Cafe Gabbiano Welcomes New Owner and Menu Additions

Cafe Gabbiano in historic Siesta Key Beach Village welcomes as its new owner, Marc Grimaud, a hospitality professional and certified wine sommelier, who vacationed with his wife for four years in Sarasota and last year decided to make the city home. He is originally from New Hartford, Connecticut, where he started out in the hospitality industry as a 14-year-old dishwasher in a local restaurant. “From there I advanced to a pizza place and worked my way up to being a manager in a banquet facility,” said Grimaud. “It was always my ambition to own a small quality restaurant and Sarasota has provided the location and the opportunity. I couldn’t be more excited about the future for guests who select our restaurant and for all the staff here including my business partner and the restaurant’s General Manager, Peter Tracy.”

Cafe Gabbiano, in the beach-side village of Siesta Key, is designed as a neighborhood Italian trattoria, relaxed and comfortable, with several areas that provide both intimate dining and large-scale parties inside, on the climate-control patio and in two private wine cellars. In addition to an outstanding menu that celebrates both classic southern Italian favorites and modern Italian dishes which showcase locally-sourced and seasonal ingredients, Cafe Gabbiano offers 200 different kinds of wines (3,000 bottles on the premises) including 23 Italian wines that are house labels. Food and wine pairings are a specialty at this lively and cozy destination for memorable meals in charming Siesta Key Beach Village. 

Entrees at Cafe Gabbiano average $29 and include classic preparations such as veal scaloppine, bone-in 14-ounce veal chop, filet of sole (Amalfi style), veal or chicken Parmigiano, risotto, and Branzino, which is a Mediterranean sea bass served whole and expertly deboned tableside. The house specialty is Scaloppine Mamma Lucia, which is veal sautéed in marsala wine with fresh wild mushroom, topped with eggplant and fresh mozzarella cheese.

But there are modern Italian-inspired dishes too and they showcase locally or specially sourced ingredients. The Allen Brothers steak is one. Another is filet of locally-caught grouper or ossobuco ravioli made with fresh pasta. And the salads change seasonally in order to feature farm-fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms. All pasta dishes are cooked al dente and the daily-special gnocchi is hand-rolled. Cafe Gabbiano offers a bambino menu too.