Louie Louie: Prominent restaurateurs seek success, again

Sarasota economic development officials and business leaders have long lamented the fact that downtown Sarasota doesn't have a convention center. Multiple efforts, public, private and public-private, have all faltered going back years, if not decades.

But an entrepreneurial family of local restaurateurs, the Seidenstickers, will try to fill the gap with their latest entity, a restaurant named Louies Modern and The Francis, a catering/banquet facility. The Seidenstickers — Steve Seidensticker and his sons, Joe and Patrick — and business partner Jeff Greco have run Libby's Cafe + Bar, a popular restaurant south of downtown Sarasota, since 2008.

The new facilities, scheduled to open in February, will be on the ground floor of the Palm Avenue parking garage in downtown Sarasota — prime real estate.

Louies Modern and The Francis, at a total of 13,500 square feet, certainly isn't a full-fledged convention center. But the Seidenstickers insist it will be a place to hold weddings, parties, conferences and speakers, in addition to a restaurant that serves modern American cuisine. “We are bringing people in, rather than just having people walk up,” Patrick Seidensticker tells Coffee Talk. “This will be a boon for Sarasota.”

The Seidenstickers are spending several million dollars to transform the space. That includes $1.6 million to buy the floor, in a partnership with local entrepreneur Jesse Biter. “There is nobody else investing this kind of money in the community,” Steve Seidensticker says. “We are bullish on the recovery.”

Construction has already begun on the site, with several local firms involved in the planning, design and building.

While the Seidenstickers dream big about the possibilities on Palm, one element they emphasize is Louies Modern and The Francis won't be another Libby's. Louies Modern is named after Joe and Patrick Seidensticker's grandfather — the Louie to the Libby behind Libby's. “It's not Libby's two,” Patrick Seidensticker says. “It's not Libby's junior. It's a different concept, not only in food, but in service.”