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Grille ditches fast food, turns Thai
By SHARON L. BOND © St. Petersburg Times, published February 4, 2001 ST. PETERSBURG -- The Asian Grille on Central Avenue is closing Monday for 10 days for a makeover from an Asian fast-food buffet to a Thai restaurant that serves sushi and some Indian dishes, said Vince Fortunato, the owner. The name will stay the same and the new restaurant that Fortunato is refocusing will reopen Feb. 15, he said. Fortunato, who also owns Fortunato's Italian Market at 259 Central Ave., opened the Asian Grille at 277 Central Ave. with his partner Mike Dodaro and brothers John and Matt Loder, whose family owns the Crabby Bill's seafood restaurants. The four also began restoration of two other storefronts in the same block, combining them to create the Central Avenue Oyster House, which is supposed to open in about three weeks, according to John Loder. The partnership between the Italian restaurateurs and the seafood family was dissolved in late January, Fortunato and John Loder said. Fortunato took the Asian Grille from the deal, and the Loders took the oyster house. The split was amicable, both sides said. "We're going to stick with seafood and let Vinnie" take the grill, John Loder said. He also said the Crabby Bill seafood offices, which are on the second floor of the Asian Grille, will stay where they are. Loder said the oyster house will be "along the lines of the Bonefish Grill" on Fourth Street N, a popular St. Petersburg seafood house. He said the restaurant will be more upscale than Crabby Bill's, taking cues from big city oyster houses such as the one in New York City in Grand Central Station. "When you grow up with seafood, it's best to stick with what you know," said Loder, 34. He has been working in the seafood business since he started shucking oysters at age 8. He said the family may expand Crabby Bill's to Tallahassee. The Central Avenue Oyster House will seat approximately 120 diners and carry a full liquor license. Meanwhile, Fortunato is changing the focus of the Asian Grille to Thai food, although the restaurant will serve sushi and a few Indian dishes. Fortunato described it as a nice, high-end restaurant. "No more fast food," he said, referring to the grill's buffet. The restaurant space was completely renovated before the grill opened last fall. But Fortunato said he is having the interior done again, and he is bringing in a Thai family to run the kitchen. "I know the restaurant business and they know Thai food," Fortunato said. Both competition and traffic increased with the opening of BayWalk, the entertainment/retail complex several blocks north of Central, he said. "It's a major place there now," Fortunato said, referring to the restaurants open in BayWalk. "Sales have increased at Fortunato's. It (BayWalk) is bringing a lot of people downtown ... who otherwise would go across the bay."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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