S.W AND RICH HERMANSEN
Staff Writers
wine@lbknews.com
To the day one year after Hurricane Helen slammed its tidal surge into the heart of St. Armand’s Circle, we walked up a flight of stairs to take a look at the soft opening of Tommy Bahama’s Restaurant and Bar at its new location.
Its old location across the Circle it had occupied since 1996 suffered severe damage during the hurricane and had left locals uncertain about its return to St. Armands. Its new venue, on the right where Ringling comes into the Circle from the Bridge, says loud and clear that the Circle is back and better prepared for future weather events.
The space that Tommy Bahama’s now occupies, formerly The Shore, has the kitchen, bar, and dining areas on the second level. The entranceway has a chic beach bar look. Guests invited to the soft opening gave the staff a chance to conduct a final training exercise before the official opening to the public on the next day, September 24th.
Downstairs the retail store had a sale on chinos in progress. This successful mixing of tropical bar and beach attire merchandizing brings Tommy Bahama’s back to its 1992 roots in its original store in Naples Florida.
Across the circle, next door to the former Tommy Bahama’s location, we found to our surprise that the popular ice cream and candy store, Kilwin’s, had opened a week or two before its grand reopening date of Saturday, September 28th. The manager Nathan explained that everything had come into place early, so they opened their doors to the public. Kilwin’s originated in 1947 as a candy and confectionary shop in Michigan. A Kilwin’s franchise opened on St. Armand’s Circle in 1985 and became a mainstay of the popular ice cream and gift candy trade on the island. Its reopening returns a landmark to the Lido Beach side of the Circle.
Reopening Tommy Bahama’s and Kilwin’s on the Circle brings the recovery of the restaurant and bar presence up to perhaps ninety percent of what it was before Helene. New ventures are opening to fill some of the remaining gaps. Le Colonne on the hard-hit S Boulevard of the Presidents side of the Circle is being reintroduced as Nōnnō Umbertō, an Italian seafood and steakhouse restaurant and bar, named for the founder of Le Colonne by his grandson. On the same side at the end of that block, A Philadelphia restaurant with a Trinidadian flavor is migrating its concept to a new Flambo Caribbean Restaurant in a space formerly occupied by a corner market.
Barring another disastrous close of the hurricane season, St. Armand’s and Lido Key restaurants and bars seem poised and ready to welcome Sarasota and Manatee County visitors and returning and new tourists. We look forward to reviewing food and drink options in the Circle and surrounding areas.
