Arts + Entertainment 10.6.22

A+E INSIDE: First Voices: Indigenous composers take center stage at enSRQ’s season-opening event. 3> <ONE ACT: Talent abounds in Theatre Odyssey’s One-Act Play Festival. 6

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT OCTOBER 6, 2022

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IN THE

MIX What happens when 25 of the most talented bartenders and mixologists converge on one space? They do their best to stand out with delicious craft cocktails.

Photos by Spencer Fordin

Stephanie Porter, beverage manager at Grove, poses with last year’s winning cocktail, the Groveloma.

DEFENDING CHAMPION Last year’s winner was the Grove’s take on a paloma: the Groveloma. Rather than reinvent the drink, they sought to put their spin on it.

“Instead of just having the typical drink, we actually infuse the tequila with cucumber and pineapple,” Grove beverage manager Stephanie Porter says of the drink’s preparation. “That kind of gives it some extra flavors that would go well with a grapefruit. And then, instead of a grapefruit juice we use grapefruit Jarritos, because we wanted to give it kind of like that little bit of bubbly with the soda as well.”

RECIPE INGREDIENTS n 1.5 oz. Cucumber infused tequila n.5 oz. Pineapple juice n 1 oz. fresh lime juice n.5 oz. Agave n.5 oz. Triple sec n 2-3 mint leaves Shake and strain all ingredients into a glass rimmed with Tajin over ice. Top with grapefruit Jarritos.

SPENCER FORDIN A+E EDITOR

T

he innovation is taking place in darkened rooms when the doors are closed to customers, and the competitors are sworn to secrecy about the experiments they’re conducting.

Is this a closely held science symposium privy only to those with top secret clearance?

No, it’s the run-up to Set the Bar, Sarasota’s annual mixology competition that brings service professionals from 25 establishments to compete for customers, accolades and of course — bragging rights.

They’re all working on the same project, which is one of embellishment more than reinvention.

A mixologist’s job is to give you what you ordered but to render it in a way you’ve never tasted it before.

“The challenge is to take a classic cocktail and put a fun spin on it,” says Stephanie Porter, beverage manager at Grove. “What we do is we try to think of what other flavors would go

well in this cocktail.

“And then we’ll play off the flavors that are already existing in it.”

Porter’s team at Grove took home the top prize with its Groveloma in 2021, a spin on the popular paloma tequila cocktail.

This year Porter and her team will be back to compete in the gin category, which she regards as a challenge to work with an underrated spirit.

Max Wheeler, bar manager at JPAN Sushi & Grill at University Town Center, will be competing in Set the Bar for the first time, and he’ll be working in the rum category.

Wheeler, like Porter, is on guard not to spill any secrets, but he said the key to making a drink is balance.

You don’t want any one flavor to overpower the spirit upon which the drink is based, and Wheeler goes as far as to say that a drink should never have more than four ingredients.

“There’s no sense in me drinking a cocktail if I don’t appreciate the spirSEE SET THE BAR, PAGE 2

JPAN bar manager Max Wheeler and a host of local contenders are vying for the best drink at the Set the Bar competition.

“What we do is we try to think of what other flavors would go well in this cocktail. And then we’ll play off the flavors that are already existing in it.”

— Stephanie Porter

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Set the Bar FROM PAGE 1

it underneath,” he says. “If you have more than four ingredients, you’re drowning that spirit. And that spirit is the entire pillar of the cocktail.

“Adding a fifth ingredient — doing two contrasting flavors underneath an aged tequila — needs a justification because I’m going to lose parts of that tequila.”

One hundred years ago, in fact, losing part of the spirit’s flavor may have been the bartender’s intention when they poured you a cocktail.

Turner Moore, a judge for the whiskey category of Set the Bar, says cocktails were invented during the Prohibition era and that early bartenders may have used garnishes to distract from the taste of their drinks.

“The general consensus is that unethical bartenders maybe were using fruit juices or other things to mask unwanted flavors and lowquality alcohol,” says Moore. “But now, of course, it’s developed into a tremendous art form. The creativity and innovation is remarkable.”

Ed Smith Stadium, generally a baseball field and most recently a sandbag distribution center in the lead-up to Hurricane Ian, will give the 25 teams plenty of space to sell their wares. And the rules for the competitors are pretty simple.

