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New owners take over Beach Bistro

New owners take over Beach Bistro

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Business, Restaurants | Bars.

HOLMES BEACH – It’s the end of an era at the Beach Bistro.

The award-winning beachfront restaurant’s owners of more than 36 years, Sean Murphy and Susan Timmins, have sold the restaurant to Anna Maria Island developer Shawn Kaleta and attorney Louis Najmy.

New owners take over Beach Bistro
Located right on the sand, the Beach Bistro has an excellent sunset view. – Submitted

The change of ownership was announced on Jan. 27 in a newsletter emailed to fans of the restaurant. The same day, a change was registered with the Florida Secretary of State naming Najmy Thompson P.L. as the registered agent for the property owner, Beach Bistro Inc. The same filing named attorney Louis Najmy as president, director and secretary, and developer Shawn Kaleta as director and vice-president.

In the newsletter, Murphy said that while he and Timmins have enjoyed raising their family around the Bistro and working with the team at the restaurant, they felt that it was time to step back and hand the reins over to a new team of owners, though the names of the new owners were not disclosed in the email.

“We have a long history, a great tradition, of incredibly talented culinarians. We feel strongly that the great team running the Bistro now is one of our finest. Which is why we feel it is the right time for us to step aside and to take pleasure in watching this special little place continue to soar without us. The Bistro staff will do an excellent job of carrying on the Bistro tradition. The people who made it great will continue to make it great. We won’t be far away,” Murphy said in the email.

Continuing, he stated that the couple plans to focus their efforts on their craft bar, The Doctor’s Office, and its adjacent event space, The Doctor’s Garden, both in Holmes Beach.

New owners take over Beach Bistro
Couple Susan Timmins and Sean Murphy opened the Beach Bistro at its current location in 1986. – Submitted

Previously, Murphy and Timmins owned Eat Here, a bistro located in The Shoppes at Waterline in Holmes Beach. However, the bistro was closed, first due to COVID-19 precautions and then due to a gas leak caused by work done in other parts of the shopping center. After closing for renovations in June 2021, Eat Here never reopened.

On the Beach Bistro website, another restaurant, The Bistro BLVD, is listed to be located in downtown Sarasota at the BLVD condominium complex. However, that restaurant has yet to open.

The Beach Bistro has received recognitions from Zagat, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the James Beard Foundation, Food & Wine and the St. Petersburg Times, among others.

Eat elsewhere: Beach Bistro owner to unvaccinated diners

Beach Bistro owner to unvaccinated diners: Eat elsewhere

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Health.

HOLMES BEACH – While the debate over masks and vaccinations heats up due to the Delta variant of COVID-19, one Island business owner says he doesn’t want unvaccinated customers walking through the doors.

That’s the new policy at the nationally-renowned Beach Bistro and The Doctor’s Office cocktail lounge.

Owner Sean Murphy has gone to great lengths to keep staff and customers safe. The Beach Bistro was the first establishment in the U.S. to acquire state-of-the-art air purification units developed in Denmark that were specifically designed to destroy airborne viruses, he said.

“I called my cousin who is an anesthesiologist and works in a sterile environment. I told him I needed to purify the air in my restaurant, how do I do that?” said Murphy, who also owns The Doctor’s Office and the temporarily-closed Eat Here restaurant in Holmes Beach. “My cousin introduced me to two brothers in Denmark whose father specialized in viral air purification who developed a unit that uses a massive fan to move air which is filtered through ultraviolet light, a HEPA filter and ionization.”

In addition to the floor units, Murphy also upgraded the air conditioning in the restaurant to utilize the same technology and move inside air out and outside air in. All of the air in the restaurant is replaced every three to four minutes.

“My goal is to be the safest restaurant in America,” said Murphy, who hopes his efforts will encourage other restaurants to do what he is doing.

In addition to the air filtration, all of Murphy’s employees at Beach Bistro and The Doctor’s Office – which is following the same policies – have been vaccinated. The restaurateur brought the vaccinations to the employees at the establishment and rewarded each employee with a $100 bonus for getting the vaccine.

Murphy says diners have responded positively to the policy, with nine out of 10 people fine with it, he said. But the people who don’t like it have been especially unpleasant in their responses.

“There’s a nasty little streak on Facebook that’s calling us communists and fascists. One person even said they wanted to get COVID then come here and eat,” Murphy said.

The restaurant can’t legally ask for proof of vaccination, Murphy said. Under Florida Senate Bill 2006, passed in May and made effective on July 1, businesses are not allowed to require customers to provide documentation of COVID-19 vaccination.

But Beach Bistro is reservation only, and when his staff asks if diners have been vaccinated and they say “yes,” Murphy said he believes they are being honest.

Sean Murphy withdraws his pier lease bid

Sean Murphy withdraws his pier lease bid

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Anna Maria, Community News, Featured.

ANNA MARIA – Restaurateur Sean Murphy has withdrawn his bid proposal to lease the city-owned restaurant and bait shop buildings at the end of the new Anna Maria City Pier.

Today, Sean Murphy sent Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy a note regarding his decision to withdraw his offer. The mayor then forwarded copies of that digital communication to city commissioners, along with his own response.

In his note to the mayor, Sean Murphy wrote, “It was my intention when I entered the RFP process to be as helpful as possible to you in your endeavor to find the best operator for your pier franchise. I was far from certain that the operator should be me, but I was convinced that I could be helpful.

“Since I formed that resolution our community has been assaulted by a pandemic. The hospitality industry has been turned on its head. I was dismayed when my RFP became one of only two submitted at the closing date and was further dismayed when the motion was made and then passed that we would be the first negotiant. I believe we have fallen into a difficult time for planning any hospitality project. It is not your fault that in the middle of your RFP mechanism our world has turned inside out,” Sean Murphy wrote.

