For the longest time I’ve been intrigued by the front of
this restaurant, but never went in and always forgot to look it up when I got
home. Today, we finally went in for dinner.
Bernini is in a
renovated bank building located at the corner of 7th Avenue and 17th
Street in Ybor City. The restaurant is named for Giovanni Bernini who was a
painter/sculptor during the Italian renaissance. They serve Italian fare to
include salads, pizzas, pasta dishes, desserts and many more appetizers and
entrees.
The one thing that always seems to be a problem in Ybor is
its parking. We were lucky enough to be able to grab a 2-hour parallel parking
spot. Other than parallel parking, there are parking lots off 7th
Ave, but expect to pay at least $3.00.
Walking in, you’re welcomed with an absolutely amazing
smell. It could’ve been any of the mouth-watering entrees, pastas, or even the
wood fired pizzas. Whatever it is, I could’ve breathed it in all day long and
been perfectly content. The restaurant is a little cramped in my opinion; the
tables are extremely close together and if there were people sitting at all of
them, it would’ve been hard to maneuver through. However, I love the atmosphere
of the restaurant and the details within the building that you start to notice
after you’ve been sitting for a few minutes. For instance, there’s an upstairs
area with more seating and walls covered in paintings and wine bottles.
After we were seated, the waitress brought us bread with
herbed butter as well as a package of Italian “crackers”. The crackers were
good and brought an authentic feel, the bread was soft and the butter had just
the right herb note to it.
To start, we had the beef carpaccio. At this point, it may
be beneficial for me to add that I don’t really eat red meat. I won’t order a
steak, but I will order carpaccio whenever available. If raw meat scares you,
please don’t let it keep you from trying this. In all honesty, carpaccio is a
great way to try the “raw” stuff if you’re hesitant. The carpaccio at Bernini
is thin sliced tenderloin topped with a small salad, capers, red onion (which
we opted against getting), parmesan cheese and a drizzle of white truffle
infused balsamic vinegar. It was served with thin sliced, toasted bread. It
looked delicious as soon as it got to the table and I couldn’t wait to dig in.
The salad on top was not dressed, so I didn’t eat much of it. I don’t much care
for balsamic, but I must say, this balsamic made the dish. It gave much needed
tang at the end, and paired with the capers, it was wonderful. The meat had the
slightest spice to it from the seared outside being covered with pepper.
Overall, it was extremely tasty and I would definitely order it again. Forgot to take a picture before, but remembered halfway through eating...
On to drinks and entrees….Bernini has $2 martinis (made with
Finlandia vodka). I got a cosmo (since I couldn’t think of anything else to
order) and Chris asked for “whatever the bartender think will pair well with
the entrée” for his. They sent a raspberry martini. He chose the crispy duck
with goat cheese mashed potatoes and a cherry vanilla Chianti sauce. I tried
both the mashed potatoes and the sauce. The mashed potatoes were a little lumpy
for me and the goat cheese made them extremely rich. The sauce on the other
hand, was luscious and full of deep flavor. I would make bread pudding and pour
this sauce all over it, it was so good. Sweet, but not too sweet. As for me, my
drink was okay, but I’ve had better cosmos. For my entrée, I ordered the
cinzano de pesce: clams, shrimp, scallops and tilapia in a red vermouth
marinara over linguine. My only problem with this dish was I got a little grit
in one of the clams, so I ended up picking the rest of them out to be safe. Other
than that, it was a great dish. The marinara had just the right amount of spice
in it so it was not overwhelming, but gave a nice heat throughout. I ended up
bringing home about half of it since it was such a large entrée. Also, until
7pm during the week, entrees and pastas are half off. What’s better than half
off delicious food?!
And last, dessert. I had tiramisu and Chris ordered the
panna cotta. The tiramisu was decent, but in my entire piece, I only had 2 lady
fingers. Since tiramisu typically has layers of lady fingers, this came off as
a bit odd. The mascarpone part tasted fine, but it needed the texture of the
lady fingers. There is the possibility the I got an end piece or a piece that
just didn’t get many lady fingers, but I’m not sure if I would order it again
or not. Neither of us have ever had panna cotta before and our first experience
was a good one. It came with orange sherbet, which turned it into a creamsickle-like
flavor. All in all, it was very scrumptious. We split an espresso martini to go
with dessert, but it paired better with mine than his.
Overall, I would visit Bernini again. The half price entrees
and pastas, along with the $2 martini’s alone make it a deal (and since I’m in
college, deals are good J
). I think it would be a little pricey if that was not the case. In total, we
spent $70.00, including tip. Very good in my opinion, well worth it for what we
got, great service, and I’ve even got enough food for dinner tomorrow.
Bernini is a great place for a great deal!! I agree with the food as you mentioned; its great but has its small faults. Definitely not so bad as to not go back. Oh and they have $5 valet for when parking is particularly bad in Ybor. If anything, its a nice walk down 7th avenue with plenty of shops and people walking to get you by until you get where you're going
ReplyDeleteGreat place! Even cooler "secret" speakeasy upstairs for private events ;)
ReplyDelete