On October 1, Samantha Spontak stood outside an empty storefront in Whitney Plaza, looked through the glass and described the shop she planned to build inside. The Longboat Observer reported that contractors had already started work. The space is the former Elegant Lady Cheesecake Parlor, the Hollywood-themed sweets shop that closed in August. Spontak's new business, Market on Whitney, is meant to fill it before the season gets busy.
The timing works out well for anyone hosting this Thanksgiving. With a specialty grocer on the north end, a full-service deli and caterer at mid-key and a full supermarket at Bay Isles, you can set the whole holiday table without leaving the island. What decides how smooth that goes is the order calendar, and its deadlines close several days before November 26.
A cheesemonger's next counter
Spontak spent seven years at Sarasota's Artisan Cheese Company, first as a cheesemonger and later as manager. That shop closed in September. She also studied at culinary school in Connecticut and helped open Zoës Kitchen, a former Bradenton restaurant, which gave her opening experience before she took on a brand of her own.
Market on Whitney is her first time owning a business, and she isn't building it as a cheese shop. Cheese and grazing boards will be on the shelves, but she told the Observer they "won't be the main focus."
"My vision for Market on Whitney is a small, general store vibe. Think specialty grocery. I'm a baker, so we'll also do small-batch baked goods and offer specialty cakes as well."
She said that to the Longboat Observer and described a mix of local and small-batch stock:
- Goods from nearby jam makers, beekeepers and potters
- Small-batch artisan products such as Scottish biscuits and sourdough pastas
- Wines
- Small-batch baked goods and specialty cakes
- Her signature brown butter salted dark chocolate chunk cookie, which she named as the item not to miss
Whitney Plaza is at 6920 Gulf of Mexico Drive, according to the Town of Longboat Key. North-end residents will have a specialty counter close to home, and anyone at the other end of the island gets a reason to drive up Gulf of Mexico Drive.
The grazing table for ten is already a holiday product
The clearest sign of what Market on Whitney will do this season is its funding campaign. Spontak launched a Kickstarter with a $20,000 goal and told the Observer she would go ahead with the opening even if it fell short. It didn't fall short. The campaign funded on October 15, and the page now shows $21,215 pledged by 67 backers. Late pledges are still open for the remaining rewards.
The rewards show what the shop is built for. Backers can choose a custom cake, an invitation to the soft-opening night or an at-home grazing table for up to 10 people, and Kickstarter lists the estimated delivery for those rewards as November 2026. A grazing table for ten delivered in November is about the size of a Thanksgiving appetizer spread. That puts some of the market's first big orders in the middle of hosting season.
In early October, Spontak said she hoped to hold a soft opening before the end of the month, ahead of the season rush. If you want a board or cake for the holiday, follow the Kickstarter page and the shop's announcements for the opening date and ordering details, and plan as if lead time matters.
The rest of the table, by counter
Market on Whitney covers the first hour of the gathering. The island's other kitchens cover the meal itself, and each one sells something different.
| What you need | Where on the island | What the source lists |
|---|---|---|
| Cheese, local pantry goods, cakes, grazing boards | Market on Whitney, Whitney Plaza, 6920 Gulf of Mexico Drive | Specialty grocery with local artisan goods and baked goods |
| A finished Thanksgiving meal to take home | Harry's Deli, 548 St. Judes Drive | Thanksgiving deli takeout, take-and-bake meals, wine |
| A Thanksgiving dinner out | Harry's Continental Kitchens | Three-course Thanksgiving dinner, reservations recommended |
| Last-minute produce, ice, cold beer | Harry's Corner Store, 5600 Gulf of Mexico Drive | Groceries, produce, sandwiches, hot lunches, ice, beer and wine |
| The full grocery run | Publix at Shoppes of Bay Isles, 525 Bay Isles Parkway | Deli, bakery, meats and cheeses, hot bar, sushi, wine and beer |
| Seafood and staffed service | The Lazy Lobster | Catering with pickup, delivery or staffed service |
Harry's Continental Kitchens handles the most moving parts. The restaurant is serving a three-course Thanksgiving dinner of traditional holiday dishes, and the deli is offering takeout for hosts who would rather eat at home. Most days, the deli stocks take-and-bake meals, soups, sandwiches and desserts made by the restaurant's chefs, and it doubles as one of the island's wine shops. For bigger gatherings, Harry's catering business says it has been serving clients since 1979 and covers everything from planning and menu tastings to cleanup.
The Publix at Shoppes of Bay Isles is open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. That 7 a.m. opening matters on Thanksgiving morning, when you realize you're short on butter.
The Lazy Lobster offers catering with seafood and other prepared dishes, with pickup, delivery or staffed service. The restaurant is also bringing back lunch on October 27, starting at 11:30 a.m. Its Garden Terrace is open seasonally from October through May, which helps if part of your holiday week is a lunch out with guests.
Working backward from November 26
These businesses don't all run on the same timeline. Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26, and the dates you need to plan around come before it:
- Now through November. Market on Whitney's Kickstarter rewards, including the grazing table for up to 10 and custom cakes, are estimated for delivery in November 2026, and late pledges are still open.
- Thursday, November 12. Harry's hosts a Rhône wine dinner with five courses and five pours, all from Les Alexandrins. Chef de Cuisine Ian Clark's menu runs from a baked chèvre-stuffed peach with a 2024 Viognier to Rhône Valley osso buco and a chocolate raspberry Napoleon. It's a good night to taste wines you might pour two weeks later.
- As early as possible. Harry's recommends reservations for its Thanksgiving dine-in dinner, and booking is open on Resy for November 26.
- Monday, November 23. Harry's deli takes its last Thanksgiving takeout orders. After that, the prepared meal is off the table.
- Thursday, November 26. Publix at Bay Isles opens at 7 a.m. under its posted daily hours, and Harry's Corner Store on Gulf of Mexico Drive carries produce, groceries, ice and wine for anything you forgot.
Most of the planning happens the Monday before Thanksgiving. A host who has a board ordered from Market on Whitney, a deli order in at Harry's by November 23 and a plan to stop at Publix that morning has covered the whole meal on the island. Anything you forget can come from the shelves at the Corner Store or Bay Isles.
A storefront filled before the season
Spontak told the Longboat Observer that people kept stopping by while she worked in the empty shop to ask what was coming. "The response that I've already gotten has been incredible," she said. "People are stopping by to ask what's going on and say, 'We need that here.'" She also said island residents and business owners were glad the Whitney Plaza storefront wouldn't stay empty after the Elegant Lady closed.
What Spontak said she loved most about her years behind the cheese counter was meeting shoppers and making fine cheese less intimidating.
If you're hosting family on the island this November and wondering how your own place might handle next year's guest list, we're glad to talk it through over a cheese board. Alexis Smith-Frady and the Luxury Coastal Living Group team know Longboat Key one storefront at a time, and we'd love to help you find the home that fits the way you like to host.