Ortygia Restaurant

Meet Ortygia Restaurant and Chef Gaetano Cannata.  When people grow up cooking and eating their favorite cuisine, you know you’re getting a piece of their family history and the history of their native country, in this case, Sicily, Italy.  Chef Guy’s cuisine is the result of living in a tight-knit neighborhood in New Jersey and watching his father create elaborate meals for friends and family.  Their home was a gathering place of friends and relatives, and Guy strived to recreate that atmosphere at Ortygia Restaurant in Bradenton.

Chef Guy decided to move to Florida and work in various restaurants to accumulate knowledge of other cuisines and fine tune his own culinary talents.  Seeing the laid-back atmosphere of Bradenton’s Village of the Arts, he converted a cottage into a charming and atmospheric restaurant, his Ortygia.  This is the sweet atmosphere and meeting place for eating and hanging out where he serves up “Monzu” cuisine, a mixture of Sicilian and French cooking that actually dates back to Napolean’s time.

In fact, Chef Gaetano’s style of culinary arts incorporates elements of Arab, Greek, Spanish and North African cooking styles that have historic roots.

The ingredients in Chef Gaetano’s food embrace organic and locally purchased products in an effort to buy local.  Mazzone Extra Virgin Olive Oil is exclusively used in all preparations.  Did you know you can cater your party or business meeting through Ortygia?  Indoor and outdoor space is available with the perfect ambiance.  And there are some very special retail products available for your home use.  Just inquire within.  This restaurant offers a friendly family atmosphere and you’ll find the patrons to be discerning about flavors and knowing exactly what they want.  Log onto: www.ortygiarestaurant.com  to see the menu and many more interesting facts or call 941-741-8646 for reservations and remember, Ortygia is open from Tuesday through Sunday to serve you.  Lunch is served between 11:30 am to 2:30 am.  Dinner is from 5:00 pm to 9:30 pm.

Chef Gaetano hosts cooking tours of the Mediterranean that you will want to sign up for. Learn about the cuisine sand see the gorgeous countryside of different regions of the Mediterranean as you have hands-on cooking lessons and tours and meals in the better area bistros and cafes. Look for the tab on the website to sign up or simply read and learn about how exciting these tours are, with pictures and comments from patrons.

My friend Sande Caplin, who is always searching out restaurants and taking friends along to enjoy the ride, gave me an excellent recommendation for Ortygia.  Sande is an IBE member and was very impressed with the unique cuisine at Chef Guy’s wonderful restaurant.  In fact, Sande said that Chef stopped at his table to asked how everything was and answered all the questions about the origin of some of the dishes and was generous of his time.  All around it was a delicious experience for Sande and his friends.  IBE Barter is proud to have Ortygia as a member and to refer people there for a special, one-of-a-kind meal!  Chef Guy welcomes you!