Ticket Editor: Restaurants closing in Sarasota and Bradenton highlight labor shortage
I've had the pleasure of writing about restaurants and bars in Sarasota and Bradenton for the better part of the past two decades. And I have never before seen such a dramatic shift in the local dining scene as what I've witnessed during the past year, especially in recent months. It all began last May.
That's when Jean-Pierre "J.P." Knaggs and his family sold the downtown Sarasota restaurant Bijou Cafe that they opened in 1986. The Realm Restaurant Group, which also owns fellow First Street spot Sage, purchased the restaurant and renamed it Bijou Garden Cafe. I did not see this as the start of a trend, but perhaps I should've.
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Things slowed down over the summer and fall, as things normally do, and then in January, another famed local restaurant changed hands. Sean Murphy and his wife Susan Timmins sold Beach Bistro. The waterfront Anna Maria Island restaurant, which they opened in 1985, is now owned by a group that includes a prominent local developer.
Café L'Europe, which opened on St. Armands Circle in 1973, also changed ownership around this time. Ron and Julie Milton had purchased the fine-dining destination in 2016. On Feb. 1, Anna Maria Oyster Bar restaurateurs Amanda and John Horne took over the cafe known for Continental cuisine such as the Brandied Duckling L'Europe.
By this point, even I could spot the trend. In fact, so many old and famous local restaurants were closing that we were discussing putting a moratorium on the word "iconic." For Euphemia Haye's headline, I chose "landmark."
Opened in 1975 and purchased by Chef Ray and wife D'Arcy Arpke in 1980, the couple announced in February the sale of their restaurant to longtime employee Amy Whitt.
"I kind of saw it coming because a bunch of us are getting old," Ray Arpke told me. "Sean is my age. J.P. used to be my morning chef at Euphemia Haye, and he’s actually a couple of years older than me and we worked together at Café L'Europe – a lot of restaurateurs were spawned out of Café L'Europe and Colony Beach resort."
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Then came March and the closing of my short-lived fave Fire Fresh Grill in downtown Sarasota followed by the rather shocking announcement by one of the longest-running and most beloved restaurants in Bradenton, Demetrios' Pizza House. The local Sokos family has owned and operated the place since 1976. They will serve the last pizza pie there on April 16.
First, though, three more significant restaurant closings. The wood-fired pizza place Goodfellas Cafe & Winery on Clark Road, the nationally-acclaimed Cafe Longet in Venice, and then, just this week, I reported on another biggie, Cafe Baci. Famous for serving its authentic Italian cuisine on South Tamiami Trail since 1991, it will close permanently following dinner on Mother's Day.
I have great confidence in the futures of Bijou Garden Cafe, Café L'Europe and Euphemia Haye. I also look forward to continue frequenting Sean Murphy's Doctor's Office cocktail lounge on Anna Maria Island and have high hopes for his new Rosemary District restaurant, which is tentatively called BLVD Bistro. In addition, I'm happy to report that the owner of Goodfellas is bringing his team, and wood-fired oven, to Boo’s Ice House and Dog Bar, expected to open this summer, also in the booming Rosemary District.
I barely knew Fire Fresh Grill but following two visits of great food and service am disappointed they didn't make it. As for the Demetrios' in Bradenton and Cafe Baci in Sarasota, those places are truly local icons (if I can use the word one more time) and they will be greatly missed by myself and many others.
The owners of Demetrios' and Cafe Baci are in their late 50s and 60s respectively and are retiring with their businesses flourishing. However, both men did note the current labor shortage and high cost of food as problematic. These are issues I'm afraid could contribute to hastening the retirements of more local restaurateurs while deterring others, including talented local chefs, from opening their own businesses.
It's an issue my colleague Laura Finaldi smartly addressed in January and then again from a different angle in March. She noted the high cost of living in Sarasota-Manatee, while on a national level pointed out that health risks associated with COVID and "worker burnout" led to a loss of 1.8 million hospitality jobs in the U.S. since February 2020.
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Cafe Baci owner Roberto Mei told me that after 51 years in the business the toughest challenges have come in the past 25 months, largely due to labor shortages and the rising cost of food. It's a sentiment that Demetrios' owner Gus Sokos also shared.
“We wanted to leave on a high note while we still love what we do and the last two years have been extra challenging with staffing more than anything else,” Sokos told me. “You just have that gut feeling it’s the time to step back and enjoy the fruits of your labor.”
I'm hoping locally this is more of a coincidence than a trend, and that the current labor shortage and rising food costs are just temporary issues resulting from the pandemic. Regardless, we will soon publish a story about yet another major local restaurant closing.
Meanwhile, don't forget to make reservations at one of these great, local restaurants for Easter, and be sure to check out one of our picks for fun things to do this weekend in Sarasota, Manatee, and Charlotte counties.
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Wade Tatangelo is the Herald-Tribune’s dining and entertainment editor overseeing the weekly Ticket publication. He's also author of the Best Things to Eat and Top Things to Do columns and co-leader of USA Today Network's Uniquely Florida team creating statewide content. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. He may also be reached by email at wade.tatangelo@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Labor shortages increase restaurant closures in Sarasota, Bradenton
