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Paradise Coast chefs translate local ingredients into wows.By Chelle Koster Walton
 Olio on the Bay |
Meet some of the Paradise Coast's culinary maestros, and learn how they use local products for universal appeal.
Opened in February 2008, Olio on Naples Bay at Naples Bay Resort characterizes its cuisine as inspired by Napa Valley and Italy. That's partly because those two culinary destinations count on local product to drive menus, says Executive Chef Peter Carl, who has cooked and studied in both Italy and Napa Valley.
"You use what you have around you," he explains, "sourcing what's local and what's sustainable. I look for what is going to go from field to table in the shortest amount of time. The fact that we can buy products ripe -- it just makes sense."
Strawberries come from Plant City, clams from Cedar Key, tropical fruit from Homestead and tomatoes from Ruskin. "Our panzanella salad with seared scallops start to finish comes from Immokalee," Carl says. "The products are grown close to each other, with the same pH in the soil -- it's a match! Everything is picked at the right time, and that lends itself to our philosophy."
Also new to the Naples scene, M Waterfront Grille just opened in Naples in October 2008, but its Executive Chef Brian Roland is no stranger to the local creative dining scene. Roland, a Culinary Institute of America grad, interned at Maxwell's on the Bay, M's predecessor. Today at M, he works to make the restaurant an integral part of the community.
"I'm a big fan of organics and sustainable agriculture," he says. "I am working with the community to find ways where more than our restaurant can be successful. I want to strengthen the community, too."
To do this, Roland buys from area tomato growers, even though it means he won't have that product year 'round. And
 Stone crab claws |
Escargot 41's authentic French cuisine may be imported, but most of the ingredients that go into Chef-Owner Patrick Fevrier's exquisite dishes come directly from local waters and gardens, including his own two-acre plot. Among his seasonal crops, he grows 40 varieties each of eggplant and basil, plus okra, fennel, cinnamon, beans from China and Malabar spinach from India.
"They're not always native to Florida, but I can grow them here from imported seeds," says Fevrier. "I'm against having to import everything – it's cheaper, fresher and better quality to get it locally."
One way he turns Florida food into French cuisine is his pompano meuniere. "In France, we don't have any pompano. I'm basically using French cooking roots to prepare it."
Sandy Franchino, owner of Café de Marco, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary on Marco Island, also favors Florida pompano, as well as grouper, snapper, mahi mahi and lobster. "Our signature dish utilizes local fish. The snapper or grouper de Marco is broiled fresh fish with shallots, mushrooms and garlic, topped with toasted breadcrumbs and broiled," she says. The trademark local seafood of the Paradise Coast, she says, is stone crab claws that Café de Marco serves in season, Oct. 15 through May 15.
Crab is literally the middle name at Old Marco Lodge Crab House in Goodland. Along with coveted stone crab claws, it specializes in locally trapped blue crab – sold soft-shell style, in crab cakes, as crab imperial and in a hearty vegetable crab soup. The stone crabs come from the markets of Everglades City, whose annual Seafood Festival in February celebrates the town's unique cuisine, starring novelties such as alligator tail and frog legs from local waters.
In Everglades City, Rod & Gun Club has been dishing it out fresh and waterside since the 1920s. Guests cannot get any fresher food than when a pompano boat stops right here and unloads and brings the fish right into the kitchen, says owner Patty Bowen. "The reason I buy local more than I have to is to support the people here. They're all fishermen, and I never know what they're going to have on a given day, but I buy it. I could very easily buy from big jobbers, but I've been here my whole life and this is our livelihood."
When you come to the Paradise Coast, you can taste the Paradise Coast, thanks to its chefs and restaurants committed to serving what's local and freshest.
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