kale, sorrel for sauces, salad greens and herbs for cocktails are snipped. Cline was tapped last year for an episode of Emeril’s Florida on the Cooking Channel and as one of six chefs to cook at Niman Ranch, but his real pedigree is seen on the plates.

WHAT TO ORDER: He can’t seem to retire the sous vide butter-poached lobster, the red curry chicken springs rolls or the orange miso sous vide sea scallops, but he has added some playful newcomers, like an appetizer he calls the duck breakfast that pairs pan-seared foie gras with housemade duck prosciutto and a sunny-side duck egg, garnished with brioche French toast, mixed-berry hazelnut jam and a drizzle of rice vinegar reduction that feints at maple syrup.


Farmtable Kitchen179 Second Ave. N,St. Petersburg; (727) 523-6300; $$$$

The tiny restaurant set on the second floor of Michael Mina and Don Pintabona’s Locale Market is not for everyone. The $105 price tag will exclude some folks, and introverts may find it aversive to share a table with garrulous strangers. (You buy “tickets” for pairs of seats at a communal wooden table.) What this tiny restaurant has is manpower: Over the course of an evening eight different chefs enter the intimate room to present their food, and sometimes, even more compellingly, their stories. Phillip Darbyshire comes in with a caught-today blackfin tuna, bycatch from one of their regular fishermen, then Matt Dahlkemper guides diners through a sampling of dry-aged prime ribeye alongside a wet-aged one, and then Jeffrey Hileman unveils little copper pots packed with butternut squash pasta roulades with a drop-dead gorgeous bechamel made of Venetian Sottocenare ash-edged cow’s milk cheese. The evening goes on: part education and part sheer fabulousness.

WHAT TO ORDER: You order nothing, well, other than dinner, plus or minus the additional $55 array of paired wines. It’s an eight-course seasonal menu, a collaboration of the dozen or so chefs who preside over different stations at Locale Market.

La V441 Central Ave., St. Petersburg; (727) 820-3500; $

Still haven’t fallen in love with Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches? Think of a perfect BLT (meaty tomato, salt of bacon, crunch of iceberg, mayo to bring it all together and put pink dribbles down your shirt). It’s like that, only with heat and herbal zing. Thuy Le, at her glamorous downtowner, offers nine versions, the signature packing a crusty baguette with pickled carrot and daikon, fresh herbs, jalapeno rounds and a pile of grilled pork, chewy pork skin, a salty ham they call jambon and a spongy head cheese, er, pâte. She does things right, with a broad lunch and dinner menu supplemented by a smart little wine list and decidedly Western, and decadent, desserts.

WHAT TO ORDER: From green bean to vanilla latte, there’s an encyclopedic list of smoothies and boba teas, which you can have with the traditional chewy tapioca balls or bejeweled with fruit jelly, lychee jelly or coffee jelly squares that bloop satisfyingly up the fat straw. Downtown has plenty of sushi, Thai and Chinese, but this is one of the few places to sit with a steaming bowl of pho or a tangle of noodles and lemongrass chicken fueled by lime juice and fish sauce.


Rococo Steak655 Second Ave. S, St. Petersburg; (727) 822-0999; $$$

Debuted at the end of 2013, this first steak project from Caledon Concept Partners (parent company of the Ceviche group) may have set the stage for steak houses in St. Petersburg. (Ruth’s Chris arrived recently and rumors swirl about other name-brand steaks coming.) Even in its infancy it aimed high, nabbing Wine Spectator’s “Best of” award of excellence for its list of more than 650 selections, with 34 wines by the glass. Even if you’re not slugging back a 1976 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Montrachet, there is much to recommend: Set in the historic 1920s YWCA building, it has a nostalgic glamor to it, with excellent private dining space. The restaurant recently expanded into the vacated Brass Tap space next door, providing another 30 seats and another 4,000-bottle wine room.

WHAT TO ORDER: Chef Matthew Poore (from Council Oak) has put his own spin on the dinner-only menu but it continues to be one of the only places in the bay area selling grass-fed filet mignon. If you’re the scientific type, you can order a corn-fed and a grass-fed side by side. (We like the flavor of the grass-fed but the more sumptuous chew of the corn-fed.) Try them with sophisticated sides like red and black quinoa or Anaheim creamed corn.

