City: Tampa Bay, FL

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (727) 538-5768

Address: 13505 Icot Blvd.

Description: It’s not quite a Cinder-fella story, but almost. Owner/chef Christopher Ponte (the e is silent) had graduated from college in Rhode Island and was working in a Clearwater Beach restaurant. After several months of providing exemplary, special-request meals to a particular customer, the customer asked Ponte about his goals. Long story short, the customer sent Ponte to Paris to study at the Cordon Bleu. Afterwards, Ponte worked for and studied with many of the top chefs on both sides of the Atlantic before returning to Clearwater to open his own restaurant. Café Ponte, a Golden Spoon restaurant for 2008, serves exquisitely presented dishes that mingle tastes from a variety of cuisines from around the world. Ponte’s Maple Leaf Duck Breast, for instance, sounds like a fairly straightforward entrée, complete with seared foie gras and a ginger sweet potato pancake—until, that is, you see that it is served with an orange Szechwan peppercorn sauce. The menu isn’t set in stone, but people who don’t like surprises can read it on their Web site. You’ll find a number of imaginative martinis plus a carefully selected wine and liquor list. Lunch at Café Ponte is served Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dinner is served Monday through Thursday from 5:30 to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5:30 to 10 p.m. Café Ponte offers a prix fixe menu that includes a choice of appetizer, entrée, and dessert from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Reservations are suggested for all meals.