A grand foodie hall and a full-service restaurant from celebrity chefs Michael Mina and Don Pintabona are the newest announced tenants at Sundial, the reincarnation of the former Baywalk shopping complex in downtown St. Petersburg.
Locale Market and Farmtable Kitchen are anticipated to open by fall in 20,000 square feet located on two levels of Sundial, next to Muvico 20 Theater. The concept is built around delivering fresh foods straight from the farm, or the boat, to the table.
Shoppers can buy everything they need to cook a meal at home from selections of vegetables, fruits, cheeses, fish, meats, seafoods and wines sold at Locale. Or they can sit down and dine at Farmtable, selecting dishes from fresh, seasonably created menus.
"We want to be known for doing simple things very well," says Pintabona, who is a graduate of the
University of South Florida and opened actor Robert De Niro's Tribeca Grill in New York in the 1990s. He also is a frequent guest on The Food Network and CBS Morning Show.
Mina is a San Francisco-based restaurateur who is a James Beard award winner and Bon Apetit Chef of the Year. He founded the Mina Group, which operates some 20 restaurants across the country including in San Francisco, Miami and Las Vegas.
Locale and Farmtable will be a fusion of
Mina's California modern with
Pintabona's New York Italian influences.
The market will be on the ground floor; the restaurant including a charcuterie, full-service delicatessen, bakery, coffee bar and wine bar will be on the plaza level.
The design, with weathered-style woods and metal highlights, is in keeping with Pintabona's philosophy -- keep it simple.
"It is very comfortable, very inviting, very approachable," says Linda Ellsworth, Executive VP of Architecture and Interiors at the St. Louis-based
Kuhlmann design Group, Inc., which is assisting with the project. "It really will have a chameleon type feel."
An open floor plan allows a flow from market to restaurant. "You do feel like you're being hugged by the market," Ellsworth says.
Several years ago, Mina and Pintabona came up with their market and restaurant concept and hoped to open in lower Manhattan near the site of the former World Trade Center. "For whatever reason, it never really happened," says Pintabona. "We put it on the shelf for a little bit."
The offer from The Edwards Group to be an anchor tenant at Sundial is the right timing for the chefs and St. Petersburg.
"I was pleased when I visited after many years to see how the city has transformed itself into a really great place," Pintabona says. "I think it's a very exciting time for the city."
Downtown is a mecca of trendy restaurants, shops, museums and galleries. Beach Drive is a destination. News of residential and condominium towers ready to re-shape the skyline arrives almost weekly.
"Thousands of people live, study, work and visit here, and more on the way," says
Sundial Owner Bill Edwards. "St. Petersburg needs a market like Locale Market. We've got nothing like it."
Writer:
Kathy Steele
Sources: Bill Edwards, Sundail; Linda Ellsworth, Kuhlman Design; Don Pintabona, Locale Market and Farmtable Kitchen
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