POV: You’re a gluten-free vegan and you have a hankering for a slice of pizza and glass of wine. Look no further than Sarasota’s sexiest little slip of an eatery: Lucile Pizza & Wine Bar. Tucked in between a barbershop and a real estate office in the heart of downtown, Lucile turns out glorious wood-fired pizzas that cater to every kind of eater—vegans as well as meat and dairy lovers can find their pie.
Robert DeNiro worked as a taxi driver during the filming of Taxi Driver, picking up passengers around New York, pre-Uber, in 1976. This act of immersing oneself in a role in order to feel empathy with the character is called method acting. Ryan Boeve is what I would call a method chef. He spent four years as a strictly practicing vegan in order to better understand the perspective of his guests at Lucile’s sister restaurant, Lila—and if that’s not dedication to one’s craft, I don’t know what is.
Chef Ryan brings a similar intensity to all his endeavors—a conscious hyper-focus and passion that is evident in both his discourse and the quality of his cuisine. The concept for Lucile happened organically, he says: “I love pizza and I struggled to find vegan options.”
Ryan and his business partner, builder Mark Baldwin, designed the concept around the space and around the idea that a pizza joint can be more than just a place to pick up dinner; it can also be a place where you want to stay and eat it. The interior is cozy and welcoming but still modern and feels like the kind of place you could impress a date as much as a place you could meet a colleague after work.
The wine list at Lucile is carefully curated by Ryan. “I look for mostly organic, inexpensive but good value wines. I look at how they play with the food. I tend to focus on Italian wines because they naturally go with pizza. I’m looking for something drinkable and open—ready to go.”
Lucile is named for Ryan’s maternal grandmother, who cultivated a large vegetable and herb garden and inspired her grandson to be creative in the kitchen. There’s no question that the food at Lucile is creative—it takes a certain amount of imagination to offer plant-based options beyond the standard lackluster salad or slice of margherita. Lucile offers innovative toppings such as cashew mozzarella, sunflower-fennel sausage, almond ricotta, and coconut “bacon.” Meat eaters are directed to a smaller section of the menu for pork sausage and prosciutto, but many skeptics have been converted by the savory mushroom-walnut “meatballs” and the plant-based pepperoni.
The wood-fired crusts have just the right amount of chew and a slightly smoky flavor, but I’m huge fan of the gluten-free crust. Made from a combination of psyllium, flaxseed, and almond flour, the crust is the color of Italian eggplant and the texture reminds me of Ethiopian injera bread: crispy along the edges and slightly spongy in the center. This is a true reflection of Chef Ryan’s creative expression and easily one of the best gluten-free crusts that I’ve ever tasted.
Lucile Pizza & Wine Bar: 1660 Main St, Sarasota; 941-330-0101;
lucilesrq.com
