Il Ritorno is known for modern Italian fare, including this dish of buffalo mozzarella, crispy prosciutto, prosciutto spuma, fresh garbanzo and Calabrese chili. Credit: Hype Group

A popular downtown St. Pete restaurant is expanding.

Churning out exciting modern Italian dishes that have made it a local staple, Il Ritorno recently took over the 1,800-square-foot space behind its intimate restaurant at 449 Central Ave. Chef David Benstock, who opened Il Ritorno with his wife Erica in December 2013, says he believes the space was most recently occupied by a property management company.

“The area we took over is primarily for event space,” David told CL. “We’ll have the opportunity to hold about 70 people back there, along with a private closed-door dining room that seats 14.”

Expansion has been a long time coming for the owners, whose restaurant draws a big demand for private events and books many Saturdays and Sundays a week in advance; David says they’ve asked themselves “what’s our next move?” over the last three years. Keeping the operation under one roof — and growing in this kind of way — will prevent people from having to buy out Il Ritorno for an event and make it easier to score a reservation, plus provide more regular seats on the main side of the restaurant to larger groups looking to celebrate special occasions.

It also allows the co-owner chef to maintain his influence in the kitchen, including prep and cooking on the line, which might not’ve been possible if they’d launched a second location somewhere else.

“I’ll be able to really control everything still,” David said.

On Feb. 22, the couple posted a note addressed to family and friends on the Il Ritorno Facebook page, letting them know that despite the sale of the Florida Arcade (the building that houses their 400 block restaurant) to developer Red Apple Group, they weren’t going anywhere. Their expansion and the sale have nothing to do with each other, either. According to David, the new building owners have been “really nice and cool” and are helping get all of Il Ritorno’s necessary permits signed.

“We had already taken over the lease before [Red Apple Group] purchased it,” he said. “It’s definitely something we wanted to make sure we jumped on as soon as possible, which I’m glad we did.”

Other upgrades and additions are in the works as well. A big one is expanding the restaurant’s 200-square-foot kitchen — which will open up to the dining room and a new chef’s table bar with eight seats — to about 560 square feet. Doing so allows the Benstocks to “create more with their food,” a previously limited opportunity due to a lack of space. And while the menu already changes weekly, they also might bring on more items.

Another planned addition is full liquor, a feature the VIP regulars that Il Ritorno has made through the years are particularly excited about. The owners, applying for their license now, are set to establish a bar program and attach some chef bar snacks to it. They haven’t discussed a cocktail list yet. But with a focus on aperitifs and digestifs (think grappa and seasonally rotating flavors of house limoncello), the program will spotlight signature cocktails overseen by new general manager Ronald Randall, who brings his Michelin star bar-managing experience from The Modern in New York to Il Ritorno.

The restaurant’s shooting for the expansion to be done by Aug. 1 — somewhere around then, as David puts it.

“We’re trying to maintain the whole look and vibe we have in the restaurant. That’s a big thing,” he said. “We don’t want people to think we’re rebranding; we’re just trying to make the experience for our guests the best overall.”