Station House260 First Ave. S, St. Petersburg; (727) 895-8260; $$

Opening last Christmas Eve in the basement space that for more than a decade was Cafe Alma, it is stage one of Steve Gianfilippo’s ambitious five-story mixed-use project. It is a collaboration with Alex Gilmore and Ro Patel, one of the key figures in bringing craft cocktails to Tampa Bay (Ciro’s, Anise Global Gastrobar and others). With great bones to begin with, the bar and dining room design is gorgeous and chef Justin Sells (an Emeril protegee) has engineered a menu of “American cocktail cuisine” that is sophisticated and at the same time playful.

WHAT TO ORDER: You could start with a Moscow mule, but why not live on the edge and opt for a Corpse Reviver No. 2 or a Jet Pilot. What are they? The latter is described thusly: “It begins with a veritable punch in the face from a tiki god, then mellows over time as the crushed ice melts and becomes downright pleasant.” Well, yum? Once quaffing, the menu is small plates, sharables and larger plates that can be mixed and matched, from warm chicharrones with a dipper of thick strained yogurt swirled with chiles and mint to Korean wings and cauliflower tabbouleh.

Z Grille104 Second St. S, St. Petersburg; (727) 822-9600; $$

Zack Gross makes killer deviled eggs. He makes sticky little Dr Pepper fried ribs that you will reduce to a pile of clean bones. And he is never afraid to say precisely what’s on his mind. A James Beard semifinalist in 2009, his hip, loosely skateboard-and-tattoo-themed restaurant at the bottom of Signature Place is heading into its seventh year, really one of the elder statesmen in the increasingly dense downtown St. Petersburg dining scene.

WHAT TO ORDER: Despite a reputation as a meat-forward guy (that sounds unseemly somehow) — he’s known for his foie gras steak burger and chicken and waffles — we’ve been charmed by his deep fuchsia root vegetable risotto, its red Himalayan rice meshed with cubes of beet, curls of wild mushroom and fluffs of goat cheese, and the bartenders seem especially gifted with Hendrick’s gin concoctions.

TAMPA BAY’S RESTAURANTSGREATER ST. PETERSBURG

Ciccio Cali190 37th Ave. N, St. Petersburg; (727) 898-8226; other locations; $-$$

This restaurant group works under a pithy mission statement: healthy food with flavor. From the Ciccio concept to Green Lemon or the newish Fresh Kitchen, all in Tampa, their vision does away with fried or fatty appetizers, focusing instead on all-in-one customizable meals, whereby you pick a protein, you pick a carb, veggies, garnishes and sauces — perfect for vegetarians, low-carbers and gluten-freers. We’re most excited about Fresh Kitchen, but it’s still a little young and the parking situation makes us behave badly. (A second outpost of it will open this year on Fourth Street N in St. Petersburg alongside a Daily Eats.) The team of Jeff Gigante, Luis Flores, the Lanza family and David Pullman have world-domination schemes, with Orlando and Sarasota locations in the works.

WHAT TO ORDER: At Ciccio Cali it’s hard to beat the spicy Brazilian bowl, at Ciccio’s/Water the hot and crunchy tuna bowl is the way to go, and at Fresh Kitchen head for the carne bowl (kale slaw, sweet potato noodles, grilled steak, grilled broccolini, roasted mushrooms and herb balsamic vinaigrette) paired with a Plant City Greenery juice.

Noble Crust8300 Fourth St. N,St. Petersburg; (727) 329-6041; $$

Another pizza place on Fourth Street N? Not exactly. It’s a novel kind of fusion, where rustic Italian meets gutsy Southern, the project of partners T.J. Thielbar and John Mays, veterans in the restaurant business. There’s a lively scene along the funky-industrial sheet-metal bar, some hightop and communal tables, an open kitchen, and lounge furniture on the glamorous 800-square-foot wrap patio with a retractable roof, the seating clustered around inviting gas fire pits. (The patio is both heated and air-conditioned.) In short, there’s not a bad seat in the place. Noble Crust is a family-appropriate place where a shared strategy seems most effective: a couple of appetizers for the table, a communal pizza, then maybe a pasta or a more substantial entree, and finally a shared dessert.

