CUISINE
OLIVIA
Chef Chris Ponte’s Masterpiece
By Margaret Word Burnside and Aaron R. Fodiman
146 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | MARCH/APRIL 2021
Generally, Chef Chris will
have a few other specials
to choose from, so there is
never a problem finding
something you are craving.
Five creative side items
not often found elsewhere
can be shared by the table:
Calabrian corn, Brussels
sprouts, truffle mac ‘n’
cheese, parmesan potatoes
and blistered Shishito
peppers. Don’t miss out
on adding at least one of
these to your meal.
The dessert masterpieces
make it challenging to
select from the tiramisu
to the flourless chocolate
cake. The panna cotta,
apple butter torta, cannoli,
and gelato and sorbet are
all first-rate. You can’t make
a wrong choice. Service at Olivia is smooth
and attentive with managing partners
Michelle Ponte and her son, JT Mahoney,
and general manager John Urbanski
overseeing everything with watchful eyes.
Open every evening during the week at
5 p.m., Olivia opens at 10 a.m. on Saturdays
and Sundays for brunch specialties that
include sandwiches, egg dishes, Chicken
and Doughn-affle, zucchini frittata, orange
blossom pancakes, smoked salmon pizza
and other treats such as yogurt and granola
with berries. There is so much to enjoy at
Olivia that you will definitely not tire of
dining here. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: Olivia is located at
3601 W. Swann Ave. in Tampa, (813) 328-8866.
Be sure to call for reservations.
the others are sensational as well, and
we tend to alternate between the shishito
peppers with four cheeses and the fontina
with mixed mushrooms when we want
something different.
For pasta, there is a black pepper spaghetti
with pecorino, bucatini carbonara, rigatoni
with ragu Bolognese, parmesan and herb
ricotta, a four-cheese spinach cannelloni,
and a squid ink casarecce with shrimp.
Each creation brings a unique twist to its
combination of fine ingredients.
There are five items that have their
origins from Cafe Ponte, but even these
have been put on steroids for Olivia. The
sea bass is exquisite, as is the filet mignon
with marsala truffle sauce. Likewise, the
short rib with gorgonzola polenta, and the
shrimp and scallops with butternut polenta
are perfection. The chicken Milanese
with its topping of arugula, fennel, goat
cheese and capers rounds out the entrées.
With the closing
of Cafe Ponte
in Clearwater,
those who
yearn for Chef Chris
Ponte’s incredible style
and flavors will find them
at his year-old, family
owned and operated
Olivia restaurant in Tampa.
Chef Chris, along with
Chef Cristian Ruiz, has
taken many of the classic
preparations from Cafe
Ponte to Olivia. Modern
Italian dishes have been
added to create a casual
yet sophisticated trattoria
that offers both northern
and southern Italian
cuisines in a contemporary,
comfortable atmosphere.
The menu is simple, but
each offering has the magic touch only Chef
Chris can add. To begin, you can choose
from a four-cheese arancini; truffle fries;
peppadew with herb cheese; olives with
provolone; a luscious combination of
prosciutto, stracchino, fig jam and truffle
honey; a Wagyu carpaccio; and goat cheese
with garlic, olives and tomatoes. There is
also a charcuterie platter, mozzarella with
heirloom tomatoes, burrata, meatballs,
roasted oysters, fried calamari, Wahoo
“Crudo,” an arugula salad, and an Italian
mixed salad of radicchio, provolone and
other ingredients such as shishito peppers.
All of these items are wonderful, along
with craft cocktails, wine or beer from
their specially selected list by Tyler Wolff,
managing sommelier. The wines are
available by the glass or the bottle.
The pizza, which is made in their open
dough shop, is not to be missed. The truffle
honey and ham pizza is our favorite, but
Daily specials, such as this double pork chop at Olivia, are consistently
creative and flavorful.
NORAA