Spend spring break in Argentina with the Micheal’s On East March epicurean adventure menu. Each month, the restaurant highlights a different region or country, and the March menu will offer guests a three-course menu with appetizers, entrees and desserts as well as wine pairings. The menu will feature flavors from across Argentina, from the vineyards of Mendoza to the city streets of Buenos Aires. Empanadas, steak and dulce de leche provide a great introduction to the country’s cuisine. “The menus take inspiration from our travels,” says co-proprietor Michael Klauber. As part of the Gulf Coast Connossiour Club, Michael and his wife Terri lead food tour groups across the world. “Several years ago, we visited Argentina and fell in love with it,” he adds.

The country’s vast landscape proved to be an exciting culinary playground. “We were particularly inspired by the wine country in Mendoza and the restaurants we visited in Buenos Aires,” he adds. Owning to Argentina’s strong wine industry, the menu puts the spotlight on several wines from vineyards visited by Klauber and his club. “I’m fortunate to have chef Jamil Pineda who is an amazing translator of the dishes and recipes that inspire us,” says Klauber. “Many times, we bring back ideas or a photograph of a dish or a menu description,” he adds, “and he will translate those into a menu which, almost every time, tastes exactly like what we had when we were there.”

The grilled flat iron steak with red chimichurri, the most popular item, represents this translation process. While at Cabana Las Lilas, Klauber tasted the red chimichurri sauce used in their dishes and brought the recipe back to Sarasota along with a picture of the dish. Using a different variety of steak, his team recreated the dish. “With these epicurean menus, our kitchen isn’t doing the same thing all the time, but they’re creating new menus every month, and sometimes a dish on the epicurean menus will become so popular that it bumps one off our regular menu,” Klauber says. From savory steak to traditional desserts, the menu has even impressed diners from Buenos Aires. “The idea is to bring some of our trips home for our local guests,” adds Klauber, “and we really want to honor the original experience that we had.”

The Argentina Epicurean Adventure Menu is available during March at Michael’s On East. 1212 East Ave. S., Sarasota, bestfood.com. 

Pictured: Croquetas de Bacalao or Atlantic Cod Croquettes with Chimichurri Aioli and Roasted Red Pepper and Raisin Salad Photo Courtesy of Micheal's On East

Feeding Empty Little Tummies (F.E.L.T.) announced today it has received a $25,000 grant from Bank of America as part of the bank’s nearly $19 million donation to hunger relief organizations nationwide from its employee booster campaign. The funds will go toward supporting Manatee County’s homeless and food insecure students by providing food to those most in need. F.E.L.T. provides nutritious meals to homeless students through a dedicated board, volunteers, and community leaders who service 59 schools and over 1,500 homeless and food-insecure children. These youth have faced a loss of housing due to economic hardship, awaiting foster care, or similar reasons, often living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, public spaces, cars, abandoned buildings, or campgrounds due to lack of alternative accommodations. The grant will allow F.E.L.T. to provide meals to all the students it serves for two weekends. Bank of America has a longstanding commitment to address hunger relief and strengthen local communities, and F.E.L.T. has been a partner of the bank for over five years. Through its second employee booster campaign, the bank donated $50 for each employee who registered a new coronavirus vaccine, coronavirus booster, or flu shot to further address hunger relief in local communities it serves. 

On Thursday, March 16, 2023, over 100 people witnessed the ribbon cutting of the ER at Bayshore Gardens, an extension of Manatee Memorial Hospital. The ER at Bayshore Gardens is the first Freestanding Emergency Department in Manatee County. Attendees enjoyed firsthand tours of the new facility. On hand to commemorate the occasion was United States Congressman Vern Buchanan, who spoke about the importance of access to healthcare services. When minutes matter, area residents and EMS will have the benefit of accessing quality emergency care that is embedded in their community. Adding to the Congressman’s remarks were UHS group Vice President Kevin DiLallo, Vice Chairman of the Manatee Memorial Board of Governors Mark Goodson, Chairman of the Board of the Manatee Chamber of Commerce Jeff Podobnik, and Manatee Memorial Hospital CEO Tom McDougal. Featuring nearly 11,000 square feet of brand-new medical equipment, The ER at Bayshore Gardens will officially open to patients on Monday, March 27, and will be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to provide care for all ages. The facility includes six exam rooms, three rapid medical spaces, full-service laboratory, x-ray, and ultrasound areas. 

Pictured: Manatee ER at Bayshore Gardens Ribbon Cutting featuring Congressman Vern Buchanan.

The FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, with the generous support of Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, will close its 2022-23 season with William Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost, directed and adapted by Jonathan Epstein. The production will be performed at The Ringling Museum of Art’s Bayfront Gardens under the banyan trees April 4 – 23. The performances April 4 – 6 are previews. Love's Labour's Lost is one of Shakespeare's most beloved comedies featuring a witty and hilarious plot filled with mistaken identities, mischievous pranks, and romantic entanglements. The play follows the King of Navarre and his three companions as they swear to devote themselves to study and abstinence for three years. However, their plans are quickly derailed when they fall in love with the Princess of France and her ladies-in-waiting. Love’s Labour’s Lost plays April 4 – 23 on The Ringling Museum of Art’s Bayfront Gardens beneath the banyan trees. Tickets are $35 and are available online at asolorep.org/conservatory/season, by phone at 941.351.8000 or in person at Asolo Rep’s Box Office at 5555 N. Tamiami Trail in Sarasota. Student prices are also available. The performances April 4 – 6 are previews and are $25. 

For more information click here.

For the first time in its eight-year history, ensembleNewSRQ will take to the Sarasota Opera House stage to present its concluding concert of the season. “1976” features 40 musicians, who will perform a double bill of contemporary classics, both composed in 1976. “Frankenstein,” by HK Gruber is a “pan-demonium” that sets Viennese children’s rhymes in a setting with a “chansonnier” (or narrator), who pushes his delivery toward the realm of performance art and an orchestra that plays instruments outside their job descriptions. The world-renowned percussionist Mike Truesdell will serve as the chansonnier. The second piece, Louis Andriessen’s iconic and groundbreaking “De Staat” uses passages from Plato to illustrate the connection between music, politics, and social class. The concert is Monday, April 17, 7:30 p.m., at Sarasota Opera House, 61 North Pineapple Ave., Sarasota. Single tickets are $25. For more information on ticket packages and single tickets, including student ticket pricing, visit www.ensrq.org.  

The Selby Gardens Enchanted Garden Family Festival transforms Selby Gardens’ Historic Spanish Point campus into a fantastical wonderland! The family-friendly event features “unicorn rides” for young ones, fairy houses, storytelling, and arts and crafts. Happening this Saturday, March 25, and Sunday, March 26, the festival is free for Selby Gardens members and included with general admission.  Enchanted Garden Family Festival is part of the Ann Winslow Donelly and Norbert P. Donelly Family and Community Engagement Series. This event is sponsored by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County and Beverly Koski and the Koski Family Foundation. 

Enchanted Garden Family Festival is an annual tradition features fantastical elements as well as arts and crafts. Photos by Cliff Roles.

To learn more click here.

HOME OF THE YEAR | The annual competition invites local architects, builders, interior designers and landscape artists to present us with new notions of home environments by submitting their recent residential projects, March 2023. 

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