Mattison's Restaurants, Grill, Steakhouse & Catering in Sarasota, Siesta Key, Longboat Key and Bradenton, Wedding Caterer

Royal Treatment
January 8, 2006
By Devan Stuart

ROYAL TREATMENT
The area known as "Sarasota and her islands" includes Sarasota, Longboat Key, Lido Key, St. Armands Key, Manasota Key, Siesta Key, Casey Key, Englewood, Nokomis, North Port, Osprey and Venice. Each boasts a distinctive character ranging from Englewood's quaint, hotel-free fishing villages with riverfront rental homes to Longboat Key's affluent resorts and celebrity mansions. Among the names known or rumored to have local addresses are Aerosmith's Joe Perry, novelist Stephen King, Oprah Winfrey and the king of tawdry talk himself.

"It's not uncommon at all to see Jerry Springer out on St. Armands Circle," says Erin Duggan, public relations manager for the Sarasota Convention & Visitors Bureau. Local lore says even late mafia don John Gotti has ties here. Five years ago, an alleged Gotti associate was accused of dodging the IRS by sinking $4 million into a heavily fortified Casey Key compound, a favorite drive-by tourist attraction.

Longboat Key's Colony Beach & Tennis Resort where I stayed in the vice presidential suite throughout my three-day visit turned up no A-list celebrities or infamous mobsters. But for the tennis enthusiast, this is paradise. Rated by Tennis magazine as the "No. 1 Tennis Resort in the Nation," the Colony features 21 tennis courts (10 soft, 11 hard surface), boasts the area's top tennis pros and attracts celebrities of the game for seasonal exhibitions. Daily clinics and programs range from Tiny Tots to Junior Grand Masters to Adult Strategy and are tailored for both the novice and the diehard.

IF YOU GO
Sarasota is a 19-hour drive from Chicago, or an average five-hour, one-stop plane trip connecting in Atlanta. For the lowest resort and hotel rates, plan your vacation sometime between May and November.

The Colony's Introduction to Sailing course is a hot ticket, so reserve your spot well in advance. The annual Venice Sharks Tooth Festival is set for April 7-9. If you're a celebrity watcher, the 2006 Sarasota Film Festival runs March 31-April 9.

Come back Nov. 16 for a black-tie tribute to actor Kevin Bacon at the Longboat Key Club & Resort.

If tennis isn't your thing, the Colony also offers aqua cycles, sailing, snorkeling, beach volleyball and rogerball, a relatively new game played like tennis using a foam ball, with a scoring system similar to volleyball. Bicyclists will enjoy Longboat Key's 12 miles of bike paths. And a variety of activity programs are tailored for kids, teens and families.

Family-run since the 1950s, the Colony offers 208 villa suites and 26 specialty accommodations, ranging from beachfront cottages to duplex penthouses. Because the beach cottages, along with the heated swimming pool, the award-winning Colony Dining Room and Monkey Room Patio and Bar (complete with an outdoor canopy) were part of the resort's original construction, they were grandfathered into today's strict building regulations and offer the closest proximity to the ocean.

EAT (AND SHOP) YOUR HEART OUT
The heartbeat of the Sarasota area might well lie in St. Armands Circle, a European-style shopping district laden with trendy, upscale eateries, art galleries and boutiques nestled at the Lido Key. It's a people-watcher's paradise with plenty of al fresco dining options, including Café L'Europe, considered the grand dame of local dining and housed in what once was John Ringling's real estate office. Prime seating is a candlelit alfresco table for two, watching lovers stroll by hand-in-hand and sipping a Lido Sunset. Local favorites are the lobster taco appetizer, baby romaine steak salad and Mediterranean salmon. If you're traveling with a significant other, be sure to ask about the Dinner for Two specials.

Mattison's Steak House at the Plaza on Longboat Key is a storied favorite among both locals and travelers and ranked among Florida's top steakhouses. The atmosphere is best described as "casual sophistication." The restaurant features a piano bar with live entertainment in the Fireplace Lounge, a medieval-style wine cellar hidden beneath the foyer and a second-story dance floor. A favorite among Mattison's signature steaks is the Steak Blue, a 16-ounce rib-eye with toasted Gorgonzola, apple smoked bacon and port wine syrup. Locals swear by the Guinness (as in beer) ice cream. And there's a variety of specialty after-dinner drinks, dessert wines, single malt scotches, ports and sherry.

While you're there, you just may feel the urge to plan your next getaway. Mattison conducts personalized culinary adventure tours to Europe, combining history, culture, tradition and, of course, great food.

Devan Stuart is a Jacksonville, Fla.-based free-lance writer.