One of Sarasota’s newest restaurants is introducing a distinctive dining experience, with live music set to debut soon.
One of Sarasota’s newest restaurants hopes to strike a chord with live music fans.
Eastern European comfort food meets the blues and jazz at Brooklyn Blues, a new restaurant and banquet hall in Gulf Gate.
Brooklyn Blues has replaced Thailand Restaurant at 2238 Gulf Gate Drive after extensive interior remodeling.
Marina Rasin and her brother Leonid Golfeld are operating the restaurant and banquet hall, which is primarily open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays, with customers able to choose from a variety of ready options in a staffed buffet style of service.
The banquet hall is open when booked, and has already hosted a variety of parties and special events.
In August, the plan calls for the restaurant to be open for a dinner service off of a menu, as well as live music in the banquet hall.
Rasin’s son Dan has operated the Little Brooklyn Food House at 13635 Tamiami Trail, North Port, for almost seven years, so this is the family’s second restaurant in the county.
Rasin, who moved to the area in 2011, said “everyone in North Port knows about Little Brooklyn,” so Brooklyn Blues is an expansion of that effort to reach the community.
“It’s a big Russian, Ukrainian community in Sarasota; everyone likes to eat good food,” Rasin said. “Our food, everyone says it’s grandma’s food.”
What’s for lunch at Brooklyn Blues in Sarasota?
Rasin, who was born in Ukraine and later grew up in Israel, refers to the current service as lunch.
Every dish is homemade, with typical lunch plates consisting of two meat dishes and two side dishes for $13.95 or with soup for $15.95.
On July 16, choices included offerings such as beef, pasta with vegetables, veal liver, pierogies with potatoes, roasted chicken, meatballs with beef, lamb and rice, peppers stuffed with chicken, beef and rice and stewed eggplant.
There are two cold and two hot soup choices daily, including borscht.
Some dinner menu entrees, such as baked pompano, salmon, halibut, fried sea bass and sea bass stuffed with salmon are available for lunch too but not as part of lunch combination offering.
In Israel, Rasin worked as a “konditor,” or pastry chef, and had stores there.
Dessert offerings at Brooklyn Blues include crepes and syrniki — or sweet cheese pancakes.
What is the Brooklyn Blues in Gulf Gate like?
The remodel of the facility cleared away the booth seating from Thailand to create two separate spaces.
The main room is clean and bright. When customers walk in, the serving stations with food choices are to the left along with deli display cases, and tables to the right.
The banquet hall, which seats about 85, is festively decorated with musical instruments and vinyl records — many of which are attached to the ceiling.
A small stage for the music is at the back of the banquet hall, which has an open connection to the lunch and buffet area.
Business so far has been growing, as customers learn about Brooklyn Blues through social media.
Most people have been coming from Sarasota, but some diners have come across the Sunshine Skyway from St. Petersburg.
On July 16, while some parties chose to dine in, others opted for to-go meals, including one gentleman who had his partner on an iPhone video chat, so she could speak directly with the server.
If you go
Brooklyn Blues is located at 2238 Gulf Gate Drive, next door to Moondoggy’s Saloon.
It is currently open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and for private parties.
Once the restaurant expands to full dinner hours, there will be live music — blues and jazz, as well as Russian and Ukrainian performers — and an expanded menu, which can be seen online now at brooklynbluesfl.com.
Earle Kimel primarily covers local governments in Sarasota County as well as land development and environmental issues for the Herald-Tribune. Follow him on Facebook, and X. He can be reached by email at [email protected]. Support local journalism by subscribing.
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