Did you read the Sunday New York Times? It was a culinary mecca for foodies. The Times magazine was all about food and community, and the editorial section featured famous chef’s cuts—not as in beef, but actual cuts from the hazardous knives we yield.

 

It certainly got me thinking about our community of foodies here in Southwest Florida and how it has grown. Not so much on my own cuts and stitches—too many scars to recall the actual events—but the general upswing in the area’s culinary scene.

 

 Everyone is on the slider craze.

On Mondays or Tuesdays, you usually find some of Sarasota’s top chefs eating the quail appetizer and noodle bowls at Pho Cali. The personal chefs in town, like Jeremy Hammond Chambers, gravitate to the butcher section of Fresh Market and the downtown farmer’s market for Maggie’s Seafood sweet jumbo prawns and the freshest swordfish around. Soon they will be joined by Worden farm stand (voted best farm in Florida), Punta Gorda’s answer to fabulous produce and unique finds such as Asian spinach and purple root vegetables.

 

Food, glorious food.

 

 Sarasota spices it up.

We now have enough cupcake venues to get a sugar high every two miles, and seasoning stores with exotic teas and truffle blends. Whole Foods is carrying burratta cheese, California’s hot new answer to fresh mozzarella, and a friend just purchased quail eggs to top her grilled arugula pizza, also at Whole Foods.

 

 Burrata cheese comes to Sarasota.

So it leaves me to wonder what is next for our own local culinary scene and what would you like to see? We all know I long for good deli (see last week’s blog) and of course a real authentic Midwestern apple pie—but what do you, our readers and fellow foodies, really want? Click the comment button and let me know. We just might start our own culinary revolution.