Ticket Editor: Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch, Bradenton restaurant openings; best food event
While I enjoy eating and drinking at the best waterfront restaurants in Sarasota — and the best restaurants in downtown Sarasota — I'm also excited about all the new restaurants coming to our Sarasota, Bradenton and Venice area. And following the many big restaurant openings (as well as closings and sales) of 2022, we're already off to a busy start for 2023.
First on my list of new places to visit will likely be the one replacing a pick of mine for best hotel restaurants. It occupies a prime location in the heart of downtown Sarasota's vibrant theater district, which, yes, is also a robust dining district.
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Mediterranean restaurant Tzeva replacing Overture at Art Ovation hotel in downtown Sarasota
Serving Mediterranean cuisine with Israeli influences, the 74-seat Tzeva has announced it will open Feb. 8. The restaurant replaces Overture Restaurant & Gallery Lounge on the first floor of Art Ovation, which is at 1255 N. Palm Ave. and part of the Pennsylvania-based Shaner Hotels management and Marriott's Autograph Collection.
Overture, which also offers covered table seating overlooking Palm, will continue operating right up until the new restaurant opens with minimal build out, the hostess told me during a recent visit to the hotel's lively lobby bar the other evening. Art Ovation's eighth-floor Perspective Rooftop Pool Bar — one of the best rooftop bars in the region — will still have a separate food and drink menu for the time being, reported my colleague Jimmy Geurts.
More about Tzeva:New Mediterranean restaurant to open at downtown Sarasota hotel
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Owen's Fish Camp in downtown Sarasota to soon open Lakewood Ranch location
More than merely a restaurant, Owen's Fish Camp is a dining and entertainment experience — especially if you visit now during tourist and snowbird season like I recently did. An Old Florida seafood spot that's housed in and around a historic cottage in downtown Sarasota's Burns Court neighborhood, Owen's opens its doors daily at 4 p.m. with the wait hitting two hours by 6 p.m. during my recent weekday visit. But that's OK.
Because after leaving your name with the hostess, the fun begins pretty much right away with a visit to the backyard bar and grill where you can spend your wait noshing on grilled oysters, shrimp skewers and fresh fish spread (mahi-mahi) while sipping on beer and wine and listening to a local band play some old-timey country music. Yeah, you should be in good spirits by the time you're seated.
My recent favorites at Owen's include the expertly blackened red snapper with lemon caper butter, deviled eggs with "redneck caviar" (mustard seeds), fried green tomato salad, the sizable bowl of the spicy collard greens, and the slice of warm bourbon pecan pie with fresh whipped cream and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I'm hoping these dishes will also be served at Owen's new location in the Casto's Center Point development in Lakewood Ranch, which co-owner Paul Caragiulo recently said should open in March with a menu that's similar but not identical to its current location.
More about Owen's:Popular downtown Sarasota seafood restaurant set to soon open Lakewood Ranch location
Orange Blossom Coffee shop opens in downtown Bradenton
Downtown Bradenton's smartly designed City Centre Parking Facility, at Third Avenue West between 10th and 12th Streets, opened in 2019 but it did not start welcoming clients to its first floor retail spaces until last year. Men's fashion shop The Stoked Flamingo, women's clothing store Pink & Navy, ice cream shop Millie's Sweets and Treats and The Beach Shop opened over the summer. Now, the centrally located, free-of-charge parking garage has welcomed a coffee shop.
Orange Blossom is owned by Bradenton mother and daughter Melissa and Kaitlyn Lilly, and husband and wife Josh and Abbey Schmitt, according to their website. They formed a partnership with the Schmitts' Banyan Coffee Co., the coffee roaster and delivery service based in Palmetto, as well as one with Bradenton-based Sweet Life Cookies & Confections to serve fresh baked goods in addition to their menu of coffee, tea and juice. Orange Blossom's website also notes that "coming soon" will be beer and wine from 3 Car Garage Brewing and Fiorelli Winery, which are also both based in Manatee County.
Orange Blossom, at 1166 Third Ave. W., Bradenton, is open 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 941-896-3032 or visit orangeblossomcoffeeshop.com.
The Forks & Corks Food & Wine Festival and Grand Tasting set for April
The Sarasota-Manatee Originals' 2023 Forks & Corks Food & Wine Festival, now in its 16th year, is set for April 20-24 and will again offer guests a long, luxurious weekend of winemaker dinners, interactive wine seminars and wine tastings that culminates with the Grand Tasting at The Ringling Museum of Art Courtyard.
The best high-end dining and drinking event of the social season, Grand Tasting general admission tickets — which run $175 each with VIP ticket costing $450 — were scheduled to go on sale at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19. For more information, visit eatlikealocal.com/forksandcorks.
More recent stories by Wade Tatangelo
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Ticket EditorOne of best Sarasota restaurants sets opening date for new location
10 best restaurantsin downtown Sarasota, from fancy to casual
Ticket Editor:Sarasota should be No. 1 on Forbes’ 10 best places to live in Florida list
The year in diningThe 22 biggest restaurant openings, closings and sales in Sarasota and Manatee in 2022
Wade Tatangelo is Ticket Editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and Florida-Georgia Regional Dining and Entertainment Editor for the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. He can be reached by email at wade.tatangelo@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Restaurants: Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch, Bradenton openings; best event
