TonysPastriesmedleyshot
Some people mark it on their calendars weeks in advance, some many never have heard of it, but the annual free tasting at Tony’s Off Third is a community event that’s not to be missed.
Our editor-in-chief reported in our October issue on the beautiful custom cakes that Tony’s executive pastry chef, Lexie Verbruggen, produces with infinite precision and skill—and each day she and her team go about making an array of scones, layer cakes, mini Key lime pies and more that people indulge in over lattes and cappuccino’s on the shop’s cobblestone-lined patio.
This year’s event, from 3-6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 1, will bring out the usual suspects as well as new creations to be introduced into the lineup for season. It’s a chance to steal bites of best-sellers you may have not yet tried because you’ve been loyal for many years to, oh, say, the carrot cake that put Tony Ridgway on the map as a force in the Southwest Florida world of sweets decades ago.
As Caroline Ridgway, a spokesperson for her father’s restaurants, describes the scene, it sounds like the perfect recipe for any afternoon: “Some people come for a while and hang out on the courtyard with a cup of coffee or a drink from our outside bar. Some come and have a couple bites and leave.”
However you want to treat yourself—courtesy of the Ridgways—is up to you.
To plan a visit:
Tony’s Off Third
Annual complimentary pastry tasting
Wednesday, Nov. 1, 3-6 p.m.
1300 Third St. S., Naples (entrance facing 13th Avenue South)
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