A new chef enlivens the outlook of Fresco's downtown. Think seafood, pasta and chops with imagination.
By CHRIS SHERMAN
Published July 17, 2003
[Times photos: Ken Shimizu]
Chef Jason Esposito has been working at Fresco’s since February. The restaurant, at the base of the Pier approach, is in the space formerly occupied by the Black Opal.
Fresco’s in St. Petersburg serves up cioppino, the Italian-style bouillabaisse, among other treats.
ST. PETERSBURG - It's safe to eat by the water again.
Dining with a water view has always been risky for the taste buds, and especially so in downtown. The gorgeous prospect of millions of dollars of polished teak, curved fiberglass and crisp canvas collected in the yacht basin has rarely been matched by equivalent style on land.
At last, it seems the tide may be turning.
Fresco's is the latest shingle hanging outside that odd bit of modernity on the approach to the Pier (once the bureau of a Tampa TV station). For eight years it was occupied by Apropos and in 2000 became the Black Opal. The new owners made the place more shipshape, but the food never rose above middling.
Last year the name changed to Fresco's, and the menu changed to contemporary Italian. This spring Fresco's added a new chef and, at last, some contemporary kick.
I got mine in skewers of tuna, a familiar idea elevated to a real charmer by Jason Esposito, the chef newly imported from South Florida. (Son of Hall of Fame hockey goalie Tony, Jason trained at Commander's Palace in New Orleans and then cooked in Boca Raton.) Presentation was a bit fanciful; thick chunks of ahi on rosemary sticks on a plate of roasted pepper beurre blanc with a web of balsamic syrup, but those were good looks you could eat.
A side of fettuccine tossed with olive oil, garlic and parsley was a smart complement; zucchini was not: fresh but too soggy.
Still, it's the kind of quality cooking I've always wanted to taste while overlooking the water and a raft of sailboats. We've no shortage of waterfront places with decent grouper sandwiches and burgers, or indecently high-priced fare.
The menu is long on seafood and chops, but every dish gets extra touches of herbs, pine nuts, fine sauces and other evidence of authenticity and imagination that are the signs of a good chef. Penne with shrimp, tomatoes, olives and feta gets a kiss of anisette, filet mignon is adorned with fine mushrooms and a Chianti reduction.
The antipasto plate here includes capicola and mortadella as well as salamis, with black olives, freshly roasted red peppers and pencil asparagus spears; only odd players were undercooked eggplant and the cheese, lame provolone that got limper in the heat. Nonetheless, the plate is a step above the usual cold cuts.
For a simpler starter, check on the soup. I lucked into a white bean with small elbow macaroni in a solid stock spiked with herbs, pepper and bacon.
Pasta itself is simple, but right. Fettuccine is not overcooked, and a mushroom sauce with cream and porcinis is plenty rich.
For escape from the carbs, a steak salad at lunch had beef cooked as rare as I wanted it, on arugula with a mustard balsamic cream, with fresh asparagus.
This place on our condo coast still wears a gold chain and fancies a swizzle stick, and it does need better bread and more local fish.
Yet top it off with freshly stuffed cannoli and a thoughtful, quite knowledgeable staff, and it's a meal that properly celebrates an hour or two of St. Petersburg at its most picturesque.
Fresco's Waterfront Bar & Grill
300 Second Ave. NE
St. Petersburg
(727) 894-4429 Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday; 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Reservations: Suggested.
Details: Most credit cards; full bar; smoking permitted on outside deck.
Features: Outdoor seating, boat dock, water view, a la carte brunch.
Prices: Lunch, $7 to $12; dinner entrees, $12 to $22.
