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Eileen Carrigan now owns and operates the Shebeen Irish Pub & Kitchen in Crescent Plaza By Jane Bartnett Chef Eileen Carrigan, new owner of the Shebeen Irish Pub & Kitchen, is living her dream and was in perfect position to do so.Carrigan, a culinary school graduate and former IT executive with a love for all […]
The relentless Clayton Thompson and his family members celebrate 20 years in business, look forward to a strong future By Hannah Wallace Before he was a Siesta Key restaurateur, Clayton Thompson was a Sarasota cow.“I’ve been like that all my life,” the owner of Clayton’s Siesta Grille said this fall, just shy of the restaurant’s […]
Fox tail agave Unlike many agaves, fox tail agave (Agave attenuata) is an evergreen succulent perennial. It’s in the family of Asoaraqaceae, which produces a handsome rosette of silvery, pale green leaves.It originates from Mexico.The height is about 4 to 5 feet and width is about 6 to 8 feet. It loves direct sun. It […]
By Jan Baumgartner Ruddy turnstone (Limosa fedoa) A member of the sandpiper family, the turnstone is the calico cat of shorebirds with patchy black, white and orange breeding plumage.As the name suggests, the turnstone diligently turns over pebbles, shells, and seaweed in search of small, hidden insects and crustaceans. With such an exhaustive foraging routine, […]
From the Broken Egg to the Serving Spoon to the Oasis , Jim and Melissa Palermo keep feeding our dining desires By Hannah Wallace Some Siesta things don’t change.In 1985, Jim and Melissa Palermo founded the Broken Egg, then a 16-seat family spot on Avenida Messina. They ran it for six years and at two […]
By Rodger Skidmore Last tango in Sarasota Well, maybe not the last, but certainly the latest. The origins of the tango show that it has always lived between two worlds. Between the sacred and the profane, the classical and the improvisational, and between cities on either side of the Rio de la Plata. This […]
Black skimmer (Rynchops niger) By Jan Baumgartner This medium-sized, black and white shorebird with a bowl haircut flocks to Siesta Key’s public beaches with all the sunseekers.The skimmer is also called a scissor-bill because its orange and black bill, with an extreme underbite, resembles a pair of scissors. As the bird glides on wing mere […]
African tulip tree The African tulip (Spathodea campanulate) is the tallest of North American hardwoods, growing to 100 feet or more and used in making furniture, cabinetry, musical instruments, and wood veneer.The tree grows up to 6 feet per year, is shade tolerant, and re-sprouts after cutting. The seeds are numerous, wind-dispersed, can contaminate other […]
Just a couple of gals with a story to tell By John Morton I was invited in July on two beach dates with two different great gals, four days apart. I mention this not to brag, but rather in the performance of my duties as someone sworn to chronicle all things Siesta Key that are, […]
Thierry Cassagnol opens a Kilwins here, looking for some fun while giving back to a community that helped shape his life By Ned Steele We all scream for ice cream, the saying goes.At an early age, Thierry Cassagnol learned to scheme for ice cream.“When I was about 5 or 6 my grandmother would spoil me […]