WHAT TO ORDER: To best see where Italy meets the South, start with an order of pimento cheese arancini, bread-crumbed and fried rice balls with the sweet tang of that Southern cheese oddity at their center, sitting on a generous dribble of pepper jelly. You’ll see it again with a pizza that pairs Italian sausage with slow-cooked collards, an idea that feels totally natural on the plate. Oh, and you’ve got to get the ice cream: One is orange-flavored in a Creamsicle way, with crunchy cocoa nibs scattered over the top to give it texture and interest; the other is vanilla and olive oil, with discernible saltiness, strewn with chopped pistachio and pomegranate seeds. Simple but sophisticated.

TAMPA BAY’S RESTAURANTSGREATER ST. PETERSBURG

Red Mesa Mercado1100 First Ave. N, St. Petersburg; (727) 954-7430; $

Flagship Red Mesa opened 20 years ago, party-central Red Mesa Cantina in 2009, so maybe it’s our penchant for shiny new things that explains why the family baby, Mercado, gets the nod this year. Executive chef Chris Fernandez’s food at the original is clearly the most ambitious, and the cantina has a tremendous tequila and mescal array and fairly sophisticated menu, but the Mercado still brings something new to St. Petersburg with its market of grab-and-go ceviches, fresh tortillas and ingredients for impromptu fiestas. The restaurant competes ably with an increasingly dense St. Pete taco turf, eaten on a dog-friendly patio with picnic tables and a flat roof providing shade.

WHAT TO ORDER: A discrete vegetarian menu debuted of late with an appealing zucchini taco, bumping up the original list of eight sides, two chimichangas, five specialty burritos, three tacos, some combos and a couple of desserts (tres leches and a stack of cinnamon sugar-dappled fried flour tortilla wedge sopapillas). The cheese chile rellenos burrito was our initial go-to dish, but a basket of chips and house salsa tends to cause repetitive motion syndrome.

Urban Brew and BBQ1939 Central Ave., St. Petersburg; (727) 822-8919; $

Fabled 4 Rivers Smokehouse recently moved in and Holy Hog has been expanding its Tampa reach, but in St. Petersburg the top ‘cue is Andy Salyards’ little Grand Central District gathering spot. Passionate about craft beer, he does monthly beer dinners showcasing local brands (five dishes, five beers, $35) and already has Project No. 2 lined up: Aiming for a summer opening, he will unveil Urban Comfort brewpub inside a former auto detailing shop at 2601 Central Ave. At his flagship restaurant, the focus is on what comes out of his automated Cookshack smoker, with the addition of nightly specials: Sunday is pastrami, Tuesday deviled eggs, Wednesday cured pork loin and Thursday ham.

WHAT TO ORDER: Although we’re supporters of the sliders (brisket and pulled pork especially), our favorite dish at Urban continues to be the cast-iron skillet mac and cheese that brings together the sharpness of Cheddar with the rounder smokiness of Gouda, dotted with curls of prosciutto and topped with a cap of crunchy bread crumbs.

GULFPORT

Pia’s Trattoria3054 Beach Blvd. S, Gulfport; (727) 327-2190; $$

We’ve always rooted for Pia and Tom Goff’s little Italian beauty, partly on the strength of its spaghetti, capellini, penne, farfalle, etc., and partly because the owners seem like nice, community-minded people. Since its debut in 2007, it has annexed the office building next door to produce a dining room as inviting as its garden patio, added a full liquor license and a broader wine list, and rolled out a daily-changing specials list to augment the pastas, salads and traditional chicken and veal dishes (parmigiana, marsala, piccata and saltimbocca).

WHAT TO ORDER: Set to an Andrea Bocelli soundtrack in the flickering light from dozens of guttering taper candles, this is antipasti misto territory, but the seasonal soups tend to be gutsy and sophisticated, the sauteed calamari is tender, and traditional Italian desserts (crostadas, tarts and panna cottas) are distinctly homemade.

