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Restaurant:
Divino Restaurant & Bar
Address: 1766 Main St., Sarasota, Fla., 34236
Phone: 941-330-9393
Website: www.divinosarasota.com
Lunch guest: Diana Bernal, marketing executive, Bradenton-based Key Glass.
Reservations: Not required, but suggested.
Parking: Can be difficult. Spots on the street fill up quickly in the late mornings, and the public parking garages are a few blocks away.
One-hour lunch test: Passed. Service is fast and attentive. Waiters come back frequently to check on drinks and food.
See and be seen: A high quotient of local power brokers meets here regularly. Kathy Baylis, recently retired president and CEO of the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County, had lunch one day in late January with Sarasota Herald-Tribune publisher Diane McFarlin, for example. The Herald-Tribune's offices are across the street. Also, in December, the five Sarasota County commissioners, along with some other local officials, had lunch in a private room with new County Administrator Randall Reid.
Privacy: Some tables are close together, but the layout of the restaurant offers several tables in nooks that are good for private conversations. The owners, Giovanni and Nicky Cristofoli, husband and wife, set up the seating to mimic classic European restaurants. There are a few outdoor tables that face Main Street, which are great for people watching, not so great for privacy.
Ambiance: Just like the seating, the atmosphere is Old World European. There's a wall of wines off to one side, and another side is the cocktail lounge, where there's a jazz/piano bar. The private dining room has a different decor than the main dining room. The private room also has its own fine china and crystal. A special tasting menu is available for lunch parties in that room.
Food: The lunch menu, where no item surpasses $13, is authentic Italian. Pasta fagioli, Italian bean soup, and minestrone are the regular soups on the menu, each for $5.95. Two of the more popular salads are the Popeye, which has spinach, toasted goat cheese, crispy bacon, tomatoes, caramelized onions, pine nuts and walnuts; and the Capri, which consists of mixed greens, prosciutto, tomatoes, mozzarella, olives, bruschetta, artichoke and roasted bell peppers. Those are $8.50 each.
There are also five pasta dishes, seven kinds of sandwiches and wraps and six entrees. The entree selections range from the familiar, like eggplant baked with tomato sauce, mozzarella and parmesan cheese, to the unusual, like the frittata. The latter is an Italian omelet made with mushrooms, bacon and a choice of cheese and vegetables. The eggplant dish is $9.95, while the frittata is $8.50.
Ownership: The Cristofolis, Italian immigrants, opened Divino in 2004. Giovanni and Nicky Cristofoli each worked in restaurants in Italy before they moved to Sarasota. Nicky Cristofoli says they will add more outside seating, in a separate courtyard, later this year.
Review date: January 2012
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