Bella Brava on Central Avenue in downtown St. Petersburg has been trying to remake it's menu now for what seems like a year. Sometimes we grab a table, but most often we grab a seat at the bar for a quick bite. The short lived bar menu is now gone, and so is the little bite-sized burger that tasted anything but small. So on a muggy Friday evening we grabbed a seat at the bar for an ice cold Peroni on draft and a look at the menu.
After realizing the bar menu was no more we looked at the main menu and noticed a few additions and a few subtractions. New to the appetizer menu was a wood-fire oven baked corn polenta with roasted mushrooms and aged pecorino toscana (pictured above on the left). How could something so simple be so complex. Rosemary in the polenta complemented the creamy Tuscan cheese. A little larger serving could have satisfied as a meal.
The Arancini (above right) are risotto fritters and always a favorite, but a tweaking of the aoli sauce gives the warm crunchy fritter a sweet sweet taste, and the fritter itself seemed to lack a lot of flavor.
One interesting discovery from the bar was Mitcher's American WHISKEY, yes whiskey. Distilled in bourbon famous Bardstown, Kentucky; this whiskey had a very spicy taste but not a harsh bite. The distiller also produces an aged 10 year old bourbon. Bella Brava, according to the bartender, is one of only two establishments in Pinellas county to get it. They were out put plan to have more in soon. This Kentucky boy might have to go investigate.
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