NAPLES TOMATO - Naples, FL

A Special Favorite for Wining & Dining in Naples:

Naples, Florida was named for its sister city in Italy at a time when early developers of southern Florida were fascinated with the notion it could become the Italy of America. Consequently, there is no shortage of Italian-style restaurants, both traditional and hip. But none truly capture the essence of the Italian love for food and wine as does Naples Tomato.

Leaving downtown, we were directed 10 miles north to an unassuming strip-mall. From the outside, we would never have guessed the treasures awaiting us inside. Even after entering, we weren’t sure if this was the place for our anticipated “romantic dining experience.”

Walking in, we noticed a food preparation area to our left, fully stocked grocery-style refrigerators directly in front and huge cans of imported Italian tomato sauce stacked waist high on the floor. Upon turning to our right, everything changed.

There was a bustle of activity with clusters of well-dressed people chatting and holding wine glasses, while the soft notes of a pianist singing romantic songs filled the air. Suddenly we knew we were in for a special occasion, one which included an innovative, high-tech wine pouring concept, called Enomatic, imported from Italy.

IN VINO VERITAS

The Naples Tomato “wine lounge” is arranged living-room style with comfy couches and ottomans, art on the walls and subdued lighting. Along the walls were six self-serve wine dispensers, each containing eight bottles of wine. Above each bottle was a description of the wine, including winery, origin, varietals, and year. Also shown was a price list for the 1, 3 or 6 ounce portions of your choice. Guests buy a “debit” card to slide in each wine bank.

Besides being fun, the high-tech wine system gives you the opportunity to sample a variety of different wines, including many that would not be readily available by the glass. It’s pay-as-you-sip, with wines ranging from $1.20 to over $25.00 per ounce. You can choose wines that would bust your budget and bless your taste buds, without having to buy more than you want.

Like kids in a candy store, we sampled wine after wine, imported and domestic, red and white. But with almost fifty wines automatically available, it’s not possible to try them all at one time. We spent a leisurely forty-five minutes sipping cozily on the couches, but it’s easy to imagine couples spending hours here, tasting the fine wines and enjoying the delightfully relaxed ambience.

To accompany your wine tasting, Naples Tomato offers a separate menu of assorted cheeses and appetizers. Our plate came with smoked Gouda, French Brie, and Italian truffle cheeses, and sun dried tomatoes, dried figs, currants, and pistachios. It was the perfect accompaniment to our wine tasting.

A professional sommelier, Angela Robertson, oversees the restaurant’s five thousand bottle inventory, for which Naples Tomato received the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence. Recently she was chosen to participate in a Wine Spectator symposium on Pinot Noir held in California.

Knowledgeable, efficient and gracious, Angela will help your select a wine and answer any wine question with confidence. When serving in the dining room, she carefully decants your wine and serves each guest personally.

Naples Tomato has a private wine cellar and tasting room in the center of the restaurant. With a list of over 500 wines it’s easy to find one you like. Their prices are lower than standard restaurant mark-up. A notation on the menu indicates that if you like a particular wine that they serve you, they will be happy to get you a case for a 15% discount. Special clients may store their wines here also.

Their wine club is another facet of Naples Tomato that shines with over 1,200 members.

It’s apparent that wine is a very important element in the operation of Naples Tomato. With as much space devoted to wine service as food service it is clearly an equal partner in the owners’ highly successful business plan.

MANGIA

Deciding it was finally time to stop drinking and start eating, we moved into the dining room.

Dennis started with “Our Famous Floridian Salad,” a zesty combo of greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, apricot stilton cheese, dried cherries, basil, bacon, pistachios and homemade citrus dressing. Marilyn had the escarole and white bean casserole with toasted parmesan crumb topping. Very unusual and tasty.

The Naples Tomato salad and antipasto bar is a special treat. You can go all vegetarian – or for $5 extra, add an assortment of “Arthur Avenue” meats. Dennis asked, “Is that Arthur Avenue in the Bronx?” The owners had been to the Arthur Avenue Market and loved it. They don’t ship to out-of-town restaurants, but after a year long pursuit they finally got Arthur Avenue to supply them. Now Neapolitans (from Florida) can enjoy the same delicacies New Yorkers have extolled for about 50 years.

