Roasted grouper
RESTAURANT NEWS | FLORIDA
The Blu Fin Takes Vero Beach Dining Across Borders
Argentine roots, Italian heritage, and years in Costa Rica shape chef Sebastian La Rocca’s seafood-focused menu.
THE BLU FIN | MAP | INSTAGRAM
By Maria Rodriguez
6:33 a.m. ET, Oct. 5, 2026
AUTHOR BIO: With a day job that requires constant travel, Maria Rodriguez is likely a regular at your favorite restaurant. She’s reviewed restaurants since 2007 in magazines from Spain to Seattle.
Before you cut into the steak at The Blu Fin, there is a decision to make: which knife? Servers present a box of options alongside a New York strip that arrives beneath a cloche, with a giant lump crab fricassee served separately. The dish, called Charley’s Steak, takes its inspiration from Charley Brown’s, a Vero Beach favorite of the 1970s. For a restaurant preparing to serve its first dinner, it’s a nice way of acknowledging that the town has eaten well before.
The Blu Fin is the first of three venues from Windward Restaurant Concepts, founded by Vero Beach native Anthony DeChellis. Argentine-born chef Sebastian La Rocca oversees the cooking across the development, beginning with this 78-seat restaurant, where Mediterranean dishes acquire Latin American accents.
La Rocca
“Our Mediterranean and Latin flavors reflect my Argentine upbringing, Italian roots in Puglia and nine years living in Costa Rica and traveling throughout Central America,” La Rocca says.
That geography turns up in combinations that give you reason to pause over the menu. Iberian pork comes with Oaxaca mole and duck fat cipollini onions. Octopus tonnato gets confit tuna sauce, pickled shrimp, heart of palm, and cured egg yolk. The ribeye takes chimichurri, pepper escabeche, and Barolo onion jus, putting Argentina and Italy on speaking terms.
Tuna crudo
Seafood occupies much of the menu. Cured red snapper pairs ajo blanco with Granny Smith apple vinaigrette, toasted buckwheat, and shaved truffle. Olive oil-poached lobster comes with lettuce gazpacho and charred corn and cucumber salsa. Capellini combines Santa Barbara sea urchin, saffron cream, and caviar. Even the beef tartare gets lobster bisque sauce.
La Rocca plans to work with local fishermen and farmers whenever possible. He also wants the restaurant to become a regular stop, beyond birthdays and anniversaries. “We want guests to leave already thinking about when they’re coming back.”
Charley’s steak
Roasted heritage chicken
After The Blu Fin’s opening this month, two companion businesses will follow: Turtle Cove Gourmet Market, selling fresh pasta, seafood, pastries, and prepared meals, and The Motley Cow, with seafood, charcoal-oven cooking, and cocktails beneath a palapa roof. Between the three, DeChellis is giving Vero Beach several reasons to return. Only one, so far, involves choosing your own steak knife.
