GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 3
DeRomo's Gourmet Market
Open Monday – Saturday, 10 am to 6 pm and Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm for shopping and carry out. Extended Hours: Pizza will be available until 7:30 pm on Friday and Saturday. To place a pizza order, call 239.325.3365. Curbside pick-up available.
DeRomo's Restaurant
Open Wednesday – Saturday, 3 to 7 pm Curbside pick-up available with limited menu. Wine, beer and liquor is also available. MARKET PROMO 20% OFF Wine 25% OFF 6+ Bottles Expires 5/31/20
RESTAURANT PROMO Free bottle of house wine with purchase of 4 entrees Expires 5/31/20
GIFT CARD PROMO FREE $20 promotional card with purchase of every $100 gift card. Expires 5/31/20
Genuinely Italian. Absolutely extraordinary.
Promenade at Bonita Bay DeRomos.com | 239.325.3583 26811 South Bay Drive, Suites 140 & 148, Bonita Springs, FL 34134
WE MAKE BANKING ABOUT YOU!
“HOW DO WE PROVIDE ‘TRADITIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE’? WE MAKE IT ”
all about the customer.
— Liz Aurensan, Vice President, Lending
Like Thomas Edison, we believe there
is always “a better way.” When you walk into Edison National Bank, you will have a “customer comes first” experience. We consistently go above and beyond your expectations to meet your needs and to provide a better way of banking.
We’re Standing Strong with Money to Lend. Experience the benefits of joining Edison National Bank/Bank of the Islands. Edison National Bank/ Bank of the Islands customers enjoy:
• free online and mobile banking • no-fee access to their account funds at any Publix® Presto! ATM
• free bill pay services for personal account holders
• courier and cash management services for business clients
• streamlined processing for all loans
including commercial and residential mortgage loans
To learn more about our customer services and convenient locations, please visit EdisonNationalBank.com or call 239.466.1800. An Equal Housing Lender | Member FDIC | Bank of the Islands is an office of Edison National Bank.
| STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS |
ON THE COVER CELEBRATING THE GOOD LIFE IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
VOLUME 16, NUMBER 8 | PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK Editor | General Manager Art Director Associate Editor Production Director Contributing writers
Kathryn Robinson Kinsey, kkinsey@gannett.com Lindi Daywalt-Feazel, ldaywalt@gannett.com Pamela Hayford, phayford@gannett.com Dennis Wright, drwright@gannett.com Gina Birch, Jennifer Thomas, Anne Reed, Lance Shearer, Andrea Stetson
VP Regional Sales William R. Barker President Sales, The News-Press Nancy M. Solliday President Sales, Naples Daily News Shawna Devlin
Director Circulation Distribution Jim Keeble Distribution Managers Brian Franz, branz@gannett.com Greg Fyvie, gfvie@gannett.com
6 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
Summer in Southwest Florida can be pure paradise. See our guide to rediscover the luxuries of the area. See page 26. ILLUSTRATION BY GETTY IMAGES
Grandeur is published 8 times a year by The News-Press, a Gannett company. Complimentary copies are home delivered to select News-Press and Naples Daily News subscribers. Subscriptions to the magazine are $24.95, and single copies are available at the News-Press offices and at various locations throughout Lee and Collier counties. To read the free e-edition visit grandeurmagazine.com. To advertise: 239-335-0457 To subscribe: 239-335-0211 To reach the editor: editor@grandeurmagazine.com
| INSIDE |
SUMMER 2020
CONTENTS 14 GRAND FACES
14
Tess Chiodo and her daughters nurtured Joyful Yoga from a small studio to an expansive facility that includes spa services. Audrey and Brad Vance sold their Bonita Springs home and spent the last year traveling the United States.
40
22 DINING
Salivate over our Top 5 picks for fine dining in Southwest Florida, from Campiello in Naples to Rumrunners in Cape Coral.
26 COVER STORY
Oh, imagine it. Warm sandy beaches under the lull of gentle waves and sunny sky, a perfectly crafted cocktail in hand. Join our mindset as we explore some of our favorite destinations within a short drive of home.
40 RIDE
If you’re looking to buy the most impressive, jaw-dropping car on the market, this might be the place for you.
54
54 PETS
Cece once partied with frat boys, but now she’s a welltraveled canine and the apple of her person’s eye.
12
56 OPEN DOOR
Lee Ann and Tom O’Toole open the door to their cozy but expansive Caribbeanstyle home on Sanibel Island.
ALSO INSIDE 10 12 18 38
56
Editor’s Letter The Colors Pages Model Behavior Wine & Spirits
46 Style 48 Getaway 62 Make it a Double 66 Last Look
22 GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 7
| ONLINE |
You can explore the Grand life anywhere you go with our mobile-friendly website. From galas and fine dining to the amazing homes of Southwest Florida.
N
O
E
N
LI
LY
N
O
DOCKSIDE TAKEOUT
Because life’s better on a boat. If you’re one of those lucky boating devils, here are a few great places to get your social distancing takeout.
I
n the interest of full disclosure: I do not have a boat. In the interest of oversharing: I wish I had a boat. Everything is better on
a boat, social distancing included. My Instagram feed has been packed with these boat people, posting about their brutal, tortured isolation in the azure waters of the Gulf, toast-
ing their cans of beer and Solo cups of wine with #quarantinelife #sunshine #seashelldistancing. OK, I made up the last one. But I’d use it. If I had a boat.
Visit grandeurmagazine.com/food-drink/dockside to read more.
Follow us on Instagram @GrandeurMagazine
8 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
Like us on Facebook @GrandeurMagazine
Read any issue of Grandeur on Issuu at issuu.com/grandeur2
| EDITOR'S LETTER |
A
month ago, I couldn’t imagine I would be in the same spot waiting for the world to reopen, but here I am continuing to tackle the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. I’ve been fortunate enough to do my part to stop the spread from the comfort of my quiet home, while so many others have continued to run toward this devastating pandemic. There’s the army of dedicated health care professionals and first responders (my son being one of them) on the front lines battling to save lives, while the stress takes a personal toll. The essential employees continuing to report to work, putting their own health at risk. Those countless volunteers feeding families, the homeless and doctors and nurses, strangers shopping and checking on the vulnerable, individuals and groups stepping forward to sew face masks to fill the void and help protect others. For most, everyday challenges have been amplified, and this virus has upended nearly every aspect of today’s environment. Many face the stress of juggling work from home with child care, or the threat, and reality, of losing their jobs is taking a toll on their mental well-being. No one really knows exactly when life might return to something close to normal, when it might be safe to go back to the office, celebrate milestones in person with family and friends or even meet for a drink at a bar, but we know that day will come again soon. With that in mind make sure to check out our cover story “Stay & Play” offering ways to support our local economy by visiting coastal attractions, taking beach getaways, shopping at locally-owned businesses and savoring an abundance of dining specialties. Page 26. As the print version of Grandeur takes our traditional summer break, I look forward to those of us who live here year-round to truly be able to savor all the great things the Gulf Coast has to offer. Make sure to check back with us often at grandeurmagazine.com, where we continue to highlight the grand things of Southwest Florida. Stay safe, support each other and see you in October!
Kathryn poses in a McKinley maxi dress by Lilly Pulitzer. MAKEUP BY: Ina Zeineddine PHOTO BY: Brian Tietz LOCATION: Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa
KATHRYN ROBINSON KINSEY EDITOR & GENERAL MANAGER
10 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
Digestive problems can affect just about every aspect of your life. And, if you’re experiencing painful or inconvenient symptoms, we can help. We diagnose and treat GERD, acid reflux, Crohn’s disease, colitis, celiac disease, hemorrhoids and more. Treatment may involve medication, dietary adjustments, minimally invasive surgery or other options. For an appointment, visit PRMGDigestiveHealth.com or call 239-235-3287.
DIGESTIVE PROBLEMS? WE HAVE A WHOLE TEAM READY TO HELP.
PRMGDigestiveHealth.com 239-235-3287
Pictured left to right: Anthony Vernava, M.D. – Colorectal Surgery, Maria Valdes, M.D. – Gastroenterology, Rudy Bershadski, PA – Colorectal Surgery, Brenda Duarte, ARNP – Gastroenterology, Michael Cohen, M.D. – Gastroenterology, Jonas Mansson, M.D. – General Surgeon, Alexandra Grace, D.O. – Gastroenterology, Susan Cera, M.D. – Colorectal Surgery, Elyse Fetcko, PA – Gastroenterology, Brian Smith, M.D. – General Surgeon Members of the Medical and Allied Health Staff of Physician Regional Healthcare System. • Results may vary. Consult your physician about the benefits and risks of any surgical procedure.
GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 11
| THE COLOR PAGES |
Slip into summer • Now is the time to sport bright colors and flash a stunning look. The Kate Strass leather pumps in Diva Pink do just that with Italian leather adorned heel to toe in dazzling embellishments. By Christian Loutboutin. $2,995 at Saks Fifth Avenue, saksfifthavenue.com.
Cool rain
• The hues in these pink topaz and green quartz drop earrings from A. Jaron Fine Jewelry in Naples remind us of the summer storms that take the edge off the Florida heat. Palm Springs Earrings, $2,750 at ajaron.com.
MODERN
Zip in, zip out • Zip around town in style with the Primavera 50 CC. This little beauty gets 80 miles to the gallon and produces very little emissions. $3,999 at vespa.com.
MELON Of all the beautiful fruits of summer, perhaps the watermelon reigns supreme. Indeed, the entire month of July is dedicated to it: National Watermelon Month. The delicious orb’s bright reds, pinks and greens also give our wardrobes and décor a decidedly summer feel. It’s a great time to indulge in these bright, summery hues. — PAMELA HAYFORD
12 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
Add a little softness • Make every
day a vacation day with getawayinspired weekend wear that’s super soft to the touch. This cotton racerback tank and voile tiered midi skirt, $78 and $194, are available at Jennifer’s at The Design Center in Fort Myers. jennifersfortmyers.com.
| THE COLOR PAGES |
Made in the shade • A
brilliant way to add the colors of our favorite fruit is an outdoor umbrella. They come in numerous hues. This 9-foot Sunbrella canopy of this market umbrella blocks 98% of UV rays and has a vented canopy for optimum comfort. Plus, it’s designed to resist fading, stains, mold, dirt and mildew. $329-$1,999 at Frontgate, frontgate.com.
Empowered by pink • Share the love
• You’ll find every color of the rainbow in the artisan chocolates by Norman Love Confections. Each gourmet chocolate truffle is a work of art. The Mother’s Day Collection starts at $26 for a box of 10, normanloveconfections.com.
This silk pink bracelet by Tory Burch was created to encourage women to embrace ambition — thus its name, the Embrace Ambition bracelet. It comes in nine beautiful colors, and it’s detailed with a signature Gemini Link charm. All proceeds go to the Tory Burch Foundation, which works to empower women and entrepreneurs. $30, or two for $50, at toryburch.com.
Sleep in comfort
• Summer nights can be a challenge to our inner thermostat, but Soma’s Cool Nights are designed to keep us cool and comfortable. Lace accents lend a feminine touch to this soft set. $38 each piece at Soma, soma.com.
Perfect pouf
• The Pix family of ottomans welcomed a new addition this year: the Pix Mini in a stool version. The various sizes of poufs provide limitless versatility as each can serve as table, seat or backrest while sitting on the floor. And they add a pop of color. Designed by Iwasaki Design Studio. Find a dealer at arper.com.
GRANDEUR | MAY 2020 | 13
| FACES |
STORY BY ANNE REED
SHARING THE
POWER OF YOGA The Chiodo family celebrates Joyful Yoga & Spa’s 15th anniversary as they take instruction virtual. Led by family matriarch Tess Chiodo and her two daughters, Jacqueline Chiodo and Emily Cioffi, Joyful Yoga is one of the oldest yoga studios in Southwest Florida. In the pre-shelter-in-place world, the beautiful, light-filled studio had the quiet bustle of students and teachers arriving for classes or sessions. Now? Tess, Jacqueline, Emily and their staff have gone digital, offering classes first through Facebook Live and now through Zoom and sharing articles on the benefits of meditation and more through their social media pages. That willingness to change, to change and meet the needs of the people around them, is something that started 50 years ago
in Southern California. “I was a Catholic schoolgirl and got into yoga as my thing,” Tess says. After marrying her high school sweetheart, “he went off the rails. I found out TM was being taught at a local community college in San Bernardino.” TM is transcendental meditation, created by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the mid1950s. It became popular in the 1960s and 1970s as celebrities embraced the practice, which involves using a silent mantra to meditate for a period of time daily. It is taught by certified teachers and is used as a method for stress reduction, self-development and relaxation.
Jacqueline, Tess and Emily
14 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
ifteen years in Southwest Florida time seems like forever. In a land filled with seasonal residents, recent transplants and what seems like a new gated community every month, anything that survives here for a decade is rare. It takes patience, care and, in this current COVID-19 climate, flexibility. All three things one can find through the practice of yoga. Joyful Yoga & Spa in Bonita Springs is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year.
