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GRAYTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- It's where barefoot hippies meet Burberry-clad yuppies, biker babes hang with beach bums and haute cuisine is served with a side of bluegrass.
 
For years, this one-time general store and current Picolo's Restaurant and Red Bar have anchored the Panhandle artists' enclave and celebrity hideaway of Grayton Beach.
 
The Red Bar is best known for its crab cakes - a recipe perfected by Belgian-born chef and co-owner Oliver Petit - its funky decor and its live music.
 
"People have been attracted to this area for years - artists, musicians, cooks. It was the place in the Panhandle where a band could come and do something besides covers. And this building was the center of that, it is one of the oldest buildings in the county," said Kyle Ogle, guitarist for the popular bluegrass band Dread Clampitt, a favorite at The Red Bar.
 
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Petit, who has co-owned the establishment with brother Phillipe for 11 years, said the decor is modeled from a night club their father once owned in Liege, Belgium. He calls the look his "tribute to pop culture."
 
The ceiling of the Red Bar's small main dining room is covered in foreign film posters, red Christmas lights adorn its walls. A silver disco ball and crystal chandeliers add light along with an illuminated plastic Santa Claus. A collection of random street signs, black and white photos, statuettes and an antique cash register add to the eclectic look. Mismatched tables and chairs are tightly packed on the worn wood floors.
 
Sheryl Crow and former fiance Lance Armstrong are "friends of the restaurant," as well as NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning, Petit said. Willie Nelson has hung out at The Red Bar and pop star Steve Winwood told a record producer friend about Dread Clampitt after hearing them perform there. Winwood's friend helped the group produce a CD. 
 
Music legend Sam Bush, founder of the New Grass Revival, spent an evening oyster shucking with the band after hearing them at the bar.
Marsha Holton, an organizer of the annual Magnolia Music Festival, an acoustic event at the Spirit of Suwannee Music Park near Live Oak in northeast Florida, listened to Dread Clampitt perform live at the Red Bar and said she was hooked on the venue and the band.
 
Holton said Dread Clampitt's take on take on traditional bluegrass stylings and the band's original songs have been a huge hit at her festival, which marks its 10th anniversary Oct. 19-22.
 
"I think seeing them play at the Red Bar is like seeing them play in your living room because it is so relaxed," she said. "I love their songs, their music, it's happy music, it makes everyone want to get up and dance."
Band members Ogle and Balder W.P. Saunders grew up in the area. Their songs often pay tribute to their Panhandle roots with lyrics about the ban on commercial net fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi tourists and the beauty of the white sands and turquoise waters of this region.
 
"Grayton Beach is like a diamond in the rough," Saunders said.
 
"I'm afraid it's all getting sterilized now. Where all of the artists have to go (north) to De Funiak Springs to live. Where all of the bars are closing down. The people who were into the art cannot afford to live here," he said.
 
Ogle refers to his to his childhood time in the Panhandle as "BC - before condos."
 
Petit said he is trying to maintain the laid-back feel of the region's past with his "no credit cards, no reservations" policy. The menus change daily and are written on chalkboards carried by wait staff to the tables. The dress code at the beach-front bar and restaurant is casual, diners wander in for Sunday afternoon brunch in bikini tops, flip flops and wrapped in towels.
 
Petit said his menu offerings are a fusion of southern and European styles, much like the Red Bar itself. He boasts that he offers the best key lime pie in the region.
 
Although there are plenty of upscale boutiques and swanky restaurants catering to wealthy tourists in this increasingly exclusive region along Florida's Scenic Highway 30-A in South Walton County, many visitors and locals such as Indiana transplant Denny Green say they prefer Petit's eclectic gathering place.
 
"I love the music, and the guys who are playing the music are living the life of the music they play. I wasn't a fan of bluegrass until I started coming here and everyone was just having fun and they were into it," he said.

GRAYTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- It&#039;s where barefoot hippies meet Burberry-clad yuppies, biker babes hang with beach bums and haute cuisine is served with a side of bluegrass. 
 
For years, this one-time general store and current Picolo&#039;s Restaurant and Red Bar have anchored the Panhandle artists&#039; enclave and celebrity hideaway of Grayton Beach. 
 
The Red Bar is best known for its crab cakes - a recipe perfected by Belgian-born chef and co-owner Oliver Petit - its funky decor and its live music. 
 
&quot;People have been attracted to this area for years - artists, musicians, cooks. It was the place in the Panhandle where a band could come and do something besides covers. And this building was the center of that, it is one of the oldest buildings in the county,&quot; said Kyle Ogle, guitarist for the popular bluegrass band Dread Clampitt, a favorite at The Red Bar. 
 
