Arts & Central takes its name from its prime location in Sarasota’s Rosemary District, but it’s a name that owner Dan Henson Sr. says he was keen to live up to.
“At the same time we thought of how we would name the restaurant, we thought we had a platform to promote local arts. It really was that simple,” Henson says. But why be content with hanging up some paintings and calling it a day?
“We intended to have attractive, heavy-stock menus. We weren’t deliberately thinking about luring customers in or them coming back to get more,” Henson explains. “In order to promote local artists, the idea was that we really wanted people to take [the menus] home, keep them, and collect them.” When the restaurant opened in February of last year, patrons who sat down for lunch were greeted by verses of poetry at their place settings. Fine-art painter and cookbook author Vicki Chelf’s Women of Resistance portraits adorned the dinner menus.
Karen Chandler’s work has appeared on covers of Agatha Christie and Goosebumps thrillers, T-shirts and jewelry, and the sides of downtown Sarasota buildings. But her showcase at Arts & Central this season marked the first time she landed a restaurant menu.
“I think it’s such an unusual thing that they do,” Chandler says, “and it’s just so amazing to me that Dan takes the time to curate and print them all.”
“One of my garages is devoted to the printing room,” Henson says. “When we figured out what we wanted to do, how much it would cost for a commercial printer to do this for us, and how frequently we changed dishes, it quickly became obvious that the solution was to buy a high-end commercial copier and do it ourselves.”
Henson and the copier ended up working overtime during the five weeks Chandler’s art featured on Arts & Central’s menus. Guests were so taken with her vivid series of powerful retro-pop damsels that Henson says his staff had to politely request for nightly raids on the hostess stand to stop.
“We had folks who wanted to have one of everything. I probably printed 6,000 menus that month,” Henson says. As someone who self-describes as “couldn’t draw a straight line” but has a lot of art on the walls at home, he can appreciate how Chandler’s style resonated with so many of his customers.
“I like painting women because I just really love their beauty, and I like to combine vintage fashion and style with a feeling of the strength in these women.”
“It’s just so colorful. It’s societal. Her pop style and vibrant colors really have broad appeal. Every one of the artists we’ve run has been very popular,” he adds. “And we love all categories of art here.”
“I like painting women because I just really love their beauty, and I like to combine vintage fashion and style with a feeling of the strength in these women,” Chandler says. “I tell people when they buy my stuff and they live with it, if they get up and feel like they just can’t do anything that day, I want them to look at that painting and say, ‘Yes, I can—I can do it, and I can look great while I’m doing it, too.’”
From her perspective as a visual artist, Chandler picks up on the artistry opposite hers on the menu’s other side: “I feel like they’re always striving and trying something different. They also have that exposed kitchen, and it’s really beautiful to be able to watch them cooking all this food for such a big restaurant—and it’s always packed.”
In a little over a year, Arts & Central has become a solid anchor point for the Rosemary District, a historic neighborhood poised to turn the page on a lengthy “up-and-coming” chapter.
“The neighborhood is getting more vibrant. We have more tourists walking from The Modern or coming up from places like the Westin, and they realize there is some life north of Fruitville in the downtown area,” Henson says. “We’ve also got about 5,000 apartments and condos within a convenient walk. A couple of thousand more are under permit. If you think of Main Street as a destination, Arts & Central is, at the moment, a combination of a destination restaurant and a neighborhood restaurant.”
Arts & Central hums with live music four nights a week. Once a month, there’s a free reception with live poetry readings and opportunities to engage with the featured artists. The restaurant’s commitment to the arts, inside and outside the kitchen, has been noticed, with two “Best New Restaurant” awards scored for Arts & Central this season. Sarasota residents and visitors who love, live, and breathe the arts have discovered an extra-heavenly slice of paradise.
- Arts & Central
611 Central Ave
Sarasota
941-306-2356
artsandcentral.com
karenchandlerfineart.com