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
| FACES |
Tess began meditating and studying TM. “I’ve been on a long journey with that, starting in early 1969,” she explains. She has a background in entomology and was living and working on a beneficial bug farm in California. “It was hippie-landia back then,” Tess says. “But that kind of fell apart and I became an insurance agent and met my current husband.” When the two married, they moved to the East Coast. She was still practicing yoga, having used it as part of her daily health and healing while working through the trauma of her first marriage. When they relocated to New Jersey, she decided to devote herself to yoga and began teaching in 1980 in an old schoolhouse while raising her daughters Jacqueline, Chelsea and Emily. Emily was 17 when the family made the move to the East Coast. “Growing up, there was this idea of yoga just as a natural part of life and play,” Emily says. “I remember being in Shoulder Stand as a child, not realizing it was a yoga pose… We would see mom doing yoga and practice it with her. It wasn’t a discipline.” In college, yoga became more of a discipline for Emily and she started teaching yoga. “I don’t remember a time when there wasn’t yoga,” Emily says when describing her own yoga journey. “My own path, I did deviate to some degree,” she says. After she had her daughter, Ella, in 2003, she noticed she had gained a significant amount of weight and was using food to self-soothe. “Immediately after having her, I knew I had yoga and it would be my tool and my remedy.” Emily also struggled with panic attacks and anxiety and hinted at other things she used to selfsoothe or self-medicate. “I knew that I had to lose all this weight and I couldn’t go back to using substances, so yoga and meditation became my tool to lose weight, get in shape and become more sound of mind and body. It was really powerful,” she says. Yoga and meditation did more than heal Emily; they also provided the impetus to go back and pursue her master’s degree in clinical and mental health counseling, including yoga and meditation in her list of healing modalities. Tess and her husband moved with Jacqueline to Fort Myers in 2004 with the intention of starting a yoga studio. They had already decided on a name — Yoga Joy. In 2005, they saw an advertisement in the back of a yoga journal for a tiny studio in Fort Myers that was for sale called Joyful Yoga. They contacted June Denison, the owner, and arranged to purchase the practice. “It was like a seed,” Emily says. “The perfect
little seed to water and grow.” Tess and Jacqueline taught several yoga classes a day in the small studio space in Fort Myers. By 2007, when Emily made the move to join her family, Joyful Yoga had outgrown its space and moved to Bernwood Plaza in Bonita Springs. The new studio featured a larger space for classes and four rooms for spa treatments. “It changed our business in a lot of ways,” Emily says. “We grew exponentially.” They moved to their current space near Pelican Landing in Bonita Springs in 2011; it features two yoga studio spaces where almost 50 classes are offered each week. The spa provides a variety of services, including massage therapy, reiki, ayurvedic treatments, hypnotherapy and EMDR therapy, which is led by Emily. “It is really more like a holistic wellness center at this point,” she says. Joyful Yoga & Spa has a large staff, including: » Jacqueline, co-owner, ayurvedic lifestyle coach, chakra yoga specialist and integrative yoga therapist » Tess, co-owner, yoga/meditation/ayurveda teacher and TM teacher certified in Primordial Sound Meditation Instruction » Emily, co-owner, licensed mental health counselor, ERYT-500, RYS-200, yoga and meditation Instructor and certified Buti Yoga instructor. Chelsea, who lives in Austin, is also part of the studio and visits to instruct students in their teacher training program regarding prenatal yoga and how to modify yoga for pregnancy. “We have a large staff,” Emily notes. “It feels very much like a family… We are all different in the ways we teach. We have our own style and our own qualities and that inspires people. People love the fact that we are a family.”
Emily teaches a few classes each week, a change from when she started and she would split the bulk of the teaching with her mother and sister. She describes her mom as “the queen bee. She is an encyclopedia of yoga.” Her sister, Jackie, is in her eyes “a local guru. She teaches many classes during season and does our teacher training program. When she isn’t in town during season, she does yoga retreats in Costa Rica.” Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, Joyful Yoga & Spa was looking forward to its 15th anniversary and planning a ceremony with the chamber of commerce. Instead, they’ve made the shift to teaching digitally and working to find the platform and plans that best fit their students, teachers and studio. It was a quick shift, as many already saw digital classes as part of the future landscape of yoga. “With this health crisis and moving to online platforms, yoga will continue to grow,” Emily says. “It will become more accessible for people. And that’s exciting. It’s been on the backburner for us, and this is our push.” Offering classes digitally also helps the studio stay in touch with its seasonal students and allows them to continue their practice no matter where they go. It’s all part of the growth of yoga, something Emily and Tess have been watching over the last 10 years. “It seems like every month there is a new studio,” Emily jokes. “There is more than enough yoga to go around.” One of the tenets of yoga is aparigraha, which Emily explains as meaning non-grasping. “Yoga is not just a physical practice,” Emily explains. “There are also the yamas and niyamas, and those are the moral codes of conduct and personal observances of yoga. And so that’s also what you practice besides and beyond the breathing and meditation.” That includes making room for all teachers, studios and students — sharing space with all the yoga studios in Southwest Florida. “We want to spread yoga because we know it is a powerful practice,” Emily says. “We have so much power,” Tess adds. “So much more power than we even know.” Tapping into that power, especially in times of trouble, is just part of who they are, the journey they’ve been on from bug farm to Fort Myers, the energy and talents they have shared and continue to share as the studio celebrates its anniversary. “We always look for the potential out of any sort of darker time,” she notes. “We can always look for a silver lining, and this may be it. The pandemic is scary, and there are also good things. Maybe people will discover yoga, reconnect with family — and so many beautiful things can be born from this.” GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 15
| FACES |
Brad and Audrey Vance enjoy the scenery at Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies.
STORY BY ANDREA STETSON | PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
THE NEW VAGABONDS Audrey and Brad Vance sold their Bonita Springs home and hit the road for a year of travel. or Audrey and Brad Vance, life is now a vacation. The couple retired, sold their home in Bonita Springs, and spent the past year traveling around the United States exploring everything from popular tourist attractions to little known gems. Audrey was the first city attorney for Bonita Springs. She spent 18 years there and a total of 30 years in Lee County. Her husband is a civil engineer who worked for the Lee County Division of Natural Resources and the Florida Department of Transportation for 20 years and later worked as a private consultant. When the couple retired, they decided that life should be an adventure. In May 2019 they left Florida in a minivan to begin their life on 16 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
the road. “It’s a lot of planning,” Audrey says. “It is a lot different than when I was working and booked a trip for two or three weeks. It is totally different when you are traveling full time.” It is all about being organized, planning, looking for deals and having a long-term plan. “We went as fast as we could out of the United States into Canada, so we could do the Alaska-Canada highway,” Audrey says. The Vances loved traveling that famous highway. “It’s very scenic,” Audrey says. “You see everything from buffalo and bears to mountain goats. It is everything we wanted to see.” Audrey posted often on Facebook, and her friends and family got to enjoy hundreds of photos and stories. They stayed mostly at Airbnbs, but also took a tent.
Audrey took this photo of her husband at Zion National Park. She says it’s the smallest photo of her husband. The couple hiked for several hours in the park. “Zion National Park is probably the most crowded park in the USA,” Audrey says. “However, Kolob Canyons is somewhat desolate, so the trail has lots of space.”
| FACES |
“In some areas, especially along the highway or in Lake Watson, there was not one room to be had, so we got a provincial campsite,” Audrey says. “Twelve dollars for a campsite; that was our cheapest lodging.” Their journey took them to waterfalls, areas with lots of wildlife and hot springs. They rented one Airbnb for a month in Anchorage and did numerous day trips. They bought bicycles and explored the town. The Vances took a cruise to see parts of Alaska not accessible by vehicle. They explored Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park when their son Ben came to visit them. Audrey and Brad traveled as far north as Utqiagvik and to Cape Wrangell, the westernmost point in the United States. One of their top picks was Portage Valley. “The Portage Glacier was amazing,” Audrey says. The Vances loved Valdez, too. “It was like the flowers were on steroids,” Audrey says. “The waterfalls were all going crazy. It was crazy beautiful.” The couple left Alaska in September and headed to British Columbia to visit Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Banff and Lake Louise. “We did a lot of Canadian national parks,” Audrey says. Sometimes it was the journey, not the destination that Brad liked best. “We were coming down through Canada, and there is a road that comes east of Vancouver that is amazing,” Brad explains. “There are things you see when you travel that are not a destination.” Audrey says sometimes it’s the surprises that she remembers most fondly. “They have Badlands in Canada,” Audrey says. “It is something you would never expect. You drive an hour or two through farm fields and then you come to these Badlands. It is unbelievable, and it is unexpected. It is a part of the world that just opened up where you didn’t expect it.” They loved the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, Crater Lake National Park and Klamath Falls, Oregon. Hells Canyon was one of Brad’s favorite places. “We saw some of the not well-known national parks,” Brad says. “They have their own uniqueness.” Their trip often took them back and forth from west to east to west. “I like to think it more like a migration,” Audrey says. “We were working with weather patterns.” They were also working with costs. “We are very price conscious on this trip,” she says. “We don’t have an unlimited budget. I looked for sales on time shares. We ended up places where I found a good deal.” For example, they spent a week in Palm Springs, California, when Audrey found a time share for $267 a week. They spent some autumn days in Nevada. “The only time we ever saw Tahoe (before this trip), it was covered with snow in the winter, and it was completely different this time,” Brad says. “This was the first time Audrey had ever seen leaves changed. They don’t change in Miami. That was a new experience for her.” Brad again pointed to the journey as some of his favor-
During their time in Sante Fe, New Mexico, the Vances took a day trip to Taos. They came across this bridge at the Rio Grande Gorge.
ite experiences. He especially enjoyed the road between Mesquite, Nevada, and St. George, Utah. “The highway goes through mountains and that had some neat landscape,” he explains. “It is just the unexpected things you see on the road.” Zion National Park was crowded, but they found secluded trails to hike. “If you are there for a short period of time, you are going to do what everybody else does, but when you are there for a long time, you do the things where nobody else travels,” Brad explains. “What was really amazing was when we went to Zion in the main area, we couldn’t get a parking space, so we went to some of the other areas of the park that were more sublime,” Audrey adds. “It was fall and the colors were amazing. We took a really good 5-hour hike.” They did the popular South Rim of the Grand Canyon and then headed to the more secluded North Rim. “The North Rim — there is a whole different look to the park,” Audrey says. Then they headed to Phoenix and Sedona, traveled through Texas and went to Louisiana. They spent a couple of weeks with family in Shreveport. Then it was on to northern Florida to explore Jacksonville and St. Augustine. They headed to Myrtle Beach, Williamsburg and Washington, D.C., then back to Gainesville to visit one of their sons. The Vances are true vagabonds. Before starting their trip, they sold their home in Bonita Springs and put everything in storage. They purchased a Dodge Grand Caravan because it has stow-and-go seats and lots of storage. But they still want the occasional feeling of home. So they carve out time to visit their son Ben in Washington, D.C., and their son Jonathan in Gainesville. They also organized a family Christmas in Louisiana. “We want to be with our kids for essentials,” Audrey says. “Traveling does not take the place of family.” Most of their traveling days entailed 5 to 6 hours on the road. The beginning of the trip was longer 10-hour
driving days. They also had a very long drive from New Mexico to Billings, Montana. Audrey loves her adventures, but there are some things she misses. “I miss things like my KitchenAid mixer,” she admits. “I miss making homemade mashed potatoes, just normal comforts. But getting out of your comfort zone is one of the things I like about traveling. We see things that we would not normally have seen. I miss having a washing machine that I know how it works all the time.” Audrey and Brad say the trip was more than a vacation. “It is a way to reinvent ourselves,” Audrey says. They hope traveling will help them determine where they want to live in the future and what they would like to do. They are not done traveling, but their plans are now in limbo. The couple had planned to travel all over Europe next. With the coronavirus, that’s on hold. “We were actually thinking about starting that this summer, but we will now put that off for a year,” Brad says. “The plan had been to do this in Europe,” Audrey adds. “I feel confident I can do this type of trip overseas. Until all the health issues are resolved as far as the pandemic, I am not booking anything.” The Vances share some advice for people who might contemplate a year on the road. “We learned to try to book at least two to three nights in the hotel, so you had time to explore the city. We didn’t want it to just be a drive and a night,” Audrey explains. “However you book your things, stay with the same companies for loyalty points.” Audrey advises packing efficiently. “I have my base clothing and I layer and add a piece here and there,” Audrey explains. “Because I have the restraints on storage, I have worn the same shoes the last six months.” Those shoes are Asics sneakers. “You learn to get by on less when you are traveling,” Audrey says. Talk to locals, she advises. “Going to the laundromat you meet people and learn about library talks and other things,” she says. “The best tip in a laundromat was to go to a poetry reading at a library in west Yellowstone. You have all this normal stuff you can do, but this was something different. “You also get restaurant tips. Also it’s learning about different people and different people’s ways.” For those who want to travel the Alaska Highway, there is one travel guide Audrey recommends. “Milepost is the bible for doing this trip,” she says. “It is like buying a telephone book. It tells you each mile marker and area facts, like where to get gas, camping, where to stay.” Another top tip is budgeting. “Stay within your budget; that is the most important thing,” Audrey says. “Create a budget and stick to it or try to beat your budget, so that you are not broke from doing what you are doing.” GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 17
| MODEL BEHAVIOR |
VIEWS &LIGHT STORY BY ANDREA STETSON
With 5,665 feet under air, the Fontaine model in Quail West capitalizes on natural light and a beautiful landscape.
