On the first football Sunday of the NFL season, I drafted a fantasy team of my own. Rather than assembling a cadre of backs, receivers and tight ends, my fantasy team consisted of bowl full of crisp, flavor-packed ingredients.

Fushipoké is owner Tyler Fushikoshi’s three-year-old quick-service Hawaiian restaurant on Orange Ave. across the street from City Hall. I made my inaugural visit there after a morning spent playing Spikeball with friends in the Rosemary District left me famished.

Natural light pours in through the front window, illuminating the simple, stylish interior. You can choose from a number of favorite pre-planned bowls or create your own. I opted to create my own, which meant I chose my own base (starch), protein, add-ins, sauces and topings. I somehow resisted the urge to tell the bowl architect behind the counter, “All of it. I want all of it.”

My first-round draft pick was a base of pillowy sticky rice, followed by an order of fresh (not frozen) Hawaiian tuna for a perfectly silky, tender and subtly flavorful protein. Topping the tuna was a heap of furikake seasoning that added an ideal umami zhoosh. Rounding out my team was a mix of sweet Maui onion, palate-cleansing pickled ginger, crispy tempura flakes, spicy mayo and a tangy wasabi avocado sauce.

My late-round sleeper pick for the team was — on the recommendation of the helpful gent behind the counter — spicy kimchi cucumber. Those kimchi pickles were the Tom Brady of the dish. Any bite combo that included them was made automatically better.

Admittedly, I only scratched the surface with my choices. So plentiful are the options that you could visit Fushipoké thousands of times and never have the same bowl twice. I also spied on some fellow diners whose crowded ramen bowls looked delightful.

When it comes to actual fantasy football, I am notoriously terrible despite a rabid football fandom that began with the 1985 Chicago Bears (ask me to perform the “Super Bowl Shuffle” for you, and I will gladly oblige). That said, in the world of fantasy poké bowl building at Fushipoké, I cannot lose.

Fushipoké, 128 N Orange Ave., Sarasota, 941-330-1795, https://www.fushipoke.com/ 

Pictured: If you are looking to add a relatively mild-yet-flavorful spicy kick to your poke bowl at Fushipoke, opt for the spicy kimchi cucumber as an add-in. Photo taken by Kevin Allen.

JR’s Old Packinghouse Café is celebrating their 24th anniversary in a big way. The back has been transformed to a new tiki style outdoor covered event space. Ideal for birthdays, anniversaries, office parties, celebrations of life and small weddings; the back covered patio features a lighted casual vibe, space for a band and open bar as well as seating for approximately 50-60 people. JR’s will offer their Cuban house specialties served buffets style with an average range of $25.00 per person plus tax and gratuity. The space is will also be available for Saturday fun days featuring a TV for sports watching and corn along with their favorite lunch and dinner menus, when the space is not booked for private events. Special anniversary menu items will be available and you can enter their online contest to win a gift card for $24.00 by sharing why you love JR’s and what your favorite dishes are. For more information log on to JR’s Facebook page beginning September 7th. Jr’s features live music nightly with award winning Cuban food, wings, burgers and more as well as both beer, wine and booze. Seating available on the front porch and indoors including both the main area as well as the back room. Come celebrate their anniversary and book your upcoming parties. Good Old fashioned hospitality awaits you and your guests. 

