The latest culinary dining sensation by renowned French-trained Chef Chris Ponte will open at Midtown Tampa, Bromley Companies announced today.
“As one of the most renowned restaurateurs in the Tampa Bay region, Chris Ponte has delivered both imaginative food as well as wonderful hospitality to guests for more than 20 years,” says Nicholas Haines, CEO, Bromley Companies. “We couldn’t be more excited to partner with him on the incredible new restaurant he has planned for Midtown.”
After graduating from the famed Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and working in some of the world’s most prestigious culinary settings, chef Ponte opened two of the Tampa Bay area’s favorite restaurants, Café Ponte in Clearwater and On Swann in Tampa. Those who already love the sophisticated cuisine and exceptional atmosphere of Ponte’s other locations will find the Midtown Tampa restaurant just as enticing.
Plans for the 5,000 square-foot restaurant will seat 200 guests, a full bar and lounge, 400 world-class wines, and an open kitchen surrounded by glass. Lunch and dinner will be served daily, with brunch on the weekends.
“Midtown is a first-class, one-of-a-kind destination,” says Ponte, who is both chef and owner of The Ponte Group. “The location just off I-275 makes Midtown the perfect choice for our new concept in the Tampa market. In addition to opening an exciting restaurant as a destination for Tampa foodies, it will be easy for our long-time Café Ponte patrons from Pinellas County to cross the Courtney Campbell bridge and join us for lunch or dinner, and enjoy all that Midtown has to offer while they’re here.”
The Midtown restaurant concept is in the early development stage. Ponte’s vision for the family-owned Ponte Group’s latest venture is for a trendy, white tablecloth restaurant serving cuisine similar to that found at Café Ponte, modern and elegant American cuisine, featuring steaks and seafood, with French and Italian influences.
Michelle Ponte, chef Ponte’s wife and co-owner of the Ponte Group, says guests will experience a sophisticated, sleek, cutting-edge design. “Set near the heart of Midtown’s central square just off the main entrance at Cypress Street, we’ll have a lively, dynamic location,” she says. “Our restaurant at Midtown Tampa will be the place to dine, and the place to be seen.”
Guests will glimpse chefs in the toques blanches (“white hats”) preparing food behind an open, yet nearly soundproof, glass-enclosed kitchen. Locally-sourced, seasonal selections will be offered.
Colliers International Tampa Bay’s Jim Kovacs, executive managing director of Retail Services, and Tyler Peterson, CCIM, director of Retail Services, represented The Ponte Group in finding and negotiating the new space at the Midtown Tampa location.
Ponte’s new restaurant, along with recently announced True Food Kitchen, are examples of Midtown’s plans to curate best-in-class restaurants at both the local and national level making it a premier destination for those from Tampa, the surrounding Tampa Bay area, and beyond.