Their most popular seafood dish is the “Capri,” homemade pasta with two colossal shrimp, porcini mushroom, sun dried tomato and brandy flambé in a pink sauce. They also serve the “Plate Licker,” homemade fettuccini with Raffaello’s vodka sauce. So many dishes…so many decisions.

We decided to go with our waiter’s recommendations, and were glad we did. Dennis chose the Tilapia on a cedar plank, with potatoes and broccoli rabe. Their perfect preparation brought out its best characteristics, arriving at our table with the unique and tasty essence of cedar and cooked perfectly moist and flaky.

Marilyn went with the “Black Tie” – a truffle mélange raviolinni with Bolognese sauce and Urbani white truffle oil. She doesn’t usually go for meat sauces – but she savored this Bolognese. It was light and delicious, with the truffle combination providing the perfect blend of flavors.

After dinner, our waiter suggested we “take our dessert” back in the wine area. We settled into the deep couches and shared the specialty of the night – a light filo stuffed with a berry combination in crème fraise, topped with a dollop of whipped cream. Then we sat back with a final glass of dessert wine, reveling in what a true “find” Naples Tomato is.

While enjoying the “afterglow” of an exotic wine and food experience, we took note of the other features of Naples Tomato that make it a rare and special venue.

ENOTECA, TRATTORIA, GROCERY AND COOKING SCHOOL, TOO!

Remember when we arrived, we were confused about this fabulous place. Well, those supermarket style refrigerators are chock full of specialty foods made fresh on the premises and imported from around the globe, available for take-out.

And the food prep area? This is the pasta-making room, complete with high stools used for classes – where the pasta chef instructs customers in the art of making spaghetti. Later, the students share a tasting. On Fridays, visitors can make their own pasta and then come back later to have it at dinner with their special guests.

ONCE UPON A TIME… before NAPLES TOMATO

Naples Tomato is an enterprise that seems genuinely pleased to be serving you and to be sharing their experiences with you. We noticed that some of the dishes on the menu were marked “Nadine’s favorite.” So of course, Marilyn had to ask, "Who is Nadine?”

Nadine and Jack Serfass are the wife-husband team that created and owns Naples Tomato. We love to learn how couples meet – and their story is a wonderful tale of wine, food and determination.

Jack Serfass was a single guy living in Connecticut, who went on a wine-tasting getaway in Napa Valley with his girlfriend. At one of the group wine-tastings, they chatted with another couple, who lived in New York. Yes, it was Nadine with her boyfriend.

A year later, Jack was sorting through the old receipts from his Napa trip. Suddenly stopping, he found a woman’s business card from the wine-tasting group. No, it wasn’t Nadine, but a friend of hers.

He called the friend, and shyly asked about Nadine. Even more awkwardly, he asked for Nadine’s phone number. Reluctantly, the woman gave him it to him. Jack called Nadine… and, happily, cupid was on his side. She had broken up with her beau from that trip. Jack and Nadine started dating.

The two always had a special love of food and wine – but it would take years before they could make their dream of a restaurant and wine bar come true. Jack had been an executive chef in other restaurants – but left the food business to go into the hi-tech arena. It was there that he made enough money to go back to his true calling – becoming a restaurateur and starting a wine-tasting bar with Nadine.

Jack and Nadine married and have been together for fourteen years. Their love of life, food and wine flourishes now in Naples Tomato, which opened about two years ago. Both Jack and Nadine are there nightly, greeting patrons as friends and imparting their love of a gracious and delightful Neapolitan lifestyle.

We wish many more years of success to Jack and Nadine – and think that all lovers of good food and wine should take a sojourn to this very special dining and wining experience.

NAPLES TOMATO
14700 Tamiami Trail N.
Naples, FL 34110
239.598.9800
www.naplestomato.com