Pass-a-Grille’s Berkeley Beach Club hotel and restaurant sold to new owners

Berkeley Beach Club, the popular Pass-a-Grille boutique hotel and home of The Dewey restaurant, has been sold to new owners. Proprietor Maryann Ferenc, who also co-owns the iconic Tampa fine dining restaurant Mise en Place , confirmed the news Monday. The deal was finalized last week, she said, adding that the decision to sell the hurricane-battered property didn’t come easily. “It’s very personal,” said Ferenc, whose nearby home was also heavily damaged during last year’s Hurricane Helene. “There have been more than (a few) moments for some serious tears throughout all this.” The property was sold to Helen and Dave Feinberg, who together with their daughter have taken over operations at the hotel, which remains open, Ferenc said. The downstairs restaurant, The Dewey, took on roughly four feet of floodwater during Helene and has been closed since. Though Ferenc and her team had since reopened the Berkeley Beach Club to guests, the insurance money they were counting on to eventually rebuild the Dewey never came through and the downstairs restaurant remained gutted and vacant for nearly a year. “I thought we were going to get insurance money, I really believed that,” Ferenc said. “Maybe we’ll get a few thousand dollars but it (wouldn’t) be enough.”The Feinbergs sold the property to Ferenc and the hotel’s co-owners back in 2015, so passing the business back, while a difficult decision, also ensured it stayed with owners who care about the local community, Ferenc said. “They’re really great people who are very fond of Pass-a-Grille,” she said. “It’s a totally heart-driven thing — they love it and they’re investing in it.” Meanwhile, Ferenc and Mise en Place chef Marty Blitz are gearing up for another big change: moving their lauded Tampa restaurant from its long-running home off W Kennedy Boulevard to a new location in Ybor. The new Mise en Place will likely open by late fall inside the Casa Gomez building at 1229 E. Eighth Ave.

Pass-a-Grille’s Berkeley Beach Club hotel and restaurant sold to new owners

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