T
he new Fontaine model in Quail West doesn’t just highlight views at the back of the home, it also highlights the front of the house. Inside the great room, sliding glass doors lead to the lanai. On the other side of the room, floor-toceiling windows overlook a secluded patio on the front of the house and two water elements on either side of the entrance.
“There are not many houses out there with this much glass,” says Ben McGarvey, senior project manager for McGarvey Custom Homes. “During the day you don’t have to turn the lights on. At the front of the house the whole wall is also glass.” “It’s a great feature,” adds Arlynn McDaniel, interior designer with Freestyle
Interiors. “So you are really pulling in the outside into the home. It really opens it up for a lot of natural light in the house.” The four-bedroom home has four full and two half bathrooms and a three-car garage. It spans 5,665 square feet under air with a total 8,658 square feet of living space.
ABOVE: The designer used a pallet of gray throughout the Fontaine model. In the living room the built-in nooks beside the television match the same gray as the wine area and the kitchen islands. FACING PAGE CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: The Fontaine model in Quail West has four bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms. It is one of the larger McGarvey Custom Homes models. •There are many places in eat in the Fontaine model from this long kitchen island, to the dining area, to the outdoor table. This kitchen has two islands, one for preparing food and the other for eating. • There is a large outdoor living area under roof in the Fontaine model. The designer created a lot of intricate ceilings throughout the home and even added depth and wood to the ceiling on the lanai. 18 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
| MODEL BEHAVIOR |
GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 19
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
| MODEL BEHAVIOR |
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: The master bathroom has two toilets, two sinks and even two shower heads at either end of the glass walled shower. The only thing there is one of is the tub. • The spacious lanai with its pool, spa, eating area, outdoor kitchen and sitting area overlooks the 10th hole of The Lakes golf course at Quail West. • The den is more of another sitting area than a work space. There is a long table for work, but most of the room is decorated in comfy couches and chairs. • The master suite spans the entire side of the home. There is not only lots of room for a king-sized bed, but there is a sitting area with a lounger, night tables, dresser and still plenty of floor space. • A side outdoor sitting area. 20 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
“This is one of our bigger homes,” Ben says. The spacious great room features a palette of grays. The built-in nooks beside the television match the gray of the wine area by the dining room. The same gray wood continues on the double kitchen islands. “For the size of this house, we had to add an extra island, so we didn’t have this much dead space,” Ben explains. “It adds extra storage plus extra seating.” One island has a sink and is more of a serving area, while the other has plush chairs beside it and becomes a dining place. The kitchen has all Wolf appliances. Ben says they opted to pay more to have black knobs rather than the signature Wolf red knobs. “It just makes everything look a little cleaner,” he says. The eight-person dining room table looks formal, but it is all part of the open great room. The dining area ends by a tall gray entertainment center-style piece that houses two wine refrigerators, some art work and a small bar.
The living room is large enough for two coffee tables centered between a couch and four plush chairs. Arlynn says designing such a big open space was a challenge. “Because it is such a large area, I needed to come up with a way to define each space,” she says. “The kitchen area, the dining area and the living room area each have their own ceiling detail, yet they speak to each other at the same time. The ceilings are the real wow factor of that room.” The ceilings all feature a variety of levels in geometric shapes, but each room has its own style. The intricate ceilings continue in the master suite and the guest rooms. The master bedroom spans one side of the home. The king-size bed is covered with a bright white quilt and navy pillows. There’s a plush lounger nestled by a wall of windows. A glass door leads to the lanai. “It has lots and lots of natural light,” Ben says. Between the bedroom and the two walk-in
| MODEL BEHAVIOR |
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: The dining room area is large enough for a rectangular table for eight people. The sliding glass doors open up to the lanai where there is another large table. A wine bar is inserted in the wall just beyond the dining room table. • The new Fontaine model at Quail West recently received the superior award from the Collier County Building Industry Association in the $4.5 to $5 million category. One of the things that make it so special is there is lots of glass on both the front and the back sides of the home. • The Fontaine model is very large so the designer used techniques such as different ceiling designs, multiple tables and wall inserts to break up the huge areas and make the home feel more cozy. tropical colors.
closets is a nook with a large round mirror and a table. “We didn’t do a sit-down vanity in the master bath, so I thought that was a neat space for makeup or a jewelry area or for her little writing desk,” Arlynn says. “It is kind of a multi-use area.” The bathroom has two of everything except the tub. There are two toilets, two sink areas and even two shower heads at either end of the shower, which has glass walls on both sides. The exterior glass wall looks out to a small garden hidden behind a tall wall for privacy. The nearby den doubles as another sitting room. While there is a long white desk and some cabinets, most of the room is decorated more like a small living room. A long chaise lounge creates a buffer between the desk and sitting area. There are chairs, a television and a wall of windows overlooking the lanai. The guest rooms are clustered on the other side of the home. They all have a bathroom and walk-in closets. The VIP suite looks like another master bedroom. There is a king-size bed with a long ottoman at the foot. Three windows overlook the garden
and two more windows frame the sides of the bed. Another guest room has three padded ottomans by the foot of the bed. In the third guest suite, sliding glass doors lead to the garden patio in the front of the house. Glass doors from the hallway also lead to this garden. Arlynn created a sitting area among the greenery on this patio by adding four chairs and a table. By the garage entrance to the home is a drop zone area with a bench and cabinets. While McGarvey Custom Homes did create scenic features in the front of the house, they also made the back full of grand luxuries. Under the stained cypress ceiling of the lanai is a sitting area, a table that seats eight and an outdoor kitchen. Beyond the roofline is the pool with a raised spa and a raised sun shelf. It all overlooks the 10th tee on The Lakes golf course. The home recently received the superior award for a house in the $4.5 million to $5 million range from the Collier Building Industry Association. Its award-winning status helped prompt a family who already lived in Quail West to purchase the furnished model. GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 21
| DINING |
STORY BY GINA BIRCH
OUR CULINARY
WISH LIST When dining out returns, these are our first five stops.
22 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
restaurants, while staying in our PJs, not all dishes transfer well. It might be good — but it’s just not the same. Nothing beats a hot meal right out of the kitchen, professionally prepared and served with care. Dining out is an escape, an adventure, an experience missed by so many. As we emerge from sheltering at home, put these local Southwest Florida spots on your dining list for outstanding cuisine, atmosphere and hospitality.
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
he long stint of sheltering at home has forced many Southwest Floridians to rediscover the kitchen, igniting that inner chef. For others it was culinary torture. Many restaurants stayed open for takeout, however, not all. And while takeout has always been an option for experiencing some of our favorite meals and supporting our favorite
| DINING |
FLIPPER’S ON THE BAY, FORT MYERS BEACH This al fresco dining spot on stilts at the south end of Fort Myers Beach is a true hidden gem. Located on the waters of Estero Bay at Lovers Key Resort, diners also have a view of the Gulf of Mexico and the sunset. Executive Chef Juan Cruz is from El Salvador and worked his way through kitchens from Latin America to California alongside famous chefs the likes of Wolfgang Puck and Thomas Keller. The menu he has crafted is global, representing the many flavors of his journey: Bohemian grouper in a citrus buerre blanc, pan-seared pompano in saffron broth with a yucca cake, paella with chicken chorizo, and prime filet in a cabernet reduction with mozzarella jalapeno yucca cake. Not only do patrons come for Cruz’s cooking but also to see him. His laugh is infectious and every night he takes time out of his cooking frenzy to venture into the dining room and greet guests. Come by boat or car; reservations are not accepted, but you can call ahead. Flipper’s also serves lunch and breakfast.
DON’T MISS THIS DISH:
CAMPIELLO,
DOWNTOWN NAPLES Established 20 years ago, Campiello Ristorante & Bar is one of the old guards on Naples’ popular Third Street South. Located in the historic Naples Mercantile Building, the Italian restaurant has a space to accommodate almost any desire: a popular lounge and bar, airconditioned conservatory dining, quiet courtyard seating, and a lively, lush outdoor patio. The open kitchen features a woodburning pizza oven on one end and a wood-burning rotisserie on the other; the smell is comforting. Executive Chef Mike Dalton says, “You can come in and have a beer and pizza or have a five-course meal. There are not a lot of places offering that to the community and that is huge; it suits everybody.” In season, Campiello’s has a special truffle menu that is pure decadence. And every month, Chef Dalton presents
a special menu that features the cuisine of a different Italian region for his Tour of Italy. With so many menu choices, one thing almost everyone can agree on is to save room for dessert. Try the Butterscotch Budino with hazelnut honey toffee and sea salt or the Almond Toffee Profiterole with wild blueberry gelato paired with a digestivo or espresso.
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
The Chilean Sea Bass Sea bass (pictured at left) is a longtime Flipper’s favorite. Managers estimate they serve 5,000 portions during a typical season. While the Sea Bass Oscar is a hit, Flipper’s signature is White Miso Chilean Sea Bass, and it melts in your mouth.
DON’T MISS THIS DISH: Pappardelle with Braised Veal You can’t go wrong with any pasta here; much of it is made in house. However if there is one pasta dish that keeps patrons consistently coming back for another round, it is this hearty house specialty. It’s simple but delicious.
GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 23
| DINING |
CRISTOF’S,
CIELO, SANIBEL ISLAND During the summer of 2019, Il Cielo on Sanibel went through a complete remodel from the front of the house to the back. The changes include streamlining the name to Cielo. General Manager Marcus Preece jokes, “The ‘Il’ fell off during construction.” What used to be a darker space with heavy wood is now light and open, sporting a tastefully colorful modern Florida motif. The patio has been enclosed to house a new horseshoe-shaped bar. A new wine storage and distribution system allows patrons to enjoy 2-, 4- or 6-ounce pours of high-end selections rather than springing for an entire bottle. Cielo’s bar has always been known for its unique selection of spirits and now features a craft cocktail program led by award-winning mixologist and Beverage Manager Greg Baldia. He makes many of the
FORT MYERS
mixers, tinctures and bitters in house. Executive Chef Melissa Akin revamped many of the old menu items and added a few new ones. The cuisine is still seafood forward with Antarctic salmon, sushi roll appetizers, a ravioli and more. However, meat lovers rave about the grilled filet with whipped potatoes, truffle cream and green peppercorn demi.
Located in a charming 1940s-era home fronting the famous McGregor Boulevard is Cristof ’s, the vision of chef and owner Cristof Danzi. The building has quite a history, some of it depicted in black-and-white photos on the dining room walls. Famous artist Darryl Pottorf even lived there at one time. The main dining room still has many of the vintage home’s original features, including the wooden floors that sometimes creak under your feet. The large wrap-around porch is peaceful for dining, but when the weather is nice, the tables on the shady patio can be even more desirable. Cristof, a Sicilian-born chef, worked in kitchens around the world before settling down in Fort Myers some 20 years ago. His menu is a blend of Louisiana, Caribbean and Mediterranean cuisine with what he calls, “an Italian accent.” Entrees include chicken and gnocchi in truffle cream sauce, pork tenderloin wrapped in prosciutto with a sundried tomato glaze and goat cheese, Southern bouillabaisse loaded with seafood in a Cajun broth, and grilled vegetarian plates. Cristof ’s is quite the place to power lunch for politicians and executives. It’s also home to Sunday brunch featuring a popular Green Eggs and Ham Panini.
DON’T MISS THIS DISH: DON’T MISS THIS DISH: U-10 Scallops They are fennel dusted and pan-seared medium. Chefs take the temperature to ensure they are slightly translucent in the middle. The scallops are topped with sweet and savory pancetta jam and served with bamboo green rice and seasonal vegetables.
24 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
Fried Green Tomatoes
The traditional Southern dish is dressed up and stacked with fresh mozzarella and pancetta, then placed over a bed of arugula. Served with chipotle corn salsa, it’s a signature appetizer.
| DINING |
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
Corned beef and cabbage at Rumrunners.
RUMRUNNERS, CAPE CORAL When Rumrunners opened at Cape Harbour in 2003, it seemed the restaurant was on an island alone. Designed by successful restaurateur Jeff Gately, and chefs Todd Johnson and Ralph Centalonza, it was the first casual fine dining restaurant of its kind in the area. It was also the largest with some 300 seats. A substantial portion of that seating is outdoors, stretching along the expansive, waterfront dock. Diners have the option of arriving by car or boat for both lunch and dinner. As one might expect from a waterfront restaurant, the menu features numerous seafood selec-
tions in preparations inspired from around the country and world including Southwestern-style lump crab cakes, steamed mussels Provencal, New Orleans-style littleneck clams, Caribbean bronzed salmon, tuna tataki and more. More substantial entrees include everything from a comforting meatloaf to a 16-ounce cowboy steak. The menu has something for all tastes, and the dining specials truly are special with the combined talents of the chefs. Rumrunners is also popular for happy hour with drink specials, $5 lite bites and raw bar specials that include $1.50 oysters.
