St. Petersburg has spent years quietly becoming one of the best food cities in the country, and now it has decided to stop being quiet about it. On Tuesday, April 7, two of the city’s most celebrated chefs will share a kitchen at Pulpo Kitchen & Lounge (2147 Central Ave) for a one-night-only collaborative dinner as part of the Tampa Bay Wine & Food Festival.
Chef David Benstock of Il Ritorno and Chef Jason Ruhe of Pulpo, Brick & Mortar, and Sea Worthy are teaming up for a chef’s dinner that may well be St. Pete’s culinary event of the spring ahead of the Michelin Guide announcements in May. Yes, this is as good as it sounds. No, you can’t just show up.
Together, the two celebrated chefs will craft a thoughtful multi-course dinner showcasing seasonal ingredients, bold flavors and refined technique, with each course paired with selections presented in partnership with Breakthru Beverage. It is the kind of dinner that sounds like it was designed specifically to make your regular Tuesday feel ashamed of itself.
Here is the catch: seating is limited to just 30 guests. Thirty. That is fewer people than a mid-size birthday party. Tickets are $225 plus tax and gratuity, and they are available here. Hours and menu details are subject to change.
Photos via Pulpo Kitchen & Lounge
Chef Jason Ruhe, the West Tampa-raised culinary force behind Pulpo, built the restaurant as a love letter to his Cuban and Spanish heritage, drawing on flavors from Peru, Mexico, and beyond. The restaurant earned a mention in The New York Times’ “36 Hours in St. Petersburg” feature just months after opening, which is the kind of validation that makes a chef confident in the best possible way. Ruhe also runs Brick & Mortar and Sea Worthy, because apparently opening one excellent restaurant wasn’t enough of a challenge.
Chef David Benstock, owner of Michelin-recommended Il Ritorno (449 Central Ave), is a man whose resume reads as if someone dared him to train under every legendary chef on the planet and he said, “challenge accepted.” Benstock honed his skills at Scott Conant’s Scarpetta at the Fontainebleau in Miami, Gabriel Kreuther’s Michelin-starred The Modern in New York City, and Ristorante Trovatore in Venice before coming home to open Il Ritorno on Central Avenue. He also beat Bobby Flay on the Food Network with his signature Short Rib Mezzaluna, which is the culinary equivalent of walking into someone’s house and rearranging their furniture while they watch.
The two of them joining forces this April is a once-in-a-while collision of two of St. Pete’s finest, and it will be a tough ticket. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
Photos via il Ritorno