Café L’Europe has been a landmark at St. Armands Circle shopping mall in Sarasota for decades. The restaurant has changed hands several times in recent years, having been bought in 2016 by Ron and Julie Milton, who then sold it to John and Amanda Horne, owners of Oysters Rock Hospitality and its Anna Maria Oyster Bar restaurants.
Now, Café L’Europe is getting a makeover—or, better yet, a rebirth. Currently closed, Café L’Europe will reopen soon as a totally new concept. Called simply the Café on St. Armands, the new restaurant will serve Mediterranean cuisine with a particular focus on seafood.
“There will be a lot of shared plates, bite-sized dishes people can share, plus a great bar,” John Horne told What Now on Thursday. “It’s a Mediterranean restaurant with Old-World European flare, but with a particular focus on Mediterranean seafood, in a much more casual, fun atmosphere.”
It’s a welcome update to get from Cafe L’Europe team, who posted difficult news on the restaurant’s Facebook page back in September.
“We are heartbroken to share that we at Café L’Europe have suffered catastrophic damage from Hurricane Helene,” the post said. Still, even then there was optimism: “However, we are hard at work cleaning up our belove restaurant and taking the first steps toward rebuilding.”
Soon, we’ll be seeing what the rebuild has in store!
“We’re going to be celebrating all those years of Café L’Europe,” Horne said. “It’s going to be the kind of 5-star fun Oysters Rock Hospitality is known for.”
You can keep up with Café L’Europe news by the restaurant’s Facebook page.
