New St. Petersburg restaurant, lounge from Brick & Mortar team opens next month
Pulpo Kitchen + Lounge, a Latin-inspired restaurant with live music, is opening in St. Pete’s Grand Central District

By Helen Freund
Tampa Bay Times
Published: May 17, 2024

It’s been a long time coming, but the highly-anticipated restaurant from the team behind St. Petersburg’s popular Brick & Mortar is finally opening.

Pulpo Kitchen + Lounge, from husband-and-wife duo Hope Montgomery and Jason Ruhe, will launch in June at 2147 Central Ave. in St. Pete’s Grand Central District.

Planning for the restaurant, a Latin-inspired indoor-outdoor concept with live music and two bars, has been underway for close to two and a half years. But like so many other projects that were stymied during the pandemic, construction, permitting and design elements took a little longer than expected.

And Pulpo, which will seat roughly 150 people — 120 inside and another 30 outside — is arguably the most ambitious project for the couple yet. The duo, who also own In Bloom Catering and Event Planning, opened their flagship restaurant Brick & Mortar in downtown St. Pete in 2015. In early 2020 they followed up with their seafaring spot, Sea Worthy Fish + Bar in Tierra Verde.

“It’s our first full buildout project,” Montgomery said of their latest endeavor. “And we’re just really excited about getting the doors open.”

The couple tapped David Fischer, of local interior design firm and store Zazoo’d, to help design the restaurant, which will feature a large, circular bar, with portions of the bar split into two different spaces. One side will feature live music and private dining while the other portion will occupy the regular dining room. Outside, a courtyard described by Ruhe as a “Latin beer garden,” will feature another bar and a separate stage for live music.

For Ruhe, the restaurant’s Latin concept has a personal connection: His mother has Cuban and Spanish heritage, and the menu will pay homage to those cultural connections, as well as fuse influences from Peruvian, Mexican and other Central and South American cuisines. There will be a selection of small plates, including ceviches and crudos, as well as large format dishes like paellas and a whole grilled octopus. At the outside bar chefs will prepare anticuchos — Peruvian-style grilled meat skewers — over a hibachi grill.

Unlike Brick & Mortar, which only serves beer and wine, Pulpo will feature a full liquor bar and craft cocktail program, helmed by Ruhe’s cousin, Dylan Ruhe, as well as a wine program heavy in Spanish wines and Old World selections, curated by Montgomery.

The restaurant’s live music component appears poised to offer a unique addition to the Grand Central District’s bar scene, and will feature live music both inside and outside, with a range of artists and genres, including Afro-cuban-style DJs, Latin jazz and Brazilian bossa nova.

For now, the couple is hoping to open the restaurant by the second week of June. Pulpo will serve lunch, dinner and weekend brunch, and will stay open late Thursdays through Saturdays.