Seafire Restaurant, Saint Pete Beach

Though they already owned a popular Italian joint, Verducci's Trattoria in St. Pete Beach, Vincent Fortunato and Giovanni Scamardella wanted to do something a little different with their next restaurant. So they created Seafire Restaurant, a steak-and-seafood eatery located just minutes from St. Pete Beach's shoreline.

Seafire's chefs take advantage of the area's ultrafresh seafood, pan searing diver scallops and grilling octopus. They also age 24-ounce cowboy steaks in house and nestle pork chops over pineapple chunks and mashed sweet potatoes. And because Fortunato and Scamardella didn't forgo their Italian roots entirely, chefs whip up plenty of pasta and wood-fired pizza at Seafire.