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<\/p>\nThe road to a brick-and-mortar for \u201cMozzarella\u201d Mike Deininger was paved with pop-ups, pedagogy and catering gigs.<\/p>\n
And in late August, he plans to open Mozza, a new Italian paninoteca, with his wife and business partner, Tiffany Deininger, in St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n
A paninoteca is essentially an Italian sandwich shop, Deininger said by phone Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll be reminiscent of those places you stumble upon in Italy, but we really want to hone in on the sandwich and wine program,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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Mozza will debut with sandwiches like an arrosto, with house-made roast beef chilled and sliced thin, fennel pollen, mozzarella and a pan jus; a house-baked porchetta with mozzarella and Calabrian broccoli rabe that\u2019s served hot with a pork jus; and pop-up favorites like the mortadella sandwich with stracciatella and pistachio spread.<\/p>\n
Deininger plans to use Franca\u2019s sourdough focaccia bread and is in talks with owner Michael Thill to permanently supply the restaurant. Franca\u2019s is the lauded<\/a> mobile wood-fired pizza concept where Thill creates naturally fermented and leavened dough for his Neapolitan-Roman pies.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like their sourdough focaccia is the best bread I\u2019ve had, pretty much in my life,\u201d Deininger said.<\/p>\n Mozza will also carry specialty Italian goods like Marco Colzani\u2019s bread, papaccella peppers and Piedmont tea.<\/p>\n The wine program will range from bubbles to French selections to Italian pairings.<\/p>\n \u201cMozzarella\u201d Mike debuted at the now-shuttered CellarMasters<\/a> just shy of a year ago with a pop-up. With \u201cbig stretch energy,\u201d according to an Instagram post, Deininger offered hand-pulled mozzarella in dishes like a caprese salad and house-made stracciatella with compressed cantaloupe and salame rosa from Bologna, Italy.<\/p>\n Simultaneously, Deininger launched mozzarella classes, where the cheese-curious could learn the craft of making hand-stretched mozzarella.<\/p>\n Deininger has also collaborated with and worked for Thill at Franca\u2019s doing catering gigs and pop-ups at spots like Golden Isles Brewing Company in St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n Golden Isles and CellarMasters acted as a creative hub to launch the brand, he said.<\/p>\n Deininger has worked atStew\u2019s House of Bagels<\/a> for the past year as an operations manager. He started as a baker, arriving at 3 a.m.<\/p>\n Stew\u2019s is a breakfast sandwich-driven shop and gave Deininger the confidence to move forward with him and his wife\u2019s vision of an Italian paninoteca, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cMy house-made cheeses should translate great onto these sandwiches; the feedback\u2019s been great with the catering,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been running a sandwich shop now for a year, so let\u2019s try to find the right location, somewhere that we love, and let\u2019s make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Mozza will join The Violet Stone and 86 Wine Bar, where \u201cMozzarella Mike\u201d has also done pop-ups, in the Crescent and Magnolia Heights neighborhoods.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re super fortunate that we got friends right around there, like right down the block, we\u2019re in really good company,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s really making this area super exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n 2319 Dr. MLK Jr. North, St. Petersburg. @mozzastpete<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n The Tampa Bay Times Food Hub launched in 2026, a four-person team covering Tampa Bay\u2019s dynamic and expanding food scene. You can contribute to the hub through our journalism fund by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Want food news weekly in your inbox? Sign up for our newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Top 50 Restaurants: Check out our food critic\u2019s list<\/a> of the area\u2019s best spots.<\/p>\n Follow our updates on the local restaurant landscape on Instagram at @tampabaytimesfood<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/79d313b02580bb4bbe5718a73bbb6f6a.jpeg\"\/)
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