Dan Henson spent 30 years in corporate finance and marketing at General Electric, including time overseeing GE's franchise finance business, before retiring and doing what he calls a 30-year bucket list item: opening a restaurant. The idea took shape during the pandemic, when he and his wife bought an RV, drove across the country, and fell for the casual-upscale, wood-and-creative-menu restaurants of Northern California. Arts & Central, named for its corner at Boulevard of the Arts and Central Avenue in Sarasota's Rosemary District, opened in February on the site of a former storage facility.
Building the Concept Before Opening the Doors
Henson describes a build-out defined by patience most first-time restaurateurs don't get: he brought chef Eric Walker -- a former aerospace engineer who trained at the Culinary Institute of America and staged in two Michelin-starred restaurants in Europe -- onto payroll a full year before opening, testing menu items at Henson's own house every few weeks. The finished space is engineered for sound as much as style: black ceiling tiles, fabric-wrapped partitions, and wallpaper imported from Italy with literary quotes printed on it, all chosen to absorb noise in what was once an echoing concrete storage shell. Even the bathroom hand dryers -- both towels and an air blower -- got debated among the family.
The restaurant's most distinctive touch may be its menus: local poets' original work appears on lunch menus, and rotating local artists' work appears on dinner menus, printed in-house on equipment Henson bought specifically so customers could take the menus home for free rather than treat them as disposable. He credits his brother's ties to Sarasota's poetry community for the idea, and says artists began reaching out to be featured almost as soon as the first rotation launched.
A Roundabout Verdict Shaped by Two Years in Town
Henson, who has lived in the Sarasota area six years and downtown for two, calls himself largely a fan of roundabouts now that drivers have adjusted -- he says he rarely sees anyone going the wrong way anymore, though he still hesitates entering the multi-lane roundabout near 10th Street, where a working boat ramp adds unpredictable large-vehicle traffic to the mix. He connects the question to the broader growth he's watched reshape the Rosemary District, from zero apartments north of Fruitville Street a decade ago to the more than 3,000 units now surrounding his restaurant.
He closes by recommending Second Chance Homes founder Megan Howell as a future guest, praising her nonprofit work helping people rebuild their lives.
What you'll take away
- Chef Eric Walker was on payroll a full year before Arts & Central opened, developing the menu at test dinners at Henson's home
- The restaurant's design uses sound-absorbing ceiling tiles, fabric partitions and Italian wallpaper to keep an open, garage-door-lined space from echoing
- Local poets' work appears on lunch menus and rotating local artists' work appears on dinner menus, printed in-house so guests can take them home
- Henson previously ran GE's franchise finance business, giving him insight into restaurant economics before opening his own
- He's grown into liking roundabouts as Sarasota drivers have adjusted, though the multi-lane one near the 10th Street boat ramp still gives him pause
“You learn a lot of lessons fast. You learn where you're staffed well and where you didn't.”
“It's not that even if you got the money and you want to open a restaurant, it's hard. People don't want to give you their buildings.”
Places mentioned: Rosemary District, Boulevard of the Arts, 10th Street, Fruitville Street