Food and Dining Arts & Eats Celebrates Grand Opening in the Village

BRADENTON -- Arts & Eats Restaurant and Gallery, located in the center of the Village of the Arts in Bradenton at 1114 12th St. West, will celebrate its Grand Opening on Friday, November 16th and Saturday, November 17 from noon - 8 p.m. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Food Bank of Manatee. Arts & Eats has enjoyed a soft opening to rave reviews from guests since September 20, and November 16 will launch their official grand opening celebration.

The Grand Opening will feature a ribbon cutting by the Manatee Chamber of Commerce at noon on Friday, the 16th, performances by local singer/guitarist Joshua Simpson at 5 p.m., and a performance - benefit for the Creative Percussion Ensemble (made up of talented local students) on Saturday, November 17. In addition to all the music, there will be prizes and giveaways, a small plates menu, and artist demos.     

Arts & Eats has been the dream of Chef Jim Copening and Artisan Donna Slawsky since they first visited the Village of the Arts in 2009. They were living in New York City’s Greenwich Village at the time and found inspiration from the thriving creativity and colorful bungalows in the Village of the Arts.

Over the past 6 months their 1925 chartreuse bungalow has been transformed from a charming residence to a restaurant and gallery with tin ceiling, golden walls, a sea-themed dining porch, front yard dining, and a fabulous backyard “park” with a huge banyan tree and shade all year round.

Chef Jim’s food is inspired by the ethnic flavors he experienced on the streets of New York City. He is passionate about bringing international flavors to Bradenton and Sarasota.

The menu includes falafel, Indian curry crepe with pineapple chutney, French onion soup gratinee, Thai shrimp curry, salmon with miso sauce, homemade garlic goat cheese ravioli and much more. All foods are prepared in-house, including the rosemary garlic bread served with an Egyptian hazelnut dip and flatbreads with peppadew hummus. 

Donna and Jim call their style “affordable elegance.” The restaurant is casual yet elegant, with art on the walls from Kate Colquitt, a still life painter from New York, Carmen Cruz, a Mexican assemblage artist from St. Petersburg, and Donna’s own mosaics and jewelry.

Both Donna and Jim are also musicians, so music is always on the calendar, including an open mic every Wednesday night from 7-9 p.m.