They get a bottle to experiment with and a couple bottles to complete their mixed drinks for Set the Bar. They all use the same base spirits — Big Storm Distillery for gin, Cuervo Tradicional for tequila, Cathead Distillery for vodka, Dark Door Spirits for whiskey and Papa’s Pilar Rum for rum — but after that they’re allowed to let their imaginations run wild in creating their concoction.

“We’re physically mixing and tasting things,” says Porter of the invention process. “We’re saying, ‘OK, what do you think this cocktail needs?’ We’re playing around with those elements and seeing which flavors go well together and which flavors don’t go well together.”

Wheeler said he hoped to compete in this past year’s Set the Bar event, but his wife went into labor on the day of the competition. This year,

Photos courtesy of Evan Sigmund

he remains secretive; he’s excited to compete against his fellow industry professionals, but he doesn’t want to get invested in the stakes of winning and losing.

“I haven’t told my parents. My wife knows about it, but she only knows because I’ll be home early,” he says of the competition. “I’m bringing what I think people will like without the intention of winning ... If I could have 500 people say, ‘Wow, I’ve never tasted anything like this,’ I’d rather have that than a trophy.”

Marc Grimaud, board president of Sarasota-Manatee Originals and owner of Cafe Gabbiano, says the individual judges taste each drink blind and score them one by one.

But they don’t really have a say in picking the event’s standout.

The people’s choice for the best drink of the competition is decided by voucher. Each patron rips off a piece of their voucher and leaves it at the table for the drink they liked the most.

At the end of the day, all the vouchers are counted and tabulated to crown the champion.

“It’s a great setup,” says Gabbiano.

“There’s a lot of culinary talent in this town. There’s also a lot of skilled bartenders in this town.

“So it’s good to have an event to feature and highlight them.”

In this event, the hard work is done before the serving begins.

Wheeler jokes that there isn’t a lot of showmanship involved in the actual service of the drinks; there won’t be any “Cocktail”-style server heroics. It’s more like a heads-down assembly line cranking out drink after drink.

Set the Bar will be back at Ed Smith Stadium for the second straight season.

IF YOU GO SET THE BAR When: 1-4 p.m., Oct. 23 Where: Ed Smith Stadium, 2700 12th St. Tickets: $75 Info: EatLikeALocal. com.

Bartender Robbie Jinson, of Cafe Gabbiano, set up shop with an ice luge for his Strawberry Basil Martini at the 2019 competition.

For this day, one day only, there are no requests.

“It’s kind of like being a Costco employee doing hot dog samples,” says Wheeler. “I’m bringing our best

offering to them.

“Once they take it, it’s no longer my responsibility. They can appreciate it, they can hate it, they can love it. They can even ask for the recipe.”

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The first concert of enSRQ’s season, ‘First Voices,’ will feature the works of indigenous composers.

MARTY FUGATE CONTRIBUTOR

A

rt is a moving target. It evolves and changes from day to day.

Trying to pinpoint what’s happening now is like trying to capture lightning in a bottle.

But that’s the prime directive of ensembleNewSRQ. This innovative ensemble celebrates the ongoing evolution of classical music.

What’s the next evolutionary leap? Violinist Samantha Bennett and percussionist George Nickson are the group’s founders and coartistic directors.

On Oct. 10, they’ll be answering the question with a concert.

“First Voices” revolves around the voices of living, indigenous composers.

It’s all new work. The voices of today, not the past.

Here are the voices you’ll hear …

JEROD IMPICHCHAACHAAHA’ TATE’S ‘TALOWA’ HILOHA (THUNDER SONG)’

Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate is a Chickasaw classical composer.

He created this tempestuous piece for solo timpani.

“Hiloha” is Chickasaw word for thunder and lightning. Traditionally, the Chickasaw people believed thunderstorms meant the holy people above the clouds had gone to war. When a raging storm crossed the plains, Chickasaw warriors would ride out and fire their rifles at the sky to prove their bravery.

Tate summons the tempest with five enormous kettledrums and celebrates the history of his people.

PERFORMER: PERCUSSIONIST GEORGE NICKSON.