PulteGroup, one of the nation’s most recognized and trusted brands in homebuilding for 70 years, has closed on a 44-acre parcel of land for a new Pulte Homes-branded community, Legacy Groves, in Nokomis, just north of Venice in Sarasota County. Pulte Homes has announced plans for 138 single-family homes and twin villas with attractive pricing in the enclave-style community. Model homes are expected to break ground in early 2023, with anticipated completion and home sales planned for mid-2023. The gated community will offer two entrances on Albee Farm Road, just north of its intersection with Florence Street and Edmonson Road. A 120-year-old oak tree will provide a focal point upon entering Legacy Groves, which will offer a neighborhood pool and covered pool cabana. With pricing anticipated to start from the $400,000s, Legacy Groves is located within 10 minutes of three Gulf of Mexico beaches and the city of Venice, a quintessential Florida beach town with a unique small-town ambiance. Legacy Groves residents will enjoy convenient access to shopping, dining, entertainment, recreation, and healthcare at the new Sarasota Memorial Hospital campus and nearby providers. National retail brands are minutes away in shopping plazas and the Costco-anchored Sarasota Square mall as are hometown favorites, including Sharky’s on the Pier, Daiquiri Deck, and Detwiler’s Farm Market. The community is five minutes from Interstate 75 and U.S. 41, Southwest Florida’s main commuter corridors, close to the Punta Gorda Airport, and midway between international airports in Sarasota and Fort Myers. Community and professional theaters are also close to home at the Venice Theatre and Sarasota’s renowned venues. Nearby national, state, and local parks offer boundless opportunities for outdoor recreation and biking along the 20-mile Legacy Trail, only a half mile away. Golfers will enjoy six public courses while baseball fans can follow the 2021 World Champion Atlanta Braves during spring training at CoolToday Park. For families, Legacy Groves is served by A-rated elementary, middle, and high schools located within a 10-minute radius. To receive exclusive monthly updates as the community progresses, join the VIP Interest List for Legacy Groves by visiting www.Pulte.com/LegacyGroves. 

PGT Innovations (NYSE: PGTI), a national leader in the premium window and door category, is commemorating National Truck Driver Appreciation Week with five days full of gifts and fanfare for team members across its family of brands. The annual holiday is September 11 through September 17 this year and celebrates the hard work and commitment of the 3.6 million truck drivers across the country who deliver the goods and resources that keep our nation moving forward, as well as keep our highways safe. PGT Innovations is proud to have 158 Class A CDL truck drivers who deliver products from its family of brands to businesses and construction sites across the country. Since the start of 2022, the company’s team of dedicated drivers have covered over 3.5 million miles. To show their appreciation, PGT Innovations will be thanking their drivers with goodie bags, coffee, and donuts on Monday; with snacks, drinks, a certificate of appreciation, and an on-site breakfast on Tuesday; with breakfast sandwiches and a PGT Innovations branded truck driver appreciation t-shirt on Wednesday; with $50 gas gift cards, snacks, and drinks on Thursday; and with two movie tickets, a coupon for free popcorn and a drink, and the driver’s car washed by area high school students on Friday. PGT Innovation's drivers are also stewards of their community – for decades, stepping forward and volunteering to travel through hurricane-ravaged areas to deliver essential, disaster-relief items to communities that have been devastated by storms. And within the past few years, they have embraced the opportunity to undergo Highway Heroes training, which taught them how to spot the signs of human trafficking across motorways and report it. Earlier this year, PGT Innovations was recognized for its efforts to end human trafficking by the Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody by being named a founding member of the 100 Percent Club. This statewide initiative invites business owners to commit to training 100 percent of their workforce to spot instances of human trafficking through the Highway Heroes training. To date, every single PGTI driver has completed the training and is an official Highway Hero, and the company has now expanded the anti-human trafficking training to field service and sales teams. Last year, PGT Innovations also addressed the national shortage of CDL drivers by collaborating with FleetForce Truck Driving School to offer its own in-house driver certification training course for its existing team members. Instructors from FleetForce lead the course by guiding a group of team members through a full week of classroom learning at PGT Innovations’ Venice campus, followed by three weeks of driving instruction in a controlled parking lot. 

For 25 years, Evelyn Mink volunteered in the Welcome Center at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota campus. Now, an estate gift left by Mrs. Mink to Selby Gardens will create a special place for volunteers like her as part of Phase One of Selby Gardens’ Master Plan. Selby Gardens announced that it will receive approximately $2.5 million through the Evelyn S. Mink Charitable Trust. The gift will be used to support Phase One construction of the Master Plan and will name the Evelyn S. Mink Volunteer Suite in the new Plant Research Center that is part of the project. When the building opens next year, the suite named for Mrs. Mink will house volunteer workstations, a lounge area, and the office of the volunteer coordinator. “For 25 years, Mrs. Mink volunteered in our Welcome Center, contributing almost 5,000 hours of service to Selby Gardens over that time,” recalled Vera Neumann-Wood, Selby Gardens’ volunteer coordinator. “Until very recently, you could see her driving onto the Downtown Sarasota campus in her Thunderbird convertible!”

