New restaurant opens at area art museum

SARASOTA — A new restaurant has opened at the Sarasota Art Museum. 

Bistro at the Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College launched Oct. 1 following the contemporary art museum’s reopening after a pandemic-driven closure. The restaurant is operated by Constellation Culinary Group, the team behind Verde at Perez Art Museum Miami and The Restaurant at the Norton Museum of Art, according to a statement. 

At the helm of the kitchen as executive chef and general manager is Tampa native Kaytlin Dangaran. She is a French Culinary Institute-trained chef with experience at restaurants in New York, San Francisco and, most recently, Miami. Dangaran has previously led restaurants within cultural institutions, the release states. 

“Creating a menu and space within a museum presents a unique opportunity to draw inspiration from the art and artists around us,” says Dangaran in the statement. “With the Museum and Sarasota’s eclectic and multi-faceted population in mind, Bistro provides a space with soul-nourishing cuisine and thought-provoking art that is accessible to everyone.”   

The eatery is the museum’s first dining destination. Bistro is open to the public and the purchase of a museum ticket is not required for dine in, take out or order delivery service. Guests can eat in Bistro’s interior dining space or outdoors within the Museum Plaza. 

Bistro serves local and seasonal-inspired dishes. Menu specials are featured on the blackboard behind the counter, a nod to the museum's location in former Sarasota High School buildings. The menu is influenced by Florida farm stands and includes homemade soups, tartines, salads, sandwiches, charcuterie and cheese, and fresh-baked breads and traditional French pastries.

The restaurant's design is inspired by the 1926 M. Leo Elliott neo-Gothic building that is home to the museum and Paul Rudolph’s 1951 Modernist building that is home to the restaurant. 

“We wanted to extend the Museum experience into the eatery through curated installations and recurring design elements,” says Anne-Marie Russell, executive director and curator at the Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College. “Our harmonious collaboration with Constellation Culinary Group created a unified space combining art and cuisine, two universal languages of the human experience.”

Constellation Culinary Group has over 19 locations in eight cities, including Carnegie Hall, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the New York Botanical Garden. It is part of the Elior North America family.

Bistro will be open Monday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.