New Dining Destinations
In 2011, Anna Maria Island welcomed several new dining hot spots.Eat Here Anna Maria Island, opened by famed restaurateur Sean Murphy of the Zagat-rated Beach Bistro, focuses on fresh, chef-driven Gulf Coast cookery with a more casual atmosphere and plate presentation of dishes like the New Orleans-style Seafood Stew or the port-braised Pot Roast.
In neighboring Holmes Beach, Fusion Café specializes in gourmet, made-from-scratch meals for lunch and dinner, serving fresh-from-the-boat Gulf seafood and shrimp from the nearby Cortez fishing village. Further south on Anna Maria Island,
Bridge Street Bistro opened in Bradenton Beach at the corner of Gulf Drive and historic Bridge Street. Its third-story dining room captures spectacular evening sunsets, and a new open-air ground floor eatery, Island Time Bar and Grill, features the restaurant’s traditional menu as well as lighter fare and live entertainment on weekends.
In Bradenton, Pier 22 recently opened at the Twin Dolphin Marina and offers an awesome waterfront dining experience featuring an expanded menu of land food and seafood, not to mention sushi. Some of the Chef’s recommendations include the Beef Short Rib, Hunan Shrimp, Jumbo Lobster Tail and French Dip.
Opening soon along Old Main Street and just a few blocks from Pier 22, will be Old Main Grill featuring dine-in and grab and go cuisine cooked to order for lunch or a late-night craving and The Grill at O’Bricks ready for diners in early 2012.
Anna Maria Historic Green Village Heating Up
On track to be Florida’s first LEED Platinum and Net Zero Energy retail park, the Anna Maria Historic Green Village is a restoration project founded and developed by two British vacationers who became Anna Maria Island residents. Spanning a seven-lot campus and more than 8,000 square feet of space on historic Pine Avenue, the Village is completely powered by renewable energy – an innovative combination of solar, geothermal, and smart technology, as well as large-scale reuse and recycling, that will eventually generate more energy on-site than it consumes in a given year. The Village is currently home to the upcycled vintage boutique, Relish, located in a 1935 Sears Cottage, and the Village Café at Rosedale, inthe original home of Will Bean, the island’s first developer. By Spring 2012, the Village will also include additional retail shops, gardens, a medical center, professional services, and a luxury vacation rental in the 100-year-old Anglers Lodge.Only Green Grapes Grow Here
Bradenton natives Lenora and Larry Woodham opened Bunker Hill Vineyard & Winery in 2010 to rave reviews. Open daily and offering free vineyard tours and wine tastings, Bunker Hill focuses on “green” operations with handcrafted wines that are unfiltered, never blended, and fermented with the skin of the grape. They pride themselves on using 100-percent recycled wine bottles, natural corks, and origami gift wrapping. All 10 of their wines are aged in a “wine cave” in complete darkness and at the appropriate temperature between 52 and 57 degrees. The winery is a popular choice for destination weddings and special events, and beginning in 2012, will offer fresh whole fruit wines.Heavy Equipment Playground Talks Turkey
People at Play: The Heavy Equipment Experience, the Southeast’s first heavy equipment playground, has added turkeys to its demolition experience with a fun new “TurkeyToss Package”. Visitors climb into the cab of a CATERPILLAR 312 Steel Track Excavator to navigate a fun and challenging obstacle course. They then have three chances to toss a piñata-style brown, gold and orange Gobbler into one of three strategically placed hoops on the ground – using the excavator bucket, of course. If successful, participants win a gift certificate for a frozen turkey.Recently featured on the “TODAY Show”, this new spin on “men at work” allows anyone 18 years and older to be heavy equipment operators for a day and tackle an obstacle course on its 21-acre construction site (aka construction playground). People at Play emphasizes safety first in their heavy equipment games, giving each guest their own hard hat as a keepsake, along with a commemorative photo. This one-of-a-kind experience costs $425 (plus tax) per person and is only available November 1-30. Another themed “Heavy Equipment Holiday Package” is available December 1-31 that includes a holiday gift bag full of construction goodies for $475 (plus tax) per person.
