An Insider’s Guide to Living the Good Life in Naples

My thesaurus will not give me another word for “flavor” that comes even close to describing the taste explosion we experienced at Olio in the Naples Bay Resort. “Zest,” “tang,” “essence.” Yes,
it had all that, but from the clean, sassy visual first impact to what my strawberry dessert did to my palate, words are hard to find.

Sandwiched between Naples Bay and the resort’s marina, Olio gives you a view with every table. Our server began our journey through sensory stimuli by putting words such as “Napa Valley,” “heirloom,”
“local,” and “light Italian” in our heads. Everything is fresh and freshly made, starting with an amuse-bouche of tangy tomato basil soup served in a white demitasse.

The wine list held some familiar vintages, but I decided to try a new-to-me grape, an Italian Falanghina, which, with hints of pear and peach, made a happy companion to the olives and chunks of Romano that came next. Crusty bread crunched as it gave way to a rustic inner texture. It came, of course, with olive oil, from which the restaurant takes its name. Already we were awed, and we hadn’t even ordered.

Source: Naples Illustrated, Author CHELLE KOSTER WALTON

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There’s no doubt that finding a restaurant with the owner in the kitchen or at the door will likely result in a delicious meal and a pleasing environment.
There’s just no substitute for an on-site owner who cares about the food he or she is serving and making sure the patrons are being treated in the best way possible. However, these local places are often small, with even smaller advertising budgets, so they are sometimes hard to find—
until the creation of Naples Originals, an alliance of local restaurant owners working together to encourage Neapolitans and visitors to choose locally owned restaurants. Comprehensive Naples Restaurant Guide here.

“Visitors to Southwest Florida spend more on food than anything else,” says Lisa Boet, spokeswoman for the group and a local restaurant owner.
“Locally owned restaurants are so important to making this area unique, and many people are much happier visiting a local place.”

Source: Sharon Kenny, Naples Illustrated

There is a newer, healthier chocolate bar in town with a taste to rival that of the world’s finest Swiss, German and Belgium chocolates. This chocolate uses only natural sweeteners (no added sugar) and is made up of purely organic and raw ingredients. Sunfood Nutrition, a producer of these healthy chocolate bars, sweetens some with agave and others with natural maple crystals. Also, in order to maintain the enzymes and other beneficial ingredients they never raise the cooking temperature above 114 degrees Fahrenheit.

This chocolate may be a tad expensive for everyday use at $9.00 to $11.00 per 2 ounce bar. But the price may be worth it when you look at all the nutrients it contains. There are many benefits to eating raw chocolate or cacao. Just one of these benefits is that raw cacao is the highest known source of antioxidants. Information about additional benefits of raw cacao can be found at www.Natureraw.com.

Chocolate tops the list of luxurious desserts. With such a healthy choice available when cravings arise, you can certainly say that with these bars you can have your cake, or in this case chocolate, and eat it too!

Revised from the Luxury Clues blog Posted by Bernice Ross

Whether you consider yourself a connoisseur or just enjoy the occasional glass with dinner, wine tasting is becoming a popular past time for many Americans. Although here in Naples we are not in close proximity to the vineyards, wine tasting is still an option. Stop by before dinner or a night out on the town, 4-7 p.m. Fridays; noon-6 p.m. Saturdays and 1-5 p.m. Sundays. Sampling flights from a selection of more than 7,500 wines from around the world, every weekend at Total Wine & More, Carillon Place, 5048 Airport Pulling Road in Naples, Florida. Call 239-649-4979 or visit www.totalwine.com for more information.

In this age of “Iron Chef,” “Top Chef,” “Kitchen Confidential” and “Hell’s Kitchen,” there are fewer and fewer restaurant secrets.

Savvy diners know that if you order steak well done, the kitchen will use the leatheriest piece of meat on hand, because once it’s incinerated you can’t taste the difference. They know the fish you eat on Monday was probably delivered the Friday before. And they know that an order of kung pao chicken typically has enough fat and sodium to fell a moose.

Here are 10 more insights, gleaned from thousands of meals out:

• Typically, food accounts for only one-third of a restaurant’s costs. The rest goes toward labor, rent, upkeep and utilities.

• Don’t be surprised if your server crouches down next to you or gently touches your shoulder. Research shows these techniques produce higher tips.

• If diners order only steak in a high-end steakhouse, it will go out of business. The wholesale price of prime-grade beef is too high to add on the usual profit markup, so steakhouses rely on drinks, appetizers, side dishes and dessert to make up the balance.

• The first main dish listed on a menu is usually the most profitable.

• Take an extra few seconds to look over your check. Mistakes happen more frequently than you’d imagine.

• The later the hour, the louder the music and the dimmer the lights.