DON’T MISS THIS DISH: Seafood Pot Pie Not your mother’s pot pie by any means. This one is loaded with baby shrimp, scallops and lump crabmeat along with more traditional ingredients such as diced potato, carrot, celery and onion. It’s all simmered in a rich lobster cream sauce, and then topped with a flaky pastry.
GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 25
| COVER STORY |
26 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
| COVER STORY |
STORY BY GINA BIRCH
Looking for a change of scenery? Explore these great beach getaways. ven people who aren’t avid travelers find themselves eager for a change of scenery after spending an extraordinarily long stretch relegated to their homes due to COVID-19. That being said, many are still a little reserved about getting on planes or straying far from home. There’s also a call for
some, and desire for others, to support the local and state tourism industry, after the abrupt end to our lucrative winter and spring seasons. Getting out is good for our physical and mental health, as well as for the health of the economy. These tropical destinations are all reachable on a tank of gas or less and offer something for everyone in your party, even those who (gasp) don’t particularly like the beach.
GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 27
| COVER STORY |
SHOP:
Periwinkle Place looks more like a park than a shopping plaza with its shaded lawn, benches and fountains. Stretched over seven acres, you’ll find everything from jewelry and toys to art and fashion boutiques with a few drinking and dining options in between. If you’re looking for vintage treasures and antiques, try the Islander Trading Post. You could spend all day here, combing the crammed aisles and shelves.
STAY: Casa Ybel Resort is
an island oasis with lush grounds, an expansive beach and stately dining. The peaceful and historic resort features all suite rooms with gulf views. For active visitors there is yoga on the lawn, bicycles, tennis courts and water sports. The Sundial Beach Resort & Spa has similar offerings along with a full-service spa and Japanese steakhouse. The Sundial’s poolside tiki bar has been an island favorite for years.
dining on the island. For breakfast and lunch, Over Easy Cafe with its funky French decor serves thick omelets, towering parfaits and colorful salads and juicy burgers. Great White Grill is a pub gem off the beaten path, specializing in authentic Pennsylvania-style comfort food. A festive, New Orleans kind of vibe is found at MudBugs Cajun Kitchen. Dine on etouffee, hot crackling pork rinds, boudin balls and grilled oysters. For more sophisticated dining, try the award-winning Sweet Melissa’s Cafe for high-end American cuisine. If you can’t get a reservation, try scoring a seat in the cozy bar.
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
SANIBEL ISLAND
EAT: There is no shortage of
CROW
PLAY:
The best way to see the island is pedal power. If your resort does not provide bicycles, Billy’s Bike Shop rents them along with surreys and Segways. Put the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on your route. There’s a tram tour through the renowned 2,800-acre refuge. Reserve a wildlife walk or animal presentation at the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife, or CROW. The wildlife rehabilitation center cares for more than 3,500 sick and injured animals a year. Performing arts lovers, check what’s playing at the newly and spectacularly renovated BIG Arts center. 28 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
Over Easy Cafe Casa Ybel
| COVER STORY |
GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 29
| COVER STORY |
30 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
| COVER STORY |
JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort
MARCO ISLAND STAY: There are only a
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
handful of beachfront resorts on Marco Island, with JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort leading the pack. A recently completed, three-year, $320 million renovation project touched every corner of the resort and includes the nine-story Lanai Tower. It’s home to a curated escape for adults only, called Paradise by Sirene. The rooms, rooftop pool, bar and beach butler services are reserved for the over-21 crowd, those who might like kids, but just want to vacation without them. The rest of the resort has numerous amenities for family-friendly getaways.
Cape Romano dome houses
Sale e Pepe
PLAY:
The Marco Island Historical Museum is small but mighty, housing the world-famous Key Marco Cat, a rare pre-Columbian Native American artifact. Grab your camera and cruise to the famous Cape Romano dome houses. About a 15-minute boat ride for numerous tour companies, the abandoned stilt structures, accessible only by boat, look like something out of a sci-fi movie.
SHOP: Recently updated with a fresh coat of paint, the Marco Walk Plaza is a longtime favorite shopping destination recognizable by its iconic dolphin fountains and arched facade. More modern is The Esplanade Shoppes, fronting a marina on Smokehouse Bay. Both locations have a variety of boutiques and salons, as well as bars and entertainment when you need a break from shopping.
EAT: For dining with a
dress code, it’s Sale e Pepe. Serving authentic Italian cuisine with a modern twist in the elegant dining room, the beachfront terrace is particularly beautiful and romantic at sunset. If you love dry-aged beef and more contemporary cuisine, Ario is a must. Fiber optic lighting makes the ceiling look like the night sky. For more casual fare (pizza, tacos, burgers, seafood baskets) and atmosphere, head to Marco Island Brewery. You’ll find an extensive selection of beers on tap, many from Florida.
GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 31
| COVER STORY |
SHOP:
STAY: Of all the beachfront accommodations, the Pink Shell Beach Resort & Marina is the largest on Fort Myers Beach. Toward the northern end of the island, it offers a plethora of amenities with three swimming pools, fitness center, spa, water sports, dining and a marina. A little farther south, DiamondHead is in the heart of the beach action with a newly renovated restaurant (Coste Island Cuisine) and a popular beach bar (Cabanas Beach Bar & Grille).
EAT: Some of the best break-
fast and lunch fare is at Tuckaway Cafe, where the waffle recipe is said to be 400 years old, and Heavenly Biscuit, where it’s cash only for a sinful cinnamon roll or thick breakfast biscuit. No stay is complete without a frozen Miami Vice and an order of famous Beach Bread at The Cottage Bar, or a cold beer and steamer pot at Smokin’ Oyster Brewery. For more sophisticated dining, try South Beach Grille with modern American cuisine and a spacious bar at the south end of the island. Fresh Catch Bistro, more centrally located and on the gulf, serves some of the best seafood on the beach.
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
FORT MYERS BEACH
A concentration of shopping is found in Times Square, just over the Matanzas Pass Bridge. Mango Bay is loaded with resort wear, beach gear and souvenirs, while Local Color is stocked with more curated items, many of which are produced by local artists.
Fort Myers Pirate Cruises
PLAY: It doesn’t cost
a thing and it’s one of the best nightly activities: the Sunset Celebration at Times Square. You never know what kind of entertainment you’ll find before, during and after the sun goes down. The water sports and boat excursions are numerous; however, one of the most unique adventures is Fort Myers Pirate Cruises. The Pieces of Eight, 65-foot replica Spanish galleon sets sail from Salty Sam’s Marina. A swashbuckling crew of pirates leads both family-friendly and adult adventures from Estero Bay into the Gulf of Mexico.
32 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
Heavenly Biscuit DiamondHead Resort
| COVER STORY |
GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 33
| COVER STORY |
34 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
| COVER STORY |
PLAY: Book a bicycle
PALM BEACHES STAY: For beachfront accom-
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
modations, Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa is one of only eight Forbes Five Star resorts in Florida, and it is stunning. You’ll live in luxury like the Palm Beach elite, having all your whims catered to. The Hilton West Palm Beach is a lifestyle hotel downtown, within walking distance to shops and restaurants; dining on property is a top option as well. The sprawling pool is a highlight, and every Saturday there is a party with a top DJ. The grassy lawn is ideal for yoga under the stars and morning Pilates.
Island Living Tours
tour with Island Living Tours and discover the town of Palm Beach, its architecture, history and tales of famous residents past and present. Pamper yourself at the 42,000-squarefoot Eau Spa. Services are uniquely indulgent, relaxing and even playful with a wishing well and the SelfCentered Garden. October is Spa and Wellness Month in the Palm Beaches with a multitude of discounts and fitness freebies throughout the region for all visitors.
SHOP:
Worth Avenue is known worldwide for its high-end shopping with boutiques like Bottega Veneta, Louis Vuitton, Jimmy Choo, Gucci and more. It offers great people watching. Formerly known as CityPlace, Rosemary Square is a pedestrian shopping area that also includes arts and entertainment (check the website for concerts and events), along with a jaw-dropping four-story Restoration Hardware store complete with a rooftop bar and dining.
EAT:
Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa
Avocado Grill
Grandview Public Market is a 13,000-square-foot epicurean playground that offers food stalls that serve every ethnicity and style. You could eat and drink here all day since it’s open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and late night. Avocado Grill is a small, casual chic spot that prepares artisanal small plates of food full of flavor and color, with cocktails to match. A little more upscale, PB Catch is the area’s premier seafood restaurant and raw bar, committed to serving sustainable products.
GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 35
| COVER STORY |
Sandpearl Resort
SHOP:Beach shops and boutiques line
Mandalay Avenue, but some of the more unusual stores are found inland, along the Cleveland Street District. The downtown shopping district is known for having a variety of shops and boutiques. In the heart of Clearwater, find Westfield Countryside. With more than 150 shops, it’s also a dining and entertainment destination with a movie theater and ice rink.
CLEARWATER STAY: Book a suite at the Sandpearl
Resort on Clearwater Beach or its sister property Belleview Inn, about 4 miles inland in the quaint community of Belleair. Belleview, formerly known as the “White Queen of the Gulf,” is a dream for history buffs and those wanting a quiet, more cultured getaway. Built by railroad developer Henry Plant in 1897, the hotel reopened at the beginning of 2019 after an extensive restoration project. The eco-friendly, award-winning Sandpearl is an amenity-filled, luxurious, fullservice beach resort where the sunset is celebrated each night with a bell ringing. There is reciprocity between the hotels via shuttle service, so guests can enjoy the best of both worlds.
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
EAT:
Caretta on the Gulf is the Sandpearl’s premier restaurant. It serves beautifully plated coastal cuisine, along with superb sushi and rich Jackman Ranch Kobe-style Wagyu carpaccio. Don’t leave the beach without having a grouper sandwich at one of the famous Frenchy’s locations. The sandwiches come grilled, fried, buffalo style, even as a Reuben. Dining inland, Seaweed Grill is a must. The dishes are a foodie’s dream and designed for sharing. For a wow factor, order the Elderflower White Cosmo; it’s cool but comes out smoking.
Frenchy’s
PLAY: Enjoy a round of golf at Bel-
leair Country Club, and brag that you played the first golf course in Florida. Book the ultra-luxe, six-hour Signature Ritual spa treatment at the Sandpearl for the ultimate in pampering and indulgence. Visit the Clearwater Marine Aquarium where you’ll see famous dolphins Winter and Hope, stars of the “Dolphin Tale” movies, and enjoy educational sea life presentations and touch tanks.
36 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
Winter and Hope
| COVER STORY |
GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 37
WINES Great picks for replenishing your stock during the hottest time of year.
heltering at home during the traditionally bustling spring season in Southwest Florida presented a number of challenges, especially for those of us who like to dine out with a great bottle of wine. Thankfully wine sales were included in the list of essential services both on the retail and restaurant takeout side. Like many people, my home collection took a hit as I dug in and found bottles I had forgotten about or had been saving for that elusive special occasion. With some restocking in mind, I asked Julie Glenn to help fill a case of wine going into the hot summer months. Julie and I collaborated on this column for Grandeur when it first debuted. Our wine collaboration continues today in a podcast produced at WGCU where she is news director. “Grape Minds” goes behind the scenes of wine events, features candid stories of winemakers, pairs zodiac signs with grapes, and offers fun and education for both the novice and the oenophile. These selections cover everything from poolside sipping to grilling. Cheers.
