Pictured: Turmeric offers a mix of traditional and contemporary Indian dishes, including the inventive pani puri shots and samosas pictured here. Photo by Kevin Allen)

There are some restaurant locations in Sarasota that, for one reason or another, tend to turn over their occupants more frequently than others. Turmeric Indian Bar & Grill is attempting to stop that trend in one such spot at the northern edge of the Rosemary District.

If you’re looking for something with staying power in the building that once housed Broadway Bar, Starlite Room, and a couple of short-lived Tex-Mex concepts, you’ll need an amazing atmosphere, some truly spectacular cuisine and a warm, welcoming staff. Turmeric offers all three. As soon as you walk in, you notice its big, bright, modern downstairs dining room that makes it unrecognizable compared to its predecessors.

And the cuisine? The kitchen staff is whipping up magic back there!

Chef Sarabjit Singh has developed a menu that is full of traditional favorites from all over India — samosas, tandoor, butter chicken, paneer, vindaloo, masala, and a variety of other curry dishes. But the menu also features some creative, contemporary takes, like the pani puri shots.

Shots, you say? Yes, shots … but the savory kind. Five shot glasses were delivered to our table, filled with a mint and coriander water. A puffed pastry with a hole on top housed potatoes and chickpeas. My dining companion, Sarah, and I took turns pouring the shots into the puffed pastries and popping them in our mouths. The result was a flavorful explosion of goodness. It was the first thing I ate at Turmeric, and, like a band that picks the perfect opening song to start its concert, set the stage for an amazing meal.

The butter chicken can be ordered with a spice level of mild, medium, or hot. Always up for a challenge, I chose the hot. Served in a copper dish with a side of basmati rice, the butter chicken is a beautifully a rich, velvety sauce with tender pieces of smoked chicken. The heat didn’t overpower the dish. Rather, it worked to bring forward notes of garlic, ginger, cumin and more. One bite in, and I was instantly brought back to my own experience traveling in India, where I was fascinated by the deep colors, the exciting flavors, and the pervasive pride that the Indian people had for their culture, their cuisine and their country.

The staff at Turmeric is warm and welcoming, armed with helpful suggestions for anyone who may be unfamiliar with Indian cuisine. As more people start to experience Turmeric for the first time, the word will spread that something special is happening at the corner of 10th and Cocoanut. And it just may give this gorgeous building what it has so desperately needed all these years: a permanent resident.

Turmeric Indian Bar & Grill, 1001 Cocoanut Ave, Sarasota, (941) 212-2622, turmericsarasota.com/

Pictured: Turmeric offers a mix of traditional and contemporary Indian dishes, including the inventive pani puri shots and samosas pictured here. Photo by Kevin Allen)