Big Appetite

Patrick/26/Sarasota
Joe Seidensticker/29/Sarasota

The entrepreneurial tussle, when executives struggle with delegation, has the Seidensticker brothers in a death-lock grip.

The brothers, Joe and Patrick, are co-owners and managers of Libby's Cafe + Bar, a popular restaurant in the Hillview neighborhood of Sarasota. They run the restaurant in conjunction with their father, longtime restaurateur Steve Seidensticker; their sister, Lisa Seidensticker; and business partner Jeff Greco. Joe Seidensticker, 29, and Patrick Seidensticker, 26, are the faces, and daily decision makers of the operation. Those are roles they have grown into since 2008, when the Seidenstickers bought and renovated the former Fred's Restaurant.

Now, after four years of growth in sales and local prominence, the brothers are ready to open another restaurant. This one will be in downtown Sarasota, on Palm Avenue. Running one busy place while planning for another has tested the Seidenstickers' ability to entrust others, even highly respected employees — a common struggle for young entrepreneurs.

“It's hard to let the reigns go,” says Joe Seidensticker. “It's the first thing we think about in the morning, the last thing we think about at night before we go to bed and what we think about in between.”

The challenge, furthermore, is only about to get deeper because the brothers have lead roles in the yet unnamed Palm Avenue restaurant, on the first floor of a city-owned parking garage. That project takes up a large portion of their time. The Seidenstickers, in conjunction with Sarasota entrepreneur Jesse Biter, intend to turn the space into a restaurant and special event venue with a different look and feel than Libby's.

The restaurant is expected to open early next year. Says Pat Seidensticker: “It's going to far exceed anything people will expect from us.”

One part of the strategy is to create a concept that can be duplicated easily, to foster growth. While the downtown location is convenient to Libby's, only a few miles away, the brothers looked into several other areas. The list includes University Parkway in east Manatee County, Tampa and Winter Park.

“This is our coming out party on the local restaurant scene,” Joe Seidensticker says. “This concept (will be) built as a concept for expansion.”

Finding time to work on both restaurants leaves little leftover for leisure. The brothers enjoy going to the beach, fishing and playing basketball, but they don't get to do it much. Joe Seidensticker even says one non-work pastime, checking out new local restaurants, has morphed into work, somewhat, because he finds himself taking notes for ideas and concepts.

Both Seidensticker brothers entered the hospitality business when they were teenagers. They worked a host of jobs at Gasparilla Inn, a collection of restaurants, hotels, a spa and marina in Boca Grande, where Steve Seidensticker was a manager. Pat Seidensticker recalls his first job was a busboy, and he and his siblings always liked being around the action of a busy resort.

Pat Seidensticker went on to graduate from Tulane University, with a degree in finance and philosophy. His role at Libby's now focuses on budget and human resources, while Joe Seidensticker handles more of the menu and cooking presentation side. Joe Seidensticker has a degree in environmental science from Rollins College in Orlando, though he considered attending the Culinary Institute of America.

Just like when they were younger, the brothers' passion still comes from the no-day-is-the same ethos of the restaurant industry. “It's never easy,” Pat Seidensticker says. “It's a constant challenge, but it's constantly rewarding.”