Cottagecore Goes Coastal

If you spend a significant amount of time online, odds are good that you’ve encountered the term cottagecore at least once. The term was coined on the social media website Tumblr circa 2018 and originally described a nostalgic aesthetic that romanticized rural and pastoral living. In the fashion world, the cottagecore aesthetic manifested in the form of floral prints, natural fabrics, flowy silhouettes and earthy colors. In interior design, cottagecore influence could be found in elements like cozy textiles, indoor plants, rustic furniture and handmade decorative objects. In 2020, cottagecore began to evolve away from a strictly surface-level aesthetic movement and blossomed into a full-blown lifestyle. This change is largely attributed to the global pandemic that halted the world in its tracks for an extended period of time. Many people were stuck in their homes with a seemingly endless amount of time on their hands, and they often filled their days by picking up more time-consuming traditional hobbies like gardening, needlecraft and baking. With the pandemic largely behind us, a large part of the population has been reluctant to leave the cottagecore lifestyle behind. Residents are leaving urban areas behind in favor of making their homes in smaller communities. Downtown Wellen Park is an example of a community where you can live a more cottagecore-inspired life, albeit with a coastal twist.

Comforting Cuisine

Every industry has trends, and the restaurant business is no exception. As it happens, many current culinary trends go hand-in-hand with the cottagecore lifestyle. Downtown Wellen Park is home to a thriving restaurant scene, and many of the locally-owned eateries there exemplify aspects of cottagecore cuisine. Villani & Co. specializes in high-end contemporary American cuisine with a focus on sustainability and seasonality. Owner Tommy Villani has built his menu around fresh, sustainable seafood and other locally-sourced ingredients whenever possible. This philosophy extends outside of the kitchen and into the restaurant’s exciting and eclectic assortment of craft cocktails. The Banyan House is another Wellen Park restaurant that relies on fresh seasonal and locally sourced ingredients, but that’s not the only way they’ve embraced the cottagecore ethos. Cottagecore cuisine often eschews shortcuts in favor of scratch cooking. The Banyan House team makes many of their ingredients in-house, from sauces and dressings to fresh ricotta cheese.  Dessert destinations in Wellen Park are also applying cottagecore principles to their menus. At the artisan ice cream shop Bright Ice, all of the small-batch, super-premium ice cream is made in-house with all-natural ingredients including Florida dairy.  Cottagecore cuisine embraces a back-to-basics approach, focusing on simple, wholesome, and comforting dishes that are high in quality and showcase a connection to nature. These characteristics can be found in abundance at restaurants throughout Wellen Park. 

Take a Walk on the  Not-So-Wild Side

Longtime residents of the Sarasota area can attest that traffic is probably the worst it’s ever been. Getting in touch with your natural surroundings is another key component of the cottagecore subculture, but that’s a difficult goal to accomplish when you’re constantly stuck in your car. From the get-go, Downtown Wellen Park was planned to be a walkable community. Residents and visitors can visit shops and restaurants, and enjoy the multimodal trail that circles around the 80-acre Grand Lake in the heart of the downtown area.  Kind Vibes Outfitters is one of the many locally-owned businesses that has made a home in Downtown Wellen Park. Located right on Grand Lake, Kind Vibes rents out a variety of equipment to help residents and visitors enjoy a plethora of outdoor recreational activities. Kind Vibes offers new and high-quality rental equipment including kayaks, paddleboards, fishing poles, electric sailboats, pedal bicycles and electric bicycles. Their knowledgeable staff can help you find exactly what you need to enjoy the beautiful natural surroundings. 

Grow Your Own Way

As people moved away from a rural lifestyle, we began to lose touch with where our food comes from. Many committed cottagecore enthusiasts want to remedy that by growing their own food. Residents of Wellen Park who are interested in growing fruits and vegetables will soon have a great opportunity to do so thanks to a planned community garden in the downtown area.The Harvest Community Garden will start out with 80 individually-irrigated garden plots, though that could one day expand to as many as 150 plots. Residents will be able to reserve plots for a small fee so they can grow their own produce, plants and flowers. There will also be a special events area that can be reserved for gatherings like small weddings or farm-to-table dinners. Construction for the Harvest Community Garden will begin this fall, and the intention is that it will be finished in time for the spring growing season. If you don’t have the time, patience or skill to grow your own food, you can instead check out the Fresh Harvest Farmers Market. Not only can you browse produce from local growers here, but you can also pick up wares like honey, baked goods and jams and jellies. The Fresh Harvest Farmers Market happens every Sunday in Downtown Wellen Park from 9am to 1pm. 

An Opportunity for Community

People who gravitate towards the cottagecore lifestyle are often looking
for a sense of connection and community. In Downtown Wellen, an enclave called The Yard is the perfect place for casual meetups. Located by the Grand Lake and the Great Lawn, The Yard operates as a food park and an outdoor gathering spot. The Yard is anchored by two local eateries in buildings crafted out of retrofitted shipping containers. The use of recycled shipping containers gives The Yard a fresh and funky feel, and it’s also an innovative way to embrace sustainability. Each of the shipping containers is home to a fun fast-casual
dining concept. Claw & Co. offers an authentic New England seafood experience and Pop Dawgs brings you the best of ballpark fare. A third concept, Lakeside Bites, will soon join them. While there is no indoor dining at any of these restaurants, people can enjoy their food at outdoor tables or under the shade of a century-old heritage oak tree. Kids can work up an appetite while enjoying other features of The Yard, including an immersive natural
playground and lakefront splash pad.