Fetishes Dining And Wine Bar6305 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach; (727) 363-3700; $$$

Things that are gone from restaurants: Personalized matchboxes, hat-check girls, breadbaskets, red roses, tuxedoed waiters, dessert trays and tableside service. Not so fast. Bruce Caplan ran his first Fetishes on the beach for 18 years, its longevity explained by a tremendous wine list (heavy on California cab) and the retro-cool of tableside flambes and such. He moved to an intimate new location two years ago and expanded on the tableside, something millennials seem to think is newfangled magic. These days, he has gone lighter on the California cabs and bulked up on French and Italian reds, but the menu is largely dishes we used to think of as continental. (He prefers the term “Euro-American.”)

WHAT TO ORDER: This is a date-night spot, meant for hand-holding and gazing into each other’s limpid pools. Pull yourself away from the pools to watch Caplan do a tableside Caesar salad (perfect, punchy with anchovy and garlic), then maybe steak Diane, Dover sole or chateaubriand, then finish it up in a fiery blast of booze with bananas Foster, cherries jubilee or the old classic crepes Suzette.

TAMPA BAY’S RESTAURANTSST. PETE BEACH

The Maritana GrilleLoews Don CeSar Hotel, 3400 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach; (727) 360-1882; $$$

Sit at Table 41 and get chummy with Caesar, the resident moray eel. Maritana is all about traditions of this sort, but that doesn’t mean newish chef Gavin Pera isn’t willing to explore fresh ideas. They have recently partnered with St. Petersburg’s Savory Spice Shop on a tasting menu that showcases exotic spices, and he frequently riffs with the vegetables from local farms like Hammock Hollow (think lemon cucumber, purple broccolini and baby collards) or naturally raised pork from Palmetto Creek. The focus remains seafood, no longer the Hawaiian emphasis of ex-chef Eric Neri, but not entirely gulf-based: Pera is bringing in Pacific marlin for a delicate crudo, sources local waters for cobia and grouper, and hits the Caspian Sea for the caviar big guns.

WHAT TO ORDER: No offense to the eel, but we prefer to sit in the bar to dine, kibitzing with the always eloquent bartenders (currently Jeff Brown) and sharing lobster pappardelle or crab cake with corn fondue before getting to what we have really come for: the dessert called the Reveal, an ostrich-sized egg that, once moistened with spiced cranberry syrup, cracks open spectacularly to uncloak a bit of cranberry shortbread with pumpkin mousse, toasted marshmallow ice cream and candied pecans. More hair-raising showmanship than any other dessert in Tampa Bay.

1200 Chophouse5007 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach; (727) 367-1300; $$$

Veteran beach restaurateur Dan Casey (Snappers, Madfish) launched this tiny steak house in 2013, in many ways a throwback to the days before steaks had brand names and beef-centric fine dining took place in vast spaces. (Take a gander at Boy Scout Boulevard in Tampa.) Unlike a lot of those restaurants, this is not an a la carte approach, entrees accompanied by salad, potato, etc. The knock on the dinner-only, no-reservation spot is that it’s too small, a frustration in high season. This summer, Casey will expand the kitchen, dining room and parking by 50 percent, a move unlikely to mar the intimate, independent feel of the place. As at Casey’s other restaurants, the wine list is sophisticated and the markups not steep — a fact that contributes to making this one of the best values on this year’s list.

WHAT TO ORDER: The “tomahawk chop” bone-in rib eye, seared on a griddle and then broiled swiftly at 1,200 degrees, is what gets the rabble roused, but golden seared sea scallops and a newly added Berkshire pork chop are gunning for top dog. Following a national trend, lots of dessert offerings come in cute little mason jars.

PINELLAS PARK

Ben Thanh4200 62nd Ave. N, No. C, Pinellas Park; (727) 526-3051; $

Food fiends claim that pho, like Japanese miso or Jewish chicken soup, functions as an analeptic, stimulating the central nervous system when you’re sick, sad or hung over. Maybe yes, maybe no, but there’s just about nothing else more wholesome. This is the place, the prices freaky reasonable, the service intermittently super sweet and somewhat absent. The name, that of the biggest market in Ho Chi Minh City, is a little grandiose — this stripmaller isn’t much to look at — but even as the playing field of Vietnamese restaurants has gotten more crowded, this remains right at the top.

