"Airie in The City": Grand Opening of FORTU St.Pete +Full Vintage LOTN

Blouse: Vintage

Skirt: Vintage

Heels: Jimmy Choo Romy

Bag: Louis Vuitton Papillion Luggage

Earrings: Kendra Scott Elle in Black

Necklace: Kendra Scott Rayne in Black

Kendra Scott: All bangles in rose gold

Lipstick: MAC Shimmer and Spice

I made this reservation over a month ago for opening night at FORTU, however they have opened for a "soft opening" for about 2 weeks now. I decided to just wait it out for opening night because during "soft openings" sometimes some menu items are not available or the service can be hectic, plus I already had my reservation.

If this place looks familiar to you it should because it is the building that Ceviche used to be in for years. I was very interested to see the renovation of it and how it was reimagined as what is now FORTU.

FORTU offers an elevated Pan-Asian dining experience with a focus on locally farmed items that are bright and bold, according to their website. What I found when I dined in was very elevated food with a focus on steak, there is seafood, but I felt like the steaks were actually the real draw.

The renovation of the space is beautiful. The lighting is pretty cool because it is dimly lit, but it's bright enough to see. I felt like our service was great on opening night and things were smooth which is what I had hoped for. We started out with some light bites, oysters and crispy tuna tacos. I know you guys want the gluten-free details. Well to be honest the menu is low on gluten-free options. This is a Pan-Asian restaurant so a lot of food is fried, breaded, has soy, shoyu, or some other traces of gluten in it.

Our waiter Patrick did do a great job of telling me what was gluten-free. Unfortunately no crudos were gluten-free and for me this is like a main source of protien and one of my favorite things to eat. I was really disappointed, but I was told they hope to add one that is gluten-free to the menu eventually. So, I had the oysters which to me were very plain. From the description the did sound good and I am not sure if maybe some items were held back for example it said there would be peppercorns, but I didn't see any. The oysters however, were very fresh, shucked well, and had a great flavor. So, when I say bland it isn't the oysters flavor that was bland, but the sauce that accompanied it.

So, the real deal here is the steak selections.

They have steak, Prime steak, and A5 Wagyu which is not something a lot of restaurants do around here. My husband had the steak whixh was recommended and he was 100% happy with his choice. It was a perfect cook and he loved it and he is a huge fan of steak.

I had the A5 Wagyu. Well, I don't eat a lot if meat because I eat more seafood, but when I do I eat Wagyu. The Wagyu here is the real deal. It was great. The cook was perfect. I didn't even need the sauce that came with it because the steak itself was perfection.

TROPICAL HARMONY DAIQUIRI

Ten to One rum, ambrato vermouth, coconut, galangal, rainbow peppercorn

Oysters

Spur watermelon and Szechaun Peppercorns

Gluten-free

Wonton tacos: tuna with dark soy and apple.

Not gluten-free

4 oz. Wagyu Steak

So, this butter poached lobster was my add on to the Wagyu. This was not what I was expecting when I ordered lobster. It was better than what I was expecting. This butter broth is so rich and the lobster so tender, much like the steak, it melts in your mouth. It was so good I had to double check that it was gluten-free and it was. I would recommend everything that we had tonight to be honest.