I think I may have a new favorite restaurant in Tampa. I can’t afford to go there very often but what a marvelous dining experience. Sleek on the outside, crisp and starched on the inside, it speaks elegance through and through and boasts an attentive staff with the Goldilocks touch – not too much, not too little, just right.
Now, first of all, I’ve never had someone introduce themselves as my bread server, but Braeden did just that. I loved him. Personable and clearly gorgeous, he’s an asset to the company. If anyone out there is paying attention, he’s hoping to one day have a modeling career.
I mean, I’d book him for a photo shoot, wouldn’t you?
My waitress, Mackinzie, helped me choose some things I wouldn’t normally gravitate toward. I told her I wanted to try something different. She made her favorites sound so yummy, I took her advice and settled on the mushroom soup and the short ribs.
Country bumpkin that I am, if I hadn’t had my soup presented this way once before, I’d have made a fool of myself when I saw a bowl with interesting looking stuff in the bottom but no sauce. I’d have pointed out they clearly had the wrong table. Fortunately, I’m a fast learner. I know nowadays they don’t just plop a chipped bowl with bits of soup curdling on the rim down in front of you (can’t tell I’m basically a small-town girl, can you?). It’s fashionable to present the bowl with the artful display and then pour the liquid around it while at the table. So here’s the mushroom soup. Trust me when I tell you it’s just as delicious as it is attractive.
Then there was the short rib. It’s on a bed of scallion-potato puree and has a green apple cucumber slaw on top. It’s sprinkled with a chili-peanut crunch and has a tad of jalapeno spice to it. Then it’s topped with a black truffle cognac sauce.
The rib was a bit on the fatty side but since I never order short ribs, I don’t know if that’s the norm. In any case, it was fabulous. It’s dishes like this that make me appreciate it when I hear famous chefs talk about different flavors on the palate. I always thought that was baloney but no, it’s not. With this dish, I get it.
And can you go wrong with a peppermint gelato? I don’t think so. Couple that with a cappuccino, and I was in heaven.
Ponte Modern American has a unique menu ranging from starters like tuna tartare, scallop ceviche, black truffle risotto, escargot, and caviar. There are also specialty breads (thus the bread waiter) and salads that include my waitress’s favorite – roasted beets with goat cheese, Asian pears, citrus, mint and hazelnut. (I don’t know. Beets?) I stuck with the soup.
Entrees include Chilean sea bass (my usual go-to), New Bedford scallops, verlasso salmon, heritage chicken, berkshire pork chop, boneless short ribs, filet mignon and split bone ribeye. There’s also a New York strip, Kansas City bone-in, tomahawk chop (for 2) and lamb chops.
Dessert anyone? I’ve become like my mother in that I’ll set my entree aside when I start getting full just so I have room for dessert. I don’t know if that’s a senior thing or a sugar thing. Who cares? Ponte has everything from cheesecake, to sorbet and gelato, tarts, panna cotta, cake and souffle.
My dinner cost me $79. That includes an automatic 15% gratuity that’s divided amongst the staff. Anything extra you choose to add on goes directly to your waiter or waitress. Was it worth it? Oh yes.
- 1010 Gramercy Lane, Tampa Florida
- 813-582-7755
- Open Sunday-Thursday 4:00 PM – 10:00 PM and Saturday/Sunday 4:00 PM – 11:00 PM
- http://www.pontetampa.com
Lisa Browder 
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