Caragiulos to be featured on "Emeril's Florida"

Emeril Lagasse is giving the Sarasota culinary community a plate full of love. Having already featured Sarasota institutions Michael’s On East and already filming a feature on Darwin’s on 4th in a future episode, Caragiulos, one of downtown’s oldest Italian restaurants, is getting a Emeril "BAM!" boost on the celebrity chef’s Cooking Channel show “Emeril’s Florida.”

Opened in 1989 on Palm Avenue, the Caragiulos has been serving Sarasota their blend of Italian and American cuisine for more than 25 years. The restaurant is owned by the eponymous Caragiulo family and operated by five of the family’s brothers (Paul, Mark, Rob, John and Anthony Caragiulo).

And in a city that has a plethora of Italian restaurants, cafes and eateries, Lagasse and his production team are recognizing Caragiulo’s staying power and familial warmth in their food and atmosphere. The segment is being filmed today and according to Paul Caragiulo will air during the shows second season.

“We’ve always been genuinely interested and concerned with everyone’s experience when they visit us,” says Paul Caragiulo, on his family’s restaurant’s staying power. “Lot’s of places have perfectly good food, but I think we’ve established a rapport with guests. We make sure maintain that strong relationship with our guests every time they visit us.”

And in terms of food, Caragiulo says that his family-first dishes have combined the best of tastes of Italy and America and not trying to recreate authentic dishes from the Italian homeland. “I think that we’re probably one of the first places to operate under that genre of cuisine in Sarasota,” says Paul Caragiulo. “We are a blend of American and Italian food. What we’ve also been focusing on having access to local ingredients for our dishes.”

Lagasse and “Emeril’s Florida” have offered the rest of Florida and the nation a sample of Sarasota’s flavor. From high-end new American food (Michael’s On East) to Peruvian breweries (Darwin’s on 4th) and now Italian-American at Caragiulos, “Emeril’s Florida” has just scratched the surface on Sarasota’s complex and multi-layered flavor profile and culinary identity. And with three restaurants featured in a short amount of time, who knows who celebrity chef Lagasse will highlight next.