Bella Bella Bella - and no, I'm not talking about Twilight!

I was jonesing for some cocktails and culture, but what's a Tampa Bay area girl to do? 


For culture, I decided to head over to downtown St. Petersburg to take in the fantastic Chihuly Collection glass works exhibit at the Morean Arts Center.  I've been in love with Chihuly's works since I attended the opening of the Bellagio in Las Vegas a million years ago.  The Chihuly collection exhibit did not disappoint whatsoever.  Several rooms of beautiful, exquisite pieces.


Now that the culture portion of the evening was taken care of, it was time for the cocktails.  I headed down the street to Bella Brava New World Trattoria.  The first thing I noticed is that there are chalkboard walls and the waitstaff's names were written on the wall.  Evidently one of the waitstaff is named Lily - or else I was late for my shift and I didn't know it!

For the record, my server was Brian.  It would have been more ironic if Lily had been my server ... but again, I may have had amnesia-- maybe I work at Bella Brava!  Where's my apron?  What are the specials?


I started my evening with the Blackberry-Ginger Smash cocktail - acai liqueur, blueberry acai vodka, blackberries, ginger, simple syrup and lemon juice.  Tart, tasty, tangy and I told myself that the acai was good for me.  Health in a glass, right?

Now that the cocktail choice was made ... on to dinner.  Being American and therefore a lover of all things deep fried, I have a weak spot for any menu that says "housemade potato chips."  Hence the gorgonzola fonduta had to be ordered - housemade potato chips with a gorgonzola cheese fondue.

I was so excited for this appetizer and then so disappointed once I tasted it.  The fonduta had a taste that I can only describe as curdled - almost like maybe it had been overcooked and reheated several times.  The chips were also overcooked so that they had an almost burnt aftertaste.  The gorgonzola fonduta was overly pungent.  The flavors did not marry well at all.  It was like bad plus bad equals "ugh, what's that taste in my mouth?  Old socks?"  I found myself longing for a beer-cheese fondue instead or even just a topping of shaved Parmesan and Parma ham ribbons on top of the potato chips. 


The special of the day was a tuna carpaccio and Brian, my server, highly recommended it.  I loves me some good, raw ahi - so I said "Brian, consider me sold!"

The tuna carpaccio was amazing.  A little heavy handed on the sesame, but delicious nevertheless.  I have no idea what the lump of bagged salad mix with dried out carrot shreds was doing on the plate.  Visually, it completely brought the sophistication of the dish down (way down) and it did not add to the flavor profile whatsoever.  Pick a new salad or garnish, Bella Brava!


To accompany the tuna carpaccio, I had another cocktail - a French Greyhound- vodka, elderberry flower liqueur and ruby red grapefruit juice.  I have no idea what an elderberry flower looks like, but the overall flavor of the cocktail was perfectly tart and fantastic.  I could drink these all day and all night long!

The Bella Brava cocktail menu has many more items that I would like to try, but I'll be giving the gorgonzola fonduta a pass in the future.  My taste buds and my waist line are appreciative of that decision!