The Merchant’s Pointe shopping plaza on the northeast corner of Clark and Swift roads typifies the all-American strip mall. Here, you can purchase—in no particular order—your prescriptions, groceries, interior latex paint, Chinese take-out and a couple scoops of frozen custard. It’s a melting pot of the mundane, where folks from all walks of life convene over their daily needs. It’s beneath this commonplace, unsuspecting facade where Broc Smith and Jeremy Rice have buried their treasure.
Dive Wine & Spirits, which the business partners own, looks, by all accounts, like an ordinary liquor store. You walk through the door at Dive and see the typical rows of wine and spirits, arranged by type and grape. You’ve got your Bulleit and Maker’s Mark, Hendrick’s and Tanqueray, Patrón and Cuervo, red and white and sparkling wines. Here and there, an end cap with a sale item. But, at the back of the store is a sliding door for a walk-in refrigerator. In the evenings, it’s usually ajar. Stand close enough, and the hubbub of lively conversation sneaks through the crack. Sliding the door over reveals a cozy, dimly lit bar that’s somewhere between a speakeasy and a storehouse. That’s Dive Cocktail Den, a cocktail lounge where some of the region’s most inspired mixologists whip up one-off drinks using some of the unique spirits available in the store.
It’s version two of a concept Smith ironed out at Liquor Locker, another liquor store and bar combo at Sarasota Crossings on Fruitville Road. But here on Clark Road, in the same plaza where a beloved, faith-based local grocery chain sells everything but alcohol, Dive Wine & Spirits anchors what has become so much more than a hidden watering hole.
Sure, the inventive seasonal cocktails delight. They might feature all the magical mixology techniques one finds in a craft lounge—cocktail smokers, bespoke foams layered atop coupe glasses, rare spirits gleaming in unrecognizably shaped bottles. It’s all artistry and invention, couched in an approachable, unpretentious atmosphere. But Smith and Rice don’t stop there.
For years, they’ve featured food popups, some of which have spawned into renowned brick-and-mortar concepts. They’ve since added two brick-and-mortar concepts of their own to their little slice of strip mall paradise. The first is Maso, their new, 32-seat supper club concept. Here, all of Rice and Smith’s experience—and the latter’s annual travels around our little blue marble—ladder up to a fine dining experience as only they could conjure.
For the intimate space, Smith and Rice partnered up with a long-time collaborator, Rich Demarse, who’s as much a wizard in the kitchen as he is on a fishing boat. Demarse, who also owns Gulf Coast Crab & Seafood in Gulf Gate, has been a feature of the food pop-up rotation at Dive, specializing in seafood but able to flex into just about any cuisine.
At Maso, Chef Demarse whips up tasting menus, heavy on steak and seafood, that pair with Smith’s encyclopedic knowledge of spirits. From his annual travels abroad, Smith brings back souvenirs and stories that introduce new vineyards and rare liquids that only he has access to. The reservation-only concept will emphasize approachability. In other words, fine dining without pretension.
And the gregarious Smith wouldn’t have it any other way. In fact, most reservations are made via direct text to his personal number. The initial rollout of Maso was so successful that Smith and Rice took the last adjoining space to their south—where they briefly operated a pizza and wings concept called DoughBoy Swift—to create a new cocktail lounge for Maso’s overflow. All told, the Dive “umbrella” includes a liquor store, a cocktail den, lounge and, now, a fine dining supper club stashed away behind dark windows. And—to reiterate—it’s all in the same plaza as a grocery store and a hardware store. So, by all means, put together a shopping list. Grab your eggs and bananas. Scoop up some drywall spackle. Just don’t forget to show up hungry and thirsty in search of the gems hidden in plain sight. SRQ
