compass || tour
TOUR
NAPLES EAT
FRENCH FLAIR Bleu Provence channels Paris.
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BY FRANK ROFFERS
Bleu Provence, 1234 8th St. S., Naples 239-261-8239 // bleuprovencenaples.com Bleu Provence offers fine dining in a French provincial cottage complete with garden and wine cellar. Jacques and Lysielle Cariot opened the eatery in 1999 after retiring to Naples. The menu reflects the owners’ French heritage with remarkable flair. Lysielle is a master chef creating classics from French onion soup to pan-grilled mussels with garlic and parsley to wild king salmon with creamy horseradish sauce, Provençal vegetables and basmati rice. In 2015, Bleu Provence became the 74th restaurant in the world to receive Wine Spectator’s prestigious Grand Award. Jacques scours the globe in search of the world’s best wines. With more than 30,000 bottles representing 3,000-plus varietals, the Cave is considered one of the state’s most impressive cellars.
GLAM GIVING Cheers to the Naples Winter Wine Festival.
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BY FRANK ROFFERS
Naples Winter Wine Festival napleswinefestival.com
Each January, 300-plus oenophiles congregate in Naples to mingle with celebrity chefs, taste wine with world-class vintners, and give money to the children of Collier County. This year’s Naples Winter Wine Festival kicked off with exclusive dinners held Friday night in some of the city’s most beautiful homes, each featuring a top chef and a remarkable vintner. Throughout the rest of the weekend, guests were treated to culinary artistry from the country’s top talent, including Gary Danko, Curtis Duffy and Richard Reddington. Guests bid on 64 live-auction lots, from exclusive travel experiences to original artwork to limited-edition cars. The highest bid of $750,000 went for a 2016 Rolls-Royce Dawn, designed specifically for the festival. Since the first auction in 2001, the Naples Winter Wine Festival has given $146 million to charities in Collier County. This year’s event raised $11.1 million. Cheers to that.
122 Artful Living
| Magazine of the North
PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY KARL ROUWHORST OF LUMINAIRE FOTO AND PETER FALENCIK
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