Amore set to open Friday

Five months after closing on Longboat Key, Amore Restaurant is ready to welcome guests at its new Burns Court location.

On Friday, Oct. 27, Amore will be open to the starting at 4:30 p.m. With seating for 180 people, owner Howard Rooks is ready to open the doors to old and new customers.

“I love the building, I really do,” Rooks said. “I love the location. I’m just looking forward to being able to say hello again to some of our guests."

In January, Rooks sold his Longboat property at 555 Bay Isles Parkway to the town of Longboat Key to be used for the coming Longboat Key Center for the Arts, Culture and Education. In May, the restaurant closed but not before Rooks had the chance to buy the property at 446 S. Pineapple Avenue in Sarasota's Burns Court neighborhood.

On Oct. 27, customers of Amore will be greeted with a similar menu and familiar faces from the Longboat location. Along with Rooks, much of the staff is the same, including hostess Liana Vitorino and manager Tito Vitorino. Pianist Eddie Tobin, who frequently performed at the Longboat Key location, will perform on Friday.

“The unique thing about the restaurant is that I’m perfectly aware that a lot of people want to have a quiet dinner with good conversation and not music," Rooks said. "We have three separate dining rooms if people want to have just dinner, or they could also be served on the patio, which will have music, so it’s their choice."

New to the atmosphere will be tableside preparation. Some dishes, including bananas Foster and the Caesar salad, will be prepared tableside.

To start, the restaurant will only be open for dinner. Rooks estimates it will open for lunch after about a month.

“We have had so much interest and enthusiasm, and people just can’t wait,” Rooks said.