It accommodates residents with grocery and restaurant giants, gas stations, apartment complexes and more. But St. Pete’s booming Fourth Street North — which just witnessed the openings of Justhai and Noble Crust and is due to gain a Trader Joe’s next week and another Hook’s Sushi Bar & Thai Food later on — is fast becoming the go-to destination for restaurateurs, whether they’re looking to establish new projects or expand their brands.
The Tampa-based Ciccio Restaurant Group, which owns eight Bay area eateries, is doing a little bit of both.
Fresh Kitchen and Daily Eats, doing well at their outposts in Tampa’s SoHo district, will open as the group’s first side-by-side concept in early July, sharing the building at 4447 Fourth St. N. where Lee Garden Chinese Restaurant used to be.
The 140-seat Daily Eats will require around 3,500 square feet to sling its jazzed-up diner fare, while the 100-seat Fresh Kitchen, with gluten- and dairy-free bowls and house-made beverages like cold-pressed juice, will occupy the rest (about 2,500 square feet).
“Ciccio [in the Northeast Publix plaza] does extremely well,” CRG partner Matt Lanza said. “Our guests really want these brands out there.”
According to partner Steven Lanza, Fresh Kitchen, CRG’s newest restaurant, appeals to the fitness crowd as well as folks who are curious about its healthful offerings. Daily Eats, though, Matt said, also highlights “more indulgent” grub (think burgers and mac).
The restaurants offer separate experiences, but both will feature outdoor patios and plan to retain the flagships’ layout, decor and ambiance.
“We rely on the locals,” Matt said. “We have to be very accessible, and Fourth Street provides that.”
The group will debut another Daily Eats and Fresh Kitchen project at Sarasota's University Town Center closer to fall.
Back to their roots
After relocating to Central Avenue last year, Don and Gwen Arvin will launch a second Casita Taqueria across the street from the restaurant’s original Fourth Street stomping grounds (where it was supplanted by Trader Joe’s).
Shooting for an April opening at 2701 Fourth St. N., the roughly 1,500-square-foot space that housed DeNunzio’s Pizza until around four weeks ago, the Arvins are in the process of cleaning, remodeling and repairing equipment.
“We really wanted to get back to Fourth. We’ve been looking for months,” Don said. “I’m so excited to be back pretty much right where we started.”
Diners who told the couple they don’t venture downtown that often also motivated Casita’s return to familiar territory. The goal is to open a couple more locations within the next two years.
The second taqueria, set to incorporate various eclectic design elements (murals by local artists are a possibility), will have about 50 seats inside, including some counter spots, and picnic tables out front. Street parking will accompany the building’s limited lot.
“I think we’ll do a ton of carryout here,” he said.
Alongside the restaurant’s classic lineup, new items from menu virtuoso Andy Hobbs, the Arvins’ right-hand guy from the start, will debut.
Farm-to-table with Euro influence
New York native Joe Di Bartolo, who’s been a restaurateur for 30 years, has taken over the Social’s old space at 5226 Fourth St. N. with Pie Topia, his GMO-free, farm-to-table pizza eatery.
He’s calling it Old World-style with a modern twist.
The European-inspired pies will integrate aged infused creams, caviar and imported cheeses like the Italian stracchino. Di Bartolo’s recruiting a Venetian pizza maestro to train the staff.
“We’re bringing new flavors to the area,” he said.
Other menu items will include a 40-inch-long, 16-inch-wide “meter pizza” that may serve six to 10 people; antipasti; an heirloom tomato appetizer; and a mozzarella sandwich with prosciutto. The soon-to-open restaurant’s brick oven, Di Bartolo said, will bring out the real flavors of the pies.
In a rustic setting, the 25,000-square-foot Pie Topia, which hasn’t set a firm opening date, will also showcase a fresh mozzarella bar, where patrons will find the house-made cheeses used in the starters, salads and pizzas.
Eighty seats will be featured inside, as well as 20 on the outdoor patio.
This article appears in Jan 29 – Feb 4, 2015.