Flavio's owner to open Beulah downtown

Roughly a year after Divino Restaurant closed in downtown Sarasota, another restaurant with a funkier feel — but in the same family — will open in its old space this summer.

Flavio Cristofoli, owner of Flavio’s Brick Oven and Bar in Siesta Key Village, will open a similar restaurant called Beulah within the next five weeks at 1766 Main St., according to Harva Cristofoli, his wife and pastry chef at the new location.

Beulah will serve northern Italian and international cuisine, with handmade pasta, bread and cheeses, says Cristofoli, who also designed the interior, which features elements of baroque, art deco and modern styles.

“This location will be more local,” says Flavio Cristofoli. The couple hopes to capture more traffic from nearby residents, as well as diners from Longboat Key or Lakewood Ranch, as opposed to the tourists that frequent Flavio’s on Siesta.

The restaurant will accommodate 150 people, and it features a 24-seat bar indoors as well as patio seating behind the dining room. Cristofoli has applied for a permit to allow outdoor seating along Main Street, and the location already has a liquor license for a full bar.

Cristofoli bought the property for $850,000 in April 2014, and renovations began in September, with the family working until midnight most nights.

“We’re like little elves in here,” says Harva Cristofoli.

Cristofoli named the restaurant after her mother.

“She was such an inspiration to me,” she says. “She loved to cook — I guess that’s why I married a chef."