WHAT TO ORDER: There’s bo tai chanh, an appetizer of thin rare beef with an anchovy sauce, a heady whoosh of lime, greens and leaves of mint, loads of fresh roll and spring roll options and fabulous bun bo hue ben thanh, a thick vermicelli soup of spicy beef with tangy verve. But for $5.50 you can get a bowl of heaven: a tangle of soft, pale white rice noodles and eye of round or beef meatballs immersed in a rich, star anise-flavored beef broth over which you sprinkle crunchy bean sprouts, wedges of lime, a flurry of basil and cilantro, rounds of jalapeno and a big squirt of Sriracha.

ST. PETE BEACH

TAMPA BAY’S RESTAURANTSLARGO

Cafe Largo12551 Indian Rocks Road, Largo; (727) 596-6282; $$$

Here’s a tip. Got a hot date? What says “love” loud and clear? Butter. And cream. And egg whites beaten into a frenzy for a poufy souffle. Dominique Christini has been a fixture since 1986 and now owns one of only a handful of classical French restaurants in the Tampa Bay area. He teaches cooking classes twice a month in which you learn to make (and say) rillettes, feuillettes and galantines, and he hosts frequent wine dinners, but it’s his day-in, day-out attention to dinner service that is most impressive. (He once said, “Just about the only thing I don’t make myself at Cafe Largo is the ice cubes.”) It’s a small, quiet dining room, underpopulated of late, in which to leisurely enjoy traditional French dishes in exacting presentations.

WHAT TO ORDER: The assortment of pates changes but it’s often a velvety foie gras and cognac spread, another more rustic chicken liver and pork version and a third a poached chicken galantine, all garnished with grainy mustard and little cornichons. After that, it’s a tossup between the roasted duck breast with tarragon sauce or the tarragon-flecked bearnaise sauce on rosy slices of beef tenderloin. No question on the dessert, though: Grand Marnier souffle, a beau ideal that is getting perilously close to extinction.

CLEARWATER/CLEARWATER BEACH

Cristino’s Coal Oven Pizza1101 S Fort Harrison Ave., Clearwater; (727) 443-4900; $

There was pizza flux in 2014, some great new arrivals (see: Ava) and some unfortunate departures (Paci’s, you said you were only remodeling!), but Cristino’s in Clearwater and Ybor City (which just added brunch) plod on. We prefer the Clearwater location, where brothers Joe, Marco and Lenny Cristino have a steady hand with the blistery coal-oven pies. Their cheese-to-sauce-to-crust ratio is impeccable, as is the contrast between the tender slice point and the chewy crust edge.

WHAT TO ORDER: We urge you that less is more here. The crust is its best self when not overburdened with ingredients. Try, for instance, the Italia topped with housemade mozzarella, tomato sauce, prosciutto and a big tangle of fresh arugula, and the four-cheese version with moz, ricotta, goat and gorgonzola (but it’s not a white pizza, still tomato sauce on this one). Cristino’s also has a way with a panzerotti, a fried version of a smallish calzone stuffed with fresh mozzarella, ham, tomato sauce and fresh basil, and the gelato lineup is irresistible (especially since they often bring over a little spoonful for you — “First one’s free, kid”).

Rusty’s BistroSheraton Sand Key, 1160 Gulf Blvd., Clearwater Beach; (727) 595-1611; $$$

There are local chefs who seem to donate their time and talents to every charity function: Tyson Grant at Parkshore, Dan Casey at Snappers and John Harris at the Sheraton Sand Key. Harris has been in the hotel’s kitchen for 25 years, showing either a remarkable lack of itchy feet for a chef or just how pleasant it is to work with general manager Russ Kimball. The hotel had an attractive lobby remodel this year, and Rusty’s (to make up for its unfortunate lack of water views) had an extensive spiff-up a couple of years ago that added display wine towers and a semi-private dining space.

