*Ponte Modern American Restaurant place setting*

James Beard nominated Chef Chris Ponte opened his highly anticipated Ponte Modern American restaurant in late December 2022 at the new 23-acre Midtown Tampa development near Interstate 275 and N Dale Mabry Highway. We visited recently.

*Ponte Modern American exterior at the new Midtown development at Dale Mabry and Interstate 275*

The interior’s elegant design starts with linen-draped tables and a glass-encased wine cellar separating the dining room and bar. There's an elegance to the table lighting that adds a refined ambiance to the room. Newer restaurants that have trended toward harsh overhead spotlights should steal this page from Ponte’s playbook. Customers are a mix of folks celebrating milestones, trend-following bougie youngsters dressed in high fashion best, and traditional high-end diners. The noise level is moderately loud.

As one might expect in a new upscale restaurant, tableside service is top-notch. They are unabashed about their prices. I like the fact that our server gives us the prices of specials up front, then skillfully upsells some of the dishes. At service, a team of wait-people act with surgical precision delivering plates to the table in syncopated measure.

*Parker House Rolls-honey glazed with black truffle butter*

Instead of the house bread service, we start with Parker House rolls ($10). Served on an elevated platter, the golden brown, sweet, buttery puffy sections are topped with a honey glaze and served with a side of black truffle butter. The Modern Caesar Salad ($16) of romaine lettuce, red endive, black peppercorn parmesan crisp, lemon anchovy dressing is prepared in layers in a glass sleeve and revealed at service. It’s a stack of dressed lettuce mixed with croutons and topped with a creamy dressing, a disk of toasted parmesan, and breadcrumbs, and is light and fresh.

The Roasted Beet Salad with red endive, goat cheese, Asian pears, citrus, mint, and hazelnut ($14), the most artfully plated dish of the night, is a hit with my tablemate.

Pontes 28 oz. 35-day dry-aged Linz Porterhouse steak ($90) is presented with an odd plating. The massive bone is served sticking up like a phallic sculpture between two portions of pre-sliced beef. If the kitchen is going for a unique look, this is it. The flavor is spot on, but the beef in the bite I sampled is chewy for my liking.

The house has chosen Berkshire Pork Chops ($38), a heritage breed of heavily marbled pork and dry-aged it. The chop is served topped with roasted caramel, pickled cabbage, walnuts, sage, and calvados sauce.

Perfectly seared New Bedford Scallops ($48) are accompanied by rainbow cauliflower, capers, crispy prosciutto, sultanas, and hazelnut-brown butter.

We top it all off with the house Chocolate Tart. Cutting into the chocolate crust shell yields an oozing warm salted caramel filling. It’s all topped with vanilla gelato and is a sweet end to a good meal.

Chocolate Tart- salted caramel, vanilla gelato — *Chocolate Tart with oozing salted caramel, topped with vanilla gelato and a perfect blend cappuccino*

A striking feature in the busy glassed-in kitchen are the blue-lighted steak lockers storing aged beef. It’s a creative modern touch.

The wine list is extensive. Customers select wines using a tablet as an electronic sommelier. It prompts the selection of likes and dislikes, varieties, regions, etc. It worked well, but sometimes a traditional human is better. The bar offers a slew of craft traditional and modern cocktails.

Valet parking is useful here, as parking at Midtown at night can be challenging. Reservations are suggested since they are experiencing the new-kid-on-the-block crowds.

https://www.pontetampa.com/

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