TASTE OF THE TREASURE COAST
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With its nautical decor, Peitro’s has
the elegant look of a cruise ship. After
being closed for nine years, the restaurant
was completely renovated.
The menu offers “innovative American cuisine” with
seafood, chops, steak and lobster dishes. “I needed someone
young, energetic and creative to be my chef,” says Valentini.
He didn’t have to look far to find chef Kyle Green, who apprenticed
at Rottie’s. A graduate of the Culinary Institute in
West Palm Beach, Green at age 27 has an impressive resume
with experience at Smith and Wollensky and Emeril’s in Miami
Beach, and the Capitol Grille in Palm Beach Gardens. Locals
may remember Green as the chef at the Brick Yard in Stuart.
“Pietro gives me the freedom to be creative with flavors as
long as it meets the standards of excellence,” says Green. “It’s
great having a leader like Pietro to set the bar. All of the employees
want to be a part of it. Even walking up the ramp to
the restaurant has that wow effect. I apprenticed here and I was
thrilled to get my experience at a restaurant of this quality.”
Sean Mann is a 35-year Hutchinson Island resident who
brokered the deal to reopen the restaurant. “When Rottie’s
opened, I met Pietro,” says Mann. “He was there from the beginning.
He is a well-defined restaurateur who knows what
it takes to run a five-star restaurant. Our office was across the
street, and we were there two or three times a week. We used
to bring clients to the ocean for great food and service.”
It is an upscale restaurant just north of Jensen Public Beach,
drawing both young and old. Valentini says the clientele is a
mix of former Rottie’s customers, fans of Pietro’s on the River
and new faces. There is live music on the deck Friday nights
and Sunday afternoons.
“This is just what Hutchinson Island needed,” says real
estate broker Mann. “People come from Vero to Jupiter. It is
exciting to have fine dining back at that location.”