CUAISRITNE
Authentic Tastes
Da Sesto Italiano Ristorante e Vino
By Margaret Word Burnside and Aaron R. Fodiman
Photography by Gram
Da Sesto’s Risotto Milanese Con Frutti Di Mare is filled with lobster, shrimp and scallops.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 | TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 171
For many years, Chef Sesto Ramadori
of Da Sesto Italiano Ristorante e
Vino in Pinellas Park has drawn
patrons from throughout the Tampa
Bay area, and due to the restaurant’s
intimate size, a reservation had become
imperative. Chef Sesto and his wife Annick
have moved Da Sesto a few hundred feet
to the north into a freestanding building
with increased dining areas and more than
ample parking, so they can now easily
accommodate a larger audience. The new
location’s interior is warm and inviting and
has a definitive Mediterranean feel that is
both comfortable and elegant.
Along with the new space is a vastly
expanded menu that gives the chef an
opportunity to demonstrate the cooking
skills he learned first from his mother and
then through his many years of operating
his restaurant. The menu begins with a
long list of small plates that are ideal for
sharing. You can create your own antipasto
by choosing what you want from their list
of items, or order his mother’s specialty
from her hometown of Ascoli Piceno, Oliva
Ascolana, large green olives stuffed with
All these items included either soup or a
house salad and freshly baked bread. We
concluded our meal with a large piece
of tiramisu that was everything we had
expected the layered sponge cake to be,
a pure Italian delight.
Da Sesto’s offers whole wheat, glutenfree
and other specialty-flavored pasta,
and you can add a variety of extras to
any dish that ranges from lobster tails
to grilled eggplant. The restaurant’s
service is excellent with a seasoned wait
staff that makes your dining experience
special. The menu is extensive with a
multitude of meat, seafood and pasta
dishes in addition to pizza, and there is a
full bar, plus an excellent wine list with
more than 150 choices.
You are sure to find exactly what
you like here, as Chef Sesto is driven to
please his clientele in the sincere Italian
tradition. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: Da Sesto Ristorante e
Vino is at 7201 66th St. N. in Pinellas Park,
just south of Park Street, (727) 209-2695.
meats and Parmesan that are breaded and
fried. We devoured an incredible mussel
dish in a white wine and curry sauce that
we soaked up with bread after finishing
the mussels. Our other favorites were
large shrimp in a sauce of white wine,
lemon garlic and butter, and a bowl of
fried calamari served with a tomato
and caperioli sauce. Sesto’s sauces are
addictive.
For our entrées, we had Fagotto di
Vitello, a veal pouch stuffed with
sausage, ham, pancetta, mushrooms,
spinach and asiago; Pappardelle Amore
Mio Alla Norcina, pappardelle in a light
tomato sauce with porcini mushrooms,
sausage and a drizzle of truffle oil; and
Risotto Milanese with lobster, shrimp
and scallops. We felt as though we
were dining in Portofino, as the rich
Italian flavors of each of these dishes
captivated our taste buds. However, the
overwhelming favorite was a plate of
jumbo handmade tortellini that were
filled with gorgonzola and pears and
covered with a saffron cream sauce. We
literally licked the plate of this creation.