Amanda Yoder passed away on Tuesday. She and her late husband, Levi, founded the popular Pinecraft, Florida restaurant, Yoder's. Yoder's is a pillar of the city's Amish-Mennonite melting pot neighborhood of Pinecraft. There are several Amish-themed restaurants clustered around the busy intersection of Bahia Vista and Beneva Blvd, but Yoder's is the best. Its casual charm captures a busy mix of hard-hat construction workers on lunch break, visiting vacationers in their SUVs, as well as conservative Amish visitors from the Midwest. It's an eclectic clientele which speaks volumes about food and how everyone is welcome. I've had the occasion to eat there several times, this is a photo of the last meal I ate there. YUM, just good scratch-cooking. A couple of articles have appeared in the local papers in Sarasota memorializing Amanda Yoder. I like the Patch piece best because it includes a video clip of Amanda Yoder on the show Man vs. Food but local Sarasota Herald-Tribune also has a nice article about her. I met her on one occasion and she was just a sweet, unassuming hard-working woman who seemed to delight in the delight that her food brought others.
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