INTI FIGGIS-VIZUETA’S ‘IMAGO’ “Imago” refers to the penultimate stage of an insect’s metamorphosis.

In figgis-vizueta’s sonic tapestry, it’s a cicada. It’s a complex work, dense with patterns and cycles.

String instruments vibrate with the cicada’s relentless rhythms and then slow to near silence.

Other patterns evoke birds and beasts — and the sense of being joyfully outside in nature.

Figgis-vizueta created this work during the time COVID forced her to be a shut-in. The Andean composer notes that, “‘Imago’ is my response to artworks that, due to the pandemic, I couldn’t see or interact with in real life.”

PERFORMERS: VIOLINISTS SAMANTHA BENNETT AND JENNIFER BEST TAKEDA; VIOLIST ALEX D’AMICO; CELLIST CLARE MONFREDO. ELIZABETH OGONEK’S ‘LIGHTENINGS’

Ogonek’s composition recalls the polyphonic density of Ligeti’s “Atmosphères,” but it’s uniquely her own. This piece for violin, piano, clarinet and percussion has a restless rhythm that never settles into a predictable groove.

While Ogonek’s work has a relentless pace, she never rushes the process of composition.

“It becomes a puzzle that I have to solve in some way,” she says.

“It’s a long process of uncovering the many ways something could work. There’s blood and tears involved, usually. And sleepy nights and grumpy moods. You don’t want to be my partner.”

PERFORMERS: CONDUCTOR GEORGE NICKSON; VIOLINIST SAMANTHA BENNETT; PIANIST JESSE MARTIN; CLARINETIST BHARAT CHANDRA; PERCUSSIONIST MARCELINA SUCHOCKA. MICHAEL BEGAY’S ‘CLOAK OF AUTUMN.’

This Diné composer’s roots are

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2022

in the Navajo Nation of northern Arizona.

His piece captures the seasonal shift from fall to winter. According to Bennett, Begay used a clever musical technique to evoke darkening days and falling temperatures.

“Three of the four string instruments are tuned lower,” she says.

“It’s a technique called ‘scordatura,’ and it gives a colder, spookier resonance to the sounds of the instrument.”

She adds that the enSRQ audience has a good ear for contemporary classical music.

“The effect is almost subliminal,” she says. “But most of our listeners will notice it.”

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REVIEWS

Other voices, other songs

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PERFORMERS: VIOLINISTS SAMANTHA BENNETT AND JENNIFER BEST TAKEDA; VIOLIST ALEX D’AMICO; CELLIST CLARE MONFREDO Courtesy photos

GABRIELA ORTIZ’S ‘PICO-BITEBEAT’

This work for percussion, string quartet and electronics is a moveable feast of sound. The Mexican composer, Gabriela Ortiz, took inspiration from the city of Los Angeles and its multiplicity of Mexican restaurants.

Why L.A. and not Mexico City?

“Los Angeles is a sui generis universe of culinary venues where borders are diluted in a great multiculturality,” she says. “This city is a fascinating product of globalization and mass migration — and the perfect place to explore the development and impact of Mexican food in a foreign context.”

PERFORMERS: VIOLINISTS SAMANTHA BENNETT AND JENNIFER BEST TAKEDA; VIOLIST ALEX D’AMICO; CELLIST CLARE MONFREDO; PERCUSSIONIST GEORGE NICKSON.

And that’s what you’ll hear at the “First Voices” concert.

Begay, figgis-vizueta, Tate, Ogonek, Ortiz. Five voices. Five not-so-easy pieces.

According to Bennett, these works are a trip … metaphorically.

“You’re not traveling physically,” she says. “You sit in the same room.

But the songs transport you to different places, different feelings and different sources of inspiration.”

Gabriela Ortiz is one of the featured artists at the enSRQ “First Voices” program.

Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate’s powerful percussion composition will be a featured element of the show.

Nickson adds that representing the voices of indigenous composers is an idea whose time is long overdue.

“First Voices” does just that. But the music itself always comes first.

“We’re not checking cultural boxes in this concert,” he says. “So many indigenous composers are creating fantastic music today.

“The voices you’ll hear in this concert are just a sample. The music is new; the music is good — and that’s why or audience needs to hear it. That’s the core of enSRQ’s mission — and the heart of our programming decisions.”

