Over in the unassuming Forest Lakes shopping center on Webber Street lives Argentinian Pastry, a little shop that cranks out pastries with big flavor. A recent discovery: arrolladitos de dulce de leche ($2.45), a Swiss roll-type pastry made of light, spongy yellow cake that's filled with sweet, creamy dulce de leche and rolled in shredded coconut.

Our intrepid explorers recently unearthed a startling discovery. Palm Avenue Express, a convenience store that opened on downtown Sarasota's Palm Avenue last June, is selling doughnuts delivered hot and fresh every day from the region's most outstanding doughnut shop: Gold Star Donuts in Bradenton. Stunned at our improbable fortune, we staggered down Palm Avenue, glazed and confused and clutching our precious, a crispy-skinned apple fritter the size of a deflated soccer ball. Someone up there is looking out for us.

Ophelia's on the Bay is offering a vanilla chiffon cake with lemon meringue mousse on its dessert menu, and trust us when we say it's a light-as-a-cloud lemony dream. It's glazed with honey and apricot and is exactly what you expect when you think of a fine-dining dessert. It's big enough that you could share it, but trust us, you won't want to.

Want to fuel up at the downtown Sarasota Farmer's Market? Alpine Steakhouse--yup, home of the turducken--offers a tasty take on an egg and cheese sandwich ($4). Fresh-cooked eggs, your choice of cheese and--for $1 more--crispy bacon are piled on a toasted, buttered Kaiser roll, and the result is exactly what you want a breakfast sandwich to be. Eat it at one of the outdoor tables next door to Mattison's and enjoy the people-watching.

Love the taste of homemade almond milk but don't want to make your own? SaraFresh Juice to the rescue. This version ($10)--made with raw almonds, dates, cinnamon, vanilla and sea salt--is thick and creamy, with just the right amount of sweetness from the dates and vanilla, and a hint of spice from the cinnamon. We use it in our coffee, our cereal--basically, everything.