Chefs Team on New Market Concept in Florida

James Beard Award-winning Chef Michael Mina is partnering with friend and celebrated chef and author Don Pintabona for a market and restaurant scheduled to open fall 2014 at Sundial, a new shopping and dining complex being developed by The Edwards Group in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The retail experience at Locale Market will be modeled after the great markets of Europe. Locale will feature nearly 20,000 square feet of hand-selected ingredients and thoughtfully sourced artisan products. There will be a conscious effort to balance the artful world of creative inspiration with grounded products for everyday needs. Locale will offer fresh ingredients and a variety of artisanally prepared foods and baked goods.

All ingredients will be fresh from the farm and straight from the boat to ensure the highest-quality offerings. Customers can choose from a wide abundance of meats, seafood, fruits, vegetables, wine, fine cheeses and charcuterie. They can also visit Locale’s full-service delicatessen, wine bar, coffee bar and bakery stocked with sweet and savory treats prepared daily. Sharing the space with Locale Market will be a full-service restaurant, Farmtable Kitchen. For those who want to enjoy the culinary offerings of Locale’s Market in a restaurant setting, Farmtable will be a dining destination for locals and tourists alike. Farmtable will offer a seasonally inspired menu with a casual farm-to-table feel that brings the best of Mina’s California alongside Pintabona’s Italian flavors.

“Recently named Top 52 Best Places in the World to Visit in 2014 by The New York Times, downtown St. Petersburg is a destination,” said Sundial owner, Bill Edwards. “Thousands of people live, study, work and visit here – and more are on the way. St. Petersburg needs a market like Locale – we’ve got nothing like it. And Farmtable Kitchen will be a special place to dine. I am so pleased that Michael Mina and Don Pintabona are bringing their passion and talents to St. Petersburg.” For Mina, the opportunity to work with his lifelong friend is an opportunity to fuse the influences of East and West under one concept that will work well in St. Petersburg and potentially other locations in the future.

“It’s always great to partner with someone who is not only a wonderful friend, but someone who is incredibly talented, like Don. We were inspired to marry Don’s New York edge with my California sensibilities; you’ll see this carried throughout all elements of the market from the design to the product to service.” A renowned chef and cookbook author, Pintabona has created an illustrious career for himself over the past 30 years. He spent his earliest years working at Grand Union Supermarket under his father’s tutelage and learned all aspects of the retail food business. After receiving a business degree at the University of South Florida, Pintabona drove a New York taxi to put himself through school at The Culinary Institute of America, where he graduated with honors. He spent the next 10 years refining his skills on three continents, under top chefs like Charlie Palmer and Daniel Boulud in New York, Georges Blanc in Vonnas, France, and Kiyomi Nishitani in Osaka, Japan.