- March 29, 2025
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Sarasota entrepreneur and philanthropist Ronnie Shugar says five years ago he doesn't think the area could have sustained an establishment like Sugar Champagne Bar.
Yet he says the increasing numbers of residents in the city, and residential buildings on the rise downtown, has changed the restaurant landscape. Sugar Champagne Bar, opening March 28, seeks to capitalize on that influx of people — and their wallets.
"It's nothing like in Sarasota," Shugar says. "This is something similar to when you're going to go to Chicago, to New York."
It's not just the pink design that makes Sugar Champagne Bar, at 127 S. Pineapple Ave, outside The Mark condo building, different from other Sarasota dining establishments. One key differentiator: The interior space, open by reservation only, has a minimum spend requirement of $150 per person beginning at 6 PM. (No minimum tab is required for the patio, which offers walk-in hours from 4 to 6 PM.)
Shugar says an elevated experience — including "old school captains that really take care of you" — accompany the hefty price tag.
The project to bring Sugar Champagne Bar to life cost about $4 million, including the purchase of the building. Shugar, through an LLC named 127 Pineapple Partners, paid $1.8 million for the 1,947-square-foot building in May 2021, Sarasota County property records show.
The project also had some early procedural hiccups, including a Sarasota City Commission dispute in 2023 over the designation of the concept — is it a bar, a restaurant or a nightclub? The winner was a nightclub designation. Shugar, in a 2023 Sarasota Observer story on the concept, said "as I sat on the bench on the corner, I envisioned the Champs Élysées in France or the streets of Milan. People could just enjoy that beautiful scenery and beautiful building and, as an upscale brasserie, a place where mature adults could go to have a drink of champagne, hors d'oeuvres and just enjoy the beauty and surroundings.”
Shugar says he hopes the restaurant will show the potential of Sarasota and inspire others to invest in the city.
Shugar is chair of the Downtown Improvement District, and his contributions to Sarasota include a recent donation of $4 million to The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee for the creation of the Shugar Pool Club aquatic center.
Shugar moved to Florida from California in 2019, when he also moved the business he co-founded, Raw Sugar Living, which sells hand soap, shampoo, body wash, body lotion, bar soap, body butter, lip balm, sugar scrub and other items. The products are made with plant-derived ingredients using cold-press technology, and are sold in Target and other retail outlets and online.
Shugar has since invested $15 million in downtown Sarasota, calling the restaurant his "legacy to Sarasota."
At the establishment, an upscale atmosphere requires guests to wear attire including collared shirts, pants and elegant dresses.
Servers, known as "captains," bring years of experience, often at the management level, and an understanding of the bar's wines. To start at the restaurant, they must attend a two-week course called Sugar College.
Shugar says these sessions are being videotaped as training materials for future expansions in other cities.
"The guest, first and foremost, needs to be at ease, and then we just kind of do our thing," says Chris Cobb, a service consultant from New York. "It doesn't have to be high-spoken. It doesn't have to be all of these things that I think most people get stuck on. What it does have to be is polite, efficient and firm when it needs to be as well, so we want guests to have a good time and feel at ease."
The food menu, which Shugar said features about seven items, is based around caviar and consists of finger foods.
Options include Scottish smoked salmon cornets, which include crème fraîche dip, everything bagel seasoning and trout roe.
The A5 Wagyu tartare is based around Wagyu — beef imported from Japan that is one of the most expensive meats in the world, known for its tenderness and buttery taste.
The attention to composition is also evident in the cocktails.
These include the Raw Sugar cocktail, which is based off the popular Mango and Raw Coconut fragrance of the Raw Sugar Living products.
The mixture of about 10 ingredients includes coconut cream, mango liqueur, mango puree and aged coconut rum, although the resulting beverage, which is mixed with rosé wine, is clear in appearance.
It's served with gold leaf, and a diamond-shaped ice cube in the glass.
"I really wanted to play off of those flavors and aromas and make a cocktail that has some really fun depth and complexity, but looks super simple when we serve it," says beverage manager Jacob Lesitsky.
Also a bit complex: The Cigar Box Old Fashioned cocktail, inspired by the flavors and aromas in pipe tobacco and high-quality cigars. Rather than utilizing a conventional smoking method, however, the drink is smoked inside a cigar box with Spanish cedar wood.
Lesitsky says when restaurants smoke the glass itself, it creates an overpowering smoky taste.
"We're going with a much more subtle approach," he says.
Other ingredients include cognac, bourbon, sherry, vanilla and house-made bitters.
The Signature Martini Service, Lesitsky says, ties in with the caviar focus. It involves a house-made crème fraiche-washed gin or vodka combined with two vermouths, a house brine blend and an aquavit, diluted with Seedlip Garden.
"It's really an elevated service that we're doing here," Shugar says. "The whole idea of the concept is the experiential feel that our guests will take home with them, so we want them to capsulize here and be taken away to somewhere else... They're forgetting everything else, in this beautiful, beautiful room, that just pours elegance and customer service, and that's what we're here for. We're here to take care of all their needs."
This article originally appeared on sister site YourObserver.com.
