Who’s up for a brief food-history lesson? Centuries ago when hungry travelers yearned for beef stew or chicken pot pie, there was no bones about it—innkeepers dished out meals to those who were sheltered under their roofs. But if locals around the corner felt like shaking up their routine with a meal out-of-doors, they had to mind their peas and carrots because the modern concept of a restaurant simply did not exist. Then, on the streets of Paris in the mid-1700s, the world’s first true restaurant emerged. It advertised itself as being in the trade of “restoratives,” soups and other concoctions to give strength and vigor—or so the story goes on the menu of Restoratives Café in Estero (which took its lead from Larousse Gastronomique, a French Bible of cookery). Here on the Paradise Coast, both visitors and residents can expect to put a spring in their daily step if that day were to start off with one of Restoratives’ cinnamon rolls. The pillowy swirls are the owner’s grandmother’s recipe, baked fresh and smothered in gooey, sugar-loaded frosting. They’re not going to win first prize at a beauty pageant (I won’t write what raced through my mind when I saw one on a plate), but if you’re in the neighborhood of Coconut Point and Miromar Outlets and jonesing for a morning sweet-fix, they will certainly get high marks. Also on offer are build-your-own omelets, breakfast sandwiches and the other house specialty, biscuits and sausage gravy. Breakfast is served all day (hooray!)—well, until the doors close at 3 p.m.—and the cute little café also dishes up lunch with, yes, invigorating soups, plus a smattering of sandwiches and salads. If looking for something hearty, definitely go for the Snake Bite Cheddar, a decadently thick, core-warming beer cheese soup with Guinness and hard cider (the “bite”). It has more liquefied cheddar than one should probably be allowed to eat to maintain a clean bill of health, but indulgences every once in a while are a-okay. Just ask those first hungry customers happy to happen upon on the original “restoratives” back in the 18th century.