WHAT TO ORDER: Harris has always worked in a seafood-focused Floribbean idiom, but recently he has branched out a bit. He’s taking Humboldt squid steaks from California, pounding them thin like veal, panko/parmesan-crusting them and serving them with a piccata sauce. On the land-mammal side, a double-cut pork chop is paired with a housemade apple butter and shellacked with a bourbon-apple cider glaze. And on Friday nights the prime rib buffet ($22.95) draws crowds, as does the Saturday evening more elaborate seafood and prime rib buffet ($35).

TAMPA BAY’S RESTAURANTSCLEARWATER/CLEARWATER BEACH

Villa Bellini2930 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd., Clearwater; (727) 754-9848; $$$

Realtors talk about the satisfaction of helping the right person and right home find each other. It’s like that with restaurants sometimes. Chef Ciro Mancini has bopped around: Pensare in Dunedin, Casanova in Clearwater, Bellini in Dunedin, Orlando for a bit. But in September he settled into the right space for his textbook classic Italian. The historic Tio Pepe building, briefly a tweaky fit for an outpost of Ceviche, was glamorous and historic to start with, now spiffed further with chandeliers and gilded mirrors and marble statuary. You’re going to want to dress up for this one, but nothing on the menu is going to spook the horses: parmigiana, marsala, saltimbocca; pappardelle, cannelloni, gnocchi.

WHAT TO ORDER: It feels old-timey in a good way, with super solicitous servers and bartenders who introduce themselves formally. It’s white tablecloth all the way, but that baby may face some challenges with parmigiana melanzane, zuppa di pesce packed with shrimp, scallops, fish, mussels, clams and calamari (really, all the tomatoey mixed seafood dishes are rockin’) and slurpable spaghetti puttanesca. Use your espresso cup or tiny cordial of limoncello to hide the stains.

TAMPA BAY’S RESTAURANTSSAFETY HARBOR

Parts of Paris146 Fourth Ave. N, Safety Harbor;(727) 797-7979; $$$

Since the last time we reviewed this charmer set in a 1936 Florida bungalow, young chef Jeff Thornsberry moved on and owner Chris Orrung has hired Ian Carmichael and Ryan Steffensmeir to oversee the kitchen. The result is that the menu has expanded while returning to more traditional French bistro fare. There are more steaks (entrecote, rib eye, filet) that can be paired with optional sides (pommes Lyonnaise, haricots verts, little French lentils) as well as the addition of full liquor, which necessitated an attractive remodeling of the bar area. Already the loveliest restaurant in Safety Harbor, it also reimagined the patio seating, shaded by old oaks, to look more like a French sidewalk cafe with many smaller tables.

WHAT TO ORDER: Soupe a l’oignon, formal beef tartare service with all the doodads, mussels steamed in white wine, boeuf bourguignon — anyone who has spent a little time at the knee of Julia Child will recognize these dishes, most of them textbook presentations at reasonable prices (most entrees in the mid $20s). And what would Julia suggest for dessert? Creme brulee, crisp top giving way with a tap to the lush custard below, naturellement!

Pizzeria Gregario400 Second St. N, Safety Harbor; (727) 386-4107; $

We’re sorry, Safety Harborites, but it’s really just freak chance that you got Greg Seymour to open up a pizzeria in your sweet downtown. We think it was a family thing. But he’s here, and he cut his teeth working out the kinks at places like Pizzeria Tra Vigne in California, and now he’s bringing his passion, and really a lot of science, to you. Through an heirloom seed saver he’s buying tomatoes and purslane, trucking in whole humanely raised pigs one a time and making sausage (and etc., to use the whole animal), and working with super “clean” outfits like Ecofarm in Plant City for ethical sugar cane and buffalo milk.

WHAT TO ORDER: So how’s the pizza? It’s great. This winter he had a roasted butternut squash pie with chorizo over which lemon-kissed arugula and ground walnuts were strewn, but he’s also excited about his clam pizza. We remember a housemade sausage and banana pepper pie fondly; salads are fab and desserts read like the best grandma stuff (simple and wholesome, showcasing fresh Florida fruit). Seymour is avid about ice cream and he has got ideas about how Florida milk and Florida cane could come together (like maybe a Safety Harbor ice cream shop soon).

