The culinary scene moves north with three openings that bring delicacies on the half-shell and globally inspired small plates to Bonita Springs and Fort Myers.
Coldwater Oyster Market
Sex on the Bay, Moondancer and Summer Love may sound like names on a playlist or cocktail menu, but they are a few of the more than two dozen varieties of oysters at chef Adam Nardis’ new labor of love in Fort Myers. Opened in November, the restaurant is a tribute to seafood from deep, cold-water regions—predominantly the Atlantic Northeast and Pacific Northwest—which Nardis felt were underrepresented locally.
Coldwater Oyster Market
The Bohemian Restaurant
In a dinner that may start with Asian-inspired lobster buns and end with Southern-accented sweet potato beignets with sor ghum gelato, influences from Cuba, Peru, South Korea and Greece seep into other dishes. Like a true bohemian, the menu at this new Bonita Springs restaurant wanders and dares.
Photography by Anna Nguyen
The Bohemian restaurant bar area
El Basque Vin & Pintxo Bar
For something untried in the area, this tapas bar brings the Spanish- and French-influenced flavors of its namesake European region to a tiny corner of Bonita Springs’ Prado shopping center. With 10 tables and four counter seats looking into the kitchen, El Basque feels like someone’s living room, with navy walls covered with heavily framed, Impressionist-inspired art done by co-owner John Colón’s mother-in-law. “I like to say it looks like a millionaire’s den,” Colón, who is also behind Bodega Olé in the Naples Design District, says.