When it comes to good eating, the greater Sarasota area more than holds its own with Tampa Bay. Here's a quick guide to the places down south that are worth the hour trip.
St. Armands Circle is dominated by touristy joints and a few Gulf Coast institutions that are past their prime — Sarasota's Columbia is not much different from Ybor's. Your best bet is to hit the Blue Dolphin for its fancified version of a diner breakfast. The prime rib and eggs or lobster Benedict are worth the inevitable wait and slightly inflated prices.
North of Lido and St. Armands is Longboat Key, home to wealthy retirees and snowbirds. Most of the restaurants are the type of staid establishments that cater to the elderly crowd, but a few places stand out.
Like Pattigeorge's — helmed by Tommy Klauber, the brother of better-known local restaurateur and gadfly Michael Klauber. Tommy Klauber's mish-mash culinary vision is an odd fusion of reworked Pacific Rim street food, European fine-dining classics and elegant Kosher cooking. Yeah, it's fun to have matzoh ball soup, curried noodles and crème brûlée in one sitting.
Longboat Key is also home to the best chef on the Gulf Coast. Jose Martinez once had a restaurant with a Michelin star in downtown Paris. He eventually decided to slow down and move his family away from one of the most competitive dining scenes in the world to open Maison Blanche. The place does modern French cuisine in thoroughly modern decor, impeccably prepared by a chef who is concerned with every detail of every dish, from starters to desserts. Eat there and believe it.
Downtown is the heart and stomach of Sarasota's good eats. On Main Street you'll find Selva Grill, serving Darwin Santa Maria's exceptional upscale Peruvian cuisine anchored by a dozen varieties of exquisite ceviche; the edo-style sushi and rich soups of Utamaro's Tokyo-inspired Japanese cuisine; and the best croissants west of the Atlantic and Parisian petit-dejeuner at C'est La Vie.
A few blocks off Main in the nigh-gentrified Rosemary District is the experimental cuisine of Derek Barnes, Sarasota's chief culinary innovator. At Derek's you'll find finely constructed food where each particle of flavor is individually designed to fit into the structure of a dish. Nearby is Rustic Grill, a restaurant where the food and service can never live up to the incredible decor. Still, the place is worth a visit just to see the dining room.
South of downtown is Table, with its South American- and Pacific Rim-influenced menu and newly re-modeled bar area that has become Sarasota's latest hip hangout. The food is even better than the crowd, especially luscious short ribs tinged with tamarind and ginger, or the cheese puffs served in lieu of bread.
Right next to Southgate Mall is Sarasota's other chef innovator, Cliff Whatmore and his Southgate Gourmet. SGG started as fancy take-out, but in the past year Whatmore began serving sit-down dinners that are vastly more complex and interesting — like tamarind cream quail with quick sous vide, Myakka black grape tomatoes and camomile vinaigrette. Combine that intricate and tasty cookery with a great cheese selection and wine priced just $10 over retail, and you've got a restaurant worth a trip over the Skyway.
Head over to Siesta Key and you'll find the usual bar food and fish shacks, along with three places that stand above the touristy fray. Cafe Gabbiano is all about beautiful pasta sauces and New York-style fancy Italian, with a vast wooden deck covered by billowing tents glowing with dim light. On the other side of "The Village" is Maximo's, which blends Italian with African, from shrimp with parmigiana and spicy bere-bere sauce to lamb stew served with tart injera bread.
On the other end of Siesta Key is Ophelia's on the Bay, a Sarasota classic where you can eat fine-dining standards inches from the intercoastal waterway, overlooking tangled mangrove islands and leaping schools of fish.
It's not all fancy-pants-and-white-tablecloth dining down south, though. Want to eat on a budget or just have a down-home meal to offset all those rich eats? No problem.
The roast chicken at Maria's is tasty — coated in a mix of dried herbs and ground pepper for a spiced-but-not-spicy kick — but the creamy aji pepper sauce accompanying the bird is downright addicting. Secret recipe? Curse you!
As with the Tampa Bay area, there are minimal vegetarian and vegan options south of the Skyway, but Simon's Coffeehouse manages to cater to both while maintaining a firm omnivore base. The fresh desserts and soups are some of the best in the area, and every ingredient is organic, when possible. That's also the philosophy of the Bean Stalk in Sarasota's Gulf Gate area. There, the organic obsession is channeled into comfort food like rich veal and mushroom meatloaf with creamy mashed potatoes and cucumber salad, or rotisserie pork and roasted veggies. It may be comfort food, but it's better than my mama made.
Best fast food? The stuffed pastry pockets at 4 And 20 Pasty Company. Best donuts? Gold Star in Bradenton. Best breakfast? Word of Mouth, now with two locations. Best Pizza? Il Panificio. Best Chinese? None, really. Tampa's rich culinary heritage and varied population base give it a big edge when it comes to almost every variety of ethnic cuisine.
In other ways, Sarasota has the food scene and moneyed clientele to compete with the Bay area's best. Here's the deal: You don't need an excuse to get out of town and eat at any of these restaurants. Each is worth an hour's drive down the Interstate all by itself.
Brian Ries is a former restaurant general manager with an advanced diploma from the Court of Master Sommeliers. Creative Loafing food critics dine anonymously, and the paper pays for the meals. Restaurants chosen for review are not related to advertising.
This article appears in Feb 21-27, 2007.