Tampa chef Fabrizio Schenardi from Pelagia Trattoria leaves the restaurant

fabrizio schenardi One of the most lauded chefs in the Tampa Bay area is leaving Renaissance International’s Pelagia Trattoria to take the Executive Chef position at the Four Seasons in St. Louis. Stepping up will be Chef Daniel Goldich, formerly the senior banquet chef, who has worked with Chef Fabrizio for ten years. Tampa is losing a very talented star but it sounds like the restaurant will be in good hands. The press release:

Tampa, FL (Aug. 9, 2010) – Nearly six years after first opening, Pelagia Trattoria is now under the supervision of only the second executive chef in its history.

Former executive chef Fabrizio Schenardi , who was recruited to come to Tampa after a nationwide search, helped launch the acclaimed restaurant Aug. 11, 2004 and has been at its helm ever since. Daniel Goldich, most recently Pelagia’s senior banquet chef and who has worked closely with Schenardi for nearly a decade in both Tampa and Southern California, has been named Pelagia’s new executive chef. Goldich previously was in charge of the food and beverage duties associated with banquets, special events and in-house catering at the Renaissance International Plaza Tampa Hotel.

“Daniel knows the way I think and how things need to be done. He is very good because he cares. He will maintain the standards of Pelagia,” said Schenardi. “I came to Tampa to open and operate Pelagia like it was an independent restaurant. I think I helped to change the scenery of the restaurant business in Tampa. I am very proud of my work here.” Schenardi has been tapped to be the executive chef of the Four Seasons Hotel in St. Louis .

Together, Schenardi and Goldich have been instrumental in the overall development of Pelagia and all of the food-related functions at the Four Diamond Renaissance Hotel, including overseeing breakfast, lunch and dinner served daily in the restaurant and supervising menus and food preparation for banquets, room service at the 293-room luxury hotel and on-site catering for meetings and events.

The longtime friendship and professional partnership between the two chefs began when both were working at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort and Spa in Dana Point, CA. Schenardi was executive sous chef there when Goldich joined the Five Star, Five Diamond resort as a sous chef in 2001.

Goldich began his career training at the Academy of Culinary Arts in Atlantic City. After graduating in 1999, he moved to Chambéry in southeast France to work at the Michelin Star-rated L’Essentiel before returning to the U.S. to work at the Sheraton Convention Center Hotel in Atlantic City. Prior to moving to Southern California, he focused on Hawaiian fusion cuisine at the W Hotel’s Diamond Head Grill in Honolulu.

Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily, Pelagia Trattoria is located at 4200 Jim Walter Blvd. (or 2223 N. West Shore Blvd.), in the lobby level of the Renaissance International Plaza Tampa Hotel, Tampa, FL. For information, or reservations, call 813-313-3235 or go to www.pelagiatrattoria.com.