<div style="text-align: center"><a href="http://www.sowal.com/bb/" target="_blank" class="link link--external" rel="noopener"><img src="http://oascentral.hosted.ap.org/RealMedia/ads/adstream_nx.ads/FLPET.hosted.ap.org/STATE/1086649501@x03" alt="" /></a>&#8203;</div><img src="http://hosted.ap.org/icons/spacer.gif" alt="" /><img src="http://hosted.ap.org/icons/spacer.gif" alt="" /><img src="http://hosted.ap.org/icons/spacer.gif" alt="" /> 
Petit, who has co-owned the establishment with brother Phillipe for 11 years, said the decor is modeled from a night club their father once owned in Liege, Belgium. He calls the look his &quot;tribute to pop culture.&quot; 
 
The ceiling of the Red Bar&#039;s small main dining room is covered in foreign film posters, red Christmas lights adorn its walls. A silver disco ball and crystal chandeliers add light along with an illuminated plastic Santa Claus. A collection of random street signs, black and white photos, statuettes and an antique cash register add to the eclectic look. Mismatched tables and chairs are tightly packed on the worn wood floors. 
 
Sheryl Crow and former fiance Lance Armstrong are &quot;friends of the restaurant,&quot; as well as NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning, Petit said. Willie Nelson has hung out at The Red Bar and pop star Steve Winwood told a record producer friend about Dread Clampitt after hearing them perform there. Winwood&#039;s friend helped the group produce a CD. 
 
Music legend Sam Bush, founder of the New Grass Revival, spent an evening oyster shucking with the band after hearing them at the bar. 
Marsha Holton, an organizer of the annual Magnolia Music Festival, an acoustic event at the Spirit of Suwannee Music Park near Live Oak in northeast Florida, listened to Dread Clampitt perform live at the Red Bar and said she was hooked on the venue and the band. 
 
Holton said Dread Clampitt&#039;s take on take on traditional bluegrass stylings and the band&#039;s original songs have been a huge hit at her festival, which marks its 10th anniversary Oct. 19-22. 
 
&quot;I think seeing them play at the Red Bar is like seeing them play in your living room because it is so relaxed,&quot; she said. &quot;I love their songs, their music, it&#039;s happy music, it makes everyone want to get up and dance.&quot; 
Band members Ogle and Balder W.P. Saunders grew up in the area. Their songs often pay tribute to their Panhandle roots with lyrics about the ban on commercial net fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi tourists and the beauty of the white sands and turquoise waters of this region. 
 
&quot;Grayton Beach is like a diamond in the rough,&quot; Saunders said. 
 
&quot;I&#039;m afraid it&#039;s all getting sterilized now. Where all of the artists have to go (north) to De Funiak Springs to live. Where all of the bars are closing down. The people who were into the art cannot afford to live here,&quot; he said. 
 
Ogle refers to his to his childhood time in the Panhandle as &quot;BC - before condos.&quot; 
 
Petit said he is trying to maintain the laid-back feel of the region&#039;s past with his &quot;no credit cards, no reservations&quot; policy. The menus change daily and are written on chalkboards carried by wait staff to the tables. The dress code at the beach-front bar and restaurant is casual, diners wander in for Sunday afternoon brunch in bikini tops, flip flops and wrapped in towels. 
 
Petit said his menu offerings are a fusion of southern and European styles, much like the Red Bar itself. He boasts that he offers the best key lime pie in the region. 
 
Although there are plenty of upscale boutiques and swanky restaurants catering to wealthy tourists in this increasingly exclusive region along Florida&#039;s Scenic Highway 30-A in South Walton County, many visitors and locals such as Indiana transplant Denny Green say they prefer Petit&#039;s eclectic gathering place. 
 
&quot;I love the music, and the guys who are playing the music are living the life of the music they play. I wasn&#039;t a fan of bluegrass until I started coming here and everyone was just having fun and they were into it,&quot; he said.

Allifunn

FunnChef - AlisonCooks.com

:clap_1: :clap_1: :clap_1: we made the St Pete times!...but no mention of the SoWal website.....:nono1: shame on them!

TooFarTampa

SoWal Insider

[quote="Allifunn, post: 155951"]:clap_1: :clap_1: :clap_1: we made the St Pete times!...but no mention of the SoWal website.....:nono1: shame on them![/QUOTE]

The story was written by an AP reporter ... probably one who stumbled upon the Red Bar on vacation. :clap_1: It ran in both the Times and the Tampa Trib over the weekend. Balder is a celeb!:clap_1:

<blockquote class="xfBb-quote" data-name="Allifunn">:clap_1: :clap_1: :clap_1: we made the St Pete times!...but no mention of the SoWal website.....:nono1: shame on them!</blockquote> 
The story was written by an AP reporter ... probably one who stumbled upon the Red Bar on vacation. :clap_1: It ran in both the Times and the Tampa Trib over the weekend. Balder is a celeb!:clap_1:

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