ST. PETERSBURG — Dayna Bennett and Ian Florence bonded over the same plate of food before they even met.Bennett moved to San Luis Obispo, California, in the early 2000s, attempting to transition out of working in restaurants and into advertising. She quickly found herself back in the hospitality industry, helping her friend open a new restaurant. She hit it off with the chef de cuisine there, Ian Florence, and as they got closer she learned he made one of her favorite meals in town: a chow noodle dish at a spot called Novo where she’d been eating for years.Bennett, 44, told this story as she placed a shallow bowl of noodles on the table at Calida, the restaurant she and her now-husband own on St. Petersburg’s Martin Luther King Jr. Street. The dish is one of the restaurant’s signatures and, like most dishes here, it comes with a story as intriguing as what’s on the plate.Florence, 43, who grew up in St. Petersburg, started renting the space at 2909 King St. N. in 2017. He needed a space outside of the house to play music (mostly drums and electric guitar) after finding out Bennett was pregnant, and the little spot that dates back to the 1930s fit the bill.Bennett and Florence have both spent the majority of their lives working in restaurants, but had never run one together. They had a checklist of ideal features when they first began dreaming about Calida: really small, neighborhood spot, away from the downtown bustle, parking lot. The rental spot had everything they wanted. Once they decided on a concept, they spent two years building out the space themselves, turning what was a plain square building into a charming, cozy restaurant.“We designed it to look like an European hole in the wall,” Bennett said. “We wanted it to feel like you’re traveling when you come inside.”Calida, which debuted just about a year ago, is open just three days a week starting at 5:30 p.m.: Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The name is a combination of “Florida” and “California,” and also means “most beautiful” in Greek, and “warm” in Spanish, a doubly apt description of the vibe. With just north of 20 seats and a small bar, dining here feels like you’re eating in someone’s house — in all the best ways.The space evokes that but so does the menu, which is a thoughtful and eclectic mix of dishes. It feels more like how we cook at home: One day you’re craving Italian, the next you want long noodles coated in sesame oil.Florence is the chef, a self-taught cook who started working in kitchens in 1994. He honed his culinary chops in California before moving back here in 2014 with Bennett.The couple has hired some part-time employees to help run the restaurant, but Florence remains the only chef. He sources all of the ingredients himself on the days the restaurant is closed, going to farmers markets, Asian grocery stores and local purveyors each week.“It really depends on what’s available and what looks good,” he said, noting that the menu naturally changes with the season. “When you get stuff delivered, you can’t have as much control over your product.”They get fish from Sammy’s Seafood, veggies from Brick Street Farms , oysters from Lost Coast Oysters . Sometimes there’s a great-looking product at a restaurant supply store like Gordon Food Service or Restaurant Depot.“He’ll call me all excited sometimes and say ‘They had these huge beautiful scallops at GFS!’ So we have scallops for a special that week,” Bennett said.Bennett runs the front of the house, taking reservations by hand and tending to tables throughout the evening, offering food and wine suggestions. She is the warm, welcoming face of the restaurant, your steady guide through a meal at Calida.“I create everything on the menu, but she’s like my muse. We really feed off of each other,” Florence said.Every dish comes with a story. The Chow Noodles, one of their most popular items, tell their love story. For the squash and chorizo starter, it’s a tale about Tasmania, where they first came across the combination of zucchini and chorizo.“Pretty much our whole menu is based on our travels,” Bennett said. “We remember something that we tried somewhere, an ingredient or dish we’ve had in another country, and then Ian takes that and finds local products and makes his own creation.”There’s always some kind of fish. A steak. A vegan option. There are several rotating specials, depending on what looks good that week.“I’m super mindful to make sure everything is tied together. It all makes sense,” Florence said. “It’s not like spaghetti and egg rolls. It’s just my food.”Calida is the kind of place where reservations are actually required, the small space and limited hours creating a truly intimate, exclusive feel that has kept the owners busy since they opened in April 2023.“We have a lot of regulars, a lot of repeat customers,” Bennett said. “This is the only place I’ve ever worked where people are making reservations while they are eating. At the end of their dinner, people will ask when they can come back.”As the only full-time employees behind Calida, Bennett and Florence are being deliberate about how much they expand as they head into their second year. They hope to be open Wednesdays, if they can find the right mix of child care and additional employees. They’ve started offering wine dinners (the next one is in April) and hosting private parties, but they have intentionally built things up slowly, and want to keep it that way.“Because it is so small and not very well known, people like feeling that they discovered it,” Bennett said. “That happens a lot. We love that.” Calida is open 5:30-9:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday. It’s located at 2909 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N., St. Petersburg. 727-202-0263. calidastpete.com .