Something Special

Seasonal visitors might just overlook Ristorante Ciao because it's one street over from the nightly hubbub on Naples' Fifth Avenue South and its unassuming facade doesn't announce itself as something special. But it is.

For 16 years, residents and visitors who have discovered its quiet and sophisticated charm and its superb Italian food have kept this eatery busy year round. It's the kind of congenial, intimate restaurant you want to make your own. The restaurant seats about 100 and has two additional private dining rooms. But it doesn't seem nearly that large from the street.

The place is owned by chef Gianfranco Loreti (an Italian from the Rome area) and his wife, Melanie, who is originally from Cleveland. She works the front of the house and books the private parties.

The Loretis met 24 years ago in Italy when she was on vacation, and they subsequently worked in restaurants in Cleveland before opening up their own place in Naples in 1987. They chose Naples because it reminds them of Italy, both in climate and lifestyle.

Inside Ristorante Ciao, there's a feeling of restrained Mediterranean graciousness, with lighted niches for voluptuous bouquets of flowers and pleasant artwork on the textured wallpaper. The upholstered armchair-type chairs (on casters) are comfortable; and the tables, set for fine dining with good plate-ware and silverware, are far enough apart for private conversations.

Chef Loreti's menu focuses on Italian specialties that make the most of fresh ingredients. He tweaks the menu every year or so, but the house salad and chef's fettuccini (made with lobster, asparagus and mushroom in either a light cream sauce or marinara sauce, for $19.95) have been on the bill of fare since the beginning.

The standout appetizer is the asparagi in camicia, which consists of spears of asparagus wrapped in prosciutto and mozzarella and served with a pesto sauce enlivened with crumbled Gorgonzola ($7.95). The spears are cooked just enough and not one second too long. Another starter to consider is the bresaola-Italian air-dried beef with arugula and shaved Parmesan cheese ($10.95). It's not something you frequently find on menus.

The chef is fond of lobster, and this crustacean appears in three different entrees under the pasta portion of the menu. Each one sounds better than the next, but avid seafood lovers should get the pesceatore, which marries lobster, shrimp, fish and squid in a garlic tomato sauce.

The osso buco is a favorite with Ristorante Ciao's regular guests. This rich, braised veal shank is paired with saffron risotto ($21.95). The risotto (with its truffle oil) can be ordered as a side, as a pasta course for $11.95, or as an entree for $23.95.

For someone who isn't wild about sauces, I suggest the sea bass baked with red onions and balsamic vinegar. It perks up the fish without overwhelming it. And the simple veal chop that arrives tableside is a light, red wine demi-glace jazzed with artichokes, three kinds of mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes for $31.95. The Dover sole, nicely moist, is pristine with just a bit of butter and lemon.

The wine list, not surprisingly, centers on Italian bottles with a nod to California and France. There are 17 by the glass and a welcome assortment of port and dessert wines. Dessert selections include a fruit tart, lemon or mandarin orange sorbet, panna cotta, and zabaglione. The chocolate cake, layered with chocolate and puddled in dark melted chocolate, is dreamy but quite filling.

The service is both formal and friendly, and the wait staff serves and clears from rolling carts, which I find enormously civilized. I wish more places would do it.

Toward the end of the evening, chef Loreti is apt to wander out into the dining room to chat with lingering guests. On our night, we began to talk about good times on the Amalfi coast; and before we knew it, he was gone for a moment and back again with a glass of Lemoncello (the signature liqueur of that beautiful region) for us to sip while we reminisced.

Gianfranco Loreti is the perfect host as well as an exemplary chef.

Ristorante Ciao 835 Fourth Ave. S., Naples. (239) 263-3889. Dinner: Monday through Saturday, 5-10 p.m.; closed Sunday. Credit cards. Reservations accepted. Street parking. Wheelchair accessible.

CHEF CENTRAL

Robert Stuthmann's Penne Messina

Robert Stuthmann, executive chef at Naples' Frascati Italian Restaurant, practically grew up in his grandparents' German deli in New York City, and his subsequent career led him to restaurants throughout the American West. He moved to Florida in the early '90s and has been in Naples for seven years.

