Sails Restaurant

NAPLES’ NEWEST FINE DINING RESTAURANT HAS raised the bar significantly for gourmet cuisine and service on Southwest Florida’s Platinum Coast, providing a world class experience with flawless service and attention to every detail. Sails evokes the sense of a private luxury yacht cruising the most fashionable ports in the Mediterranean, with a seasoned international staff and renowned Chef Jacob Jasinski, who hails from The Ocean House in Westerly, Rhode Island, a five-star Relais & Chateaux property at the helm.

Just steps from the powder white sand beaches of the Gulf of Mexico, on fashionable 5th Avenue is your new favorite Naples dining destination. “Where Port Royal meets Portofino, breezily transporting you to the good life, only better” is Sails’ motto, referencing the uber-exclusive Port Royal neighborhood of Naples, home to some of Florida’s priciest real estate, and the famous resort of Portofino on the Italian Riviera.

pastas, executed to al dente perfection, Kobé beef delicacies and crisp salads are peppered with pristine, heirloom ingredients from local organic farmers. At Sails, warm, professional, old-world hospitality meets beach chic décor, creating elegantly relaxed surroundings delighting every sense. Choose from a global list of wines with imaginative pairings conducive to leisurely sipping and exploring. The experience calls to mind the best of Santorini, Positano, and Portofino.

Sails’ Executive Chef Jacob Jasinski’s name is synonymous with excellence among well-heeled New Englanders as one of its region’s most innovative seafood chefs, where he was top toque at Seasons, the acclaimed restaurant at Ocean House in Westerly, RI, where he elevated the landmark Relais & Chateaux property’s fine-dining venue to a 2017 Forbes Five-Star award winner.

Passionate about procuring the best ingredients, Chef Jacob is delighted to be in Naples. “I’ve always sourced my ingredients locally and daily, relying on Mother Nature and her seas to determine what’s best.” Be it fresh seafood, steak, lamb, or fowl, and a selection of wagyu beef imported from Australia.

Throughout his culinary career, which includes positions at prestigious gastronomic destinations Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas, Maine’s White Barn Inn, Newport’s Castle Hill Inn, and the former Ritz-Carlton Buckhead, Chef Jacob lets his recipes evolve from one day to the next, combining the freshest seasonal ingredients with classical techniques he honed at Michelin-starred properties in France and Italy. .

Owners Veljko Pavicevic and Corinne Ryan bring years of experience and dedication to Sails Restaurant. Veljko is a multi-faceted entrepreneur, co-founder and GM of Sails, which opened in December 2017, is an in-demand hospitality consultant whose expertise lies in improving bottom-line results through staff motivation, teaching hoteliers and restaurateurs techniques of increasing customer satisfaction through superior service. Warm hospitality is part of Veljko’s disposition: he grew up in Serbia, renowned as the “Land of Hospitality”, a very social culture whose residents often aspire to open restaurants as a personal showcase of welcoming ambiance complemented with an abundance of deliciousness served during a multitude of courses. Summers spent on Montenegro’s coastline with his grandmother nurtured his interest in cooking and being treated as a VIP because everyone entering her home was treated like royalty.

Veljko first visited America as a teenager, spending 1997 as an exchange student at Naples High School, forging strong relationships within the community that eventually led him back. Four years later, Veljko returned to the states, this time for a summer-exchange program, where his athletic prowess led to a swimming instructor post in Battery Park for New York City’s Parks and Recreation. Arriving with $400 in his pocket, he had two goals: saving enough money to put himself through college in the US plus capital to launch his own business. Within his first week, Veljko landed a second job as an opening-team server at Compass, anUpper West Side eatery, resulting in 18-hour workdays,7 days a week. Working to achieve his goals, Veljko amassed enough funds that summer to stay; with fond memories of Naples always on his mind, he returned, completing his Bachelor’s degree at Florida Gulf CoastUniversity and working full-time at Syrah. While serving guests from The Ritz-Carlton executive team, he was selected to work at Artisans, the property’s five-star fine-dining restaurant. During his tenure, he quickly rose through management ranks via his highly-honed insight for anticipating guests’ needs and preferences; dedication to customer service; plus effortless communications skills necessary to coach colleagues.

I’ve always sourced my ingredients locally and daily, relying on Mother Nature and her seas to determine what’s best.”

In 2009 Veljko left The Ritz-Carlton to create his hospitality consultancy; concurrently, he founded Global Link, LLC, a multinational logistics company tapping into his international network. Through this position, he connected with entrepreneur Corinne Ryan in 2014 while working for a mutual Korean client. Corinne and Veljko quickly discovered a shared passion for exploring restaurants around the world; to date, they’ve ventured on more than 20 trips together spanning five continents. Their complimentary talents led to partnering on Sails, a restaurant destined to become the crown jewel of fine dining in Naples.

Veljko’s passionate dedication to tactile and visual details, when combined with his stop-at-nothing nature, is showcased through his sourcing of — and frequent visits to — Europe’s most brilliant master craftsmen responsible for hand-making the restaurant’s elegant accoutrements like handmade wine cabinets, Italian-made furniture, white marble bar from Greece, resulting in an elegant, comfortable environment.

Corinne Ryan, co-founder of Sails, is among a handful of the world’s top food brokers, one of the trading industry’s few women atop this field, which requires incorporating hospitality to build and maintain professional relationships. She is also a visionary creator and producer behind several of her industry’s most prestigious events, most notably, a memorable race around Auckland (NZ) Harbor featuring a select fleet of America’s Cup yachts, followed by a celebratory feast of fine food and wine.

Corinne’s connections have led her to the best local, national and international purveyors and the world’s finest ingredients. Few understand the day boat-to-table concept like Corinne: in her role, Corinne negotiates trades, forging connections for global suppliers, wholesalers, and retailers. Corinne’s work travel has taken her to 44 countries over six continents, where dining with clients at the world’s top restaurants. These journeys, coupled with her independent adventures and travels with co-founder Veljko, inspired Sails.

Born in New Zealand, and raised in Sydney, Australia, Corinne grew up in Sydney, worked for her parents’ importing company developing skills in merchandising and packaging. With 10 years’ work experience under her belt by the time she finished high school, she skipped university and entered the corporate world for Australia’s biggest meat importer-exporter-distributor, rising through its ranks in accounting, logistics, and documentation. Tapping her myriad talents, Corinne moved to Colorado for new business opportunities, where she spent six years expanding her company’s distribution while enjoying the ski slopes of Vail and Beaver Creek. In 2010, Corinne was appointed to create and lead a competitor’s US team, before coming to Naples.

See you in Naples, Florida, home to beautiful beaches, gorgeous sunsets, beautiful tropical landscaping, exquisite neighborhoods, upscale shopping, numerous recreational activities, delicious food, and a sophisticated, yet laid-back vibe. ¨

For more information about Sails Restaurant, visit www.sailsrestaurants.com and for more information about Fred Bollaci, or to order his book, “The Restaurant Diet,” which features recipes from 100 top restaurants nationwide, visit www.fredbollacienterprises.com, or Amazon.com

Written by Fred Bollaci • Photography by Samantha Bloom