Ticket Editor: 7 Sarasota area restaurants on Yelp Top 100 but what about James Beard Awards?

Wade Tatangelo, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Updated ·5 min read
The Louis XIII Burger at Chateau 13 in Bradenton. Château 13 in Bradenton is also on Yelp's list of Top 100 Florida Restaurants.
The Louis XIII Burger at Chateau 13 in Bradenton. Château 13 in Bradenton is also on Yelp's list of Top 100 Florida Restaurants.

Seven restaurants in Sarasota and Manatee counties landed on Yelp's recently published list of the Top 100 Florida Restaurants. This year's James Beard Award nominations were announced the following day. Everybody knows the crowd-sourced review website Yelp. The James Beard Awards are best described as "the restaurant world's annual version of the Oscars."

I was thrilled to see some of my favorite local restaurants on the Yelp Top 100 list and considerably less excited to read the latest James Beard roster of nominees. Let's begin by looking at the restaurants highlighted by Yelp, which you should find much more useful than the James Beard Awards.

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Dry Dock Waterfront Grill on Longboat Key is featured on Yelp's list of the Top 100 Florida Restaurants.
Dry Dock Waterfront Grill on Longboat Key is featured on Yelp's list of the Top 100 Florida Restaurants.

Yelp's second annual list of the Top 100 Florida Restaurants features Venice's Tikka Indian Cuisine in second place following a No. 66 showing in 2022. Sarasota's Fork & Hen, which opened last May and serves elevated Southern comfort food on North Tamiami Trail, placed No. 22.

Château 13, which brings the cuisine (and wines and beers) of Western Europe to downtown Bradenton and recently appeared on my best romantic restaurants list, placed 40th. Last year, Yelp had Château 13 ranked one spot lower. In addition to offering excellent European cuisine, Château 13 serves one of my all-time favorite burgers, The Louis XIII, featuring a juicy disc of beef covered with truffled mushrooms, shallot jam, a generous slice of gruyère, and for extra fabulousness, foie gras.

Longboat Key's Dry Dock Waterfront Grill, which I wrote up for our recent USA TODAY story on the best waterfront restaurants in Florida, came in at No. 54, after somehow not making Yelp's Top 100 last year. Dry Dock, which is also among the best seafood restaurants in the region, was recently named among the 100 most romantic restaurants in the U.S. by OpenTable.

Raw scallop at Meliora in Sarasota.
Raw scallop at Meliora in Sarasota.

Kojo, which appears on my list of 10 best restaurants in downtown Sarasota, placed 63rd. One of my favorite spots for Asian cuisine, Kojo on Palm Avenue will soon be joined by neighboring sister business Bar Hana. Chef and proprietor Natalia Levey, which also owns the Speaks Clam Bars on St. Armands Circle and in Lakewood Ranch, posted on social media March 30 that she was "so excited to open the doors to Bar Hana today" and that "the official opening will be next weekend."

Willow's Cafe, which opened in 2020 and serves breakfast and lunch in Sarasota's Rosemary District, is No. 67 on Yelp's Top 100 while Meliora, which opened in 2022 in Sarasota's Southside Village, came in at 85. It should have placed higher. In my January review, I raved about everything from the Japanese milk bread and raw scallop, to the fresh red snapper and ridiculously light and tasty gnocchi — in addition to the innovative cocktails and desserts.

Yes, Sarasota-Manatee impressed with seven businesses on Yelp's Top 100 Florida Restaurants rankings. Similar sized markets did not do as well. Palm Beach County had six, Pensacola totaled five and the Jacksonville area had four. None of us, though, were shown any love by the James Beard Awards.

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Chef Natalia Levey poses for a photo at her downtown Sarasota restaurant Kojo, which is on Yelp's list of Top 100 Florida Restaurants.
Chef Natalia Levey poses for a photo at her downtown Sarasota restaurant Kojo, which is on Yelp's list of Top 100 Florida Restaurants.

The James Beard Awards for chefs and restaurants were revealed Wednesday (March 29) and only two of them are in Florida, reported Liz Balmaseda, my USA TODAY Network colleague at the Palm Beach Post.

Miami baker Zak Stern is a finalist in the “Outstanding Bakery” category for his Zak the Baker shop in Wynwood, she wrote. Orlando chef/restaurateur Henry Moso of Kabooki Sushi is a finalist in the “Best Chef: South” category.

Yeah, it would have been nice to see Chef Drew Adams of Meliora or Chef Natalia Levey (Kojo, Speaks Clam Bar) receive that honor, with several others in Sarasota and Manatee counties also worthy. It has been a long time since the James Beard Awards folks have nominated anyone from the 941.

Steve Phelps, chef and owner of Indigenous in downtown Sarasota's Towles Court, made the semi-finals of the James Beard Foundation's Best Chef: South award in 2014 and 2015. Previous James Beard Award nominees from Sarasota and Manatee counties include Chef Peter Arpke at Beach Bistro on Anna Maria Island (2013); Jose Martinez chef and owner Maison Blanche on Longboat Key (2010); and Derek Barnes of the now closed Derek's Culinary Casual in Sarasota (2009).

Since 2015, though, I can't recall a single additional nomination from the James Beard Award folks, who I now picture as resembling Lillian Bloom from "The Menu" or Anton Ego of "Ratatouille." Both are excellent films, by the way, which you will want to watch in between evenings spent dining out at the seven Sarasota-Manatee restaurants recently highlighted by Yelp.

A previous version of this story failed to mention both of Chef Steve Phelps' James Beard Award nominations, as well as the one earned by Chef Peter Arpke while working at Beach Bistro.

More Ticket Editor columns by Wade Tatangelo

Wade Tatangelo is Ticket Editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and Florida-Georgia Regional Dining and Entertainment Editor for the USA TODAY Network.
Wade Tatangelo is Ticket Editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and Florida-Georgia Regional Dining and Entertainment Editor for the USA TODAY Network.

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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: Sarasota restaurants make Yelp Top 100 Florida; no James Beard Awards