At North Naples’ Ambrosi & Sons, a wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano is set before a knife. The blade bites as the rind gives way with a dry crack, revealing the crystalline interior beneath. Before anyone buys a wedge, there’s a taste, followed by a conversation about the dairy that made it and the family that imported it. It’s a familiar ritual at the Italian gourmet market, which recently expanded into a North Naples space that’s three times the size of its original storefront.
For many transplants arriving from major food cities, Southwest Florida hasn’t lacked for much—except neighborhood food culture. For years, the specialty shopping landscape rested on a handful of stalwarts, like Jimmy P’s Butcher Shop, Mario’s Meat Market and Deli in Fort Myers and DeRomo’s Gourmet Market. Today, they’re joined by a growing crop of culinary boutiques, each devoted to a narrower pleasure—places devoted to the satisfaction of one thing handled well.
Italian markets remain the region’s deepest specialty category—though even there, the lens is tightening. While Ambrosi & Sons focuses on family-owned producers, Pansardo in Bonita Springs centers on Sardinia. The shop, located within an industrial complex on Old 41, stocks Cannonau wines, pecorino, guanciale and crisp pane carasau, sourced from island cooperatives. Last May, the distributor-cum-retailer expanded with a food truck, serving sandwiches, pasta and Mediterranean snacks born of the same products lining the shelves.
Photography by Anna Nguyen
swfl specialty food stores brookside beer market
Independent producers are reimagining the package store, with beer at Brookside Market (pictured here) and spirits at Craft Spirits Social. Estero Bay Olive Oil & Tea (top photo) complements its oils with herbal and Ayurvedic blends sourced from around the globe.
But the appetite for specificity doesn’t stop with Italy; it simply shifts its accent. Craft Spirits Social opened last New Year’s Eve in Downtown Bonita Springs, focused on indie distillers; Naples’ Grand Central Honey goes deep on apiary-sourced goods, curating foods and body products from family-owned apiaries around the world, including a Honey for All Seasons blend created with Naples Philharmonic cellist and beekeeper Tom May; while European bread culture gets its due at Landert Bread.
After a decade supplying restaurants and local grocers, Swiss-born Jürg Landert debuted a bakery in Naples’ industrial park area last year. Jürg scours Europe for naturally leavened bakery staples and imports them flash-frozen to lock in the quality. “Bread should not be rushed,” he says.
Photography by Brian Tietz
swfl specialty food stores liquor on shelves
That reverence for provenance defines each shop. In Coconut Point, Estero Bay Olive Oil & Tea sources first-flush teas from farms across the globe alongside more than 80 flavors of olive oil. A few doors down, SWFL Produce debuted in July, focusing on local producers. Elizabeth Etnoyer evolved her community supported agriculture program into a store for local farms and cattle ranchers. The scent of fresh produce fills the shop: Dragon fruit sits beside raw honey and microgreens. “We wanted to make the farmer visible again,” Elizabeth says.
Many of the shops are also third spaces for guests to gather. When Ambrosi & Sons relocated, they added a grotto for wine dinners and tastings. “We want people to taste the difference before they ever buy it,” owner Rudy Ambrosi says. In Bonita, Beth “Dutton” Hurwitz turned her experience as a spirits packaging supplier into Craft Spirits Social. She designed the space, located above Love, Celine on Old 41, with a speakeasy-style bar, where inventive cocktails introduce guests to the unsung liquid artistry lining the bottle shop’s walls.
Photography by Reagan Rule
swfl specialty food stores ambrosi and sons
Italian market culture runs deep across the region, from Fort Myers’ Mario’s Meat Market and Deli to Naples, where Ambrosi & Sons’ recently expanded space includes a grotto for guests to sample and linger.
Naples’ Brookside Market approaches beer with the same dedication, stocking 160 craft brews. Locals settle in at the lounge, outfitted with deep leather chairs and Everglades murals that keep Florida culture front and center.
As specialty food shops blossom across the region, each opens another chapter in its culinary story. Whether you’re debating the merits of West Coast IPAs at Brookside, sipping Italian varietals with friends at Ambrosi & Sons, or learning the taste of native saw palmetto honey, you’re joining a conversation with the place itself, one that lingers long after the last taste.