• If the menu can’t spell it right, the chef probably can’t cook it right.

• If the vegetable is squash, the chef has lost interest.

• Part of the server’s job is to “up-sell,” that is, to get you to order more. Don’t be bullied into something that you really don’t want.

• It’s not always the chef, the service or the ambience: No meal can compensate for uncongenial tablemates. Conversely, good company makes every meal better.

From the Gulf Coasting Live: Food and Drink
By Howard Seftel-Gannett News Service 3-21-08

Native to the tropical regions of the Americas, the chocolate bush (3-4 feet tall) grows wild in the low foothills of the Andes and in the Amazon and Orinoco river basins. It likes humid climaltes, regular rainfaill, good soil and overhead shade. The evergreen produces beautiful clusters of flowers emerging from the trunk which turn into pods. The pods produce 20 to 60 seeds or beans. Hence, they are called cacao beans. Theobroma cacao is the scientific name which means food of the gods.The Mayans and the Aztecs believed that cacao was a gift from the gods. From this belief, a number of rituals emeged as well as a cacao god. The cacao beverage was reserved for men , noblemen and clerics, as it was thought to be toxic to women and children. [Yeah, right!]

Christopher Columbus in 1502 captured a canoe of cacao beans, thinkng at first they were mysterious almonds. He then decided it was a shipment of rabbit droppings, and proceeded to burn the vessel thus delaying chocolate pleasure to the rest of the world.

Cacao beans were also used a currency. For instance, 80-100 beans could buy you a cloth blanket. In the Yucatan cacao beans were used as coins until the 1840s.

Today, chocolate is being studied for its properties of high antioxidants. Studies show that it may keep high blood pressure down. For more information go to Immune Suport.
Alexandra Seigel
Napa Consultants
Luxury Branding and Marketing Strategies

From Luxury Clues: The “Language of Wealth—Get Fluent and Get Affluent” ™

There are many ways to open a Champagne bottle. The most outrageous one is to follow Napoleon’s example by “beheading” a bottle. Legend has it that Napoleon always opened his champagne bottles by striking it precisely at the weakest point of the neck with his sword. He always toasted his upcoming battle, victory and even losses. He felt that champagne was appropriate for all occasions.

If this method appeals to you, the city of Thiers in France, famous for its cutlery manufactures the perfect saber. For $209, (for the deluxe model) plus instructions you will be perfectly outfitted to wow your friends with your very own Napoleonic savoir-faire. For more information, go to SabreaChampagne.com

We prefer the traditional method of opening by hand. A great place to learn is from the Wine Intro site, complete with pictures.

If you want the absolute easiest route, go to your favorite wine store and ask for a Champagne Screwpull and basket catcher, for $20.

By the way, Champagne lovers and connoisseurs consider it an absolute sacrilege to pop the cork and have the champagne explode. It spoils the taste, the ambience, and the savor factor. Happy sipping!

Alexandra Seigel
Napa Consultants
Luxury Branding & Marketing Strategies
NapaConsultants.com

From Luxury Clues: The “Language of Wealth—Get Fluent and Get Affluent” ™

One of the latest gourmet treats is to finish a dish with a particular type of salt. For instance, Fleur de Sel, a French salt is gathered with a special rake to harvest only the top layer of the salt bed. This work is usually done by women because of their delicate handling of the rake. The name “Fleur de Sel” comes from the aroma of violets that develops as the salt is dried. Fleur de Sel is recommended when baking chocolate cake to enhance its taste.

The list of gourmet salts is quite extensive. Peruvian pink salt is the one for that beefsteak tomato you just picked from your garden. Nazuna sea salt, from Japan, transforms the taste of fish and seafood. Hawaiian pink salt is great for grilling your meats.

The fascination with salt is not a new one. Until the 1900s, salt was considered a currency. Salt was often taxed, and some clever bakers (the Italians) figured out how to make bread without salt, so they would not be taxed. The Romans paid part of their soldiers‚ wages in salt. The word “SALARY” is derived from the Latin word “salarium” meaning a payment made in salt. The 12th century Mali Empire in Africa valued salt so much that paid for its weight in gold.

Salt is also used for bathing. For instance, salts from the Dead Sea, the second saltiest body of water in the world, were used by Cleopatra for bathing. She paid for and obtained exclusive rights over the Dead Sea area, so she could continue her beauty regimen. She also built pharmaceutical and cosmetic factories near the Dead Sea. The ruins of these factories remain to this day.

For more information go to SaltWorks.com.

Alexandra Seigel
Napa Consultants
Strategic Branding & Marketing
NapaConsultants.com

From Luxury Clues: “The Language of the Wealthy and Affluent”