Gina Birch Gina Birch is the wine columnist for The News-Press in Fort Myers. Follow her social media here: Twitter: @ ginabirch Facebook: GinaBirch
Julie Glenn
Guest columnist and news director at WGCU
38 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
GINA’S WINE PICKS
SUMMER
JULIE’S WINE PICKS
| WINE & SPIRITS |
Cleto Chiarli “Lambrusco del Fondatore” Lambrusco di Sorbara • If you’re looking for a loweralcohol red wine that’s fizzy and light, try this. Made via the “ancestral” method, it is unfiltered and continues its fermentation in the bottle to create that fun fizz. It’s the lightest of the Lambruscos and you will more than likely be happy that it’s only 11.5% alcohol since you will want to dink it all. Heck, you might even want a second bottle. ($23)
Cesari “Mara” Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso • This wine is named after the Cesari family matriarch, Mara. It’s made predominantly from corvina, the grape most famous in Italy for its use in Amarone, a fullbodied, raisiny and high-alcohol wine. Mara is a little lighter than a full-on Amarone, and it comes from a legendary producer. It’s a great grilling wine, and if you’re into ratings, or your cookout host is, this has bragging rights as it comes in over 90 points. ($21)
Ehlers Estate Sauvignon Blanc, 2019 • Sauvignon blancs have a distinct smell and flavor that can be polarizing for some wine drinkers. Some are super acidic, some are grassy, others are more round. This is more round and balanced and it is a lovely expression of a California sauv blanc. It’s a dry wine but aged six months sur lie for body. With flavors of pineapple and citrus this is a near perfect summer wine to match the cuisine and heat of Southwest Florida. ($32)
Frank Family Carneros Pinot Noir, 2018 • The Carneros AVA in California stretches between Napa and Sonoma and is known for producing outstanding chardonnay and pinot noir. This one comes from the Napa side and it’s just… elegant. In the glass it’s a vibrant red color and smells like earth and herbs, including lavender. The palate is also vibrant with nice acidity, cranberry and dark, ripe fruits. Pinots are good for consumption year-round. Just be sure to chill them a little before serving; same for almost any red wine. If they’re served too hot, you’ll be hit with the alcohol flavors and miss the beautiful fruits. ($38)
| WINE & SPIRITS |
Jankara Colli del Limbara “Lu Nieddu” • Jankara is a small Sardinian producer that makes a red and a white that are both perfect selections for summer. This red, IGT blend brings together the best of the Italian worlds with grapes such as cannonau, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, dolcetto and other indigenous grapes from the mainland. IGT, by the way, stands for Indicazione Geografica Tipica, meaning it’s a wine typical of the region. This is a perfect everyday wine for fans of red, and it works with just about all summertime fare. ($58)
Domaine Bousquet Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, 2018 • I don’t normally think of a cabernet when it’s hot out, but it’s hard to deny a nice red wine when grilling. Domaine Bousquet is Argentina’s largest producer of wines made exclusively from organically grown and certified grapes. They are generally good value wines as well. As one might expect from an Argentinian red, this cab has 15% malbec. It smells like dark chocolate and tastes a little like it as well. There are also some toasted notes, dark cherry and herbs. It has a long finish that would be a great complement to grilled meats. ($18)
The Ned Pinot Gris • The Ned is one of my go-to summer wines. From Marisco Vineyards in New Zealand, it’s a flavorful surprise for pinot grigio fans, and really anyone looking for a refreshing white wine. From its pinkish hue (thanks to the juice remaining in contact with the grapes’ gray skins) to the hints of fresh strawberry on the nose and on the palate, this could be the wine that moves a die-hard pinot grigio nut toward rosé. It also has a twist-off cap, making it oh so easy when headed to the beach or on the go. ($16)
Southern Gothic Diddley Bow • The wines made by Grateful Palate are a trifecta of fun, creativity and good juice. The Southern Gothic Wine series is part of the portfolio featuring labels that are works of art. I particularly like the label art on Southern Belle; it’s an enjoyable blend of syrah and mourvedre. Diddley Bow is the only white wine in the series; a malvasia from Northern Spain. It’s refreshing enough to drink on its own but full enough to stand up to food. Its flavors are a range of tropical fruits and stone fruits. ($40)
Jankara Vermentino di Gallura Superiore DOCG • This white wine is a beautifully light and round vermentino. Winery founder Renato Spanu has always had an affinity for vermintino and uses minimal intervention in his vineyards. The result is a wine with a nutty, floral aroma and strong acidity so it’ll work with your cheese and charcuterie. It’ll also complement poolside gatherings; just remember to use plastic glassware around the pool. ($26)
Chene Bleu Le Rosé • Speaking of rosé, let’s chat about the grand dame of all the rosés. From Provence, it’s not cheap, and should be treated with the level of respect you’d give a big ol’ red. It is as complex, and delicious, but more weather appropriate for a Florida summer. While many rosés are made from juice that is bled off (saignee) of tanks of red wine in the fermenting process, this one is made more deliberately. It gets that beautiful pale pink color from skin contact with the syrah and Grenache grapes that make up most of this blend. ($38)
DeLille Cellars Chaleur Blanc • The first time I visited Seattle, my friends and I took a drive to Woodinville, where we visited DeLille Cellars. Making wines for a quarter of a century, more than 200 of them have ratings over 90 points. A signature of the winery, this white Bordeaux-style blend is one that they have pioneered in Washington. It’s a blend of sauvignon blanc and Semillon that is fermented in oak. This is one for wine geeks. The nose is floral and tropical; the flavors are also tropical with guava and lemon. Every sip is a discovery that shifts the longer it is open. ($35)
McIntyre Merlot, Kimberly Vineyard, 2015 • I’m coming off a binge, not on Netflix but merlot. I hate how merlot has become maligned. I also hate bad merlots, and for a time there were lots of them being produced. A well-made merlot is heavenly, and this one from the Santa Lucia Highlands in central California is one of them. The grapes come from 20-year-old vines producing a wine with blackberry and cassis; it’s rich and smooth. This is another great value especially since only 190 cases were produced. Buy more than one bottle as this is a wine that will get even better with age. ($25) GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 39
| RIDE |
STORY BY LANCE SHEARER
TOYSTORE FOR CAR GUYS Naples Motorsports specializes in jaw-dropping cars.
ancy rides come in many levels. You can spring for whitewall tires or maybe a sunroof on your new Chevy, you can pay a little extra for the premium sound system in your Lincoln. But the super-premium end of the exotic sportscar market caters to those with the means and the desire to drive something unique, often with scorching top-end speeds and 0-60 acceleration or a host of bespoke luxury features. This rarified upper slice of the car business is the niche for Naples Motorsports. Naples Motorsports is something like a toy store for sportscar enthusiasts, or Disney World for auto buffs. Here, in one location, a potential purchaser can consider the relative merits of over 100 amazing automobiles, from a Porsche 911 Turbo S convertible — the 2019 model with 26 miles will set you back $299,995 — to a 2012 Bentley Continental Flying Spur sedan, a bargain at $69,995.
40 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
| RIDE |
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Lotus cars lined up on the showroom floor at Naples Motorsports. • Todd Rosenthal with some of his exotic inventory. • The McLaren Senna has a top speed over 200 mph, and looks fast even standing still. • Backdraft replicas of the classic Shelby Cobra in front of the dealership.
If you’re someone for whom a Lamborghini is just too run-of-the-mill, Naples Motorsports has the car for you. If they don’t have it on the showroom floor, the staff will find it. Sure, the exotic car dealership on Airport-Pulling Road has plenty of Lamborghinis, as well as Alfa Romeos, Bentleys, Ferraris, Lotuses, Aston Martins, Rolls-Royces and Maseratis. But even those exalted marques are not the most high-end, rare or expensive cars you will find on the showroom floor at the dealership — or if they’re not on the dealership premises, the staff will go out and find the dream car you are looking for. The bulk of their inventory, with a value estimated at $20 million by marketing manager Ivan Trejo, is all used cars, although in this price bracket, perhaps “pre-owned” rather than “used” is the right word. Sixfigure price tags are the rule rather than the exception for many of the exclusive marques sold, although there are values to be had, with sticker prices in the thirties. Ironically, many of the less expensive vehicles in Naples Motorsports’ lineup are
brand-new rather than pre-owned. Naples Motorsports is not simply a reseller of highend cars. The company also has taken on the new car dealership for several manufacturers. They operate as Alfa Romeo of Naples, Karma Naples, Lotus of Naples and Spyker of Naples Motorsports, and they sell Backdrafts, new replicas of classic performance cars such as the Shelby Cobra. “I started this business because I love cars,” says founder and president Todd Rosenthal. Actually, he said, “I stahted this business because I love cahs,” betraying his Boston roots, where he owned another sportscar-centered sales operation before relocating to Naples in what he says was “one of the best moves I ever did in my life.” Just sit in a cafe along Third Street, once that is again doable after “social distancing” guidelines are lifted, watch the passing parade of luxury cars, and you’ll know why Naples is the ideal place to sell fabulous cars. The area is home, or second home, to a host of those who have made their fortunes and are ready to indulge themselves with their own “grand ride.” GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 41
THIS PAGE CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: With an inventory valued at $20 million, Naples Motorsports has over 100 exotic cars in stock. • The Lotus Evija is the first all-electric hypercar. • Even the service bays at Naples Motorsports have the look of an exotic display. FACING PAGE CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: The Spyker Spyder draws many of its styling cues from aircraft design. • A Lotus Evija is unloaded – carefully – from the delivery truck. • A Karma Revero GT four-door sedan. • A Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid shows its racing heritage.
Rosenthal, with two children still at home, hasn’t had to wait for his golden years to join their ranks. While he often drives cars his company has in inventory, he also has acquired for himself some amazing examples of automotive art. He owns a Ferrari 812 Superfast, the most powerful production Ferrari ever made, which carries a price tag of $349,995. “Yeah, he’s got a few toys of his own,” Trejo says. “Todd also has a Ferrari F430 Spider,” with a bright yellow exterior matched with a yellow interior. The yellow paint job is said to improve a car’s visibility, leading to fewer accidents, but also flags it for law enforcement officers, giving yellow cars proportionately more speeding tickets. Rosenthal also has not one but two McLarens, including a rare P1 model, of which only 375 were produced, with just 127 units coming to the U.S. market. There’s a new model out, tagged at $3.4 million. 42 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
Pre-owned versions go for far more than the original sticker price. Between the P1 and Rosenthal’s McLaren Senna, the two cars represent an investment of several million dollars. Of course, for a car dealer such as Todd, no purchase is forever, and for the right price, every car is potentially for sale. One of the firm’s more exotic cars — and at Naples Motorsports, that’s saying a lot — hasn’t made it to the showroom yet. The Lotus Evija, pronounced “ee–VIya,” is the first all-electric hypercar, able to accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in under two seconds, basically without making enough noise to alert a pedestrian it is near. “The torque on that car is ridiculous,” Trejo says, adding that they have sold “one or two” as pre-sales, and the manufacturer brought the prototype to the dealership to show it off. To own an Evija will set you back $2.3 million to $2.5 million, and one more
thing — as currently configured, according to carbuzz. com, it’s not street-legal. But anyone purchasing one of these beasts probably owns another car, or two. For an additional consolation, like many of the extreme exotics, the Evija comes with no need to spend additional dollars for options. Basically, everything is included, which at this level makes sense. Someone who is spending $350,000 for a Ferrari 812 Superfast doesn’t stop to consider if they will lay out a few dollars more for floormats or worry that the 6.5-liter V-12 engine is a gas guzzler. Another electric addition to the car world, and Naples Motorsports’ new car inventory, is the Karma Revero GT. This unique hybrid, while managing to look like an exotic sportscar, is a four-door sedan, and its electric motors are complemented by a gas-powered generator, which can recharge the batteries underway, vastly expanding the car’s range. Driving modes
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
| RIDE |
| RIDE |
S ’ E N O Z E R T THEA
6 1 T E SWOEN 20/ 21 SEAS D WROEMRIELRES P
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
PRESENT PERFECT. A NEW LAND, A NEW SONG October 2-4, 2020 THE FEUD. SINATRA & ROSELL I: 2 GUYS FROM HOBKEN Oct. 30 - Nov. 1, 2020 HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS December 11-13, 2020 KANDER & EBB’S CURTAINS January 7 – 17, 2021 STEVE MARTIN & EDIE BRICKE LL’S BRIGHT STAR February 4-14, 2021 LERNER & LOEWE’S CAMELOT March 4-14, 2021 THE BRIDGES OF MADISON CO UNTY April 15-25, 2021
include “stealth,” for silent electric running, “sport,” for maximum performance, and “sustained,” which delivers a range of 360 miles without the need to fill up or recharge. Bill Young of Marco Island has bought several cars from or through Naples Motorsports and Todd Rosenthal, including a Spyker Spyder, a BMW hybrid and a Bentley Continental Flying Spur. “I have the highest regard for Todd,” says Bill, himself a retired auto dealer. “He is very much attuned to the current market in exotic cars. He is somebody you can deal with, and he knows where to find cars.” All the various cars at Naples Mo-
torsports come with amazing specifications and capabilities, but in the end, a fractional difference in performance is probably not what prompts a buyer to choose one over another. As Victor Muller, the Dutch founder of Spyker, another exotic marque sold by the company, put it, “This car goes from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.6 seconds, and does 200 miles per hour, but none of our customers care.” The cars’ appeal comes from styling and exclusivity, a combination of bragging rights and the ability to turn heads. If that’s what you’re looking for, and want to visit the big boys’ toy store, Naples Motorsports is waiting to see you.
e n o z . e r t a e h www.t 352 x1 888-966-3
NP-0000974568
GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 43
There’s a new alternative to the busy Emergency Department Feeling sick during the week or weekend and can’t get in to see your primary care doctor? There’s a new alternative to the busy Emergency Department. Millennium’s Fort Myers & Cape Coral Walk-in Medical Centers are now open late and weekends to better care for you during all of life’s minor emergencies. There are no appointments necessary and wait times are much shorter than a typical Emergency Department or Urgent Care Center. The Walk-in is now accepting new patients, and you don’t have to be an established Millennium Physician Group patient to utilize the convenient services. Most insurance plans are accepted and
self-pay patients are always welcome. Millennium’s family-friendly Walk-in Medical Center provides treatment for all of your urgent care needs, such as colds, sore throats, flu, rashes and earaches. Our physicians also treat non-life threatening emergencies like sprains, abrasions, and burns. Our Walk-in Medical Center teams know that when you visit our Centers, you want to feel better quickly and without a lot of hassle. No need to wait in an emergency room or wait to schedule an appointment with your physician, the Walk-in Medical Center can see you today. Skip the Wait. No need to wait hours at a local
Emergency Room or busy Urgent Care Center. Millennium’s Walk-in Medical Centers now have a feature to allow you to view all of the wait times at their Walk-in facilities. You simply “skip the line” by pre-registering for a time that you would like to be seen for the day and essentially you get to “skip the line” when you arrive. If the provider is running behind you will receive a text message letting you know to come in a few minutes later, reducing any wait time. Log-on to www.MillenniumPhysician.com and select “Skip the Line” at the top of the webpage. View the wait times and get in line to feeling better today. To learn more about Millennium Physician Group, please visit www.MillenniumPhysician.com.
