Station 400

Curry Chicken Salad Wrap
Cucumber Tomato Salad

Today our Protagonist has decided to express his opinion by a free-association of words that came to mind while eating his Curry Chicken Salad Wrap:

smooth...creamy...warm...crispy...melty...gone

This all-too-soon devoured sandwich was a nice combination of apple, creamy curry sauce, chicken, and warm, melted brie.  The accompanying salad was small, but perfectly executed; a wonderful balsamic vinaigrette with kalamata olive tapanade spooned over.  Some dining companions shared some of their fried green tomato club; the corn meal breading had an interesting texture, but it tended to overwhelm the tomato itself which should have had top billing.  Clearly, our Protagonist in this case chose all the wiser.

Station 400
400 North Lemon Avenue
Sarasota, FL 34236
941-906-1400

First Watch

Burrito Vera Cruz
Siesta Key Cocktail

Having walked by the specials chalkboard countless times over the last several months, our Protagonist was curious to see if this chain was all it was cracked up to be.  An invitation to breakfast seemed the perfect opportunity to find out for himself.  Dining just after the doors opened with a regular, he received plenty of suggestions, but settled on the Burrito Vera Cruz, sans wrap.  This was more of a scramble in the end, but was very tasty with fluffy eggs, the spicy kick of chorizo, and the surprisingly good Vera Cruz sauce; not once did our Protagonist regret this being poured over his dish, but, rather, indulged in more.  The Siesta Key Cocktail was the breakfast-of-choice of the dining partner; while it looked tempting, our Protagonist defines breakfast as featuring eggs in some capacity.  Perhaps it can be sampled in the future along with another breakfast offering.

First Watch
1395 Main Street
Sarasota, FL

941-954-1395 

Americano return trip

Burger Brunch
Salsicce Platter

Having been disappointed in his first outing, our Protagonist was accompanied by a regular on his second visit to Americano.  Based on his dining companion's recommendations, he chose the Burger Brunch, a simple dish of a ground beef patty cooked to order (it could have been ground sirloin, and at the very least ground round) which topped sauteed spinach and mushrooms.  The recipe seemed ripped out of the pages of an Atkins Diet cookbook!  The beef was cooked to the proper medium rare as requested by our Protagonist, the spinach was just wilted without turning into the mushy boiled consistency, and the mushrooms and spinach were seasoned nicely.    The portion was quite generous for lunch and provided a protein-packed meal.  However, his nose was piqued by the aromas coming from his dining companion's plate; the savory Salsicce Platter which also looked quite appetizing.  This proved to be one of the companion's go-to lunches at Americano, and our Protagonist noted it for the future.

Cafe Americano

1409 Main Street
Sarasota, FL 34236
941-365-1026