Wondering what the region’s first Bento Cafe will look like inside? You came to the right place.
The pan-Asian kitchen and sushi joint — based in Orlando — revealed a couple of renderings for its 2,700-square-foot downtown St. Pete location at 330 Third St. S. Check ’em out above and below.
Eighty seats, plus an outdoor patio, are planned for the new restaurant. Bento Cafe’s projected opening date is spring 2018.
• At another downtown St. Pete residential development, Fabrica Woodfired Pizza is gearing up to celebrate the launch of its second restaurant. Jonathan and Estefania Perez’s Tampa-born Neapolitan pizzeria, which opened in the Channel District in 2015, quietly debuted in October at the Hermitage Apartment Homes at 101 Seventh St. S. But now it’s time to party.
A grand opening event is scheduled from 3 to 10 p.m. Dec. 13. Guests can expect a dough-cutting ceremony with Mayor Rick Kriseman featuring pizza tastings and bottomless prosecco, followed by $5 margherita pies, live music and happy hour specials till close.
“The restaurant community in St. Pete is so inclusive,” according to statement from Estefania. “Your fellow business owners are rooting for you to succeed, and I think that attitude has helped the food and beverage scene thrive, so it was an easy decision to open our second location here.”
• A Mini Doughnut Factory grand opening is also coming up. The formal celebration for this 2-year-old gourmet doughnut purveyor’s St. Pete location — which owners Zezura and Patrick Ruddell premiered in soft-opening mode at 730 Fourth St. N. on Monday — goes down Dec. 15.
Larger than the original Mini Doughnut outpost in South Tampa, the latest shop features a selection of bite-size orbs that the community has come to love, plus coffee and doughnut shakes. Expanded offerings include beer and wine, more indoor seating to accommodate patrons dining in, and on-site coffee roasting.
• There’s a freebie in store for the recently opened Kahwa Coffee in west St. Pete. In honor of its fourth drive-thru cafe at 5820 Ninth Ave. N., the local roaster will offer free coffee to customers on Wednesday — all day.
• In other Kahwa news, founders Raphael and Sarah Perrier announced two additional locations this week.
Kahwa has launched at 4400 N. Dale Mabry Highway inside Mercedes-Benz of Tampa (one of the largest Benz dealerships in the country) with a full menu, and another cafe is headed for St. Pete’s Imagine Museum at 1901 Central Ave. in the Grand Central District.
“We’re very excited to see this growth fueled for locations as well as demand to work with the Kahwa brand itself,” Raphael said in a statement.
This article appears in Nov 30 – Dec 7, 2017.