Sometime in the last couple of years, avocado toast became a symbol for everything hipster. Like beards, man-buns, music festivals and one’s ability to create dank memes, avocado toast came to be associated with the vacuity of fleeting trends, epitomizing the current fad for taking old forms (toast) and making them quirky. Still, when removed from the unseemly trappings of its cultural context, avocado toast makes for a darn good breakfast. And at Buttermilk Handcrafted Food, avocado toast has achieved its final form to become a healthy, tasty staple. 

Known for their wood-burning oven-baked biscuits, Buttermilk is no slouch when it comes to all things baked. For their avocado toast, they bake a fluffy, flaky loaf of brioche to pillowy perfection, then use a thick slice of the loaf to form the base of the dish. Smashed avocado is then carefully formed into a large mound on the slice, with radicchio slivers, supremed orange chunks and honey roasted peanuts set into the avocado. Finally, a dab of Red Clay hot sauce and cilantro top it off. This dish has everything a well-rounded mouth could ask for. The avocado makes it creamy and rich, the brioche toast gives it a hint of char, the peanuts provide some crunch, the orange slices add some sugar and moisture, the cilantro adds a touch of the exotic and the hot sauce activates the tongue and lips ever so slightly. But the most impressive aspect of the whole affair is that in spite of the dish’s precarious stacking of ingredients, it all seems to stay together rather well, allowing even less coordinated diners the prestige of getting all of the textures in each bite.

Sorry, hipsters, but avocado toast belongs to everyone now. I hear people are putting strawberry slices on pizza now, though, so you might want to check that out. 

Photo by Andrew Fabian.

Buttermilk Handcrafted Food, 5520 Palmer Blvd., Sarasota, 941-487-8949.

Think you can’t shop the world in a day? Consider it a nomadic shopper’s dream come true. A pop-up shopping experience—dubbed The Souk Sarasota—comes to Selby Botanical Gardens for a two-day installation, presented by Michael Saunders & Company. Among the international trunk show featuring designers and boutiques from all over the globe, local design studio Pansy Bayou will represent the beach-chic home supply of Gulf Coast dwellings with up-and-coming makers. As the gardens burst in a bazaar-esque marketplace, The Souk promises to evoke the eclectic vibrancy of a foreign market, teeming with textiles, clothing, jewelry, home goods, culture and craft.

"It is a curated shopping event that evokes the atmosphere of a foreign market — a traveler’s paradise bursting with color, handcrafted merchandise, and soul," says Casey Stephenson, studio director of Pansy Bayou. "At The Souk, you can shop the world in a day and discover quality products you've likely never seen in stores. Our nomadic artisans can show up anywhere, and lucky for us, Selby Gardens is the next pop-up location."

Among the independent designers and wandering artisans—many of them ethical trade—snag exotic jewelry from Goa, India or South Sea pearls from the hands of the divers who harvested them. Without crossing the border, covet traditional embroidery from Mexico, as well as contemporary fashion of high-tech performance fabric from Switzerland. Add handcrafted leather goods from Texan ranches and Balinese hillsides to your collection, as well as fine hand-crafted handbags, painted silks, hand-loomed baskets, hand-sewn throws, housewares, accessories and more global goods from romanticized destinations like the Philippines, Chile, Italy, Istanbul, Nepal, Portugal, U.K., Australia, Nigeria, Kenya, Uzbekistan and Tibet.

Tuesday, March 3, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm and Wednesday, March 4, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm.  

Eventbrite for The Souk Sarasota.

While the event is free, admission to the Selby Gardens themselves will not be included. Guests will be able to enter The Souk through the mansion gate. 

Photo courtesy of Pansy Bayou 

You step into a boutique that catches your eye, and are greeted with not only a friendly hello, but a glass of champagne. Sounds like a dream right? If you popped into Modern Soul on St Armands Circle recently you might have received such a welcome. Celebrating their 1-year anniversary, the boutique popped open a bottle and celebrated with weekend-long perks and specials for their beloved shoppers. Owner Holly Sworonski made sure to raise her bubbly and toast her customers, “we owe it all to them!”

A passion for clothing that evolved from dressing up in her grandmother’s closet, Holly knows fashion is the best way to express yourself freely and showcase your spark. Fast forward to 2020, and Holly ended up with the beautiful boutique of her dreams: her proverbial closet to share with all of Sarasota. 

As her dream boutique evolved over the past year, Holly got to know those stopping in her shop, to help her pinpoint exactly what fantastic styles they want, and how to fit them into their lifestyle and budget. At Modern Soul it’s easy to find what you’re looking for in the comfortable environment designed with the cheeky hope the likes of Lauren Conrad, Sienna Miller or Zoe Kravitz might some day browse the shelves.

Modern Soul’s debut year was a well-taken success, but Holly has no intention to stop there. She plans to further expand her product offerings, and continue to search the market for great quality clothes with a boho flair at great prices. Fans of brands like Minkpink, Lovestitch or Willow can now add Modern Soul to their shopping list as Holly added them to her racks recently.

 In a modern world where life can get very chaotic, when you stop into Modern Soul, you can relax, make time for yourself, and refill your soul. Looking good is a bonus, but making someone feel good is the most important! 

Modern Soul Boutique | 59 South Blvd of the Presidents, Sarasota | 941-650-6808

Modern Soul Boutique Website

A grant from Gulf Coast Community Foundation will enable Girls Inc. of Sarasota County to serve more vulnerable girls and their families with much-needed Girls Inc. programming and mental-health services. The $25,000 grant, approved by the foundation’s Board of Directors last week, will help Girls Inc. expand its Family Strengthening Program to reach girls living in crisis situations, with a concentration on Sarasota Housing Authority residences and girls with similar needs. The funding will support on-site services for girls and their families at SHA housing as well as scholarships so additional girls can participate in after-school and summer programs at Girls Inc.’s main campus on Tuttle Avenue.

