Gasparilla Inn & Club leases East Railroad space for bakery

Bakery

The Gasparilla Inn & Club announced this week that they will be re-opening the bakery on East Railroad Avenue this December.

The lease papers were signed, and work is already beginning on the building, which will be painted yellow and white, inside and out.

The Inn Bakery, as it will be known, will feature breakfast and lunch fare prepared by the same hands that make the delicacies at the Inn, Chef Peter Timmins.
“We’re already taking the old signs down and are getting ready to put the new ones up,” said Jack Damioli, president and general manager of the Inn. “We’re going to change the interior and give it a slightly different look, to make it look a bit more like the Inn. We will keep the beautiful old wooden bar and the woodwork, but we’ll make it all match and blend.”

Earlier this year, around August, the bakery first appeared on the Inn’s radar. The more they thought about it, the more it made sense. The island needed a bakery, and the Gasparilla Inn has some of the finest bakers around.

Breakfast items will include traditional bakery foods, including pastries and donuts. Lunch menus will include some homemade soups and sandwiches. There will also be a gourmet coffee, cappuccino and expresso bar.
Inn employees are working now to bring in a new oven and to get the building ready for business.

The tentative opening date is December 5.

“I’m excited about it,” Damioli said. “We’re planning on being open from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. seven days a week. It will be a great extension of the Inn for the community.”

The Gasparilla Inn & Club has also recently made the news by being ranked among the best destinations for golfers. In the November 2011 issue of “Golf Digest,” The Gasparilla Inn & Club is ranked #37 in the magazine’s list of the 75 Best Golf Resorts in North America, and #2 within the state of Florida. The prestigious “Gary Galyean’s Golf Letter” also includes The Inn on its 2011 Global 10 list of the 10 Best Golf Hotels in the World.

In addition to his approval of the Pete Dye Signature Course at The Inn, Galyean mentions the “wonderfully run spa,” the “white sand beaches,” and the “good humored staff.”

In honor of Pete Dye, The Inn is hosting the Pete Dye Team Challenge, a professional/amateur golf tournament, on select dates throughout the 2011-2012 seasons. To participate in the Pete Dye Team Challenge and for more information, contact Debi Keyes at 964-4577.

The Inn was also just recognized in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2011 Readers’ Choice Awards as one of the Top 150 U.S. Mainland Resorts.