Pomona Bistro and Wine Bar is a lovely restaurant. It is a wonderful part of the Sarasota restaurant scene. While it sounds like a casual bistro, that is in name only. It is an upscale restaurant with great service from the moment you walk in.

It is located in the Rosemary District and so it is a little off the beaten path unless you have had breakfast, lunch or dinner at the Rosemary. Once you find it, you will wonder why you haven’t gone there before. The restaurant has both inside and outside service.

We were seated in one of the smaller rooms that immediately puts you at ease with calming colors and antique pieces that were placed between some of the tables.

One of the partners took us to our table and explained some of their philosophy about the restaurant. The wine list is very good although we wished the wines by the glass selection was a bit better. We had cocktails that are hand crafted and delicious.

Everything on the menu looked so good we wished we could eat more. They have a charcuterie platter that looked delicious and best of all, they have a wonderful cheese plate.

Mike had the French onion soup. It was simply sublime. The soup, which I typically think as the vehicle for the cheese, was amazing. It was excellent and probably as good as any I have had in Quebec.

I had the bistro salad with beets, goat cheese, orange and orange pomegranate dressing. It was light and delicious.

For our main dish, I had their duck breast with beets. Mike had their seafood pasta and it, too, was delicious.

The dessert was the best. We had their fresh berry Napoleon. It was the best dessert in Sarasota. Many years ago, we lived in Connecticut and there was a French bistro called Bec Fin in Old Greenwich. It closed many, many years ago, but they also made an incredible fresh berry Napoleon dessert and we have been searching for it ever since.

We found it here and we would go back there even if nothing else was good because this is so amazing. Unfortunately, because of it, we couldn’t manage the cheese course so we just have to go back.

The service was excellent from start to finish. We really enjoyed Pomona Bistro and Wine Bar and can’t wait to go back.

Pomona Bistro and Wine Bar

481 N Orange Ave, Sarasota, FL 34236

Sarasota, Florida

941-706-1677