Ted Weinberger used to drive past the old Nokomis Bank and Post Office—a stucco building circa 1923 with arched windows and stained glass—en route to Warm Mineral Springs, where he first launched Café Evergreen. The oldest structure on US-41 between Venice and Tampa, he renovated it himself in six months.
Some 13 years later, Weinberger starts cooking corned beef at 6:30 am. By noon, every table is full—patio and all—as he greets regulars, runs food, clears plates. Reclaimed tables from a local barn, a fireplace mantle in pecky cypress, doors still swinging inward, as the historic board required. Water arrives in a mason jar.
The menu rotates seasonally around fan favorites and whatever local suppliers bring in: pea shoots and radish greens from Simply Organics, the vibrant veggies and herbs that form his ahi tuna bowl. “I really get the best of the best.” Weinburger cooks without a fryer. “It forces me to think about how I’m going to do my food,” he says. “I look at the ingredients and really have to figure out how to make it pop.”…