September/October 2001 Issue

Savoring the Seasons

Harvests no longer guide menus—taste buds do

There was a time when the seasons had everything to do with what a chef put on the table. When certain foods were out of season and unavailable, it was imperative for a chef to be in tune with what was in season.
    Today, it’s different. “Seasonal” is more of a state of mind—what feels right and tastes good. Most foods, even if they aren’t local, are usually available. Still, nationwide, the tradition of seasonal menus has not disappeared over the years, and Southwest Florida is no different.
    Despite the fact that the area doesn’t have much of a change in seasons, local chefs take sometimes painstaking efforts to make sure their customers get the best taste of the seasons, whether it’s from a local vendor or a well-known, nonlocal one.
    Robert Frederick, executive chef for Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa (17260 Harbour Pointe Drive, Ft. Myers, 941/466-2156) is a serious season man. Twice per year he takes time out from his busy schedule to tinker with at least one of his menus from Chez le Bear, Promenade Café, or the banquet menu. For Chez le Bear, the resort’s signature restaurant, which serves Mediterranean fare, he is particularly fastidious, offering a summer/fall menu and a winter/spring menu. “I’d even like to do four,” he adds.
    Although the resort’s banquet menu stays mostly the same, he feels that it is still important to revamp every other year. And as for the Promenade, he tweaks that menu periodically.
    Frederick orders a vast amount of specialty goods from two places in Massachusetts—Browne Trading and Sid Wainer—and discusses with them what foods are fresh and look the best during different seasons. For example, he says, razor clams are sometimes hard to get and baby artichokes have their own special seasons. “But I also use a lot of locals,” he adds, for mangoes, papayas, and other locally grown produce.
    When creating a dish, he works backward, considering first the presentation on the plate. “I want to end up with what looks good.” He thinks about the colors and textures that he wants, then about what sort of seasonal dish would fit.
    For executive chef Shannon Chandler at Roy’s of Bonita Springs (26831 South Bay Drive, 941/498-7697), seasonal cooking means lighter in the summer and heavier in the winter.
    “The sun’s out until 9 o’clock during the summer, so I like to do things that are refreshing but fulfilling,” he says, such as using more vinaigrettes. Winter calls for thicker sauces and richer items, he adds; even though it’s warmer here than most other places, patrons still expect seasonal- type meals.
    Roy’s is a Eurasian fusion-type restaurant that uses Hawaiian or Asian preparations, but Chandler stresses that a third to one-half of Roy’s daily specials are fish, meats, or vegetables that are in season here.
    “We use local ingredients in our style,” he says, such as the local heirloom tomatoes (a variety that hasn’t changed its strain in 100 years). “They’re some of the best tasting and textured.”
    Sous-chef Jamie Romans of Chadwick’s Restaurant (at the entrance to South Seas Resort on Captiva Island, 941/472-7575) views seasonal menus as an important part of what he does. “We change the menu depending on who’s here and what’s in season.”
    Chadwick’s prides itself on its Florib-bean feast and island rhythms. In the summertime, Romans serves clear and fruit soups with fennel, fresh tomatoes, and cucumbers—of course all are local, he says. During the colder months, he frequently uses such winter squashes as butternut and pumpkin, even in his desserts. “I do some things with ice cream that you’ve probably never seen.”
    Although a big believer in using local fare, Carlo DiSomma, co-owner/chef of Greenhouse Grill (2407 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel, 941/472-6882) doesn’t really believe in traditional “seasonal” menus. Coming from a family of hoteliers, he remembers when restaurants had to grow their own vegetables and couldn’t get certain items at particular times of the year, “like mushrooms,” he says. “They used to only be in fall.”
    Now, anything and everything can be had at any time. But DiSomma doesn’t want to get everything all the time. The way he sees it, restaurants should take advantage of what is fresh locally.
    “Greenhouse Grill plays specifically with Florida fish—like grouper and trigger. We give it a local taste,” he says.
    DiSomma buys his produce locally, because “the taste is different. Florida has beautiful products. We should use them,” he says.
    “Why we do Mediterranean flavor here is because Florida and the Mediterranean are so similar.”
    His philosophy is simple. “We have to support and promote everything around us,” he explains. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t change his menu. On the contrary, DiSomma says he and his partner (who bought the restaurant last December) plan to revamp the menu for the fall. He plans to provide other interesting items with different cooking techniques. Greenhouse Grill will add a wood-burning oven and also make its own focaccia bread.
    At Beachview Steakhouse and Seafood Restaurant (1100 Par View Drive, Sanibel, 941/472-4394), which serves dinner seven months of the year and lunch year-round, the daily menu stays basically the same. But, says manager Kevin Rice, “Every year we do change it, depending on what works and what doesn’t.” Rice says his most recent change will be a bone-in filet.
    Planning any menu, seasonal or not, is never an easy task. So, what’s the real secret to the success for local menus?
    Making sure the customers like it and “trying to provide it to them before they even ask,” says Romans of Chadwick’s. “I like to beat them to the punch.”

Although a mediocre cook at best, Jennifer Grant, a freelance writer from Bonita Springs, admits that one of her favorite pastimes is enjoying great food.