357 44 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 45
| STYLE |
STACY GERVAIS
Co-owner, The Looke Champagne Boutique in Cape Coral (thelooke.com)
WHO IS SHE: “I’m a relatively recent transplant from Maine. My sister (Muffy Ellis) and I decided we wanted to open a shop together, and the idea came to us over happy hour with our mom. I know clothes, my sister knows booze, and I said you know what — that is a business waiting to happen. I’m a pussycat mom of three amazing cats, a happy wife of 16 years, and I’m obsessed with true crime. In my spare time, I watch ‘Dateline’ and ‘48 Hours’ and I listen to my favorite podcast in my car — ‘True Crime Obsessed,’ a comedy take on true crime.” WHAT ARE HER FASHION INSPIRATIONS: “Personally and professionally, my style is a little bit retro and very colorful. When Muffy and I first started the boutique, we said it was Florida fashion through the eyes of Mainers. I tend to identify with Katharine Hepburn or Sophia Loren — those are my fashion icons. My sister is Ann-Margret.”
BONUS: SUMMERTIME SIPS: When shopping at The Looke Champagne Boutique, a must-have companion is a good cocktail. “In the store, Muffy, the bartender, will usually put together several Champagne mixers — just fun ways to do a mimosa. One we have talked about the most is an orange sherbet mimosa — a little scoop of orange gelato or sherbet topped with Champagne.” INTERVIEWED BY ANNE REED
46 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
PHOTO SPECIAL TO GRANDUER
HER FASHION TIP: “My one tip that seems to get the most reaction is don’t be afraid to mix neutrals. I have an obsession with putting black and navy together. It looks very purposeful.”
| STYLE |
5
Stacy’s
FASHION PICKS
FOR A SWFL SUMMER LOOK While accessories can easily dress up breezy summer dresses, heavy pieces can be uncomfortable during our humid months. “I’m a firm believer in adding color to the wardrobe, and an easy way to do that in summer is with lightweight acrylic jewelry,” she says. Her go-to items are lightweight pieces from Zenzii. WATERCOLORS COLLAR 1 NECKLACE, $48 AT ZENZII.COM
It’s no secret that the sun in Southwest Florida can be brutal on your skin. “Technology has allowed us fabrics that we really hadn’t thought would exist before,” Stacy says. She recommends looking for fabrics that are made with bamboo or have cooling properties along with offering protection from the flaming ball of death in the sky. We all know the sweet summertime shock of leaving the sweltering outdoors for the near-subzero airconditioned restaurants of Southwest Florida. “A little white denim jacket can completely change just about anything,” Stacy says. “It can go over anything and it is an easy way to look a little cooler than you actually are.”
2 A.L.C. SABRINA DRESS, $595 AT ALCLTD.COM
“I love linen,” Stacy says. “Linen is your excuse to look a little rumpled and still look put together. It’s a wonderful natural fiber and it breathes.” She suggests adding a linen A-line dress to your wardrobe because it’s something you can easily dress up or dress down.
3 AQUA CITRUS WRAP ROMPER, $112 AT CABANALIFE.COM
4 NO STAIN WHITE DENIM JACKET $99 AT CHICOS.COM
Comfortable, but cute sandals: While some people may be a bit wary of the highheeled thong sandal, Stacy is happy to see its return. “I love them because they show the most of the foot, which means, if you are terribly short like I am and you wear a nude sandal in any height of heel, you look taller because your legs seem to go on forever.” 5
STUART WEITZMAN SUEDE CORK THONG SANDALS $325 AT NEIMANMARCUS.COM
GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 47
| GETAWAY |
Naples resident and local photographer Michelle Tricca traveled to the Seychelles in March 2020.
SANCTUARY STORY BY JENNIFER THOMAS
FOR THE SENSES Experience nature’s best kept secret — the Seychelles.
48 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
reaming of where you will venture to when mass travel becomes the accepted norm again? Set sights on a remote island chain in the western Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa — the Seychelles, which did not experience much tourism until the ’70s, when an international airport opened the gates for travelers. This island chain is said to have been visited by the James Bond author Ian Fleming and even served as inspiration for one of his book adventures — like Florida’s own Key West with Ernest Hemingway. The Seychelles is a unique diversity of islands with a wide range of accommodations, a destination like no other, to be a modern day “Robinson Crusoe” for a few days. “The islands’ legendary loveliness has long acted as a magnet to travelers in search of pristine tropical beauty, and Seychelles is one of the purest and most environmentally friendly intact destinations on Earth to visit,” says David Germain, the regional director and spokesperson for the Seychelles Tourism Board. “Visitors appreciate the elements of a truly refreshing Creole culture and enviable island lifestyle.” The cosmopolitan Seychellois are a colorful blend of peoples of different races, cultures and religions. “At different times in its history, people of African, European and Asian origin have come to Seychelles, bringing with them their distinct traditions and customs and contributing to the way of life and to the vibrant Seychellois culture,” David explains. “One can see these influences at work throughout the domains of local art, cuisine, music, dance and architecture. The architectural design of some of the grand old houses with their steep roofs are representative of a style adapted for comfortable living in the tropics that displays influences from Seychelles’ French and British colonial heritage. Modern architecture attempts to assimilate traditional styles with practical features designed to capture the island breezes.”
PHOTOS BY MICHELLE TRICCA, SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
| GETAWAY |
ISLAND HOPPING Similar to Hawaii or the Tahitian islands, the Seychelles are perfect for island hopping to experience the culture, activities and attractions of each isle. In fact, there are 115 islands to explore falling into two groups – the tall granite Inner Islands and the low-lying coralline cays, atolls and reef isles of the Outer Islands. “Most visitors to the Seychelles tend to visit the three main islands of the Seychelles during their holiday, the Islands of Mahé, Praslin and La Digue. This is called ‘Island Hopping’ in Seychelles,” David says. “Each island is different, and the Seychelles has more than just beaches to offer our visitors. We have our culture, history, music, local food and more. We have a story to tell the visitors to our islands, and there are excursions to visit the unique attractions of the islands, including hiking, diving, cultural tours, zip lining and more.” The Seychelles is known as an eco-friendly destination with 57% of its land and sea (com-
bined) under protection, according to David. Naples resident and local photographer Michelle Tricca traveled to the Seychelles in March 2020 before the coronavirus travel restrictions went into place. Michelle had first heard of this island paradise during a safari she took in East Africa in 1994. “Seychelles has been on my bucket list for 25 years. For this trip, I found out about the opportunity just one week prior and booked my plane ticket within the hour,” Michelle recalls. “I went with my inspiring friend Dan, who lives with muscular dystrophy. He refuses to let his physical challenges limit him from living his best life, so he travels the world. We were catching up on a phone conversation, and I asked where his next trip would be. He said he was heading to the Seychelles the following week and that the place was paid for and his friend wasn’t able to go. He asked if I’d like to join, and my immediate response was (hesitation). Next thing I knew, I booked my roundtrip flight from Miami.” GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 49
| GETAWAY |
PHOTO BY MICHELLE TRICCA, SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
During the 7-day vacation, Michelle visited the island of Mahé and stayed at an Airbnb on Eden Island, which is a private resort off the main island. “It is stunning, immaculately clean and safe. Our backyard was a majestic marina on crystal clear cerulean blue water overlooking the chiseled mountain range. A private beach was steps away from our front door,” she says. “Eden Island has no cars, so the only mode of transportation is via golf cart. We had our own golf cart to tool around to a variety of private beaches, restaurants and the spa.” Another luxury accommodation in the south of Mahé island is the Four Seasons Resort Seychelles, which is set on 170 acres of tropical hillside, overlooking the picturesque Petite Anse beach. The resort’s setting is truly special; lush foliage and ancient granite rocks weave in between treehouse-style villas nestled on the hillside, facing out toward the Indian Ocean. “Each treehouse villa and suite is perched on stilts amidst a jungle of coconut, mango, jackfruit and cinnamon trees,” says Four Seasons Resort Seychelles spokesperson Debbie Duval. “Standard features in all villas include infinity-edge plunge pool, open-air shower, glass-walled bathroom and expansive, private outdoor living space with sunset views over the Indian Ocean or surrounding tropical landscape.” The award-winning hilltop Le Syél Spa sits at 50 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
the top of the hill with unparalleled views of the landscape, while three restaurants and two bars offer contemporary dining experiences to suit the tastes of worldly travelers. The Starlit Serenity experience takes place on the spa rooftop, which is transformed into a powerful place to ponder the Seychelles’ sublime serenity. “Our exclusive after-hours night spa experience, available to just one individual or couple a night, includes a blissful open-air Shell Serenity Massage using shells filled with marine minerals and sea kelp to warm and relax the body,” she says.
FLORIDIAN VIEW Hiking, spa treatments, local cuisine and water adventures were highlights for Michelle during her visit. “Hiking the lush, gorgeous mountains, rewarded with a sense of accomplishment and top-of-the-world views that were a marvel to behold. As Florida is so flat, I’m constantly longing to climb mountains. My desire for inclines has been satisfied for the time being. It was all mesmerizing,” she says. Michelle recommends a private tour to fully explore the island for a day. “I’m assuming anyone attracted to the Seychelles
has an innate obsession with Gilligan’s Island-style adventure,” she says. “With that said, I recommend dedicating at least one day to hire a guide for a private tour of the island. I experienced endless small unoccupied beaches, secret coves, bays and lagoons in a day that rendered me speechless.” On the cuisine opportunities, Michelle says she ate fresh-caught grilled fish at Beau Vallon Beach. “I enjoyed the rustic experience of choosing from a variety of fresh-caught local fish for the vender to grill over charcoal in front of me and eating it beach side under a palm frond-covered shack Gilligan’s Islandstyle,” she says. “I was obsessed with their coconuts. A local taught me to chop them open to drink the water and extract the meat. I consumed delicious fresh coconut water and coconut meat from the coconut itself, as though I were a castaway.” David touts the islands’ Creole cuisine and the cultural tours organized in Seychelles for visitors to discover how the locals prepare and cook their dishes, from local grilled fish to delicious curries. “Seychelles has its own local brewery, producing the local beer called Seybrew, which is very popular on the Islands with both locals and visitors alike,” David says. “In addition to that, there are two rum distilleries on the main island of Mahé producing the popular Takamaka Rum and Levasseur Rum.”
| GETAWAY |
“Exquisite, exotic, magical, dreamy all come to mind. I was in a perpetual state of bliss.” — MICHELLE TRICCA
PHOTO BY MICHELLE TRICCA, SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
A trip to the Seychelles is not complete without experiencing the Indian Ocean. Michelle was surprised by the buoyancy and lack of salty residue from the Indian Ocean water. Seychelles also has a big sailing culture and vast array of underwater activities. “Snorkeling elicited feelings of a dream for me; it was a tranquil adventure. I kept to the clear, warm water of the shallow inshore reefs,” she says. “There were no crowds, abundant light made for ideal visibility, friendly fish (even the fish had an unintimidating easy going vibe!), and the powder sand was soothing to stand on and walk upon.”
