Upscale seafood restaurant Sea Salt to close after nearly a decade in downtown St. Pete
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sea salt, a major tenant in the sundial shopping complex in downtown st. pete, will close on new year’s eve | sundial
Downtown St. Pete staple Sea Salt, an upscale Venetian-inspired seafood restaurant, will permanently close by the end of the year after nearly a decade in business.
Located at 183 2nd Avenue North in the Sundial shopping plaza, the restaurant will serve its last meal on December 31st, according to an announcement from the owners and husband-and-wife Ingrid Aielli and Chef Fabrizio Aielli.
The owners of Sundial are not wasting any time filling the soon-to-be empty space. In a conversation with St. Pete Rising, a representative from Paradise Ventures hinted that discussions are ongoing with a replacement tenant for the Sea Salt space and stated, “good things are in the works.”
As for Sea Salt, the owners sent out an email to their customers stating, “The past 10 years have been nothing short of amazing.”
The dining room and glass-enclosed wine room with thousands of wine bottles | sea salt facebook image
“We want to thank everyone who has been part of Sea Salt’s story. Our team, our guests, and our community have been at the heart of everything we do. While this chapter is ending, the memories and connections will live on,” the email continued.
The 12,000-square-foot restaurant boasts an 80-foot-long raw bar, a private chef's dining room, and a 20-foot-tall wine tower that can store 6,000 bottles.
Since its opening in 2015, it has won numerous awards for its innovative and carefully crafted culinary dishes made with artisanal and locally sourced ingredients.
Sea Salt's version of the Spanish Octopus with gigante beans, arugula, and a vernaccia-caper sauce | sea salt facebook image
Inside, Sea Salt showcases dozens of rare salts from around the world and can seat 300 guests with indoor and outdoor seating overlooking the Sundial’s courtyard.
The Aielli Group debuted the first Sea Salt restaurant in Naples in 2008. The success of the restaurant led them to expand their portfolio with the addition of three more restaurants in Naples—Barbatella, Dorona, and Grappino.
Since purchasing the shopping plaza in 2022, Paradise Ventures has signed a handful of new tenants, such as Incanto Moda Italiana, an Italian women’s boutique, medical diagnostic imaging company Prenuvo, anti-aging medspa company Serotonin, and Forbici Modern Italian, one of Tampa’s most heralded Italian restaurants.
The raw seafood bar and cocktail bar inside sea salt | sea salt facebook image
