DINING OUT
Annata Restaurant & Wine Bar
300 Beach Dr. NE St. Petersburg annatawine.com (727) 851-9582 Sunday to Thursday 4 – 10 pm Friday and Saturday 4 – 11 pm
BY LORI BROWN When Annata came onto the scene of downtown St Petersburg’s Beach Drive four years ago, it was highly anticipated. The owners of the St. Pete beloved staple Mazzaro’s Italian Market, Kurt and Mary Cuccaro, were opening Annata, which made its arrival even more exciting for foodies. It was touted as a wine bar which would offer cheese, charcuterie and tapas. Annata was thoughtfully designed with a very warm and inviting interior and also offers outdoor seating . Annata quickly became known for its not only tantalizingly delicious Cheese & Charcuterie boards but boards that are a pure artistic creation that evokes and entices all of the senses. Chef Joshua Breen has been with Annata for three years and has been given the freedom to invoke his passion for his craft in his own way. In all honesty, we have not given Annata its just due in the past couple of years. Chef Joshua started posting pictures on Facebook of specials that we could not ignore. You want to just scarf down the pictures of his sexy food with your eyes. Chef Joshua says, “While at Bricco Ristorante in Boston, where I worked under Chefs Marisa Iocco and Victor Paone, I was taught more about passion and flavors and how people eat with their eyes first and that has always been in my mind ever since.” Chef Joshua is definitely St Petersburg’s rising star in our culinary world. His specials are always so creative that it’s hard to order off of the regular menu.
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StPeteLifeMag.com
September/October 2018
We had heard fantastic things about the Steak Crudo so we had to have it and it did not disappoint. It consists of “raw” prime beef, quail egg, gribiche, caper berries, crispy garlic and grana cheese. The way to eat this for the most intense effect is to put some crudo on a toast point with a bit of egg, take a bite of a caper berry and combine. Kevin ordered the Pan Seared Hogfish special - marinated in ginger, lemongrass, ponzu soy served over rice gnocchi with a vegetable stir fry (this is traditionally a Korean dish called Tteok-Bokki-Tteok) including sesame seeds, roasted peanuts and crispy garlic. It is lightly crispy on the outside, moist and tender inside with light and buttery Asian flavors that tantalize the senses. The roasted peanuts and sesame seeds give the dish a nice crunch addition to the texture with the rice gnocchi and the vegetables. I saw a picture of Chef’s Chicken Parmigiana special and had been craving it ever since, so I was praying that they had it still that night. And luckily they did. It is made with Colina Tomato Sauce, Fresh Mozzarella, Bucatini Pasta, Fresh Basil and Grana cheese. This is by far and away the best chicken parmigiana I have had the pleasure of eating. Fantastic Italian comfort food taken to the next level. On another visit, I tried the Tuna Tartare and it is the best I have ever eaten. It is made with jalapeño citrus vinaigrette, crispy