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REAL La Dolce Vita

The Bodhi Tree Café

Cultivate your senses

By Kim Burns & Sandra Halliday

Photography by James Corwin Johnson

If cultivating your senses and awakening your love of the real taste of food is what you are looking for, then you have found it at the Bodhi Tree Café. Situated in the quaint section of Towles Court Artist District, you will find lush vegetation and an abundance of inner peace as you enter into Bodhi food paradise. It is one of the few cafes with a garden oasis in downtown Sarasota.

Envisioned and brought to life by Oscar and Carolina Revelli, along with their daughters, Isabella and Eva. The Bodhi Tree Café provides diners with meals offering a balance of flavor that gently settles into your taste buds. You will experience the infusions of spices, slowly and fully, down to the last bite. The peaceful atmosphere at the café along with the attentive staff will have you feeling without want.

Hailing from Turin, Italy, a favorite among artists and intellectuals, Chef Oscar Revelli served up a dinner that evening kissed by the warm Mediterranean sun, which was influenced through his father and mother’s Italian and Greek heritage.

Our evening presentation began with a bamboo platter of small bites. If you are a Bruschetta lover, this is for you. The BRUSCHETTA CLASSICA provides a light taste of tomato perfectly seasoned with a special olive oil drizzle over a slice of the best baguette toast points you can find. The EGGPLANT HUMMUS is the chef’s secret recipe which will make you taste it twice to make sure it’s really eggplant. The TZA TZIKI is a Greek cucumber yoghurt sauce served with delicious toasted pita slices. Another mind altering food item is the HITIPITI. A delicious bite of roasted peppers and feta cheese paté that will make a pepper lover out of you. The CHICK PEA HUMMUS may seem a simple recipe yet the taste will have you asking for more!

Arriving shortly after finishing the appetizers was the BODHI SALAD. It stimulated our oldest sense of smell. A bold raspberry vinaigrette bouquet filled the air before the spectacular vision was set upon our eyes. Delicately trimmed onions and crisp apple slices were adorned with the flavorful topping adding a pleasing rose colored hue to the plate. This fresh ensemble of goat cheese, apples, dried cranberries, walnuts, and red onions over a bed of baby spinach felt like a burst of spring sunshine as the vinegar settled on our taste buds. We could not stop relishing it until every green leaf and creamy piece of goat cheese were gone.

We feasted on CHICKEN SPIEDINI which appeared as we were savoring the last crisp salad bites. The rosemary aroma from the chicken brought back memories of weekend cookouts in a Mediterranean villa by the sea. A colorful display of onions, peppers, and mushrooms decorated a skewer of chicken that was intertwined with tomatoes, all atop warm pita bread. Risaki, a Bodhi Tree signature, toasted, long grain rice, adorned with a dollop of Tza Tiki, added a cool creamy taste to savor, which complimented the flavorful chicken. A sampling of the house Italian wine provided a lively, fresh and fruity sipping companion.

From the sea, we had the SALMONE PRIMAVERA. Resting upon a bed of rrisaki, the grilled salmon was delicately seasoned allowing the full flavor of this fish to stand out and delight any salmon lover. When combined with the medley of grape tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, and mushrooms with a bit of rice, the taste transforms in your mouth to a fine balance of flavor and zest. The Gavi Di Gavi, a crisp lime-scented white wine from the Cortese grape variety, had a light, mild aroma and unassuming flavor that paired well with the salmon and pork.

We can’t say enough about how the food at Bodhi Tree Café gently overtakes your senses so it won’t come as a surprise that the PORK MEDALLIONS should be defined any other way. Draped with asparagus, the tender medallions and perfectly oven baked sweet potatoes just melt in your mouth. A creamy Porcini and Barolo wine sauce provided a blend of an earthy and woody flavor that enhanced the meal.

The sweet finale is one of the most popular desserts on the menu of many restaurants. Most can make or purchase a delicious TIRAMISU yet very few can create a symphony in your mouth with a fine mix of mascarpone and espresso and liqueur delicately saturated Italian ladyfingers topped with fresh strawberries and blueberries and a light dusting of cocoa veiled the dessert as it filled a sizable glass. The flavors and texture were just a right balance of sweet and creamy, with a hint of tartness.

While the meals we enjoyed were served with rice, alternative choices are available for the diner with specific nutritional needs. If you are seeking to limit flours and starches or have a gluten intolerance, be sure to let your server know. A salad or veggie sticks may be substituted for the grain portion and there are 3 types of gluten-free pasta offered. You can be sure you will be getting the most nutritious meal you can.

In Mediterranean custom, home is a sanctuary where one returns to relax and to escape from the chaos of the outside world. Food is to be enjoyed; its purpose–to warm the heart and, most importantly, to feed the soul. Chef Oscar and Carolina have been quite efficacious in translating their spiritual philosophy into the Mediterranean cuisine and dining experience. Experiencing Oscar’s cooking and Carolina’s warm spirit and attentiveness, while dining amidst an ambience of serenity at The Bodhi Tree Café, we have become enlightened by what a good meal in a tranquil setting can do to enrich our bodies, minds, and souls.

Visit the Bodhi Tree Café located at1938 Adams Ln., Sarasota, Towles Court Art District. Lunches are served Tuesdays through Fridays 11 am – 4 pm. Dinners are reserved for Fridays and Saturdays 5pm – 9pm. Stop by and pick up a menu. Speak with Chef Oscar and Carolina about dinner specials. Don’t forget to let them know Kim and Sandra sent you!

Bodhi Tree Café
1938 Adams Lane
Sarasota, FL 34236
(941) 702.8552

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