Island Beat: At long last, Siesta Key welcomes a fish market

Scott Dolan has been coming to Siesta since he was a child. He’s been a full-time resident since 2000. And although he has found much to love about the island, he realized it was missing one Key ingredient.

“We needed a fish market here,” he said.

Having owned a fish market and a deli in New York and in Atlanta, Dolan decided to remedy the situation. Big Water Fish Market will have its grand opening Nov. 11. It is located at 6641 Midnight Pass Road, in the same plaza with Javier’s and Miguel’s restaurants.

Dolan points out that Siesta Spirits is right next-door for those who would like to stop in and pick up some beer and/or wine to go with their fish.

“It’s a family-owned business,” Dolan emphasized. “My mother (and other relatives are) going to be very involved.”

The Dolans began working on the project in September. Dolan previously worked as manager at the Daiquiri Deck on Ocean Boulevard and as manager of the Bobby Jones Bar & Grill at the city golf course of the same name.

The market will carry fresh-caught fish and shellfish, and it will focus on local, Gulf of Mexico varieties. Some of the fish will be imported, though, and the market will offer a variety of specialty items.

Additionally, the market will have a small grocery section with local products, fresh and organic produce and fresh-squeezed Florida orange juice. It also will offer a daily lunch special.

The hours of operation will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. During season, Dolan plans to keep the shop open on Sundays as well.

For more information, call 554-8101 or email [email protected].

Slower boaters
Two months after Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office representatives promised the Siesta Key Association members they would patrol the Grand Canal more regularly, as a visible reminder to boaters to observe the “no wake” speed limit, an SKA member reported during the group’s Nov. 3 meeting that heavier enforcement still is evident.

During the summer, Dave Thomas brought to the SKA board’s attention the daily traversal of the Grand Canal by a pod of manatees. During the organization’s Nov. 3 meeting, he said heavy emphasis on the need to protect the creatures had made a big difference — at least for now.

Thomas reported he saw law enforcement personnel patrolling the canal at least once a week.
Nonetheless, Thomas joked, “I want one of those radar signs,” referring to the speed limit equipment the county plans to install on Beach Road later this year.

Cleanup crews welcome
Members of the Siesta Key Association and the Siesta Key Village Association will combine forces again Nov. 19 in their quarterly Adopt-A-Road effort to pick up trash along Ocean Boulevard, SKA member Peter van Roekens reported last week during both groups’ monthly meetings.

Anyone interested in helping out may start the morning with a free breakfast at 8 a.m. at Village Café, van Roekens said, courtesy of co-owners Tom and Kay Kouvatsos. The trash patrols will get under way at 9 a.m.

SKA member Michael Shay will direct volunteers along Higel Avenue and Siesta Drive.

“He’s going to need lots of people to come out (for those two stretches),” van Roekens said.

SKA President Catherine Luckner noted the organization has its own yellow T-shirts for sale, which would make its members easily recognizable during the cleanup effort. The cost is $8 per shirt, she said, adding with a laugh that the SKA was not selling the attire as a moneymaking venture. The cost covers the group’s expenses, she said.

Another new business
The Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce this week held an official ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new business in the Village, appropriately named The Village Gourmet.

The shop, which offers freshly made meals to go, is located at 5263 Ocean Blvd., conveniently right next-door to the Siesta Beach Resort.

Stay tuned for more details.

Pros in spirit only
Sally Langer, a Key resident for 20-plus years, called recently to tell me about the group of friends with whom she enjoys walking her dog every day. 

She contacted me, she said, because people have asked the group’s members more than a few times if they were professional dog-walkers, as a result of the number of humans and canines involved. Usually, she said, they have four or five people in their group, but one of those has five dogs.

I’ve spied them myself, so I understood that people unacquainted with them might mistake them for a service.

“We walk every day at 8:30 in the morning,” she said, except on Sundays, when they wait an extra 30 minutes to allow those who attend the early service at Siesta Chapel time to get home and change into the appropriate attire.