One of Sarasota’s oldest restaurants, closed for the past two months due to hurricane flooding, has announced plans to reopen with a new name and a more casual concept, featuring grab-and-go food and alcohol package sales.
St. Armands Circle icon Café L’Europe, an upscale restaurant offering indoor and sidewalk seating and long celebrated for its classic Continental cuisine including signature dishes like roast duck, is “being reimagined as The Café on St. Armands, a Mediterranean-inspired dining destination,” said Taylor Escobar, marketing coordinator for Oysters Rock Hospitality, which owns Café L’Europe, via email.
The decision follows what the owners described as the café sustaining “catastrophic damage from Hurricane Helene” in late September. It also comes after Anna Maria Oyster Bar restaurateurs Amanda and John Horne purchased Café L’Europe from Julie and Ron Milton in early 2022 and subsequently formed Oysters Rock Hospitality, which now oversees both concepts.
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Sarasota fine-dining icon Café L’Europe becomes The Café on St. Armands
St. Armands Circle icon Café L’Europe, which opened in 1973 and is photographed here in 2022, is “being reimagined as The Café on St. Armands, a Mediterranean-inspired dining destination,” said Taylor Escobar, marketing coordinator for Oysters Rock Hospitality, which owns Café L’Europe, via email.
The Café’s new menu has not yet been unveiled but is described as featuring “vibrant small plates and seafood-forward dishes” with influences from France, Spain, Greece, Italy, South Africa, and the Middle East.
Walk into The Café, and you enter the Garden Room, which includes the original bar they’re restoring and calling Café Soleil. The coffee bar will feature “specialty drinks, morning cocktails, and grab-and-go options.”
Through the archway on the right, you’ll find the redesigned Wet Bar, described as “a Gatsby-inspired lounge with creative cocktails and full menu access.” Continue further, and you’ll reach the Gas Light Room. At the very back of the one-story restaurant is the Gallery, the largest space.
In addition, The Café will offer to-go liquor sales, picnic baskets, and third-party delivery services. Guests arriving for the grand reopening planned for January can also expect an updated Mediterranean façade “with communal dining spaces and lush greenery,” according to the email.
Cafe L’Europe in Sarasota opened in 1973
Café L’Europe executive chef Steven Devlin tops a Brandied Duckling entrée with Bing cherry sauce at the St. Armands Circle restaurant on Sept. 28, 2011. Originally opened in 1973, Café L’Europe is “being reimagined as The Café on St. Armands, a Mediterranean-inspired dining destination,” said Taylor Escobar, marketing coordinator for Oysters Rock Hospitality, which owns Café L’Europe, via email.
It was a Sunday in the middle of tourist season — the day after Richard Nixon was inaugurated for his second term. On Jan. 21, 1973, to be exact, Sarasota foodies first embraced a new destination for classic Continental cuisine, brought to 431 St. Armands Circle by a Netherlands native with an extensive background in the hospitality industry.
“I remember opening the front door on our opening night, and I was floored to see my mother and older brother standing there,” recalled Café L’Europe founder Titus Letschert in a 2008 Herald-Tribune interview. “They had come over from Holland to surprise me. I also remember that Norbert (Goldner), my partner at the time, and I were so overwhelmed that we decided to close the next day and reopen the following day. We have been open since then.”
During the same interview, Letschert mentioned how “people have kidded that Café L’Europe has been a Sarasota Cooking University.” He then went on to list former employees — an impressive roster that includes Ray Arpke, longtime owner of Euphemia Haye; J.P. Knaggs, founder of the Bijou Café; and Harry Christensen, founder of Harry’s Continental Kitchens.
Asked in 2008 about a signature menu item that had stood the test of time, Letschert responded, “The Café L’Europe duckling with Bing cherry sauce was a smash from the start and is still on our menu today.”
Alas, Letschert passed away in 2011 at the age of 67, after a long battle with cancer. However, Café L’Europe continued to thrive with a menu similar to his, in its original location — circus magnate John Ringling’s old real estate office.
Betsie Coolidge, who joined Café L’Europe after marrying Letschert in 1995, ran the restaurant until 2016, when she sold it to Ron and Julie Milton, then owners of Scene Magazine. “We have frequented the restaurant for 20 years, and it’s been very special to me and Julie,” Milton told the Herald-Tribune in 2016. “We’re already in the hospitality business, and I’ve always had a thing for restaurants.”
Café L’Europe in Sarasota sold in 2022 to Anna Maria Oyster Bar restaurateurs John and Amanda Horne
St. Armands Circle icon Café L’Europe, which opened in 1973 and is photographed here in 2012, is “being reimagined as The Café on St. Armands, a Mediterranean-inspired dining destination,” said Taylor Escobar, marketing coordinator for Oysters Rock Hospitality, which owns Café L’Europe, via email.
Anna Maria Oyster Bar restaurateurs Amanda and John Horne took over operations at Café L’Europe on Feb. 1, 2022. John Horne said in a statement that it was “an immense honor to be entrusted with the rich culinary legacy of Café L’Europe.”
Moving forward, guests planning to visit The Café on St. Armands when it debuts early next year are invited to “be part of the transformation and experience a dining destination that blends modern trends with the rich culinary heritage of the Mediterranean coast.”
Herald-Tribune archives were used in this story.
Wade Tatangelo is Ticket Editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and Florida Regional Dining and Entertainment Editor for the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram and X. He can be reached by email at wade.tatangelo@heraldtribune.com.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Big changes ahead for 51-year-old Sarasota restaurant hit by hurricane
