Update: Opening day for The Helm is now expected in early spring due to needed repairs after a car crashed into the side of the building. Stay tuned for more info on when the new restaurant will open its doors to the public.
A new seafood lunch and brunch restaurant is opening soon at St. Pete Beach. The Helm: Provisions & Coastal Fare will be home to a restaurant and full craft cocktail bar for weekday lunch and Saturday brunch, as well as a raw bar, seafood market and small retail shop.
The menu is, of course, coastal-inspired fare that will be sourced from local companies and captains. That hyperlocal flexibility will allow The Helm to offer different specials on the menu and at the raw bar, as well as through the fresh seafood market. Owners Heidi and Michael Butler have a combined 50 years of experience in the restaurant and hospitality industries, and The Helm, located at 7736 Blind Pass Rd, will be their first brick and mortar together under Haran Hospitality.
The Helm is aiming to open its doors to the public in late January or early February, but the restaurant’s lunch menu has already been developed and features a wide variety of dishes sourced from local fishermen and farms.
Raw bar, creative sandwiches and decadent desserts fill out The Helm’s menu
Appetizers include crab fries, carpaccio, clam dip and whipped feta, while the raw bar will offer a variety of oysters as well as clams, crab Louie and a shrimp cocktail. Alongside soups and salads, a drool-worthy list of sandwiches rounds out the menu with a lobster roll, oyster po boy, steak sandwich and “pastramied” beet sliders.
One item in particular that sounds like a star in the making is a crispy chicken sandwich with a peach and prosciutto jam served between mini waffles. The dessert menu offers even more tantalizing choices with a spiked cookies and milk and a rum cake.
Themed brunches and meal kits coming to The Helm
The Helm is also planning to do special themed brunches, as well as speakeasy pop-up nights, low country boils and other unique events.
In addition to the restaurant and raw seafood market, The Helm is creating meal kits available to purchase and take home, as well as “picnics to go.”
“We want to have something for everybody,” Heidi Butler said.
On their website, The Helm describes itself as “a collaborative raw bar and market experience in Tampa Bay, joining you with captain, farmer and chef.”
Stay tuned to I Love the Burg for more news on an official opening for The Helm.