IF YOU GO FIRST VOICES When: Oct. 10, 7:30 p.m.

Where: First Congregational Church, 1031 S. Euclid Ave. Tickets: $25 Live Video: $10 Info: ensrq.org.

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2022

THIS WEEK THURSDAY

WHEN YOUR DAUGHTER IS YOUR TEACHER 11 a.m. at Elling Eide Center, 8000 S. Tamiami Trail $20 Visit EllingOEide.org.

Visiting professor Ann Waltner from the University of Minnesota will discuss Tanyangzi, a girl born into a proper Confucian family in the 16th century who refused to live by the stringent gender roles of her day. Waltner will examine the ways Tanyangzi was an outlier and also how she encapsulated trends in her society.

BEFORE THE BEATLES, BEFORE THE STONES,

ONE KID WAS MAKING HISTORY! “That’ll Be The Day” “Peggy Sue” “Oh Boy!”

‘THE ’70S: MORE THAN A DECADE’ 7:30 p.m. at John C. Court Cabaret, 1265 First St. $34 Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

The cast at Florida Studio Theatre is ready to swing you into the ’70s.

This original revue, written by Rebecca Hopkins, Richard Hopkins and Sarah Durham around musical arrangements by Jim Prosser, will leave you chair-dancing to the greatest hits of a decade that includes Marvin Gaye, the Bee Gees and more.

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a comedian and an ’80’s movies enthusiast. Runs through Oct. 9.

SATURDAY POETS UNPLUGGED: VOICES OF POWER 7 p.m. at Fogartyville, 525 Kumquat Court $5 general admission Visit WSLR.org/Fogartyville/.

These voices won’t be silenced.

Listen up as Melanie Lavender hosts Fogartyville’s second annual six-week spoken-word poetry series that invites local wordsmiths to an open mic at 8 p.m. Bradenton-born word sculptor “Whit the Poet” will be the featured performer and will hit the Fogartyville stage at 9 p.m.

‘OUT OF BOUNDS’ 7:30 p.m. at Bowne’s Lab, 1265 First St. $15 Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

ONE-ACT PLAY FESTIVAL 7:30 p.m. at Jane B. Cook Theatre, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail $29 Visit TheatreOdyssey.org.

SPONSOR: Lexus of Sarasota

Did you ever wish a play would just get to the point? Then this festival is for you! Theatre Odyssey will present a quartet of new plays that are being produced for the first time, and all of them are only one act. The four plays were chosen from a group of more than 100 submissions; the festival will run through Oct. 9.

FRIDAY FLIP SCHULTZ 7 p.m. at McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd. $25 Visit McCurdysComedy.com.

Flip Schultz has brought his manic brand of comedy to such far-flung locales as Greenland and Egypt, and he’ll play five shows for the McCurdy’s Comedy audience over a span of three days. Schultz bills himself on his website as an actor,

DON’T MISS

‘GUYS AND DOLLS’ It’s an enduring Broadway staple that has thrilled audiences for more than seven decades. Now, Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe is ready to give it their own spin on things.

“Guys and Dolls” ran for more than 1,200 performances on Broadway and won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1950, and it was even brought to life on the Silver Screen by a cast including Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra in 1955. The venerable classic has been brought back both in revivals and touring productions over the decades, and it’s set to have another run on the London stage in 2023. Jim Weaver will direct, and the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe’s production of Guys and Dolls will run through Nov. 20.

IF YOU GO When: 7:30 p.m., Oct. 8 Where: Donelly Theatre, 1012 N. Orange Ave. Tickets: $20-$48 Info: WestCoastBlackTheatre.org.

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Who wants to get in between two rivals gangs of improv artists? That will be the difficult task for the audience at Florida Studio Theatre’s “Out of Bounds,” which will split the cast members into two teams competing their way through a number of games, spontaneous scenes and off-the-cuff renditions of songs. They’re vying for your approval and for your applause, and only one team can win. The best part is that no two shows will be the same. And who gets the final say in who was the funniest? Only the audience can make that call. “Out of Bounds” runs Saturdays through Nov. 26.

RECAP QUARTET CONCERT 8 p.m. at Harry Sudakoff Conference Center, 5845 General Dougher Place $15 Visit NewMusicNewCollege.org.