Mink’s last day of volunteering at Selby Gardens was in March 2020, just before the Gardens had to temporarily close to visitors for the COVID-19 pandemic—and about two months shy of Mink’s 100th birthday. Mink passed away in June 2021 at 101. With Mink’s gift, Selby Gardens has now raised over $53 million for the overall Master Plan, including about $49 million specifically earmarked for Phase One construction. “We only have $2.6 million left to reach our fundraising goal for Phase One construction,” said Rominiecki. To meet that goal, several Selby Gardens supporters have issued a Capping Challenge for Phase One, matching every gift dollar-for-dollar until the milestone is reached. 

Pictured: Evelyn S. Mink. Photo courtesy of Selby Gardens.

The Rotary Club of Sarasota proudly presents a gift of a trailer to the Mayors’ Feed the Hungry Program at 1:00 pm this Wednesday in front of the Marina Jack restaurant located on the Downtown Sarasota Bay front. As part of their commitment to community service, The Rotary Club of Sarasota supports the Mayors’ efforts to provide food assistance to those in need in our local community. This trailer will help the Mayors’ Feed the Hungry Program by providing a place to store and transport items needed at food drives and fund-raising events. It also can be used to pick up and take food donations to our local food pantries. “The trailer provides us with a valuable resource,” according to Scott Biehler, the Mayors’ Feed the Hungry Executive Director. “Now we will have a central location to store our tables, tent awnings, collection boxes, etc. instead of being spread out in the garages of our volunteers. The beautiful signage on the trailer will be a traveling billboard helping to create public awareness of both the Mayor’s Feed the Hungry Program and the Rotary Club of Sarasota.” 

To learn more click here.

Doing business in an increasingly digital world, new technologies are changing the way businesses operate at an exponential rate. Shumaker is selecting two of its partners to lead its Technology Business Sector to help technology and innovation-focused companies, such as companies engaged in the development and manufacture of cutting-edge technologies, data management and protection strategies, software development, digital marketing, web design, and the provision of online services. Shumaker is prepared to help these businesses navigate the concerns involved in creating, acquiring, licensing, distributing, and utilizing evolving technology. Shumaker Partner Doug Cherry will serve as Technology Business Sector Chair, and Shumaker Partner Phillip Lee will serve as Co-Chair. Doug works at Shumaker’s Sarasota, FL office, and Phillip works at Shumaker’s Toledo, OH office. 

To learn more click here.

With the change of the seasons from the haze of summer to the cool of fall, comes the Celtic autumnal equinox festival, called Mabon. It is a time when we recognize the need for balance in our lands, our lives, in what we harvest, and what we store for the coming winter months. Key Chorale’s season kicks off on September 24 with “Equinox: A Celtic Celebration.” Tenor Brad Diamond joins Foley’s All-Star Irish Band and Key Chorale performing jigs, reels, folk songs, and timeless choral music inspired by the Emerald Isle. Guest artists include Dylan Foley, one of the great fiddle players of our time and a 4-time All-Ireland Fiddle Champion; Brian Hanlon, renowned singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist; Northern Ireland born uilleann piper and whistle player Eamonn Dillon; Sean Cunningham on Irish flute and tin whistle; and Stephen Humphries, national hammered dulcimer champion and freelance percussionist. Come early and experience the pageantry and grandeur of Scottish pipes and drums. Blue Skye Pipes and Drums, an all-female band, showcasing bagpipes drums, harp and guitar, will present pre-concert music from 3:15-3:45 PM.

The performance will take place: Saturday, September 24, 4:00 PM at Church of the Palms, Sarasota. Tickets are $35-$45. For tickets, go to keychorale.org or call the box office at 941-552-8768. 

To learn more click here.

EYE ON THE PRIZE | Heather Todd Leads the Way to Success for Local Teens.

Take a closer look at the important work Heather does for Teen Court and our community through this link, on our social media, or in the September edition of SRQ Magazine!