LOCAL FLAVOR
Well-Aged
Former Miami Dolphins football Head Coach Don Shula is known for longevity.
He recently celebrated his eightieth birthday. His 1972 Miami Dolphins record-setting undefeated season still stands. He was head coach for 33 years, 26 with the Dolphins, and is the winningest NFL coach ever, with 347 career victories.
Add to those records Shula’s Steak House at the Hilton Naples & Towers. Shula opened his first restaurant in Miami in 1989. The Naples Shula’s opened in February 2000 and has remained a popular destination for prime beef in the sometimes-challenging Naples restaurant scene.
Naples is also an occasional destination for Shula himself, for restaurant events and golf tournaments organized by 1972 Dolphins quarterback and Naples resident Earl Morrall. This year’s tournament, celebrating its tenth anniversary, benefits Children’s Charities and the Jackson Laboratory. It starts with a dinner March 14 at the Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club, and the tournament is March 15 at The Golf Lodge at The Quarry.
Ahoy!
There’s no better place to celebrate the rich history of boating than at the Naples Yacht Club, founded in 1947. Naples artist Paul Arsenault’s 72-foot mural was unveiled in the club’s Yardarm dining room. It depicts landmarks including the Gordon’s Pass Fish Camp, Naples City Dock, Port Royal boathouses and Crayton Cove. The mural fits into the club’s guiding principle of “preserving historical tradition while building for the future.” The yacht club recently completed the first phase of a multiyear renovation by creating a two-story addition designed by Naples architect David Humphrey to the club’s 1960 location on Naples Bay.
Good Stock
When Bentley Village celebrates is twenty-fifth anniversary in April, it will undoubtedly be in a tasteful way.
The 156-acre, country club–style retirement community has five kitchens to serve 50,000 to 53,000 creative meals a month during season, crafted since 1996 by Executive Chef Ed Padden and the community’s other Culinary Institute of America–trained chefs.
Fresh stock is made on-site from scratch with roasted bones daily in 55-gallon pots to form soups and sauces. The chefs also make their own breads and pastries, as well as ice cream, with a changing selection of 16 speciality flavours in addition to whole-bean vanilla. Prospective residents are invited to Chef’s Table events monthly to get a taste of dishes the community kitchens offer, including mashed red and purple Okinawan sweet potatoes, and goat cheese and pesto on a grilled sun-dried tomato panini.
The focus is not only on flavor, but on wellness too. Most of the community’s culinary staff are certified dietary managers who focus on healthy eating.
The restaurants serve two specialty wines bottled with their own label, and the community’s seafood buffet in January, featuring 600 Maine lobsters, 100 pounds of jumbo lump crabmeat and other seafood delights, books up a year in advance.