BENEATH THE SURFACE
PHOTOS COURTESY OF SEYCHELLES TOURISM BOARD
Debbie advises guests visit Petite Anse Beach, complete with the Four Seasons team of beach waiters, and snorkeling with a WiseOceans marine
educator. “Dip beneath the surface and discover the beauty of what lies under the waves,” she recommends. “Our WiseOceans marine education and conservation specialists are based at the Coral Cabana and can take you for a snorkel tour of the reef or tell you all about the work they are doing to restore an area of coral reef in our Petite Anse bay.” Off property recommendations by Debbie include touring the Michael Adams Gallery, a further opportunity to experience the richness of Seychellois folklore and nature through inspiring local art, the Tea Factory, a lush tea plantation on the slopes of Morne Blanc, and the Vallée de Mai Nature Reserve, where virgin palm forests remain intact and almost completely untouched thanks to their UNESCO World Heritage Site designation. “Plant life includes the coco de mer, known for possessing the largest (and perhaps the most uniquely shaped) seeds of any plant in the world. Notable animals include the black parrot, found nowhere else on Earth, as well as the blue pigeon, bronze gecko and the caecilian, a type of snake resembling a worm and found in an array of beguiling colors, including purple,” she describes. “All in all, the Vallée de Mai can be thought of as a natural museum — a living record of the forest’s development and home to untold numbers of endemic and endangered species.” In fact, David describes the Seychelles as “nature’s best kept secret.” Michelle is also impressed with the islands’ environment: “Seychelles is a biodiversity hot spot and the residents are mindful of the environment. It is quintessentially tropical, relaxed and life and living is grounded in nature. It is diverse, tranquil and stable.” When attempting to describe this dream location to friends, Michelle says, “I’ve been telling people it’s like Xanadu, Nirvana and Fantasy Island had a baby.” Beautiful would be an understatement. “Exquisite, exotic, magical, dreamy all come to mind. I was in a perpetual state of bliss,” she recalls. “Ultimately, it’s the way it made me feel — the sights, sounds, smells, flavors, the physical sensations of earth, sea, wind and atmosphere. I felt infused with an otherworldly ethereal state. It was a sanctuary for the senses. I didn’t want it to end. After being there, you understand why it’s referred to as ‘Heaven on Earth.’” GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 51
Stock Custom and Signature Homes offer unparalleled quality and value For two decades, the Stock name has been well known throughout Southwest Florida for superb residences built with style and extraordinary attention to detail. The company has fostered long-term relationships with its homebuyers, who often return to purchase a second or third home, which speaks volumes about the trust they’ve earned, their reputation for excellence, and their never-ending commitment to quality. STOCK CUSTOM HOMES Custom grand estate residences by Stock Custom Homes are designed and built to fulfill each homeowner’s unique personal preferences. Highlights include dramatic ceiling details, walk-in wine rooms, sprawling kitchens, cherished studies, splendid master suites, and magnificent outdoor living spaces. Custom grand estate residences by Stock Custom Homes are one-of-a-kind homes found in some of the most prestigious areas of Naples, Palm Beach and Marco Island. Building on a legacy of award-winning design and a keen understanding of the Florida lifestyle, Stock Custom Homes is changing the face of luxury real estate form Naples to Sarasota to Wellington and Palm Beach. Stock Custom Homes is the preeminent estate homebuilder in fine Naples communities that include Pine Ridge Estate, Quail West, Estuary at Grey Oaks, TwinEagles, Bonita Bay and Bay Colony Estates.
52 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
At Quail West, The Sophia III is a four-bedroom plus study/four-and-a-half-bath home with 4,892 square feet under air and 8,820 total square feet, including two two-car garages and an expansive outdoor living area with pool and spa. It offers a nearly 20- by 18-foot living room with an intricate ceiling, fireplace, wet bar with sink, and sliding glass doors that provide direct access to the outdoor living area with outdoor kitchen, pool and spa. The open kitchen has a large island counter with two sinks, a pantry and a dinette, while the large family room also has sliding glass doors on four different walls, proving easy access to every underroof area of the outdoor living space. The master retreat, which also has access to the outdoor living area, includes a wet bar and his and her oversized walk-in closets, while the master bath has his and her vanities, a private water closet, large shower, and separate soaking tub. . STOCK SIGNATURE HOMES With distinctive architectural styles, luxurious interiors and extensive customization options, Stock Signature Homes’ spacious residences are inspiring both inside and out. These exceptional residences feature masterful finishes, distinctive interiors and spectacular outdoor living spaces—all the elegant appointments luxury homeowners crave. Stock Signature Homes has become the luxury homebuilder of choice for more than 5,000 home-
owners throughout Florida. Recognized as a Top 100 Builder by Builder Magazine for five years in a row, Stock Signature Homes continually updates and refines its home designs to respond to homebuyer’s desires. Stock Signature Homes are available in Fiddler’s Creek, Quail West, Naples Reserve, The Isles of Collier Preserve, WildBlue and The Lake Club. At Wild Blue, The Clairborne II is a four-bedroom, four-full and one-half bath home with 4,369 square feet under air and a total of 6,961 square feet. The great room-style home offers a formal dining room, study, outdoor living and attached twin two-car garages that surround a motorcourt. The light-filled raised-ceiling foyer provides a grand, yet welcoming entrance to this comfortable home. The dining room features a built-in wine bar, including a wine cooler and custom cabinetry. The study features a wall-to-wall custom built-in with cabinets above and file storage below. There are clear glass French doors, hard wood floors and the exterior wall has large windows with a transom above, providing a light, airy feel. The master suite includes a sitting area that opens to the outdoor living area via French doors. The kitchen has a large island as well as a breakfast nook overlooking the pool and lanai, which includes a fireplace and outdoor kitchen. To see all that Stock has to offer, visit the Stock Development website at www.stockdevelopment. com/parade. Email at info@stockdevelopment.com or call (239) 592-7344.
INSPIRED ADMIRED DESIRED From masterfully crafted Signature Residences to uniquely inspired Custom Estates, Stock offers homeowners dazzling choices in the most desirable locations. Experience our exquisite models, ready-to-enjoy residences and find your dream home, beautifully designed and created by the region’s leading luxury homebuilder for close to 20 years.
Q NAPLES FORT MYERS BABCOCK RANCH BONITA SPRINGS SARASOTA PALM BEACH WELLINGTON
Q
SIGNATURE HOMES | CUSTOM HOMES
From the $500s to over $7 million
StockDevelopment.com | 239.592.7344 FLStockDevelopment
StockDevelopment
BROKER PARTICIPATION WELCOMED. ORAL REPRESENTATIONS CANNOT BE RELIED UPON AS CORRECTLY STATING THE REPRESENTATIONS OF THE DEVELOPER. FOR CORRECT REPRESENTATIONS REFERENCE SHOULD BE MADE TO THE DOCUMENTS REQUIRED BY SECTION 718.503, FLORIDA STATUTES, TO BE FURNISHED BY A DEVELOPER TO A BUYER OR LESSEE. NOT AN OFFERING WHERE PROHIBITED BY STATE LAW. PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.
GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 53
| PETS |
STORY BY ANDREA STETSON | PHOTOS BY ANDREW WEST
TRAVELING DOG Cece has visited nearly every state in the country with her owners, Patti and Randy Frey.
ece has traveled coast to coast and most places in between. The 11-year-old, 10-pound toy fox terrier has been on the road for almost a decade. “We have been everywhere,” says owner Patti Frey. “The only place we have not taken her yet is Maine and Vermont. And we have not done Arizona and New Mexico, and we want to do those. We also want to do Canada.” Patti says her pet is so used to traveling that it is an easy transition going from place to place. It’s also easier because Patti, her husband Randy and Cece mostly travel in their 31-foot, 2007 Airstream Classic camper. “Once they learn the rules it’s easy,” she says. “She has her own spot under the dining room table. When we open the door, she knows she is not allowed out until we let her out.” Cece has a bed full of toys under the table. She especially likes to play with her stuffed green dinosaur toy. “We always make sure she has her green dinosaur,” Patti says. “She has a basket of toys and her own blanket.” At night she sleeps in bed with Patti and Randy. “She’s an awesome companion,” Patti says. “She’s just not hard. She likes her walks and then just chills out.” Patti, Randy and Cece spend winters in Southwest Florida. This year they spent four months at Lovers Key State Park and another four months at Koreshan State Park. Then they head back to Indiana and off for some more adventures around the country. “We take her everywhere,” Patti says. They plan to visit Atlanta and Nashville soon. Traveling is easy in the camper, but it does take planning and preparation with a pet. Patti makes sure she brings the paperwork from the veterinarian showing Cece is up to date with vaccinations and exams. “The biggest thing is you need to make sure all the vaccines are up to date because you never know what
54 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
Brad and Audrey Vance enjoy the scenery at Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies.
will happen,” Patti says. “We travel with Benadryl and an antihistamine and peroxide. If she ever did get into anything, we have peroxide to get her to throw up immediately.” Unexpected things can happen on the road. “We were in Michigan and they had tons of rain and they had mushrooms and fungus and the next night she was so sick it looked like a crime scene in here,” Patti says. “The next day we were ready to take her to the vet and then she got better. That was the only time she got sick, and it was less than 24 hours. That is why we are very cautious.” When Patti goes out, Cece likes to sit by an open window and look out. “You’ve got to keep them on a routine,” she says. “Even when we are traveling, she is better off in the
trailer. She is more comfortable in her own space.” At each destination Cece enjoys exploring the terrain around the camper while always on a leash. Inside her house on wheels, she feels right at home. “She is a big time cuddler,” Patti says. “She has no sense of personal space.” Cece’s life on and off the road is a lot different from the life she led as a puppy. She was originally adopted by a fraternity at a college in Indiana. “I don’t think she had the best life as a fraternity puppy,” Patti says. “They said she used to drink beer. It is sad when you hear what they did. She was a fraternity dog for six months.” During summer vacation one of the fraternity boys brought the dog home. The student’s father, who
| PETS |
was friends with Patti, went to New Zealand on vacation and left Cece with Patti. “We kept her,” Patti says. “We are not a small dog family. We like big dogs, but once she was here, we just couldn’t give her up. She is the perfect size for in here.” Patti kept the dog and her name. “The fraternity named her,” Patti says. “Cece has always been her name and we just left it.” Now instead of parties and beer, it’s been pins on the map where she’s traveled. Patti likes to sit outside the camper with Cece and enjoy nature. Patti uses a wheelchair and the little dog has learned to navigate beside her. “She is very used to the chair,” Patti says. “She got run over once by the wheel, and she learned very quickly.” Traveling with a pet has its obstacles. “When you travel with a dog, you don’t have the
freedom to just go and do your own thing all the time,” Patti explains. “Especially when we are traveling long distances, you can’t go out for seven hours. When it was hot, we were in West Virginia and the air conditioner broke, so Cece had to go with us wherever we went. You can’t leave your dog when you have weather like that. We never leave her home more than six hours.” There are also obstacles when traveling from one place to another. “You have to make the sacrifices when you are traveling, and you have to stop every 150 miles, not for me, but for the dog,” Patti explains. “We pull off to a rest stop. If we get gas, she goes out. Everywhere we stop, she gets out. She likes walks.” Yet those sacrifices are worth it, Patti says. “She is just such a good companion. I just love traveling with her.”
“We are not a small dog family. We like big dogs, but once she was here, we just couldn’t give her up. She is the perfect size for in here.” — PATTI FREY
GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 55
| OPEN DOOR |
STORY BY ANDREA STETSON
COZY, BEACHY,
PERFECT
Lee Ann and Tom O’Toole open the door to their Caribbean-style home on Sanibel Island.
The pool is tucked at the side of the home between the spacious lush gardens, the wrap around porch of the home and a large lake. 56 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
| OPEN DOOR |
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
ABOVE: The home sits on one acre along a large lake surrounded by lush greenery. This secluded enclave on Sanibel Island has only five homes on the lake, making it very private. BELOW: The living room has a quaint charm. It combines comfortable couches with a white piano and a dark antique brown cabinet to give the room a lot of character. A picture window opens the space to the kitchen.
ust sitting in the living room gives people a sense of what makes this house so special. There’s a feeling of comfort, of being in a picturesque, welcoming cottage. There’s a homey feeling. There are also sweeping lake views seen through several sets of glass French doors. A white, hand-painted piano and an antique dark brown cabinet give the room character. A chandelier that looks like it’s made with round, white fish scales hangs from a ceiling of white nickel board. Just this one quaint room gives you a taste of how different this house is from others on Sanibel Island. The house, built in 1997, sits on one acre along a wide lake surrounded by lush greenery. There are only five homes on the entire lake, making this a very private place to be. Towering trees and thick mature bushes obscure the home from the road, making it even more secluded. It’s close to the beach and shopping yet sheltered from the crowds and traffic. Lee Ann and Tom O’Toole love their Caribbean-style home. GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 57
| OPEN DOOR |
ABOVE: The hand painted piano in the living room is one of the focal features. But the eye is also drawn through the glass doors that overlook the lush gardens and the lake. RIGHT: The round dining room table sits in a room with windows and glass doors on three sides giving the room lots of light and great views of the outdoors.
