Forks and Corks, Sarasota Florida | Travel | DONNE TEMPO
Forks and Corks, Sarasota Florida
July/22/08 11:04 PM Filed in: Travel
By Janice Jurist
How do you go from song and dance man in Podunk, Iowa, to founding the official state art museum of Florida? You run away and join a circus, of course.
In 1927 John and Mabel Ringling, of Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey circus fame, built an Italianate palazzo in Sarasota, Florida in order to house his then $16 million dollar art collection acquired during his circus day travels. Ringling also chooses Sarasota as the “winter home” for his circus, putting Sarasota on the cultural map.
First opened in 1930, the palazzo became the de facto art museum of the area and the Ringling family established the Ringling Junior College and School of Art in 1931. Today Sarasota continues to be a quality destination for those seeking a vacation filled with the arts – from museums to theater; the symphony to a yearly film festival held each spring.
Adding to the numerous really good reasons to visit this Floridian city, this June (the 5th through the 8th) The Sarasota-Manatee Originals held their first Forks and Corks Food & Wine Festival.
And it promises to not be their last.
The festival, benefiting the Ringling Museum of Art and Meals on Wheel, brought out fifty independent restaurants from the area for a three day gastronomic Olympics.
The event theme, Bubbles on the Bay, began with a champagne reception held on the marble patio of the Ringling home turned art museum, Cad'Zan.
The
space was decorated with cascades of big plastic
bubbles, claw footed tubs full of bubbles, and
clear plastic blow-up chairs and sofas, that were
truly like sitting on bubbles.)
The actual bubbles were flowing, thanks to Moet Hennessey. As the sun went down in it’s brilliant and showoffy way I would not have been surprised to see the Doge of Venice himself, champagne in hand, followed by a lute player or two.
Instead, the Funky Monks from Chicago performing homage to the Red Hot Chili Peppers entertained us.
Champagne, wine, and nibbles flowed late into Friday night preparing us for a series of seminars held at the University of South Florida. Six fascinating seminars were offered, ranging from an olive oil tasting, chefs' demonstrations, and my personal favorite, Bell Wine Cellars wine blending class, led by the master vintner himself, Anthony Bell.
Mr. Bell, a Napa, California winemaker with personal roots amongst the vines of his families’ South African vineyard, broke us up into teams of six. We were given four perfectly drinkable Cabernet clones, two blending wines (merlot and Petit Verdot), and a calibrated beaker. We were challenged to compete with the other tables in coming up with a new Cabernet blend; the winners got a bottle of Mr. Bell's elegant wine.
My table strove mightily. We mixed and blended ourselves into a stupor and it was FUN. I'm not sure whether we won.
Members of Sarasota/Manatee Originals provided lunch in the rotunda of the University of Southern Florida. Several restaurants offered tasting dishes of their house specialties.
My favorite was bacon-crusted scallops with locally grown corn and feta salad, followed by a steely Morgan Winery Chardonnay. Stanley Lambert brought a dessert wine called Choc a Block from his eponymous Barossa Valley, Australia vineyard. The dark chocolate Port, made using a fortified Australian Tawny wine base and seeping it with chocolate. is a great accompaniment with brownies and all things rich and velvety!
Sunday- ah Sunday- and we were back at the Ringling for the Grand Tasting. Thirty of the Originals restaurant members plus 80(!) wineries participated including Dr. Bürklin-Wolf, Germany; Champagne Ruinart, France; Fairview Vineyards, South Africa; and Lakeridge Winery, Florida.
Fortunately the festival provided a list of who was serving what, so I picked out seven restaurants and ten wineries to visit.
My notes are a little food and wine stained, but it looks like I ate crab cakes from Martinis and Tapas. Speaking with Chef Matthew Patten at MT’s I learned that while their crab cakes follow a standard recipe of jumbo lump, minimal filler and panko breadcrumbs, they also add a bit of whole grain mustard, Cajun seasoning and a Cajun inspired aioli for a bit of added spice.
Other standout dishes where the Osso Bucco with risotto goat cheese with wild berry compote from Sandbar, the Confit of duck crepes from Bijou Café and Bourbon Street jambalaya zabaglione from Siesta Key Oyster Bar.
I was stuffed and mellow and delighted to discover several must-visit restaurants in the Sarasota/Manatee area. I also discovered some AMAZING new wines.
If you have the LEAST interest in eating or drinking you cannot miss the Sarasota Forks and Corks when it rolls back in town June 2009. I came away hugely impressed with the Originals' members' enthusiasm for cooking with locally grown produce and seafood.
