Starlite Room makes play for theater crowd

As Tyler Yurckonis prepared to move into a space that housed one of Sarasota’s oldest restaurants, he looked for a way to fill a new niche in the area.

Yurckonis is the owner of The Starlite Room, the successor of Broadway Bar at 1001 Cocoanut Ave. The Starlite Room opened Sept. 8 after two months of interior renovations. Yurckonis said the restaurant was created in the mold of a mid-century Manhattan supper club, and posters of plays and portraits of actors line the walls of the dining area.

The decor is heavily connected to the crowd to which Yurckonis hopes to cater.

“When I looked at the space and the geography of the area, I said, ‘Where are we in location to downtown Sarasota and what’s around us?’” Yurckonis said. “It’s the theaters.”

With the Players Theatre, the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe and the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall all located within a half-mile of The Starlite Room, Yurckonis wants to capitalize on his surroundings. His vision is for The Starlite Room to be Sarasota’s version of Sardi’s, a New York theater district restaurant famous for its celebrity caricatures collection.

To appeal to the theater crowd — and those active in the theater — The Starlite Room will offer food until midnight.

“There’s a void in this town for people to have a place to go before and after a show,” Yurckonis said. “We’re going to keep our kitchen open late every night.”

Already, Yurckonis has started a relationship with the Players Theatre and the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe; the restaurant recently served the cast of The Players’ production of “Lend Me a Tenor” between matinee and evening performances. The restaurant also hosted a kickoff reception for next year’s Sarasolo Festival.

“We’ve gotten a really positive response from people in the arts community,” Yurckonis said. “They’re tired of going to Applebee’s all the time because nothing else is open.”

Yurckonis is now working on renovating the second floor of the building, which he plans to turn into a lounge. Although he’d like to attract a wider crowd than just theater patrons and participants — the late hours have already attracted service industry workers — his target demographic is a familiar one.

“I was a theater major in college,” Yurckonis said. “I fell in love with the restaurant business because it felt like the closest thing to theater without being a starving artist.”