At her usual table at the Frog Pond in North Redington Beach, Sharon Russell debated between waffles with strawberries or her longtime favorite — French onion soup.

Three blocks away, Rick Ricart is still repairing his hurricane-damaged home. Yet even while living temporarily in Lakeland, he makes the drive back for breakfast.

Both are part of a devoted customer base that helped resurrect the 43-year-old landmark after Hurricane Helene nearly wiped it out. They did so by lending money to a former dishwasher-turned-manager who refused to let the neighborhood staple disappear.

When Helene’s storm surge slammed into the Frog Pond on Sept. 26, five feet of water filled the building, destroying equipment, flooring, and electrical systems. The damage totaled $150,000. Owners David Hitterman and Brian Calkins announced they would not rebuild.

That’s when Luciano LaRocca stepped in. The 30-year-old had managed the North Redington Beach location for a decade, but his roots stretched back to washing dishes at the original St. Pete Beach site. Determined to save the restaurant, he asked to take over.

Russell, 76, who has been dining at the Frog Pond for years, was among the first to help. She loaned LaRocca $95,000. Ricart, 57, who discovered the spot after moving nearby, provided another no-interest loan despite his own home being destroyed in the storm.

“Luciano has a tremendous work ethic,” Ricart told the TBNewspapers. “Nearly everyone from the wait staff to the cooks came back. That speaks volumes.”

In all, LaRocca raised nearly $250,000 — most of it from loyal customers. On Aug. 29, the Frog Pond reopened with a soft launch that felt more like a family reunion. The grand reopening is set for Sept. 20.

The revived restaurant looks refreshed but familiar: scratch-made hollandaise sauce, oversized portions, longtime servers who still remember orders by heart, and head chef Reyes Oviedo, who has been in the kitchen since 1999.

For LaRocca, the journey was as personal as it was professional.

“It’s a family that nobody wanted to lose,” he said. “If you believe in something — even if it’s just scrambled eggs — people will believe in you.”

That faith has turned the Frog Pond’s comeback into more than just a reopening. For many in a community still recovering from Helene’s devastation, it has become a symbol of hope.

“This was a kind of rejoice for so many that have felt defeated,” Ricart said. “Just to see the revitalization of this place gives people hope.”

The Frog Pond’s story, which began in 1982, now enters a new chapter under LaRocca — sustained not by investors or banks, but by the very people who made it a tradition.

“It’s wonderful,” Ricart said. “It’s a big deal.”

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