Recap Quartet, a percussion group consisting of Arlene Acevedo, Alexis Carter, Tiahna Sterling and Aline Vasquez, will be the guests of honor for New Music New College this week. The quartet will take part in a special group discussion at the school on Thursday evening, and they’ll perform on the same stage Saturday night.

SUNDAY ‘CHARLOTTE’S WEB’ 10 a.m. at Keating Theatre, 1241 N. Palm Ave. $10 Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

left you. Or maybe you want to bring the tale to your children. This adaptation of E.B. White’s yarn turns Wilbur and Charlotte into characters in a musical, and they’ll explore the themes of bravery, friendship and love while getting you to sing along.

FREE SECOND SUNDAY 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Sarasota Art Museum, 1001 S. Tamiami Trail Free Visit SarasotaArtMuseum.org.

Come explore the galleries of the Sarasota Art Museum, which opens its doors to the public for free on the second Sunday of every month.

Featured exhibits include Steven and William Ladd’s “Lead With a Laugh,” which transforms their childhood memories into evocative works of textile and beaded art.

MONDAY ‘FIRST VOICES’ 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 1031 S. Euclid Ave. $25 Visit ENSRQ.org.

The “First Voices” featured by enSRQ in its debut season performance are all indigenous composers. Violinist Samantha Bennett and percussionist George Nickson, founding members of enSRQ, are shining the light on the works of Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, inti figgis-vizueta, Elizabeth Ogonek, Michael Begay and Gabriela Ortiz and bringing them to a new audience.

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2022

TUESDAY ‘NOT YOUR AVERAGE BARBECUE: KOREAN-STYLE’ 6 p.m. at Aprons Cooking School, 2875 University Parkway $60 Visit ApronsCookingSchool.Publix. com.

Sure, you know how to work your grill. But do you know how to cook over a hibachi? The talented chefs at Aprons Cooking School will teach you how to replicate the flavors of Korean cooking as you make lettuce wraps, kimchi bokumbap and bulgogi chicken with pa jun. You’ll eat it all, and you’ll go home with new skills to use in your kitchen.

WEDNESDAY GREAT ESCAPES: A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES 5:30 p.m. at Holley Hall, 709 N. Tamiami Trail $45-$108 Visit SarasotaOrchestra.org.

Conductor Lawrence Loh, the music director of Syracuse-based Symphoria, will bring you the songs and scores made famous through decades of Hollywood movies. You’ll hear the propulsive percussion of film icon John Williams as well as classics from composers like Mozart and Richard Strauss. Loh will lead the orchestra in four performance running through Oct. 15.

DON’T MISS

CHAMBER SOIREES: SARASOTA STRING QUARTET The crack musicians of the Sarasota Orchestra will play in a stripped-down quartet in the first Chamber Soirees event of the season. Listen as they pluck the delicate soundlines of Ravel’s String Quartet, written all the way back in 1903, and also as they play Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8, which he dedicated

CARMEN CIRICILLO 7 p.m. at McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd. $25 Visit McCurdysComedy.com.

Carmen Ciricillo has braved the domestic wars as a husband and

to “all the victims of fascism and war” in 1960. Shostakovich famously wrote his masterpiece in three days. The Sarasota String Quartet will only play this Chamber Soiree once.

IF YOU GO When: 4 p.m., Oct. 9 Where: Holley Hall, 709 N. Tamiami Trail Tickets: $40-$50 Info: SarasotaOrchestra.org.

father, and he’s emerged from 25 years of family life with some wisdom for the population at large.

Ciricillo isn’t afraid to talk about the things that sometimes are left behind closed doors, and he’ll play six shows running through Saturday, Oct. 15.

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2022

Four playwrights, four directors and four first-time productions will hit the stage at the Jane B. Cook Theatre.

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hey’ll tackle it all, from dementia and celebrity to pornography and epistemology.

And they’ll do it all in one act.

Theatre Odyssey’s fourth annual One-Act Play Festival brought in 100 submissions from across the country, and four works will be staged for the first time at the Jane B. Cook Theatre from Oct. 6 to Oct. 9.

