David Benstock is the owner and executive chef at Il Ritorno, a modern Italian eatery in downtown St. Pete. Born and raised in St. Pete, David left the area to pursue an education in the culinary arts. He studied at Johnson and Wales University in Colorado and has cooked all over the world. He helped open Wolfgang Puck’s Spago in Bachelor Gulch, Co., worked at Michelin Star Restaurant The Modern in NYC, trained in Venice, Italy, and cooked alongside Scott Conant at Scarpetta at the Fontainebleau, Miami. After nearly a decade away, David came home to open his own restaurant in downtown St. Pete. Il Ritorno, “the return” in Italian, marks his homecoming and one of many restarts in his life. In just a few years, Il Ritorno has become a staple in Tampa Bay’s culinary scene, holding down the heart of a city in the midst of its own restart.