Your Sarasota restaurant news!!

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Happy Hour Is Here!

Sarasota has an up and coming happy hour scene. And, the brand new Veronica Fish & Oyster House located in Southside Village is a strong contender. Great upscale, big city bar setting.

Hello...

#PRESEASON… What is the world is going on in town? Walk through Siesta Village, packed. Southside Village, super busy, University Park, well, you all know the mob scene that’s going on out there. It’s like the big switch just got flipped. Cooler temps and bigger crowds. WAY BIGGER! I couldn’t be happier for all of our Sarasota restaurant friends and acquaintances. Those cash registers are ringing at pretty good clip. It’s not that long until that late November eat-a-thon formally known as Thanksgiving. That’s when we normally get our first real pop. Not the end of October?? This is not a complaint, just an observation. I love it when the city is busy and things are hopping. It looks like it’s time to use your creative skills when trying to get a table. We’ve got lots and lots of local restaurants that take online reservations. You can find them all on our website. If you’ve never done that, now’s a good time to figure it out. If you regularly use that method, then you know what I’m talking about. You wouldn’t have it any other way. Easy, peasy… WINE ON, Are you up for a five course wine dinner? Come on, this will be delicious. WED, OCT 26th, HARRY’S CONTINENTAL KITCHENS presents a Trimbach Wine Dinner. Just a few seats remain. $75PP++, MORE INFO, 941-383-0777… BEER ON, It's easy to love a half pint as much as a full. BREW THRU SRQ has the half pint thing covered. Join their Sarasota Half Pint Tour, NOV 4th, $40PP, includes 4 craft beers AND a trolley ride! MORE INFO & TICKET PURCHASE HERE... SCARY STUFF, Some Halloween doings. MATTISON’S CITY GRILLE, has a party + costume contest. SAT, OCT 29th. Yes, there will be prizes. Contest begins at 10PM. Out on Siesta Key, the OLD SALTY DOG is having a combo Halloween party + 30th anniversary bash. They’re rolling back prices on food and drinks to 1986! Should be fun!... SIPPIN’, The SIP THE SUNSHINE FLORIDA CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL is on SAT, OCT 29th. 50 craft breweries, 110+ craft beers, AND, Blues Traveler. YES, that Blues Traveler. TICKETS HERE. Should be a great sunny, beer sippin’ time!.. That’s it. Now, on to your news…

Sarasota

Your New Source for Local Beef

Sarasota Beef Company owner Bill Manfull acknowledges that grass-fed beef isn’t for everyone. The meat is way leaner than you get from grain-fed cows, with a fat content closer to a skinless chicken thigh, venison or elk, and that makes it trickier to cook correctly. Never cook a grass-fed steak past medium, one butcher advised me. “Cook it slow,” Manfull tells me. As my cast iron skillet heats up in preparation for the skirt steak I just bought at the Beef Company, I’m nervous I’ll screw it all up.

Stone Crab Season is Here

Seafood lovers, rejoice: Stone crab season kicked off this past Saturday, Oct. 15. The sweet, buttery meat is worth its weight in gold (or sometimes more, depending on market prices). But what diners might not know is just how sustainable this Southwest Florida delicacy is.

New 200-seat restaurant coming to former Pattigeorge’s Waterfront Restaurant site on Longboat Key

The former Pattigeorge’s Waterfront Restaurant on Longboat Key is slated to be torn down and redeveloped as a 200-seat eatery yet to be named by the Columbia Restaurant Group.

Longboat Fire and Rescue heats up chili cook-off

Complete with Italian sausage, ground beef, onions, red and green peppers, garlic, jalapenos, poblanos, and spices, the recipe won third place in the best chili category at Morton’s Firehouse Chili Cook-Off on Oct. 16. The team of 12 came up with the recipe themselves.

A stone crab fisherman's risks and rewards

The Lacey family prays a lot this time of year and 4-year-old Hunter is no exception. Each night, before he goes to sleep, he closes his eyes and says:

“Please let the crabs find my daddy’s traps.”

Silver platter

Mike Quillen remembers the days, sometimes wistfully, when he and his longtime friend and business partner, Mike Gowan, ran their fledgling restaurant business out of their trucks.

California and New York attitudes wash up onto Sarasota’s shores

There is clearly a new culinary movement on the Suncoast. Aside from tall structures easing into the streets of our once small town, new kitchens are popping up all over. If you thought Main Street was the only game in town, think again. Great food is happening in south Sarasota, too.

Award Winning Naples Flatbread Announces First Franchise/Lease Signing in Sarasota, FL

Naples, FL restaurant concept, Naples Flatbread, announces it's first Franchise deal and first lease signing at the Westfield Southgate Mall in Sarasota, FL. Excited to be part of the mall remodel and eventual rebranding to the Siesta Key Mall!

Boca Kitchen brings more happy hour fun to downtown

Downtown Sarasota is filled with great happy hour destinations. Add Boca Kitchen Bar & Market (19 S. Lemon Ave.) to the list.

20 great restaurants for stone crab

Local commercial fishermen start pulling stone crab traps Saturday morning and many area restaurants will be serving the claws by dinner or maybe even lunch.

Four new restaurants to try

Sicilian, craft beer, pizza, Italian, breakfast and more at four spots that have opened or will open soon.

News

Walmart and IBM Are Partnering to Put Chinese Pork on a Blockchain

A decade ago in the United States, a deadly strain of E. coli in tainted spinach ripped through 26 states, killing three people and sickening more than 200. The outbreak represents what can happen when sourcing food—and tracing contaminations—goes horribly wrong.

Odds & Ends

Drinking Rules: Top Chef’s Padma Lakshmi

Given the subject of your new book, The Encyclopedia of Spices & Herbs, are you a fan of using herbs and spices in your drinks? “I’m not a big mixed drinks person, but I do love using herbs especially and some spices in drinks. I think it’s a nice way to bring flavor without obscuring the rest of the liquid ingredients.”

Slideshow: Which Chain Could Be The Next Chipotle?

Chipotle Mexican Grill was a sizzling business with a red-hot stock until an E. coli outbreak derailed its future. Can a mission-based company make gobs of money and still save the world?

How To Do It!

How to Eat Sushi Without Embarrassing Yourself

From the zesty bite of a spicy shrimp roll to a piece of perfectly fatty Otoro tuna, sushi and sashimi are some of the most popular foods in the U.S. In fact, from 2010 to 2014, stateside sushi consumption grew by nearly 30 percent. As with many imported cuisines, however, the traditional way to eat sushi has been corrupted in its journey across the seas. Employ the following tips to devour sushi like a true connoisseur.

...The Exit

THE WRAP UP, Say hello to THE COOLINARY RESTAURANT & BAR the newest Main Street restaurant. Hopefully, we’ll get you some food photos to feast your eyes on. One deletion, Boardwalk Eats & Sweets on Siesta closed up. Gonna have to find a new place to scratch that deep fried Twinkie itch. As usual, If you know someone who might like to get their very own FEASTnews, send them this link to check out our past issues and signup! Thanks for reading! Check TWITTER, FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM for updates. Next issue, 11/7 - ###

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Issue 16 October 25th 2016