Married to Marianne, an accomplished Sicilian cook who won't let her husband near the stove at home, Stuthmann says his personal style of cooking is all about layering flavors for depth and interest. This easy-to-make penne messina is on Frascati's menu. "I like the versatility of this pasta dish," he says. "It makes a great starter, side dish or entree. And it works beautifully on a buffet." Frascati's, 1258 Airport-Pulling Road, Naples. (239) 643-5709.

Penne Messina

(serves four)

2 lbs. cooked penne pasta

2 lbs. thin sliced ripe plum tomato

8 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 5 half-inch cubes

8 oz. fresh sliced mushrooms

12 oz. fresh spinach, cleaned

8 oz. roasted red peppers

2 oz. fresh basil, rough chopped

2 oz. fresh chopped garlic

2 oz. extra virgin olive oil

6 oz. chicken stock or vegetable stock

4 oz. grated Romano cheese

2 oz. white wine

Preheat a large saute pan; add olive oil, and saute garlic, mushrooms, roasted peppers and plum tomatoes. Then add spinach, chopped basil and cooked pasta. Add white wine and stand back-wine may flame. Add chicken stock, Romano cheese and cubed mozzarella; stir until cheeses melt and liquid has reduced.

At Jo-Jo's in the Pink Shell Resort on Fort Myers Beach, you can eat in comfort in an open treetop restaurant shaped like a boat that overlooks the Gulf, the swimming pool and, oh, yes, a big movie screen, too. In the evening, a family-friendly film entertains guests in the swimming pool, at the downstairs bar or inside the restaurant.

The night we ate there, the feature was about a Bengal tiger and a village child who befriends him. The sound system wasn't blaring, so it was possible to hold a conversation at our table for four and ignore the flick. But at the table next door, the little ones were engrossed in the action on the screen while they nibbled French fries and fried grouper.

The restaurant is usually full of families staying at the resort, but after 8:30 the place gets mellower, as local residents arrive to take advantage of the menu, which is varied and reasonable, and the wines, which are hardly marked up at all.

Lighting is fairly bright, floors are concrete and the ceiling is painted sky blue. Brightly decorated surfboards figure prominently into the decor. But for all its breezy attitude, Jo-Jo's food is excellent. Chose from nearly a dozen starters that include the ubiquitous calamari, Buffalo wings and onion rings, but also black bean soup and lemongrass chicken sticks ($7.25). Salads range from a surprisingly tasty Asian chopped to a Caesar or Mediterranean chopped lettuce melange. Entrees average about $18 and include such crowd-pleasers as blackened Mahi-Mahi, grouper or snapper with mango salsa. The ahi tuna is pan-seared with sesame and comes bathed in a ginger soy sauce. A center-cut filet mignon is $26.95; with sides, it's a heartier meal than most can polish off. There are half a dozen entrees each night plus a nightly special or two.

The house-made desserts are tourist-centered: Key lime pie, mango cheesecake, banana-chocolate bread pudding, a molten chocolate cake. The cake is a real winner°Tsmall, dense and packed with intense chocolate flavor. You only need a bite or two to satisfy a sweet tooth.

The spirits list includes frozen tropical refreshers (lots of rum ones), domestic and imported beers, and a limited wine list that favors California and the Pacific Northwest. Most bottles hover around $25. Wine is served in real glasses; fancy fruit drinks and beer come in plastic.

Jo-Jo's is informal fun. Eating high above the beach while a movie is playing should distract children enough to allow their parents to discover that the food at this resort restaurant is fresh, tasty and efficiently served by a young staff that is quick and pleasant. We four adults were well pleased with our experience and would eat at Jo-Jo's again.

Jo-Jo's at the Beach Pink Shell Beach Resort & Spa, 275 Estero Blvd., Fort Myers Beach. (239) 463-6181. Breakfast, lunch and dinner: daily, 7:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Credit cards. Reservations accepted. Self-parking in resort lot or valet. Not wheelchair friendly.

ASK MARSHA

Q. I'm craving a muffaletta. Do you know anyplace that makes one?

A. Crave no more. We found a genuine muffaletta at Jason's Deli. This hearty bread sandwich was invented in 1906 by Salvatore Lupo at his Central Grocery on Decatur Street in New Orleans. The name refers to a type of round Sicilian bread that is crusty on the outside and somewhat hollow on the inside, making room for a stack of meats and cheeses-usually salami, ham, prosciutto and provolone or mortadella. What distinguishes the muffaletta from all other hero- or sub-type sandwiches is a chopped olive salad that tops it all.