First Visit: Timeless – an MHK Eatery

It’s only one week in, and our food editor is impressed.

We’re used to restaurants needing to work out their kinks. Service can be slow, menus need to be learned, dishes need to be finessed.

But Timeless – an MHK Eatery has raced out of the gates with the utmost grace under pressure.

It was packed during my dropby for lunch exactly one week after it had opened. My friend and I relaxed on a white sofa in the lounge and peered through to La Colmar, the adjacent bakery, for what seemed like an instant before a hostess escorted us to a table.

I knew we would be in for a treat because the talented David Nelson had been perfecting his recipes for the opening menu for the better part of a year (I could hear the passion in his voice even when we spoke last October for this article).

Our visit started with the chicken “lollipops”—cleaned up drumsticks that were easy to pop in your mouth. There was a subtle smoke mixing with heat and sweet and an undeniable tang from the blue cheese. We both also loved our salads, and I was impressed by how everything in my Thai noodle salad was a mélange of the freshest produce. The bowl was a Jenga-like reveal of flavors and textures, from copious micro-cilantro and the thinnest matchsticks of sliced hot peppers to juicy chunks of mango and whole roasted peanuts—I almost forgot there were slices of steak along the sides and rice noodles at the bottom.

What’s more, it was an experience from start to finish. As we lunched, my friend pointed out the waiters were preternaturally surveying the room, attentive to all tables, not just their own. And there was no sense of anyone being in a hurry to rush us out—an issue popular places struggle with. If anything, we were offered more water and given an extra silverware set to polish off a remaining wing or two after our main dishes had been cleared.

For reasons like this, I know I’ll return—likely time and again.

One thing that had been promised but hasn’t yet taken shape is daily breakfast. Weekend brunch is still on, and perhaps the decision to forego frittatas on weekdays was made precisely because the team didn’t want to bite off more than they could chew. At least for now, they’ve made the sage decision to leave that part of the equation to the fully functioning (and completely charming) bakery and market on the other side of the wall.

To plan a visit:

Timeless – an MHK Eatery

90 Tamiami Trail N., Naples

(239) 331-4325

timelesseatery.com

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