Donne Tempo Magazine and Donne Travels welcomes new writer Janice Jurist, a self-named foodie and writer. We have Janice working on obtaining recipes from her favorite Forks n’ Corks tasting and it seems as there were many! Thank you Janice.
How do you go from song and dance man in Podunk, Iowa, to founding the official state art museum of Florida? You run away and join a circus, of course.
In 1927 John and Mabel Ringling, of Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey circus fame, built an Italianate palazzo in Sarasota, Florida in order to house his then $16 million dollar art collection acquired during his circus day travels. Ringling also chooses Sarasota as the “winter home” for his circus, putting Sarasota on the cultural map.
First opened in 1930, the palazzo became the de facto art museum of the area and the Ringling family established the Ringling Junior College and School of Art in 1931. Today Sarasota continues to be a quality destination for those seeking a vacation filled with the arts – from museums to theater; the symphony to a yearly film festival held each spring.
Adding to the numerous really good reasons to visit this Floridian city, this June (the 5th through the 8th) The Sarasota-Manatee Originals held their first Forks and Corks Food & Wine Festival.
And it promises to not be their last.
The festival, benefiting the Ringling Museum of Art and Meals on Wheel, brought out fifty independent restaurants from the area for a three day gastronomic Olympics.
The event theme, Bubbles on the Bay, began with a champagne reception held on the marble patio of the Ringling home turned art museum, Cad'Zan.
The actual bubbles were flowing, thanks to Moet Hennessey. As the sun went down in it’s brilliant and showoffy way I would not have been surprised to see the Doge of Venice himself, champagne in hand, followed by a lute player or two.
Instead, the Funky Monks from Chicago performing homage to the Red Hot Chili Peppers entertained us.
Champagne, wine, and nibbles flowed late into Friday night preparing us for a series of seminars held at the University of South Florida. Six fascinating seminars were offered, ranging from an olive oil tasting, chefs' demonstrations, and my personal favorite, Bell Wine Cellars wine blending class, led by the master vintner himself, Anthony Bell.
Mr. Bell, a Napa, California winemaker with personal roots amongst the vines of his families’ South African vineyard, broke us up into teams of six. We were given four perfectly drinkable Cabernet clones, two blending wines (merlot and Petit Verdot), and a calibrated beaker. We were challenged to compete with the other tables in coming up with a new Cabernet blend; the winners got a bottle of Mr. Bell's elegant wine.
My table strove mightily. We mixed and blended ourselves into a stupor and it was FUN. I'm not sure whether we won.
Members of Sarasota/Manatee Originals provided lunch in the rotunda of the University of Southern Florida. Several restaurants offered tasting dishes of their house specialties.
My favorite was bacon-crusted scallops with locally grown corn and feta salad, followed by a steely Morgan Winery Chardonnay. Stanley Lambert brought a dessert wine called Choc a Block from his eponymous Barossa Valley, Australia vineyard. The dark chocolate Port, made using a fortified Australian Tawny wine base and seeping it with chocolate. is a great accompaniment with brownies and all things rich and velvety!
Sunday- ah Sunday- and we were back at the Ringling for the Grand Tasting. Thirty of the Originals restaurant members plus 80(!) wineries participated including Dr. Bürklin-Wolf, Germany; Champagne Ruinart, France; Fairview Vineyards, South Africa; and Lakeridge Winery, Florida.
Fortunately the festival provided a list of who was serving what, so I picked out seven restaurants and ten wineries to visit.
My notes are a little food and wine stained, but it looks like I ate crab cakes from Martinis and Tapas. Speaking with Chef Matthew Patten at MT’s I learned that while their crab cakes follow a standard recipe of jumbo lump, minimal filler and panko breadcrumbs, they also add a bit of whole grain mustard, Cajun seasoning and a Cajun inspired aioli for a bit of added spice.
Other standout dishes where the Osso Bucco with risotto goat cheese with wild berry compote from Sandbar, the Confit of duck crepes from Bijou Café and Bourbon Street jambalaya zabaglione from Siesta Key Oyster Bar.
I was stuffed and mellow and delighted to discover several must-visit restaurants in the Sarasota/Manatee area. I also discovered some AMAZING new wines.
If you have the LEAST interest in eating or drinking you cannot miss the Sarasota Forks and Corks when it rolls back in town June 2009. I came away hugely impressed with the Originals' members' enthusiasm for cooking with locally grown produce and seafood.
Donne Tempo Magazine and Donne Travels welcomes new writer Janice Jurist, a self-named foodie and writer. We have Janice working on obtaining recipes from her favorite Forks n’ Corks tasting and it seems as there were many! Thank you Janice.
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