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Benedetto's Is A Secret No More

Tribune photo by CHRISTINE DELESSIO

The menu at Benedetto's Ristorante Italiano in Land O' Lakes offers a huge veal shank osso buco (center), meat lasagna (right) and the Benedetto Dip (left), which includes lobster and crab meat, several cheeses, artichokes and spinach served with crostini.

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By MARY PATRICK

Tribune correspondent

Published: December 31, 2008

Inside, a piano player tickles the ivories. Outside, a singer croons romantic songs to diners. On the menu are upscale Italian favorites.

And it's all in a strip mall. Actually, it's the parking lot of a strip mall. And it's in Land O'Lakes.

When Benedetto's decided to put up a sign proclaiming the place one of Tampa Bay's "best kept secrets," they weren't exaggerating. Upscale enough and with a decent enough wine list to be a good location for an "event" meal — a big date, say, or a birthday — but also family-friendly, the place quickly went from "never heard of it" to "in our Top 10" of praise-worthy restaurants in north Tampa (or, in this case, southern Pasco County).

The place is owned by chef Ben Pumo, who supervises a kitchen where they make their own fresh pasta and sauces every day, as well as cut their own meat. This attention to detail and originality was evident in most of the dishes we tried, which were far better than what we expected when we stumbled across Benedetto's while searching for another restaurant (and with two 7-year-olds in tow).

We started with Benedetto's dip, a mixture of shrimp, crab meat and artichokes in four cheeses with fresh spinach, red onions and sour cream. It was topped off with mozzarella then oven-cooked to a decadent bubbly goodness and served with crostini (bread toasted to an almost cracker-like hardiness).

You can't go wrong there, but if your tastes run to more familiar appetizers, the menu offers such favorites as calamari, bruschetta and Portobello mushrooms sautéed in Italian herbs.

Service was congenial and prompt throughout the meal. In fact, our waitress so lovingly described the chef's special Pollo Tuscany with angel hair pasta that we had to try it. The pan-seared, breaded chicken breast was topped with prosciutto and melted mozzarella, served with a white truffle pink sauce. The color was blush, the texture like satin and the taste ambrosial. It satisfied all the senses.

All entrees come with a house or Caesar salad — both of which were served crisp and cold — and garlic rolls, which were extremely popular with the children.

We sampled the lobster bisque and found it to be among the best we've had in the area.

We also tried the Caprese salad, a fine way to judge any restaurant. The beefsteak tomatoes and mozzarella were fresh, while the balsamic vinegar added just the right note of tanginess.

The menu features new twists on old favorites. The grouper, for example, comes blackened and encrusted with almonds. The Veal Sinatra features cutlets topped with eggplant and cheese. The osso buco is a hefty three-inch veal shank, baked for four hours with black olives and red and yellow peppers in a light tomato sauce, for fall-off-the-bone deliciousness.

Off the kids menu, both girls picked chicken fingers, made fresh to order — a rarity in a restaurant, as anyone with kids knows — and french fries.

For dessert, we tried a cake called Chocolate Beyond Reason, which was just as good (and rich) as you are likely imagining.

This was a surprising, great find — surprising because, given its location, it is not getting the widespread support it deserves. If Bennedetto's were south of Kennedy, you'd have already heard of it. Our only complaint is that seating was a tad crowded in the side room where we were seated, but given that we arrived without a reservation, that's a small complaint.

Tribune reviewers eat anonymously. Mary Patrick can be reached at marypatrick@fridayextra.com.

DINING REVIEW

Benedetto's Ristorante Italiano

BOTTOM LINE: Made-to-order Italian served with a side of Sinatra

WHERE: 21529 Village Lakes Shopping Center, Land O' Lakes

HOURS: lunch: 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; dinner: 4 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 4 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 4:30 to 10 p.m. Sunday

CREDIT CARDS: All major

RESERVATIONS: Recommended

CHILDREN'S MENU: Yes

ALCOHOL: Full bar and wine list

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes

PRICE RANGE: Entrees range from $15 to $39

CALL: (813) 909-9694

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