“Oftentimes, the girls we serve have experienced high levels of trauma, commonly known as Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs,” said Angie Stringer, president and CEO of Girls Inc. of Sarasota County. “By helping girls deal with that trauma in a healthy way, we can empower them to lead safe, healthy lives while decreasing their likelihood to engage in risky behaviors.” New offerings for SHA families will include therapeutic services for girls, parenting education, and referrals to other community providers. Girls Inc.’s licensed mental-health counselor and case manager will lead group discussions and individual sessions for girls as well as parenting workshops on location. The expansion builds on a successful partnership between Girls Inc. and the Sarasota Housing Authority that began last year with some programs brought to SHA housing. Since then, both girls and Housing Authority staff have asked for additional on-site services as well as access to more programming at the Tuttle campus.

This year, for the first time, a full quarter of the families who receive financial help for Girls Inc. programs require 100% scholarship support. The agency also reports more demand for its mental-health services. In addition to SHA families, Girls Inc. aims to use this grant to reach other girls in the community in similar crisis situations. 

Photo courtesy of GCCF.

Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) will conduct their triennial full-scale emergency disaster drill 'PADRE Operation Jet Lag' today, February 25, 2020, starting at 11:00 am. The drill will involve approximately 250 people. Volunteers will act as aircraft crash victims with various injuries, while airport personnel from the Airport Authority and mutual aid from both Sarasota and Manatee County, as well as participating State and Federal agencies will conduct the tasks related to emergency response situations. The “disaster area” is set on the Air Carrier Ramp, inside the secured area of the airfield/airport. In order to maintain its FAA airport operator certificate, the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority (SMAA) must conduct a full-scale exercise every three years. The drill allows the airport and responding outside agencies to evaluate their emergency response procedures, take any corrective action, and be prepared in case of an actual aircraft emergency.

Map drawing of PADRE Operation Exercise, courtesy of SRQ Airport

Sarasota Memorial Health Care System is pleased to announce the appointment of surgical oncologist Russell Novak, MD, FACS, as its Breast Program Director for the hospital’s new Cancer Institute. A board-certified general surgeon with specialized expertise in the treatment of benign tumors and malignancies of the breast, Dr. Novak has practiced in Sarasota since 1986 and held multiple leadership positions at Sarasota Memorial over the years, including serving on the Medical Executive Committee and as past Chief of Surgery. He has been the leading breast cancer surgeon in the Sarasota community for more than 30 years. As director of the Sarasota Memorial Cancer Institute Breast Program, Dr. Novak will lead a multidisciplinary team of community breast oncology specialists and surgeons responsible for establishing care pathways and implementing the latest innovations in breast cancer treatment. The Cancer Institute is developing comprehensive programs around major tumor sites, such as Breast, and is expanding with premier facilities being built to house services across the entire continuum of cancer care – from prevention, screening and diagnosis to the latest treatments, clinical trials and lifetime follow-up, survivorship care and support. 

To learn more about Sarasota Memorial Hospital

Rehabilitating local inmates while they are incarcerated is one thing, but what happens when they are released? Aware that a positive reintroduction to society is crucial to success, Gulf Coast Community Foundation has partnered with the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) to launch the law-enforcement agency’s inaugural "Re-entry Navigator Program." With funding from Gulf Coast, the Sheriff’s Office has hired two full-time “re-entry navigators,” who will connect inmates to reintegration programs before and after they leave the county jail, helping them avoid returning and ultimately keeping the community safer. “This is much more than a grant,” said Mark S. Pritchett, President & CEO of Gulf Coast Community Foundation. “It is a start-up investment in an innovative, evidence-based program that is part of a larger strategy to transform criminal justice in our community from punitive to rehabilitative. The SCSO’s reentry navigators will begin working with inmates while they are still incarcerated, providing counseling and re-entry planning. The navigators will continue that relationship from the moment men and women are released from the jail, maintaining case management and ensuring the individuals can participate in the follow-up services they need to succeed in the community.

“Our navigators will make sure that, when they are released, people will have access to a large range of support services that will help them get their lives back on track and stay out of trouble,” Sheriff Tom Knight said at a press briefing at Sheriff’s Office headquarters earlier this week. “This might include continued substance-abuse treatment, mental-health treatment, general healthcare, housing, transportation, identification, and job training.” Gulf Coast’s Pritchett noted that the foundation and many of its donors already support numerous health and human services programs from which inmates can benefit once they are released. Funding the Navigator Program leverages those investments, helping to make the system more effective while reducing the likelihood that men and women will re-offend and return to jail. Knight stressed that the Reentry Navigator Program will benefit not only incarcerated individuals and their families, but also the larger community.

“By ending the revolving door of arrest and recidivism for lower-level offenders, we are also reducing crime,” he said. “We are reducing homelessness, panhandling, unemployment, and poverty. All of this means that our neighborhoods are safer, our quality of life is better, and the burden on our taxpayers is reduced.” The Reentry Navigator Program was among a dozen jail-diversion and treatment strategies recommended last summer by Sarasota County’s Criminal Justice Commission to the Sarasota County Commission. It is the first of those recommendations to be funded and implemented. 

GFCF's Mark Pritchett (left) and Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight introduced the Reentry Navigator Program.

To learn more and view the full length press briefing on this program announcement

Trendsetters, jet-setters and gal pals from France bring high-fashion stateside with MOI Concept Store. 

Click here to read the full story in our February 2020 Business Edition!

SRQ Magazine's Pets We Love Competition is back! Share your favorite furry friend stories at srqmag.com/Pets for your pet's chance to be featured in our May/June 2020 issue! 

Pets We Love Competition Link