LOCAL FLAVOR
Sake It to Me
USS Nemo packs a powerful lunch during season, and many know the favorite seafood center as a daytime place where the elite meet. But summer offers a great opportunity to revisit this 10-year-old favorite at night, when lighting changes the businesslike daytime atmosphere to an elegant, fluid scene befitting its underwater decor. The lunch crowd may not know about Nemo’s sake bar, which provides an opportunity to explore the exotic tastes of rice wine, from Japanese to domestic varieties, as well as innovative and classic drinks created with sake. Owner and chef Nick Mercier spends the summer looking for sakes to add. “There’s always room for more,” he says. Also, during the summer Mercier has time to test new dishes and get feedback from diners in order to perfect the menu for the next season. Don’t worry; the restaurant’s signature sea bass will stay, no matter what.
Better all the time
Angelina’s Ristorante celebrates two years at its Bonita Springs location and continues to improve with age. Some changes include the addition of live piano music in the lounge several nights a week, extended lounge hours on the weekends, happy hour specials called Daily Indulgence Therapy, nine new menu items, a changing list of traditional Italian dishes “From Nonna’s Kitchen,” more wines by the glass, and a Sunday Champagne brunch. Owners Don and Angela Smith, area residents themselves, give diners special treatment over the summer with “Spend Summer in Italy” wine dinners, which continue July 21 with “The North: Fruili and Trentino,” and August 25 with food and wine from Southern Italy. Wine dinners are $89 per person, with reservations required. A wine special and prix fixe menu with four courses and dessert for $32.50 is offered through the summer. To benefit the Red Cross, Executive Chef Nick Constanzo developed a $10 “Recipes for Disaster” booklet with a week’s worth of recipes using canned or nonperishable ingredients and minimal heat. Visit angelinasofbonitasprings.com.
Northern Lights
While dining and entertainment venues at Mercato were the talk of the season, at the venerable Pavilion Shopping Center at U.S. 41 and Vanderbilt Beach Drive across the road, some fun dining destinations have been drawing attention. Two new restaurants bring live entertainment and fresh recipes, adding to longtime favorite, Bha! Bha! Persian Bistro and nearly year-old KC American Bistro. Combining dueling pianos and a Key West theme, The Keys Bar & Grille (thekeysbar.com) features a menu with conch fritters, mussels, fish sandwiches and tacos, classics like Philly cheese steak sandwiches, all-day drink specials and nightly entertainment. The Art of Being (theartofbeing.us), described as contemporary eclectic cuisine, serves dinner and offers musical entertainment on the weekends. Expect food as interesting as the artwork created by Culinary Institute of America–trained chef Charles Bartholf.