“There is a lot of privacy,” Tom O’Toole says. “We can walk right down to Traders and Sweet Melissa’s. Those are two of the best restaurants on the island. We can walk to the bank. Everything is right down here. The beach is less than a mile away.” It’s not just the location, it’s the house itself that they love. Lee Ann O’Toole loves walking through the rooms and the gardens showing people each special place. Just inside the entrance is a hallway with a ceiling painted light blue with puffy white clouds. Lee Ann says it was there when they purchased the home four years ago and she liked the look so she didn’t change it. That leads into the pale pink living room. 58 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
“I love this room,” Lee Ann says. “This is where I hang. We kept the decorating toned down because what speaks here is everything outside the windows. Besides the view through the glass doors, the eye is also drawn to the white piano with its hand-painted teal and brown swirl design, the dark wood cabinet and the chandelier. “That’s a really cool, vintage chandelier,” Lee Ann says. “We had a ceiling fan up there, but when you walk through the door, I wanted something really cool.” A large picture window opens the living room to the kitchen. This window has pocketing mirror doors that close to hide the kitchen.
| OPEN DOOR |
“We can walk right down to Traders and Sweet Melissa’s. Those are two of the best restaurants on the island. We can walk to the bank. Everything is right down here. The beach is less than a mile away.” — TOM O’TOOLE
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
“If you are having a party and don’t want people to see the kitchen, you can close it off,” she explains. Just beyond the kitchen is a round table in a room with windows on three sides. “The views are awesome from everywhere,” Lee Ann says. “We love the landscape. It changes all the time.” The O’Tooles enjoy having guests visit, and the design of the home makes that convenient. The master suite is on one side of the house and the guest rooms are on the other. The king-size bed in the master bedroom faces double glass French doors that lead to a porch that overlooks the pool and lake. Two big
chairs and a little table form a cozy spot in the bedroom around a propane fireplace. “We do use it when it is cold,” Lee Ann says. The master suite has his and her bathrooms. The office is just off the master bedroom. There are lots of doors and openings between each of these rooms. “It is all connected, so the flow is fabulous,” she says. Glass doors lead to a front terrace that overlooks all the greenery. The other side of the house has guest suites. One bedroom is set up as a TV room. The pale-yellow room has glass doors to the lanai.
THIS PAGE FROM TOP: The owner of the home loves the flow of the rooms. This master bedroom has doors leading to the bathroom and an office. There are several doors and openings between the rooms making everything connected. The bedroom has double glass French doors that lead to a porch that overlooks the lake. • From the pool there are sweeping views of the lake and the gardens. The owners enjoy sitting on the wraparound porch enjoying all the views. • When the O’Tooles moved into the home, the ceiling in the entryway was painted like a sky. They liked the uniqueness enough to keep it that way.
GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 59
| OPEN DOOR |
The hallway bathroom has wallpaper that looks like palm tree leaves. It is one of the only rooms that Lee Ann decorated. She saw the wallpaper at the Gasparilla Inn, fell in love with it and got the same design for that room. The hallway between the TV room and guest room has a tall section of ceiling with a skylight. The guest room has glass doors that lead to a porch, a king-size bed, and walls done in pale yellow. Nearby another bedroom is made into a library. Lee Ann calls it the Kentucky room because it’s where she displays items from her hometown in Kentucky. Glass doors in this room also lead to the porch. On that porch, stairs lead to a private guest suite with its own entrance. This suite has a bedroom, bathroom and kitchenette. The bed is covered in a white blanket with pops of bright coral color. The bathroom has a skylight. The private guest suite is located over the two-car garage. Lee Ann also loves showing people around the
property. She takes her daily walks among the flowers and trees and by the lake. “I just love to walk the grounds every day,” she says. She walks past bright pink bougainvilleas that frame the garage area, past towering palm trees, plumeria flowers, pink cordyline plants, ginger and more. “I love my home,” she says. “I am a homebody. I like to be at home” Now she wants that home to be someplace else. “We are going to downsize,” she explains. “We want to spend some more time in Kentucky. We are looking here or in Fort Myers for a condo.” They are selling the four-bedroom, five-bathroom home that spans 4,210 square feet under air for $2.449 million unfurnished. Furniture is optional for an additional price. “Everything sells, but we want the right buyer,” Lee Ann says. “We want someone who loves it.”
THIS PAGE FROM TOP: The walk-in closet in the master suite is spacious and has a sitting area in the middle. When the owners were asked if their closet was always this neat, they replied “yes.” • This set of stairs off the side of the house leads to a private guest suite with its own entrance. The suite has a bedroom, bathroom, sitting area and kitchenette. • The kitchen and living room are separated by a window. There are pocketing mirror doors that pull out from the sides to close off the kitchen when desired.
60 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
| OPEN DOOR |
THIS PAGE CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: This bedroom was made into a library and sitting room. The O’Tooles are from Kentucky and used the built-in wall unit to display many things from their hometown. Glass doors in this room lead to a porch. • The home has porches that wrap around the house. Many of the rooms have glass doors that lead to the various porches. This is an area of the porch that the owners enjoy sitting on since it has great views of the lake. • This bedroom was made into a TV room. Since the home has five bedrooms, the O’Tooles decided to use some of them for other uses, thus the library and the TV room. GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 61
| MAKE IT A DOUBLE |
CREATIVE COCKTAILING
HOME
AT
We’ve rounded up mixology tips and
recipes sure to impress your guests. STORY BY GINA BIRCH
Headwind Spritz • 1 1/2 ounces Headwind Vodka • 1 ounce Aperol • 1/2 ounce simple syrup • Soda • Slice and squeeze of lime Combine Headwind Vodka, Aperol and simple syrup in a tall glass with ice. Mix and add a squeeze of lime. Top with soda and a slice of lime for garnish. Add an umbrella for good measure and enjoy.
62 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
| MAKE IT A DOUBLE |
heltering at home this year has had many Southwest Floridians rediscovering happy hour in their home bars, causing craft cocktail confusion for some but igniting the inner mixologist in others. While it might not be realistic to have the jars of shrubs, rows of tinctures and dozens of liquor selections found at your favorite cocktail bar, you can still manage to make a mean drink at home with a few basics. At the very least, a home bar should include vodka, rum, gin and tequila. These staples can be mixed in a myriad of combinations. We’ve rounded up a few brands to try that are relatively new to or have recently increased distribution in Florida. We’ve also collected some recipes to impress your guests and refresh your palate in the Southwest Florida heat.
Vodka Vodka has a more neutral flavor when compared to most other spirits. That’s one reason why it is so good for mixing. Its flavors can be smooth and light (good for a classic martini) or have a slight bite depending on the distillation process and ingredients used such as corn, potato or wheat. Headwind Craft FWD uses a corn-based grain, which is distilled six times and filtered through Pacific Northwest timber. Made in Portland, Oregon, the bottle is wrapped in birch wood and hand-labeled with information that includes batch number and bottling date. It’s smooth and clean enough to shine on its own but with enough body to stand up to quality mixers.
Sparkling Salty Dog
A spirit that conjures up beachside retreats and tropical islands, rum is quintessentially Florida. While a majority of rums you’ll find in local retailers comes from the Caribbean, Koloa Rum is made in Hawaii from local cane sugar. Koloa produces White, Gold, Dark, Spice, Coffee, and Aged Reserve rums, however, we’re highlighting Koloa Kaua’i Coconut Rum.
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
Rum
• 1½ ounces Headwind Vodka • Sparkling grapefruit soda • Slice of lime (for garnish) • Pinch of salt Combine vodka and grapefruit soda in a glass full of ice. Stir. Add lime and a pinch of salt.
GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 63
| MAKE IT A DOUBLE |
Ted’s Montana Grill Jalapeno-Infused Huckleberry Margarita
Unlike many coconut rums, this one doesn’t taste the way suntan oil smells. It has highly concentrated coconut compounds and has an intriguing greenish tinge, from the young coconut flesh used in the distillation process. It is delightfully tropical with lingering flavors of toasted coconut and lime zest.
• 1½ ounces tequila or homemade jalapenoinfused tequila* • ½ ounce Cointreau • 2 fresh jalapeno slices, 1/8-inch with seeds • 2 ounces sour mix (Ted’s sour mix is made in house) • 1 ounce Monin Huckleberry Syrup • Garnish: Salted rim, jalapeno cap, lime wheel and stir stick Add 2 jalapeno slices to a shaker tin. (Skip this step if you’re using jalapenoinfused tequila.) Add Monin Huckleberry Syrup and muddle well.
Gin
Tequila It helps to know the classifications of this spirit before buying. Blanco or silver is clear, the purest form of tequila, and provides a base that allows mixers to shine. Joven or gold tequila is often blended, with color and flavor additives, and is ideal for margaritas or mixing with citrus. Reposado means “rested.” It is aged in oak barrels for at least two months; the wood mellows harsh alcohol notes and adds flavor. Anejo tequila spends a minimum of a year in oak and extra anejo, three years. While sometimes used with mixers, aficionados often frown upon it. These tequilas are more complex and are best appreciated when sipped like a fine bourbon or cognac. As in many things in life, you often get what you pay for in the world of spirits. Don’t skimp on quality at the risk of waking up with a headache the next day. Have fun trying these recipes and experimenting with some of your own.
64 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
Empress & Elderflower • 2 ounces Empress 1908 Gin • 3-4 ounces Fever-Tree elderflower tonic • Grapefruit slice Build in a copa glass on ice. Garnish with a grapefruit slice.
Coconut Pineapple Daiquiri • 1½ ounces Kōloa Kaua’i Coconut Rum • ½ ounce Kōloa Dark Rum • ½ ounce pineapple liquor • ½ ounce pineapple juice • ½ ounce simple syrup (1:1) Add all ingredients together with ice. Shake and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with fresh pineapple wedge and pineapple leaf.
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
It might be a bar staple but choosing and using gin can also be tricky due to its wide range of flavorful profiles. Some are herbal, some are flowery, some are piney, so selecting one for your home really depends on your tastes and what you will be mixing it with; quality tonic such as Fever-Tree is essential. Empress 1908 Gin is not only tasty but also fun to play with. It comes mixed with butterfly pea flower, which produces vibrant colors that include blue, purple and pink, depending on the acid level of the mixer used. It has some floral notes along with spice, herbs and citrus. Previously featured in Grandeur, it was such a big hit we could not resist passing on another recipe.
Fill shaker tin with ice and add remaining ingredients. Shake Vigorously 10 times. Rim highball glass with salt and fill with ice. Strain contents from shaker tin into highball glass. Garnish with a scored lime wheel and jalapeno cap skewered with a stir stick. * Jalapeno-Infused Tequila: Thinly slice 2 fresh jalapenos into 1/8-inch rounds, discarding the stems. Place slices and 1 liter of Jose Cuervo tequila into a 6-quart container and let infuse for 24 hours — no more or no less to ensure correct flavor profile.
| MAKE IT A DOUBLE |
Pineapple & Coconut’s Golden Layered Piña Coladas Makes 2 Cocktails
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
Headwind Grapefruit • 2 ounces Headwind Vodka • 2-4 ounces fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice • 1 egg white (or 2 tablespoons egg white) Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Shake. Add ice, shake again. Serve in a coupe or your favorite “up” glass.
LaPlaya Beach and Golf Resort’s Blood Orange Jalapeno Margarita • 11/2 ounces jalapeno-infused Don Julio tequila • 1/2 ounce triple sec • 1/4 ounce Grand Mariner • 1 ounce blood orange puree • 2 ounces fresh sour mix Shake all over ice. Strain into a cocktail glass filled with ice. Garnish with a dehydrated orange wheel.
GOLDEN PUREE LAYER: • 1 cup frozen pineapple • 1 cup frozen mango • ½ ounce Kōloa Kaua’i Gold Rum • 1 ounce pineapple juice COCONUT PUREE LAYER: • 1 cup coconut milk • 1/4 cup cream of coconut (sweetened, such as Coco Lopez brand) • 11/2 ounces Kōloa Kaua’i Coconut rum • 2 teaspoons lime juice • 2 teaspoons pineapple juice • 2-3 cups ice In a blender combine the frozen pineapple, frozen mango, Kōloa Kaua’i Gold Rum and pineapple juice. Blend until smooth but still very thick and frozen. Pour into a large glass or jar and keep in freezer until ready to assemble drink. Rinse the blender, then make the coconut layer. Combine all the coconut layer ingredients in the blender and puree until smooth but still thick and frozen. Add more ice if needed. In a piña colada hurricane glass, divide the golden puree then top with the coconut puree. Stir slightly for a swirled look, leave as is for a layered look. Top with whipped cream sprinkled with a little ground allspice and some freshly shredded coconut. Garnish the glass with a slice of pineapple and a few pineapple leaves. Get creative and add whipped cream, allspice, and/or freshly shredded coconut. GRANDEUR | SUMMER 2020 | 65
| LAST LOOK |
UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN A fisherman throws a cast net just past sunset at Bunche Beach on February 28. PHOTO BY ANDREW WEST
66 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
Waterfront Living
at its Best!
At Shell Point, you’ll enjoy a truly amazing lifestyle, in one of the most beautiful waterfront settings in Florida. Plus, it’s all backed by continuing care retirement experts with more than 50 years of experience. The very best part? You’ll experience everything Shell Point has to offer with a community of friends and neighbors who are as genuinely excited about life as you!
E X P L O R E TO D A Y ! Call 1-800-780-1131 or visit www.shellpoint.org
®
Unparalleled setting. Unparalleled lifestyle.™ SLS-4214-20 Grandeur Ad MAY2020.indd 1
Shell Point is located on the Caloosahatchee River in Fort Myers, Florida, just 2 miles from the islands of Sanibel and Captiva. Shell Point is a nonprofit ministry of The Christian and Missionary Alliance Foundation, Inc. ©2020 Shell Point. All rights reserved. SLS-4214-20
4/21/20 10:40 AM
