Food: Dining With John And Mable

The Oracle recently regaled you with a photographic representation of our visit to the opulent crib of the late John and Mable Ringling in Sarasota. We arrived at the Ringling property right about lunch time and as good fortune would have it there was a restaurant located in the same building as the ticket office and the obligatory gift shop.

After paying for our admission we immediately headed for Treviso, a charming, airy restaurant. It must be noted that parking is free and you do not have to pay to get in to the restaurant - it is open to all.

Walking into Treviso from the lobby, one of the first things, the very first thing, I noticed was a full bar just to the right of the entrance. This information will come in handy after you have toured the Ringling grounds, museum, circus exhibits and Ca' d'Zan for several hours.

We have a choice of in door or out door seating. It was a beautiful day so we chose the patio area over looking the pond and fountain. Jennifer was our charming server and after presenting us with menus she took our drink orders - iced tea for my bride and a Yuengling for me.

Treviso has a lunch and dinner menu that you may peruse on-line. Since it was lunch time, we ordered from the lunch menu - a Parma Panini with prosciutto, mortadella, capocollo, Provolone, arugula, dressed with olive oil and balsamic, roasted red pepper aioli, pressed on an Italian roll for her. I chose the Sicilian Tuna Steak with Caponata. This was a tuna steak seared medium rare (I requested very rare and got it), on a salad of caponata, mixed greens and tomato, lemon, coriander vinaigrette, sprinkled with roast pistachio.

Both choices were perfectly prepared and very pleasing to the palate. Our total bill came to $41.46. We tacked on an extra $10 for the excellent service rendered by Jennifer.

We went back to Treviso later that day for a couple of medicinal brewskis to relax tired muscles after hours of wondering about.

I can't say that we would travel all the way from Tampa to Sarasota just to dine at Treviso some evening, but if we were already in Sarasota I would definitely stop in for a dinner of Braised Lamb Shank - slow braised with aromatic vegetables and ripe tomatos, finished with a natural pan sauce. That sounds yummy!