Sonata Restaurant & Lounge at The Mahaffey Theater

By Hal Freedman

At The Mahaffey Theater

I love going out for dinner. Even better is dinner and a show! Sonata makes that easy. Located in the Mahaffey Theater, it’s the perfect place for an excellent dinner prior to a concert… whether it be the Florida Orchestra, Randy Rainbow, ABBA, or Lewis Black (to name a few we’ve been to recently). Park once, have dinner, and walk across the lobby to your seat. The restaurant is open on non-performance days as well.

And there’s the moon! Inside the building! Go see for yourself…

Sonata opened in late 2023, the brainchild of Bill Edwards, whose company has managed the Mahaffey for over 15 years, and Chef Ted Dorsey, former owner/chef at The Mill (for 10 years). I’m a little surprised Bill hadn’t opened a restaurant here earlier…waiting for the right Chef, perhaps?

After The Mill closed, Bill hired Ted as Chef/Manager for The Club at Treasure Island, and when that property sold, Sonata at the Mahaffey was a natural transition for the pair.

Please remember Sonata is a fine-dining restaurant. Give yourself a couple of hours before a performance to enjoy dinner and to be fair to the kitchen which is preparing meals for a hundred or more diners. The restaurant currently seats 145, but when the lounge and patio are activated, it will seat 350.

You’re probably asking: “What about the food and service?” In a word: Terrific! There’s also a well-curated list of wines by the glass and bottle…and some really interesting cocktails!

We’ve eaten there 3 times, the first time on Sonata’s first night open to the public. The food and service were on point…as if Sonata was a restaurant that had been around for a long time. Among us, we had the Wagyu Beef Tartar & Braised Bone Marrow, the Gasparilla Salad (a meal in itself), and the Seared Diver Scallops. The scallops were tender and meaty. The accompaniments perked up the scallops, with their diversity of flavors & textures. The salad was generously loaded with perfectly cooked seafood. The Tartar/Bone Marrow starter was the most unique preparation for Steak Tartar I’ve tasted. It was excellent, likely to become a signature dish.

Our next visit was just a couple of weeks later…I expect we will have dinner at Sonata whenever we have a performance at the Mahaffey. Chef Dorsey has found a source for amazing Australian Wagyu Beef. He uses it in the Tartar/Bone Marrow dish and in his Burger. However, the best way to enjoy it is as a STEAK! Willi (my spouse) and I shared a 14oz Australian Wagyu Ribeye…juicy, unbelievably tender, and very rare, as requested. It arrived cut in large slices, making it easy to share. It came with a Red Beet Sweet Potato Pave…a layered bit of delicious. We ordered a side of Edamame Corn Succotash. We had no room for dessert, but we “forced” ourselves to have an overly-generous slice of Chocolate Cake. High, moist, and more than we needed.

Our most recent visit included a plethora of dishes. We started with the Char Grilled Octopus. The accompanying lemon dill red pepper hummus and Moroccan spices made this different from similar dishes on other menus around St. Petersburg. It was also a larger portion and delicious…very tender! Chef Dorsey told us he cures the octopus to dry it out, confits it in duck fat, and then cooks it to order…a lot of work, and worth it.

We also had the Burger, made of the Australian Wagyu Beef, the ample Osso Bucco Bourguignon, the Day Boat Gulf Fish with the Saffron Risotto on the side to accommodate Willi’s dairy allergy, and two (2) awesome desserts, a DARK Chocolate Pot de Crème and one of the most beautiful desserts I’ve ever had: a Panna Cotta and Raspberry Gelee “sculpture” that was as good as it looks!

Chef Dorsey prides himself on fresh, high-quality ingredients, many sourced locally. He puts a lot of thought and planning into what he prepares. As an example, he told me he uses kennebec potatoes for his fries. They are a more expensive, higher-starch potato, but they make a better fry. It’s all about attention to detail.

Bottom line, I would order any of these dishes again. Sonata and its Moon are winners!