When you walk into the eclectic, vibrant-hued, Peruvian-inspired Selva Grill on Main Street, you know instantly: This is so not a chain restaurant.

Owner/chef Darwin Santa Maria graciously accepts the compliment.

"We wanted something special here," said Santa Maria, who, along with his wife Lellys and their partner Pablo Castro, has achieved that. Think shrimp ceviche marinated in orange and lime juice, tossed with avocado and red onion cusco corn and garnished with crispy plantains.

What

Sarasota-Manatee Originals

sets the trio apart? They're members of the Sarasota-Manatee Originals, a chapter of the Council of Independent Restaurants of America (CIRA) that has more than a dozen chapters nationwide.

The group's aim: Preserve a community's uniqueness and offer inventive, interesting styles of cuisine as more and more chain restaurants enter the culinary landscape.

And lucky you. Numerous members of the Originals will participate in the third annual Sarasota Convention and Visitor's Bureau's "Savor Sarasota" dining event May 27 - June 8, 2008, showcasing why Sarasota has earned the distinction of having the highest concentration of Zagat-rated restaurants in Florida.

Enjoy a multi-course lunch ($15) or dinner ($25) at such hot spots as the Selva Grill, Bijou Café, Christopher's on Lido, The Colony Restaurants, the Crow's Nest, the Dry Dock Waterfront Grill, Mattison's City Grille and Michael's on East, among others.

In addition to an incredible repast, you also will get to see the chef in action. Santa Maria might make a ceviche, but "I like to work under pressure so I'll wait until the last minute to decide." Whatever it is, it surely will be fresh, which is a key Originals' ingredient.

The Originals promise to "serve you only the freshest food available" and are able to offer meals "prepared within hours of harvest from fields and waters close to [their] kitchens," their online newsletter explains. This quality and service "simply can't be replicated in the corporate kitchens of Chicago, Los Angeles or Dallas."

Those corporate kitchens do have an advertising advantage, where a single newspaper ad might eat up a day's profits at an independent restaurant.

But restaurants like the Selva Grill have something that people crave: Interesting, creative cuisine. In Santa Maria's case, that means "flavorful, not too spicy" dishes that will dazzle the taste buds, dispelling a notion that Peruvian food is sometimes too hot.

Santa Maria uses a lot of yellow Peruvian peppers, blanching them in hot water with salt and sugar. The longer the cooking time, the milder they become. He uses them in marinades for fish and New York strip steaks.

Try the avocado and lump crab Napoleon with the tropical mango-pineapple salsa and then toss out the diet book and order the bacon-wrapped meatloaf Napoleon with truffled mashed potatoes, baby carrots, mushroom demi-glace and onion rings.

Bon appetit!

If you go:
Selva Grill on Main Street: 941-362-4427, www.selvagrill
Bijou Café: 941-366-8111, www.bijoucafe.net
Christopher's on Lido: 941-388-5608
The Colony Dining Room: 941-383-6464, www.colonybeachresort.com
Crow's Nest Marina Restaurant: 941-484-9551
Dry Dock Waterfront Grill: 941-383-0102
Mattison's City Grille: 941-330-0440, www.mattisons.com
Michael's on East: 941-366-0007, www.bestfood.com

Originally posted 4/26/06
Updated 10/13/06