Naples on list of top small town food scenes in U.S.

Cuban sandwich | photo courtesy of Fernandez the Bull restaurant, Naples, Florida

By Laura Layden

Naples is on yet another top 10 list.

It landed at No. 9 on the list of Best Small Town Food Scenes in the U.S., based on votes by readers of USA TODAY’S 10 Best travel section.

USA TODAY editors chose Naples as one of their 20 best places to enjoy a happening food scene in a small town, then readers voted for their top 10 from the nominees.

“It’s great to be in the top 10 because that means we get a lot of publicity,” said JoNell Modys, public relations and communications manager at the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Frankenmuth, Michigan, took the No. 1 spot, with Fredericksburg, Texas, coming in 10th place for its food scene.
The 10 Best Readers’ Choice Award contest launches new categories every other Monday at noon, revealing each category’s 20 nominees. After four weeks of voting, the contest closes. On the Friday after voting ends, winners are announced.

In other recent voting by readers of USA TODAY’s 10 Best, Naples ranked No. 1 as the Best Destination for Luxury Travelers, and it came in second as one of the best Alfresco Dining Neighborhoods in the U.S.

“We’re really on a roll with lots of editorial and readers’ choice accolades for having a great food scene here in Naples, and in Marco Island as well. It really does reflect what has been going on here since there has been a great evolution of dining opportunity over the past five to 10 years,” Modys said. “There has always been a lot of locally owned restaurants. Now there is even more of them, and what they are offering is really resonating with what travelers like.”

In visitor research surveys in January and February, dining rose to the No. 1 favorite activity in the Naples area, surpassing the beach.

Locally sourced, fresh ingredients are commonly used at area restaurants, following a global trend, and Naples has some attributes that help it stand out including creative chefs and delicious seafood from the Gulf of Mexico, Modys said.

“We have more restaurants that are staying open later and just have more of an eclectic, fun vibe,” she said.
Naples has also been named one of the top 20 American cities for food as part of Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers Choice Awards for the last three years.

“The consistency of these recognitions is very significant. And people notice that,” Modys said.

The awards could help attract younger visitors.

“Research is showing that millennial travelers like to travel for specific food experiences, or they seek out what is the best in an area, often based on online reviews,” Modys said.

With announcements and stories about the top awards continuing to live online, they’ll pop up in Internet searches by travelers, which could influence their decisions for years to come.

Naples could soon make it on another top 10 food-related list. Voting is open through May 9 for the Best Cuban Sandwich in Florida. The duo of Cuban sandwiches sold at Naples’ Fernandez the Bull restaurant is at No. 2, ahead of well-known eateries such as the venerable Columbia Restaurant in Tampa and El Mason de Pepe in Key West.

Fans of Fernandez the Bull can cast their vote at http://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-cuban-sandwich-in-florida/fernandez-the-bull-naples/share/

Naples Winter Wine Festival again tops

By Harriet Howard Heithaus

The Naples Winter Wine Festival is getting bigger — even though it’s already the biggest.

On the heels of once again being rated the No. 1 charity wine auction in the U.S. by Wine Spectator magazine, the festival is announcing its chairs for the 2017 festival, for the first time to be shared by four couples.

The extravagant Naples event has topped the list for 10 of the past 15 years.

“In 2015, the Naples festival once again overtook the 2014 leader, Auction Napa Valley,” Samantha Falewée wrote in an article in the magazine’s upcoming April 30 edition.

“The ranking is based on total live auction — bid earnings, excluding paddle raise or fund-a-need lots,” Falewée wrote.

The 2016 rankings will be announced in 2017, after all wine festivals for this year are completed.
The Southwest Florida Wine & Food Fest, based in Lee County, was judged fourth in that ranking, just behind the Sonoma Harvest Wine Auction.

The top six charity wine auction nets were split among events in California, which grows almost all the wine grapes in the U.S. (89 percent in 2013, the last year for which statistics were available), and Florida (less than 2 percent that year).

The 2017 Naples Winter Wine Festival is set for Jan. 27-29, again at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in North Naples, according to a news release from the organization, which announced the four couple chairmanship. Three of the couples are veterans, and three members of those couples have served as chairmen:

• Jeff Gargiulo, chairman for the founding year, and his wife, Valerie Boyd. They are owners of Gargiulo Vineyards in Oakville, in the Napa Valley, and split their time between Florida and California. The two have supported the festival
• Brian Cobb, who was second chairman of the festival in 2002, and his wife, Denise, who has been the longtime chairwoman of the public relations committee. Both have had careers in the broadcast industry, she as one of the original anchorwomen of CNN, and he as founder of CobbCorp, involved in the brokerage of TV stations.
• Scott Lutgert, fifth chairman of the festival, and his wife, Simone, who has served as auction day co-chair and marketing and creative director. The Lutgert family has been involved extensively in real estate development in Southwest Florida, developing golf course communities, beachfront high-rises, shopping centers, office buildings and mixed-use properties.
• Debra and Bill Cary, who first attended the Naples Winter Wine Festival in 2013 and became supporters, joining as trustees in 2015. Retired as president and CEO of GE Capital, he now is a director of Synchrony Financial and Rush Enterprises. She is a former community banker and has been active in philanthropy, currently serving on the Naples Children & Education Foundation grant committee.

“The very first Naples Winter Wine Festival grew out of a conversation in our backyard with several friends who shared a passion for wine and a desire to make a difference in our community,” Gargiulo said in a statement from the festival.

“Since then, the festival has grown into a globally recognized event, but it has still maintained its intimate format,” Gargiulo said.

A statement from Simone Lutgert said the expanded number of chairs were in hopes to “push the envelope even further and elevate the excitement” in 2017.

“With the addition of a relatively new couple, who bring a fresh perspective to planning this event, we can’t wait to unveil what’s in store,” she added.

The 2017 co-chairs selected “Bright Sunshiny Day” as the festival’s theme, with its aim as “shining a light on the needs of underprivileged, at-risk children.”

Since it began in 2001, the festival reported, it has raised more than $146 million for its founding organization, the Naples Children & Education Foundation. The NCEF has awarded grants to more than 40 nonprofit organizations that have affected the lives of more than 200,000 children.
Ticket packages to the event start at $10,000 per couple.

Great Dining in Naples – Best Food Cities in U.S.

Now everyone knows there is great dining in Naples!

Naples has been named No. 20 among America’s Best Food Cities by Condé Nast’s “Traveler” magazine.

Jennifer M. Wood, author of that segment of an annual list, made the selection, declaring “there is a food revolution happening in the Sunshine State’s southwestern quadrant, with Naples at the helm.”

Wood commented in her article that most of Naples’ restaurants have at least one seafood option, and the five restaurants she favored — Cote d’Azur, I.M. Tapas, Inca’s Kitchen, Mereday’s at Naples Bay Resort and Truluck’s Seafood Steak & Crab House — all say seafood is top on their customers’ lists.