In Good Taste
Primi Time
Italian cuisine with a South African touch
BY JULIE W. MARTIN
Photography by MARK SICKLES
For South African couple Arno and Irene von Waltsleben, their love of food is a tale of two cities. Veteran restaurateurs and natives of Stellenbosch, near Capetown, they set sail to see the world aboard their 43-foot Monte Carlo, home schooling their children along the way as they made port of call in exotic locales such as Fernando de Noronha, Brazil and Kuru. Arriving in St. Petersburg, one look around at the historic downtown buildings and adjacent Tampa Bay reminded them of home. Says Irene, “Sometimes you have a feel about a place.”
So the von Waltslebens threw out the anchor and opened Primi Urban Café in May 2006 on Central Avenue and 4th Street, where Big Daddy’s Barbeque once stood, in the hub of St. Petersburg’s emerging restaurant district. From the outside, Primi looks more like a storefront diner, but once inside, the checkerboard flooring and cozy tables surrounded by shelved bottles of South African wines and Pellegrino add an unpretentious European flair.
Anyone who can handle three children (including a 3-year-old) on a 43-foot sailboat can handle a Saturday night dinner crowd — and the bandana-wearing Arno von Waltsleben excels in his role as owner, chef and sometimes front line cook at Primi. Equally amiable and adept at conversation and food prep, von Waltsleben creates some of the best Italian-inspired cuisine in Tampa Bay. He worked with South Africa’s grande dame of cuisine, Topsi Venter, and trained with an Italian chef — and both influences are evident. “Arno loves Italian food,” says Irene. “He makes it with his own personal touch.”
Primi Urban Café, 27 4th Street North, St. Petersburg, primiurbancafe.com, 727-895-4909. Julie W. Martin dines anonymously and at the expense of TBI.
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