Global Fare, The Bodhi Tree Café
The Buddha is said to have achieved enlightenment while seated under the Bodhi Tree—”the tree of awakening,” a large and ancient sacred fig tree located in India.
I love sitting on the porch at The Bodhi Tree Café in Towles Court and listening to the chirping trills of birds and the tinkling of wind chimes while watching the fluttering avocado-green drapes and the sun as it filters through the foliage. There are statues of the Buddha on either side of the café and the overwhelming feeling in this space is one of tranquility. What better frame of mind in which to enjoy a delicious meal, lovingly prepared by Chef Oscar Revelli?
The Bodhi Tree Café is a family affair. Oscar and his wife, Carolina, fill the restaurant with warmth and creativity. Her paintings adorn the walls alongside his photographs, Carolina’s jewelry sparkles through the display case next to the cozy bar, and gifts from loyal customers are joyously on display. The couple’s eldest daughter, Isabella, works with her mother in the front of the restaurant and Eva, the youngest, helps out whenever she can.
Oscar and Carolina previously owned Uva Rara in Burns Court and Carolina remembers that on breaks they would take strolls through the Towles Court Arts District, admiring the galleries and the peaceful beauty of the area. Chef Oscar would express his desire to one day own a restaurant in this location but it felt more like a shared fantasy than a solid vision. After closing Uva Rara in 2007, the couple relocated to Italy for a few years to be near Oscar’s family.
When they returned to Sarasota in 2017, their plans did not include a restaurant, in any incarnation. Fate, and Facebook, intervened when Oscar spotted a post proclaiming that Lavanda Restaurant was for sale. Carolina flashes her radiant smile at me and chuckles with a shrug, “It was his dream, how could I say no?”
I’m surprised to learn that Chef Oscar is not from Italy originally but was born in South Africa and moved at a young age to Athens, Greece, and later to Turin, Italy. Carolina, born and raised in Sarasota, credits her husband’s extensive multicultural palate to this early exposure to different cultures and foods and his inherited ability from his mom who was “a very good cook.”
The Bodhi Tree Café is not an Italian restaurant or a Mediterranean restaurant so much as it is a natural and organic restaurant with an Italian-Mediterranean sensibility. Chef Oscar grew up shopping for ingredients in markets and he still shops for food and inspiration every day, not relying on any large food companies for delivery.
The Bodhi Tree Café has what Carolina refer to as “a good problem” in that the weekly specials often engender such a fierce and immediate fandom as to demand their inclusion on the ever-expanding permanent menu. One such dish is the Sausage Boscaiola, affectionately referred to as “The Bomb,” because a customer leapt to his feet and offered Carolina a high five after he tasted and enthusiastically insisted “This is the bomb!” Carolina peals with laughter and acknowledges that she would love to wear a GoPro camera in the dining room. Chef Oscar’s menu features vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-conscious options alongside the more decadent offerings. In fact, two of the restaurant’s most popular dishes are vegetarian: Bodhi Salad and their signature Eggplant Parmigiana. If your New Year’s resolution involved eating more plant-based dishes then I urge you to try The Bodhi Tree Café’s Eggplant Parmigiana: melty cheesy oven-baked perfection—you’ll never look back.
Carolina grows earnest when she discusses her family’s appreciation for their customers. “Our customers become our regulars and then our friends. They are truly wonderful people that have always supported us and they are lovely to be around. During quarantine some of our customers would order a week’s worth of food—they’re so generous.”
I think it’s more than generosity that encourages this fierce devotion: If I’m going to order a week’s worth of meals from one restaurant it’s going to be because the variety and the quality of those dishes are just as special as the people preparing and serving them.
The Bodhi Tree Cafe: 1938 Adams Ln, Sarasota; 941-702-8552; bodhitreecafesrq.com
