Miss Susie’s Newtown Kitchen Breaks Ground

Caption: Miss Susie's Newtown Kitchen will pay homage to Miss Susie, a Newtown icon whose restaurant served as a gathering place for families in the neighborhood for decades.

The much-anticipated opening of Miss Susie’s Newtown Kitchen, a community-based project that will provide hospitality training and jobs to local residents, became a reality today at the project’s groundbreaking ceremony.

TableSeide Cares, together with community members and representatives from the City of Sarasota, Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, donors and other supporters joined together to celebrate the launch of this exciting redevelopment project.

Location, Concept & Opening

Located at 1741 Martin Luther King Way in Sarasota, Miss Susie’s is planned to bring a new, affordable, family-gathering, and Southern hospitality-influenced restaurant to Newtown. It is expected to employ between 11 to 15 people from the neighborhood. This casual eatery will allow guests to order their food from a service line and then dine in at community tables or take out. The Southern-influenced menu will offer affordably-priced comfort food, including fried chicken, grits, macaroni and cheese and homemade pie, with all items $10 or less and will be open daily for lunch and dinner. The projected opening date is Fall 2018. Hiring is expected to begin one month prior to opening with staff training commencing two weeks prior to opening.

Site Revival

The goal is to create a viable, locally led business and to develop staff with the kitchen and hospitality skills necessary for the operation of both the back of the house -- kitchen, business aspects -- and the front of the house -- the hospitality portion. In reviving the site and creating careers for residents of Newtown, the new restaurant will pay homage to Miss Susie, a Newtown icon whose restaurant served as a gathering place for families in the neighborhood for decades.

Project Management

Initially, TableSeide Restaurant Group, led by CEO Joe Seidensticker an Executive Chef Fran Casciato, will be responsible for overseeing the capital budget and is working with the architect and builder on the design of the restaurant and kitchen. Once operation begins, TableSeide Restaurant Group will provide pro-bono services to support the restaurant through at least its first year of operations and will collaborate with the operators to create a budget and a business plan for day-to-day operations, as well as assist as hands-on managers. The goal is for Miss Susie’s Restaurant to be financially self-sustaining at the end of its first year, be a viable business in Newtown, and a recognized funnel of trained workers into the Sarasota community. The restaurant group has also entered into a 10-year lease agreement with property owner Thelma Upshaw. Upshaw's sisters, Jone Williams and Valerie Reeves, will serve as restaurant managers.

Project Background

As employers and residents in Sarasota, the principals of TableSeide Restaurant Group have been concerned for a number of years about the near absence of African Americans in their employee pool. Several efforts to specifically recruit African Americans have fallen short. Interested in learning why, TableSeide Cares, a community organization started by the Seidensticker family and partners in TableSeide Restaurant Group, consulted community members and conducted independent field research. A recurrent theme was the lack of African American owned restaurants that could serve as training grounds where people could learn the business and acquire necessary expertise.

Believing that a thriving restaurant in Newtown could help address the shortage of skilled African American restaurant workers in the Sarasota area and at the same time improve the economic health of Newtown itself, TableSeide Cares canvassed the area for a promising site. The property at 1741 Martin Luther King Way, where Miss Susie had run her restaurant for over 20 years, seemed ideal.

The location is in the heart of Newtown, convenient for its targeted customers, as well as near the soon-to-be-opened Sarasota Memorial Internal Medicine Practice and the expanding campus of the Ringling College of Art and Design. With proximity to the booming downtown area, the restaurant can be a destination that draws other members of the Sarasota community to Newtown to support economic growth.

Community Partners & Project Supporters

Allied with Mayor Willie Shaw and with the support of Tom Barwin, the City Manager, and Steve Stancel, the head of the Newtown Redevelopment Office and his staff, TableSeide Cares has recruited an all-star team to bring the project to life. Architect Chris Gallager with Hoyt Architects, and general contractor T Salem Construction will collaborate on building the new restaurant. The property owner, Thelma Upshaw, seeking to preserve Ms. Susie’s legacy, has entered into a 10-year lease with two five-year lease renewal options with TableSeide Cares. Sisters Joan and Valerie Williams will manage the operation. Arnolds, a restaurant in Nashville renowned for its authentic Southern meals, has served as the restaurant’s menu as well as its look and feel.

About TableSeide Cares

TableSeide Cares is a community-based organization affiliated with TableSeide Restaurant Group. Operating in Sarasota since 2008, TableSeide Restaurant Group now owns and/or operates several of the area’s most popular and award-winning restaurants, including Libby’s Café + Bar, Louie’s Modern, The Francis, Muse at The Ringling Museum, Banyan Café, Oak & Stone and Modern Events. It currently has plans to expand its business in Tampa/St. Pete and Orlando. Recognizing that the success of TableSeide Restaurant Group is due to the support of the community, the principals determined that it was their turn to give back to a community that had provided it with so much. The organization seeks to use the resources, expertise and talents of its personnel and its businesses to advance the social, economic and cultural wellbeing of the communities in Sarasota.