But 30 years ago, when Marie Michelle Rey came to New York from France, she was a fashion model who sashayed down runways in Dior and Balmain gowns. Then she met a man who owned restaurants. They fell in love, got married and soon she became an active participant in the business. Her passion for food outdistanced her taste for marriage. Ten years ago Rey moved to Naples solo and opened her eponymous eatery on the bay. It's situated in a popular cluster of boutiques and jewelry stores known as The Village on Venetian Bay. Now she enjoys an ongoing love affair with the gourmets and gourmands of Southwest Florida.

At Marie Michelle's Restaurant on the Bay, you may dine inside, where the atmosphere is cozy and metropolitan. Or select a table on the terrace, where tables are organized on two levels around a stone sculpture pavilion.

The menu entices with classic French favorites as well as other continental dishes crafted to take advantage of local seafood and regional produce. Expect French onion soup, duckling and a wonderful cassolette d'escargot ($13). The snails (out of shells) are sautéed with mushrooms in a light cream sauce and then packed into a small, deep, white china crock. You dig out the snails and mushrooms (tender but firm) and then spoon out the rich liquid. Or dip your French bread into the sauce. Divine either way.

The bouillabaisse ($30) is listed as "De Gulf," which means that Marie Michelle knows very well that this saffron-and Pernod-infused seafood soup is all about location. Made with harvested ingredients from nearby sea and shore, the bouillabaisse she makes in Florida is nothing like the bouillabaisse you'll get in Provence. This one in Naples is very good indeed. The broth has a depth of perfumey/pungent flavors and is full of mussels, shrimp, lobster, fish and other fruits de mer. The restaurant also earns raves for the mustard-encrusted rack of lamb ($33) and for the sea bass roasted in bouillon, not butter.

The wine list offers plenty of selections by the glass or bottle and exhibits a good balance between California and French labels in the range of $28 to $100 a bottle. Desserts are $8.50 and wonderfully sweet and generous. I can speak well of the pear tarte, but other selections include tiramisu, peach Melba and the ubiquitous crème brûlée. Rey says the orange-flavored chocolate mousse is a well-guarded secret and begging for the recipe will do you no good. The black-clad servers will bring a little amuse bouche while you peruse the menu; and after dinner we were served a complimentary glass of ruby port, a nice gesture.

Marie Michelle's Restaurant on the Bay

4236 Gulf Shore Blvd., Naples. 263-0900. Lunch: Daily from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Dinner: Daily from 5-9:30 p.m. Closed Sundays in the summer. Reservations accepted. Credit cards.

T rade winds perches on the third floor of a vertical mall and opens up on a marvelous view of the Gulf of Mexico. Many diners reserve a table just before sunset to experience Southwest Florida's free prime-time show. Trade Winds' dining space takes advantage of the view and the open air. In the hotter months, the covered, treetop deck benefits from air conditioning. Tucked inside behind sliding glass walls are a few tables around a large dance floor. The handsome tiki-style bar is at the far end. All the furnishings are of bamboo and bright tropical fabrics.

All this fantasy atmosphere sets the stage for a specialty menu of fancy umbrella drinks-a signature of Trade Winds. From a Zombie to a Peachtree Punch to a Tiki Hut or Jamaica Sunshine, these mostly rum concoctions are pretty to look at and whirled up for a vacation mentality. They start at $7.50 and number about 25, nearly all garnished with tropical fruits (and many do come with a tiny, colorful paper umbrella).

The ambitious menu is Asian-fusion with Floribbean overtones and takes in a full sushi and sashimi bar, five different kinds of curries and 12 varieties of fish that one can order cedar-wood roasted, poached in champagne, baked in banana leaves or spicy Thai style. Fish dishes (which also come blackened or grilled for conservative eaters) range from about $18 to $23 and arrive tableside with potato or rice and vegetables. In addition, entrées encompass wok-seared beef and clay-pot chicken ($20) besides the more traditional Maine lobster ($23) and pan-roasted pork tenderloin.

Presentation is carefully thought out. For example, the curry meal comes to the table on a large platter shaped like an artist's palette. Curried meat or seafood in the middle, condiments (chickpeas, chili sauce, grated coconut, fresh chopped cilantro, diced onion, mango chutney) arranged in stacks around the edge, and everything resting on a glistening dark green real banana leaf. Curries range from $19 to $23.

Desserts, about $6, are Asian tropical in name, like the banana brown sugar spring rolls, but they taste familiar. Similar to bananas Foster in small, crispy crepes, the spring rolls are quite tasty and sweet. There's an adequate wine list, all of the selections meant to pair with menu offerings. The service is attentive and friendly, from a young waitstaff attired in black.

Trade Winds

Seafarer's Village Mall, 113 Estero Blvd., Fort Myers Beach. 463-4060. Dinner nightly from 5 p.m. Dancing until 2 a.m. Full sushi menu until 1:30 a.m. Kids' menu. Reservations. Credit cards. Parking garage and valet.

Most oenophiles are content to swirl, sip, savor and swallow, but for those who want a more strenuous wine experience, Gloria Kennedy has come up with the perfect project for wine lovers-make your own. At her new Corkscrew Winery & The Wine Shoppe in Estero, the 46-year-old Indiana transplant, who decorates her home with grapevines, invites her clients to take a hands-on approach to wine.

Kennedy supplies the juice from about 70 different American and European grape varieties and guides students in mixing up a batch of their private label. The minimum you can make is one batch, which yields 28 to 30 bottles (750 ml). The minimum cost is $150 for the experience, which requires two 30-minute store visits. Corkscrew also stocks good-looking labels-some with a holiday motif.

The first stage of the process is sterilizing your fermentation bucket. Then you sip selections until you settle on your wine, choose the juice, add the yeast and decide if you want to age your wine in oak barrels. The wine is then racked and tested for 45 days. Soon the wine clarifies, and the client returns for bottling and labeling. Then you have the pleasure and satisfaction of cellaring and serving your own estate wine.

This method of transforming grape juice into a personal vintage is proving so irresistible that Kennedy has plenty of repeat visitors. Lately she's been booking groups who want to make a party of the winemaking experience.

The Corkscrew Winery receives grape juice in six-gallon plastic bags from Washington state, Napa Valley, Sonoma, New Zealand, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Chile and Australia. The wine you make at Corkscrew is virtually sulfite free (1/4 teaspoon to six gallons) making this wine a good choice for those who suffer from allergies. Kennedy notes that clients' top three wines are a cabernet sauvignon, a bold Italian and a chardonnay. But the white merlot is coming on strong. Kennedy says it's an all-purpose, food-friendly choice.

Corkscrew Winery & The Wine Shoppe

21401 Corkscrew Village Lane, Estero. 949-2675.

Ask Marsha

Q. I'm going to a kitchen-themed bridal shower. Any new utensil to include in a goodie basket?

A. I'm impressed with the new flexible silicon spatulas that withstand heat up to 500 degrees. They're great for stovetop cooking when using nonstick pans. Kitchen Collection at Tanger Outlet Center in Fort Myers has the best selection, and they sell for about 35 percent less than in retail outlets. You can get perfectly serviceable ones for around $5, but the Kitchen Aid for $8 is chic, beautifully weighted and the one to pick for a present. By all means, give a couple to the bride-to-be, but definitely purchase one for yourself.