SUNDAY, JULY 7, 2013

 

JIM FOX KNOWS SARASOTA CELEBRATES ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

In one year this blog has grown to  over 400 plus  readers weekly and is fast approaching 20,000 hits!!!  I could not have done it without all of you.  Thank you for reading and commenting.  Since many of you are vacationing and doing whatever in the summer, the blog is going bi-weekly until sometime in September.  So after today, I'll see you in two weeks!

On almost any Sunday, I can start a blog with a new restaurant opening.  This week is no exception.  APOLLONIA, located in the Cooper Creek shopping center opened a few weeks ago. If my lunch and dinner is any indication, it will be around longer than Urban Flats!!  Owned by  ELGRECCO restaurant on Main St. in downtown SARASOTA,  APOLLONIA,  is as good if not better than its sister restaurant.  The menu looks the same to me, only with a more modern presentation.  The Mediterranean food is outstanding, and in a contemporary and comfortable setting  even tastes better.  And the prices are reasonable, which is getting more difficult to say with each new restaurant  opening. We no longer have to travel downtown for Mediterranean.  Try it...

Continuing with the restaurant theme,  rev-el-ry, is now open for lunch daily.  In addition, a loyalty program, similar to many others in SARASOTA is now being offered.  You get rewards for frequent visits.  Volume continues to grow and in a few weeks, July 27, to be exact, they will be celebrating their first few months of business with a "grand opening".  More information in two weeks.

PROMISE:  Last restaurant this week.  Roberta and I celebrated our anniversary at ROY'S as we have for the past several years.  Next door to FLEMINGS, on the South Trail, this had been a unique addition to the restaurant scene for us at least until now.  Like the other upscale restaurant in the OUTBACK chain of restaurants, ROY'S has taken a step back from its early days.  I can't quite put my finger on the problem, but it just isn't as good as it use to be.  Yes, the higher prices are a turn-off, but something is lacking.  It wasn't the service and the meal we had was very good.  But in comparison to competitors offering similar fare,  there is better or at least as good product out there for a lot less.  The drop-off, though not as severe as FLEMINGS, gives us pause about returning in the future.

Last week's rant about the lack of adult movies brought lots of comments from you.  One especially caught my eye.  It was sent by Kathie Moon, well known area movie critic as well film teacher at PERIAN SPRINGS ACADEMY and LONGBOAT  KEY EDUCATION CENTER,  she writes...."On your rant about summer movies.  Yes, Jim, there is hope....Sarasota Film Society's Burns Court Cinema can be counted on to bring the best in cinema every day, and on weekends, 11am at their LWR location,  featuring a current or recent movie. All current movies are great or at least interesting-20 Feet From Stardom(fab doc on famous back up singers), Fill The Void(marriage choice in Israel) and opening this weekend The Attack. I will have more to say about The Attack in a few weeks, but highly reccomend you see it!! (Saw the  Stardom documentary and found it fascinating.  Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Bette Middler, and Mick Jagger to name a few all have talented back up singers who have been with them for years.  In fact one of Middler's is now in the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame.) 

Moon continues...."SARASOTA is lucky to be part of the Regal Cinemas Art Cinema program."  She also mentions that Parkway Cinemas features many art films like the Carmlike Royal Palm 20 in Bradenton.  Bottom line, there are adult movies out there...you just have to search for them.  Currently Playing, THE HEAT, from the creators of Bridesmaids, stars Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy.  This movie never quite captures the originality of Bridesmaids and though funny in spots I found it tedious and underwhelming.

This summer, several high quality shows are either on their way to your TV set or currently playing.  I especially like Steven King's UNDER THE DOME Monday 10pm CBS, THE KILLING Sunday 10pm AMC, RAY DONOVAN, Sunday 10pm SHOWTIME.  Returning to HBO Sunday July 14, the second season of highly acclaimed THE NEWSROOM 10pm and number one on this week's Entertainment Weekly's must list THE BRIDGE,  starts Thursday July 10, 10pm FX.

THE WESTCOAST BLACK THEATRE is presenting two Summer Shows starting later this month with BEST OF STEVIE WONDER.  Nate Jacobs is staging a revue featuring all of Wonder's great hits including You Are The Sunshine of My Life, Higher Ground and more.  Performances begin 7/17 and run until the 28th.  In August, SAMMY TONIGHT returns with De'zhon Fields as the incomparable Sammy Davis, Jr. I saw this a few years ago and found it highly entertaining.

CORRECTION: Kathie Moon advises last week's Marcia Clark article incorrectly referred to The Women's Resource Center as a place for consingment/thrift when she meant The Women's Exchange on Orange. For more information click here. This is a great place to recycle and find interesting gifts while doing good.  They have a wonderful grants and scholarship program.

When you see this angry face you know two things.....you are finally at the end of this week's blog and I am going to rant...complain...about something.  I am totally frustrated at major companies who continue to outsource their customer service calls to foreign countries.  Newest case in point...COMCAST/XFINITY...it could have been outsourced to Asia or Mexico, but how can this company of all companies have the audacity of outsourcing service issues????  I made an appointment....it was confirmed with a different time....and the technician showed up without the equipment I requested.  Turns out DVR-X won't be available until late July.  COMCAST/XFINITY is only one of many.  FRUSTRATING!!!!

Hope you had a great 4th and avoided the rain which continues in SARASOTA.  Remember when I ranted about the lack of rain??? Well, now, please make it stop!!!!

Thanks to Tracy, who I will be visiting this week.  I will write again in two weeks......JIM.....