The guidebook is marked by a distinctive stereotype. Identifiable as a well-worn tome poking out of a duffel bag or a pristine beacon to new adventures waiting on the highest shelf at the bookstore, the guidebook lives in a land separate from readers’ real lives. But, how could a guidebook help people delve deeper into the places they experience every day in their own cities?

For Bookstore1Sarasota Bookseller Roxanne Baker, one could write a book about the myriad of ways that guidebooks could aid Sarasota residents, especially when it comes to dining. “Almost every shift, someone, from couples to families of four, comes into the bookstore asking where to eat,” she says, “and I wanted to tailor a book to them.”

Baker describes herself as someone who loves food, but not cooking, a combination that has led her to explore the nooks and crannies of the growing Sarasota food scene. In her new book, Small and Shrewdly Specific: A Sarasota Dining Guide, she shares 30 of her favorite local go-to establishments. “I wanted to create something specific and to tell people about the ambiance of a place, because that’s important. Whether you’re a family or a romantic couple, I designed a key with the specific items that people care about,” she adds. Unlike listing only the price and type of cuisine offered, Baker’s key reflects her careful observation of restaurant goers and their innate desires. She notes which restaurants offer valet service, a necessity for many elderly folks, and shares her intele regarding the dress code. “Sarasota is fashion conscious,” she says, and her guide helps readers avoid making the faux pas of wearing flip flops where heels are appropriate. No restaurant feature is off the table; Baker even provides handy information on the air conditioning intensity, saving many a diner from being so busy shivering at the table that they barely taste their meal. She groups the restaurants by general location, such as Downtown, the North Trail or Siesta Key, for readers to decide whether they can travel to their destination on foot or need a car, although renting a bus full of foodie friends is an ideal way to experience the restaurants listed.

Notable stops include Knick’s Tavern and Grill as well as Shilla Korean Restaurant. A small pub tucked away from the hustle and bustle, Knick’s serves up American food, including tasty burgers and charbroiled calamari, which in other eateries takes a back seat to its fried cousin. “I travel a lot, and there are some places where you don’t feel comfortable eating alone. Knick’s is friendly, and you can eat by yourself without feeling awkward,” Baker says, describing yet another of her selection criteria. A restaurant’s vibe also manifests itself in the pace of the meal, whether it’s a quick bite or a slow food experience. For the latter, she suggests sampling the Korean fare at Shilla, run by a mother-daughter team. “Everything is made to order, and the owners are so sweet,” she adds. “I wrote in the description that diners here have to make time to wait and not be in a rush.”

Baker’s guidance reads like the words of a friend because she aimed to give the book a fun and conversational tone accesible to anyone. But make no mistake, Small and Shrewdly Specific is as apt as a description for her recommendations as it is a commentary on the city’s culinary culture. “I once saw a famous singer eating somewhere that I would never dine at,” she says, “and I wanted to grab them and tell them to go somewhere really good.”

Small and Shrewdly Specific: A Sarasota Dining Guide will be available for purchase starting Saturday, July 22, in-store at Bookstore1Sarasota or online. Bookstore1Sarasota, 117 S. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota, sarasotabooks.com. 

Small and Shrewdly Specific, A Sarasota Dining Guide by Roxanne Baker. Photo Courtesy of Bookstore1Sarasota.

Bookstore1Sarasota

Bradenton resident Gary LaParl will be the artist in residence at Art Ovation Hotel, August 15-21, 1255 N. Palm Ave in Sarasota. LaParl will be in Art Ovation’s lobby studio, 4-8 p.m. daily, with a public reception on Friday, August 18, 5-7 p.m. His exhibit, “Portraits from a Stolen Past,” features oil paintings and mixed-media oil collage works based on vintage portraits.  An area of the Art Ovation wall space will be devoted to a series of portraits of Sarasota performance artists, including Jeffery Kin, executive director of Sarasota Rising, Leymis Wilmott, artistic director of Sarasota Contemporary Dance, and Alex Pelletier, a graduate of the FSU/Asolo Conservatory and area actor. 

Pictured: Sag Harbor by Gary LaParl. Photo courtesy of www.GaryLaParl.com.

Art Center Sarasota’s 2022-2023 exhibition season concludes with four exhibits, August 24-September 30. In “The Ephemerality of Being,” Lauren Mann reflects on the beauty and magic of everyday life in colored pencil drawings that are full of patterns and idiosyncrasies. Iren Tete’s “systems of (entanglement)” is an installation of ceramic sculptures inspired by forms, materials, and thoughts that exist somewhere between reality, dream, and possibility. In “SUPERPOSITIONS,” Ry McCullough’s colorful works of collage, sculpture, and wall-bound hybrids are inspired by the traditions of still life and modernist abstraction. “An Abstract View” re-examines abstraction and its relevance in contemporary art and is juried by Tre Michel, co-owner of State of the Arts Gallery. The opening reception for all four exhibits is Thursday, August 24, 6-8 p.m. Art Center Sarasota, 707 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. For information, visit www.artsarasota.org or call 941-365-2032. 

Pictured: Ripening Shadows by Lauren Mann. Photo courtesy of Art Center Sarasota.

Florida Studio Theatre announces its annual Summer New Play Festival, presenting three staged readings of new works by contemporary American playwrights. This year’s Festival features the emotional play, The Secret Wisdom of Trees by Christine Toy Johnson, the compelling drama, The God Committee by Mark St. Germain, and the new comedy, The Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx/Latine Vote by Bernardo Cubría. Readings will take place on August 11, August 18, and August 25 at 3PM each day in FST’s Keating Theatre. Subscriptions to all three readings are $15-25. Single tickets are $10. Subscriptions and single tickets are now on sale at FloridaStudioTheatre.org or by calling FST’s Box Office at 941.366.9000. As Sarasota’s Contemporary Theatre, FST is heavily invested in New Play Development. To date, FST has produced over 30 World Premieres, many of which have been nurtured through the theatre’s artistic initiatives. Through reading series, like the Summer New Play Festival, FST gives select works-in-progress a platform, a live audience, artistic support, and valuable feedback. The playwrights highlighted in this Festival will each travel to Sarasota for a week of rehearsals with FST’s artistic staff and guest artists. At the end of each week of development sessions, a staged reading of their play or musical will be performed for a live audience, followed by a discussion with the audience about the work-in-progress. A full Festival schedule can be found at the end of this release. Subscriptions and single tickets are now on sale at FloridaStudioTheatre.org or 941.366.9000. 

The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance (SPAA) is excited to welcome Michelene Everett to the SPAA Board of Directors. Senior Events Manager with American Express Global Business Travel, Michelene Everett brings over 15 years of event management experience, including city-wide conferences with up to 100,000 people, to the SPAA Board. “St. Pete is where culture and travel converge. I believe our local arts community plays a vital role in shaping our city's identity, attracting tourists, meetings, and conferences interested in cultural experiences, all of whom contribute to the economic and social development of the city we are proud to call home,” says Michelene. SPAA is excited for Michelene’s contributions to further our vision of strengthening and sustaining the art and cultural community within St. Petersburg through collaboration, economic growth, education, and adequate and consistent funding.