DUNEDIN

Black Pearl315 Main St., Dunedin; (727) 734-3463; $$$

The Pearl has been the go-to fine-dining restaurant in Dunedin for years, consistently and rigorously overseen by owners Tony and Kathy LaRoche. They sold it in July to Zach Feinstein, who had previously been a global director for Burger King. Sounds ominous. So he messed up the Pearl, right? Nope. He retained chefs Adam LaRoche and Chris Artrip and gave them latitude to venture into edgier waters. Business has been booming, with a remodel on the horizon (for now it’s still moody lighting and tall red roses). They’re doing monthly six-course wine dinners for $100 inclusive and retooling some of the loosely continental fare.

WHAT TO ORDER: The much-beloved crab imperial has been updated in the form of a sultry crab gratin, the pork belly appetizer (dubbed “meat candy”) is a keeper, and the No. 1 seller is a white truffle lobster risotto. Like fruitcake, black licorice affection is binary: If you love it, try the black licorice ice cream; if you hate it, head instead for the peanut butter pretzel pie.

Casa Tina365 Main St., Dunedin; (727) 734-9226; $$

Harry Connick Jr. was wild about this place while making a bucket of money on the Dolphin Tale film franchise. That’s not why we like it (but if he needs a dinner companion, we’re around): This 23-year-old fave started with 65 seats, then seven years ago went to 150, which was still never enough on a busy Saturday night. They just busted through the adjoining building, adding 55 seats and a big wrap-around bar and communal tables, all of it festooned with folkloric art from Guanajuato and Michoacan. Owners Tina and Javier Avila are warm and community-minded, but the restaurant’s enduring appeal centers around the lively, veggie-friendly Mexican cuisine (now complemented by a serious tequila and mescal list).

WHAT TO ORDER: Chips and salsa are wonderful (first basket free), as are the mole poblano veggie enchiladas (oh, and the mole verde is good, too), but our favorite continues to be the chiles en nogado, a dish from Puebla of poblanos, not too spicy, stuffed with meaty picadillo and napped with a brandied walnut cream sauce and dotted with bright pomegranate seeds.

Olde Bay Cafe51 Main St., Dunedin; (727) 733-2542; $$

Walt Wickman’s Walt’s Seasonal Cuisine was definitely one of the best Dunedin restaurants, seafood-focused and with a savvy wine list. A lousy economy had its way with it a few years ago and Wickman shored up at his family’s business, Dunedin Fish Co., from which Olde Bay was born. It’s more outside than in, with a convivial marina-side deck on which to imbibe a little craft beer with friends before getting down to the business of eating fresh fish. There are a few kinds each day, which you can have as a pair of messy tacos, in a sandwich or as a dinner.

WHAT TO ORDER: Word is Wickman is gearing up to do restaurant No. 2, a casual Cracker-style spot in Dunedin, which doesn’t surprise us because despite a highbrow Johnson & Wales education, Wickman seems allergic to anything too fancy. Olde Bay is the place to get your hands dirty with peel-and-eat shrimp or a grouper sandwich. (Opt for the Asian noodle salad as your side.)

TAMPA BAY’S RESTAURANTSDUNEDIN

Dimitri’s on the Water698 Dodecanese Blvd., Tarpon Springs; (727) 945-9400; $$-$$$

Dodecanese is nearly wall-to-wall restaurants. When we want Greek pastries, it’s Hellas; lamb shanks it’s Mykonos; souvlaki it’s Mr. Souvlaki (natch). But for an overall sit-down meal, we head to Dimitri’s, partly because it’s nearly the only restaurant on the water/sponge docks side of the street, and partly because Dimitri Salivaras, a CIA grad, is a pretty serious New American chef who happens to be Greek. There’s nothing hackneyed or touristy about what he sends out of the kitchen, and the waterside patio setting is inviting.

WHAT TO ORDER: There is textbook avgolemono (egg and lemon soup), moussaka and spanakopita, all of it just a bit lighter and more delicate than that at many nearby restaurants. But the best dishes are the lemony whole roasted fish and a humble dish of chickpeas stewed with curly endive.

TARPON SPRINGS

Bay Magazine Restaurant Guide 2015

Documents

Transcript of Bay Magazine Restaurant Guide 2015