Ann Morrison, who will be directing “The Mockingbird’s Nest,” says that one-act plays occur in a perfect narrative sweet spot and are sometimes more fully rendered than a two-act play would be.

“One-act plays have been around for centuries,” she says. “Ten-minute plays are more challenging. You have to get the beginning, middle and end all in 10 minutes ... Some stories are just told best when they’re one act.

Having an intermission means having to stretch the storyline to make the second act make sense.”

Morrison, speaking in the days before Hurricane Ian, said she hadn’t had much of an opportunity to interact with playwright Craig Bailey. She was conducting rehearsals with her two-member cast via Zoom and hoping to keep electricity through the storm.

She didn’t want to give away too much of the play’s plot, but she said that it involves a mother with dementia and a daughter who is slowly realizing her mother’s condition. And then the whole plot gets flipped on its back. Morrison said there are great laugh-out-loud moments in the script and says she’s excited for the playwright to be able to see it on the stage.

“We’ve all worked with Betty Robinson before and she’s a dear. She’s just charming in this, and she said she’d never got to play a role like this before,” says Morrison of her lead actress. “She’s having lots of fun.”

Morrison says that three of the four plays have a futurism theme to them, but there’s one literal component tying everything together.

Preston Boyd, an actor and director, will be playing interstitial music pieces to hold the audience’s attention as the sets and casts change behind him. Boyd spoke to each of

Spencer Fordin

ONE ACT PLAY FESTIVAL n ‘The Mockingbird’s Nest’ — Written by Craig Bailey; Directed by Ann Morrison n ‘Deep Freeze’ — Written by James C. Ferguson; Directed by Katherine Michelle Tanner n ‘What Are You Looking At?’ — Written by Philip J. Kaplan; Directed by Blake Walton n ‘Shell Game’ — Written by Meg Hanna-Tominaga; Directed

by Jeffery Kin

the directors for the festival for input about what kind of music they’d like, and he’ll be performing on both 12-string guitar and mandolin.

“I asked the directors to give me really a sense of mood,” he says. “I can kind of jam around a theme, if it’s dark or if it’s light, or if it’s something that’s kind of mysterious.

“I offered the directors the sound of banjo and nobody chose that.”

Morrison, who first began acting in Sarasota in 1978, recently wrapped up her one-woman show “Merrily” at the Players Centre for Performing Arts, and she’s jumping right into “The Mockingbird’s Nest.”

The charm of these one-act plays, she says, is that they’re still in such a raw stage of their development.

“They have not been done anywhere before. It is the first time,” she says. “So in a sense, it’s a delight for the playwright to see the words they put down on paper be put on stage.

“Hopefully, a lot of times, the performance of it informs the writers.

‘Gee, that didn’t play well, I can fix it.’ Or, ‘I like their interpretation of what I wrote better, and I can actually make that better next time.’”

Sarasota institution Ann Morrison, shown performing at an Asolo Repertory Theatre function earlier this year, looks forward to directing “The Mockingbird’s Nest” at the One-Act Play Festival.

IF YOU GO THEATRE ODYSSEY’S ONE-ACT PLAY FESTIVAL When: 7:30 p.m., Oct. 6-8; 2 p.m., Oct. 9 Where: Jane B. Cook Theatre, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail Tickets: $29 Info: TheatreOdyssey. org.

p

Highlights from the Stanton B. and Nancy W. Kaplan Collection of Photography THROUGH FEB 12

INFORMATION + TICKETS

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BOOK AND LYRIC BY

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MUSIC BY

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Due to Hurricane Ian Dates have changed, please check our website for more information

Supporting Partner Community Foundation of Sarasota County.

Paid for in part by Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax revenues.

Sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, the National Endowment for the Arts, Herald Tribune, and the Selby Foundation Ringling Endowment.

Henri Cartier-Bresson (French, 1908-2004) Brussels, Belgium (detail), 1932; printed later.

Gelatin silver print, 14 1/4 × 9 1/2 in. Gift of Stanton B. and Nancy W. Kaplan, 2019.

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2022

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DISTINCTIVE DISHES An occasional series on signature dishes from local restaurants.

COD RIBATEJANO AT AMORE RESTAURANT

“We have a saying that we have 365 recipes for salted cod — one for each day of the year.

But it’s much more than that. Believe me.”

