New organic ‘farm-to-table’ Italian restaurant opens in Bradenton

The flavors of the Anzio and Napoli coastal regions of Italy will be available in Bradenton, perhaps as soon as this weekend, according to owner and chef Simone Salustri, who is opening Eat Organico after spending the past 20 years at Sonoma restaurant in Sarasota.

Salustri found his Bradenton location at 4823 Cortez Road W. about nine weeks ago and has been renovating the space for authentic and organic farm-to-table Italian cuisine from his home regions of Italy.

“We want to deliver that same experience of combined centuries of coastline knowledge from the Napoli and Anzio regions,” Salustri said.

Coming from the coasts of Italy means Eat Organico not only will specialize in Italian, but also seafood as well as offer Italian sushi, fresh pasta, organic eggs and grass-fed meats.

Salustri said everything in the restaurant will be organic and fresh from local farms and fisheries to “deliver a fine Italian experience.”

The restaurant also will offer menu options that are gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian, Or diners can get their carnivore on “to satisfy your dining experience,” Salustri said.

Besides an Italian restaurant focusing on seafood, another unique offering is the restaurant’s focus on crudo, or raw fish. Crudo is prepared similarly to sashimi in the way it is sliced thin, drizzled with oil and brought to flavor with various seasonings.

Eat Organico will use crudo in a variety of dishes, including crudo Mexican mackerel served with organic potatoes polenta, and their signature eggplant parmigiana with corvina fish and fresh-caught wild shrimp.

Another menu option will be red snapper crudo served on a bed of organic wild mushrooms and thinly sliced bell peppers. Of course, there will be several authentic Italian dishes as well.

Salustri said he believes Eat Organica will be the first restaurant in the region to serve crudo-style dishes, “And it’s an amazing way we do our fish. This is what differs us in our contemporary and classic Italian dishes.”

Eat Organica temporarily opened its doors Wednesday night for a grand opening celebration and is hoping to open full time on Saturday.

Check the restaurant’s Facebook page for continued updates.

This story was originally published November 15, 2017 at 4:59 PM with the headline "New organic ‘farm-to-table’ Italian restaurant opens in Bradenton."