Best Bite
Crispy Duck with Butternut Squash Purée at Mereday’s Fine Dining
Chef Mereday’s flavorful duck is slow-cooked, seared and then served boneless with impeccably crispy skin. Heirloom varietal beets sourced from The Chef’s Garden in Ohio are accented by a creamy purée of fresh-picked butternut squash and garnished with tartly sweet blackberries. A ginger gastrique unites the savory elements in a richly sensual balance of sour, spicy and sweet. Mereday’s Fine Dining, The Shoppes at Naples Bay Resort, 1500 Fifth Ave. S., Naples, 732-0784, meredaysnaples.com
—Ivan Seligman
Bottoms Up
Bloody Passion Martini at Blu Sushi
Although Blu Sushi created the Bloody Passion Martini—with Skyy Passion Fruit vodka, blood orange purée and Florida orange bitters, for Halloween—we think it fits perfect with November’s big holiday; Thanksgiving. With sage-infused simple syrup and Canton Ginger liquer, the flavors of the season are in full effect. “The sage and Canton Ginger provide a ‘I can’t put my finger on it’ complexity that cocktail enthusiasts will love,” says manager Alex King. And readers can get $1 off by mentioning they saw it here in Gulfshore Life.
—Jonathan Foerster
