CUAISRITNE
SPECTACULAR DINING
Sea Salt Restaurant
By Margaret Word Burnside and Aaron R. Fodiman
Photography by Noraa
This black grouper was served with green bamboo rice,
barbecued hearts of palm, papaya and golden raisin salsa.
MARCH/APRIL 2018 | TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 171
When Chef Fabrizio
Aielli and his wife
Ingrid decided
to open a
St. Petersburg outpost to
join their supersensational
restaurants in Naples, they
chose the second floor of the
Sundial for a 12,000-square-foot
seafood-oriented establishment.
Stylishly designed with a giant
seafood display on ice at the
entrance and a wine tower that
can hold 7,000 bottles, it has become one of
Tampa Bay’s most venerable dining spots.
With a large outdoor patio and trendy
seating and spacious and gracious design
elements everywhere, you immediately are
prepared to indulge yourself in fabulous
dining.
Menus are similar for lunch and dinner,
although lunch offers an additional variety
of sandwiches and smaller entrées.
Whichever you choose, be sure to stop
and look at their fisherman’s display case,
where you can choose your own fish to be
baked whole, filleted tableside and served
with citrus beurre blanc sauce.
Since they always have a selection of
a red pepper glacé that will
make you realize you could
become a vegetarian.
The side items, such as
brussels sprouts with maple
and bacon, or sautéed mixed
wild mushrooms, are not to
be missed. You can enhance
any dish with grilled shrimp, crab
cake, diver scallops or a grilled
half Maine Lobster Tail. Or order
a topping of Bérnaise sauce, Sauce
Au Poivre, Gorgonzola Crust or
our favorite, a Truffle Demi-Glace.
The desserts are decadent. Items such
as their chocolate dome or berries in sauce
will make the perfect ending to an excellent
meal.
As they have for us, the extensive wine
list, choice of salts, bread baskets and other
small, but important touches are bound
to make this one of your favorite
restaurants. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: Sea Salt Restaurant is
located at 183 Second Ave. N. in St. Petersburg
on the second floor of the Sundial entertainment
complex, (727) 873-7964.
oysters and platters of assorted seafood that
range from oysters to Maine lobster tails,
choosing what to order at Sea Salt will be
your only problem. To start, you may want
the Beef Carpaccio, Diver Scallop Crudo, or
Baked Oysters Rockerfeller. Whatever you
choose will convince you that at Sea Salt,
only the best natural ingredients are used.
Most fish is served either simply grilled a
la plancha, or in accordance with the chef’s
presentation.
There are several pastas, steaks and items
such as Wagyu Beef Short Ribs, Niman
Ranch Pork Chop and free range chicken,
in addition to a pan seared tofu steak with