Address: 180 N. Lime Ave. Ambiance: Date night, family style, homey Price: Entrees from $22 to $41 Info: AmoreLBK.com.

WHAT’S THE DISH: Cod is a fish eaten all over the world, but it reaches a new level of national obsession in Portugal.

Tito Vitorino, the proprietor and chef at Amore Restaurant, says salted cod is to the Portuguese what pasta is to Italians, and he likes to serve a version of the dish that he tried in Ribatejo Province many decades ago.

“We have 11 million citizens in Portugal, and we eat more salted cod than the entire world combined,” says Vitorino of the salted staple. “If you go to a Portuguese restaurant no matter the size, no matter how chic or how luxurious or what kind of neighborhood it’s in, you will find at least half a dozen to a dozen salted cod dishes on the entire menu.”

But it doesn’t end there. Vitorino says you could spend your life learning recipes for salted cod.

And it would be a life well lived.

“We have a saying that we have 365 recipes for salted cod — one for each day of the year,” he says.

“But it’s much more than that.

Believe me.”

WORTH ITS SALT: Vitorino says that cod is butterflied and buried in inch-thick layers of natural sea salt for three to four months before it’s ready to be used in cooking.

Although cod might be swimming all over the world, there’s one variety that cooks better than the rest.

“Norwegian salted cod is the best cod in the world,” says Vitorino.

“Nothing against the Alaskan or the Canadian salted cod, but when you cook it, it has a tendency to shrink and get a little tougher. The Norwegian extends. It almost gets flaky. It’s a completely different quality.”

P LEASE J OIN

US FOR AN

Photos by Spencer Fordin

CHEF TITO VITORINO

PREPPING THE FISH: This fish is salty. But you don’t want it to be too salty to eat.

Vitorino says that the fish has to be “marinated” in water for two or three days before it’s ready to eat.

“You put it in a container of water and you change the water every morning and every night,” says Vitorino of the preparation process.

“If you put your finger in the water and you taste the water and the water is still salty to your palate, that means the salted cod is still too salty to cook.”

HOW IT’S MADE: The cod is sauteed with olive oil, onion, garlic and parsley, and then Vitorino adds black olives, roasted bell peppers and a half glass of white wine.

He lets it cook awhile, and then he adds a touch of marinara sauce or tomato paste and lets it cook for 45 minutes. And finally it’s served over sliced, fried potatoes.

THE OLD COUNTRY: Back in his youth, Vitorino was a professional cyclist in Portugal, and he found this dish by accident when he would visit his teammates that were from

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— Chef Tito Vitorino

Ribatejo Province.

“We used to train on the hills down over that area and there was this small little family restaurant and we were crazy about it,” he says.

“And then I always prepared it at home for family and friends.”

Is Cod Ribatejano a good food for cyclists?

“Not really. It’s a little heavy,” he says. “I believe nothing is bad for your body if you don’t do it in excess.”

VISITING HOME: Tito Vitorino and his wife, Liana, grew up within five miles of each other in Lanego, Portugal, and every year they use the month of September to go home and visit their family and friends.

This year, they came back to Sarasota just in time for Hurricane Ian and its aftereffects, but Vitorino says the annual trip back to Portugal is necessary to relax and unwind.

“It’s not like I’m taking my eccentric American wife to meet the neighborhood when we go home,” he says.

“Her friends are my friends and our parents, they knew each other even before we met. When we go home, we really go home.”

— SPENCER FORDIN

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2022

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Helping our Community!

CLIVE DANIEL HOME IS OPEN AND READY TO HELP!

We are beyond grateful to report that none of our Clive Daniel Home showrooms or warehouses were damaged by Hurricane Ian. We are back up and running at all locations. Since last week, our #1 priority has been checking in on the wellbeing of our team members. Now that we have secured safe housing for everyone, we are turning our attention to the rest of our community.

HOW YOU CAN HELP If you are in a position to do so, you can help in the following ways:

MAKE A DONATION to United Way’s SWFL Emergency Relief Fund. https://unitedwaylee.org/hurricane-ian-relief-fund/ DONATE RELIEF SUPPLIES to one of our showrooms. Our teams will coordinate with the Red Cross to distribute items as needed.

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