“I would recommend to you and the commission that you begin the RFP process over again when potential applicants have adjusted to the new environment and can make better decisions. I am certain that you will receive more and better proposals than you have now. I am withdrawing my proposal and encouraging you and the commission to begin again,” Sean Murphy wrote.

In response, Mayor Dan Murphy wrote, “Sean. Thank you for your note. I will relay your note to our commissioners. Our city appreciates your having taken the time to bid and hope that if a new RFP is issued, you would consider submitting an offer again. This will confirm receipt of your notification withdrawing your offer from further consideration for the City Pier restaurant.”

Sean Murphy withdraws his pier lease bid
Sean Murphy’s Beach Bistro restaurant had not yet reopened as of Saturday. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

Previous actions

During the special city commission meeting on Wednesday, the commission voted 4-1 in favor of authorizing Mayor Murphy to begin pier lease negotiations with Sean Murphy, the owner-operator of the Beach Bistro and Eat Here restaurants in Holmes Beach, where he also owns and operates The Doctor’s Office craft cocktail bar.

Commissioners Joe Muscatello, Mark Short and Amy Tripp supported Commissioner Jon Crane’s motion to move forward with Sean Murphy as the commission’s preferred pier tenant. Commissioner Carol Carter opposed that decision.
The commission majority selected Sean Murphy’s offer to pay the city $14,000 per month in base rent over the $18,000 in monthly base rent offered by the Ugly Grouper LCC group that includes Ugly Grouper restaurant co-owner Mike Ross and General Manager Thad Treadwell.

On Friday, Tripp submitted a request to rescind the commission’s pier lease decision. Tripp’s request for a “Motion to rescind action taken at meeting of May 6,” was then placed on the agenda for the commission’s next meeting on Thursday, May 14.

On Sunday, Sean Murphy withdrew his offer. Now that he has withdrawn his offer, the commission will decide on Thursday whether to authorize Dan Murphy to begin lease negotiations with Ross and the Ugly Grouper LLC or to reject both bids received and issue another request for proposals (RFP) as part of its efforts to secure a new pier tenant.

Thursday’s meeting

Because city hall remains closed to the public due the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Thursday’s commission meeting will again be conducted via telephone, and public comment will be allowed. The meeting will start at 2 p.m. To listen to and/or participate in Thursday’s meeting call 1-408-650-3123 before the meeting starts. When prompted, enter the access code, which is 590303789.

Sean Murphy

The Beach Bistro’s Beard House adventure

Written by Sean Murphy on . Posted in Entertainment, Food.

August is a good month to stay inside in the AC with memories.

Some of the Bistro’s richest are our August memories of preparing for our first Beard House dinner.

The most demanding and most exhilarating dinner a restaurateur will ever produce is a performance dinner at the James Beard House in New York City – America’s culinary temple.

The coveted invitation begins with discreet visits from anonymous members of the Beard House board.

If they consider you worthy, you get an interview.

Susan and I travelled to the House for an interview with Mildred – a tough lady with “dred” right there in her name.

I wore my New York jacket and tie and sported a Golden Spoon on my lapel.

The Golden Spoon was awarded by Florida Trend to the top 20 restaurants in the state.

The Spoon was a big deal – in Florida – but it seemed to just antagonize Mildred.

“So what’s a Golden Spoon except something to stick on your jacket?”

Nice. An auspicious beginning.

Mildred’s culinary universe ended at the shores of Manhattan. There were lesser satellites in Boston and Washington, but she saw no signs of culinary life south of the Mason-Dixon.

I asked if we got to perform a dinner if we could reserve some tickets for guests traveling with us.

Mildred sniffed. “You need not worry. You will never sell out the Beard House.”

My Irish blood began to simmer.

I gave her my pale imitation of my Uncle George’s stink eye.

“M’am I will buy every one of those tickets right now if you like. We will sell out the Beard House.”

Mildred made her sniffing noise.

She turned to our media packet. “So, you host a St Patrick’s Day parade.”

I was aggravated. I boasted a little. “It’s the largest St Patrick’s Day Parade south and east of Savannah.”

It was the only St Patrick’s Day Parade south and east of Savannah.

Mildred baited me. “In our little town on Long Island we have an elephant in our St Patrick’s Day parade.”

Susan looked at my face and thought, “Uh-Oh. We are going to have an elephant in our next St Patrick’s Day parade.”

Weeks later the Bistro received its invitation. Our date was set for September of the next year.

That August was a torment. Getting the world’s best lamb, shrimp and lobster and a thousand accoutrements from all over the hemisphere into the basement kitchen of the W Hotel, 1500 miles away, was the logistical culinary equivalent of D-Day.

I arrived a week early to catch the scores of shipments. I gave out $100 bills to hotel staff like they were fives.

They could have stolen us blind. I had to make sure everything hit the walk-in and stayed there.

The more complex sauces and butters had to be carefully prepared at the Bistro and then shipped in massive coolers with dry ice on the inside and duct tape all over the outside.

The chef team arrived and began securing our provenance.

A panicked chef called.

“UPS busted one of the coolers.

The chocolate truffle terrine is floating in the blue tomato soup! What are we gonna do?”

“Taste it,” I said.

“What…?”

“Taste it. When are we going to get another chance to taste chocolate terrine in the tomato soup.”

That night we started our dinner with a fresh batch of blue tomato soup.

The place was packed.

I told Mildred we would sell out the Beard House, and we did.

Our food heaven with butter-poached lobster and foie gras on domestic Colorado rack of lamb wowed them.

I finished my evening swilling a bottle of Caymus, sitting with my bare feet poking out of my hotel window. I was exhausted, but triumphant.

Mildred be damned.