After sitting vacant for more than a year, Ponce De Leon Hotel’s first-floor restaurant will soon host Fortu, a new pan-Asian-inspired concept set to open in the first quarter of 2023.
Fortu is the brainchild of Top Slice Pizzeria owner Shan Bakrac, who’s also opening a new burger joint in downtown St. Petersburg dubbed Black Cattle Burger Co tomorrow, Sep 9. What’s more, Bakrac’s CCN Hospitality group is currently in the process of rebranding as Benson Hospitality Group, to more adequately reflect the company’s growing portfolio of diverse dining options, according to Cory Saffran, who serves as director of operations.
St. Petersburg has an “exciting, eclectic market with opportunities to meet different clientele,” Saffran tells What Now Tampa. “There are locals looking for upscale dining, locals looking for a bar scene. Tourists coming to the pier. We think we can attract all these different segments.”
Saffran adds, “St. Pete doesn’t have an Asian-inspired steakhouse, so there’s a need there we can satiate. We have a great team, and [Bakrac] has big ideas with a really unique concept that just doesn’t exist in the St. Pete area.”
The pinnacle of Fortu’s steak offerings will be a 16 oz. Koji dry-aged A5 Japanese wagyu steak, while its Asian-inspired fare will be marked by various seafood dishes such as a lobster “dynamite” twice baked potato small plate, as well as a Korean-style fried chicken entree. Other shareable options include sashimi, dumplings, and pineapple hot and sour Brussels sprouts, as first reported by St. Pete Rising. Additionally, “Bakrac and his team hope to bring on a sushi chef down the road,” who will curate a daily selection of five or six “high-end traditional sushi rolls similar to what you’d be able to find in Tokyo.”
Fortu marks Bakrac and the team’s first foray into the full-service market, and the wider soon-to-be-named Benson Hospitality Group has plenty more plans for the future, including an eventual expansion into Tampa’s metro area.
