Southwest Florida culinary legend and Sage on 47th proprietor Ralph Centalonza eats there. He is additionally made by certainly one of our favourite native cooks, John Hill of Collect and Subsequent Door. And Annabelle Tometich, former JLB extraordinaire, has really helpful it for years.
And it is our decide for Lee County’s Finest Restaurant in 2023.
We’re speaking about Liberty, a magical four half of yr outdated place in south Fort Myers.
That is to not say it hasn’t all the time been fabulous.
Chef and proprietor Bob Boye opened this intimate 30-seat house in August 2019 in Pinebrook Park, close to Bell Tower.
“Again then, we had been anticipating 15 on a Friday evening,” Richee Boye, Bob’s cousin and Liberty’s chef, mentioned just lately on a bustling Thursday evening. “We have come a great distance.”
A part of Liberty’s attraction is the speakeasy really feel it offers off. With none apparent signage, I wander alongside the old style buying heart till I see the restaurant’s title written in vinyl letters on certainly one of its two glass doorways.
Inside, calm reigns as you compromise into the stool that will likely be all yours for the subsequent few hours. When making reservations (as you need to/ought to), I’d go for one of many 10 seats on the kitchen desk relatively than a desk (which is nice for quiet dates or teams of three or 4).
And if you happen to’re fortunate—so fortunate!—you will discover your title badge someplace on the counter, exhibiting you precisely the place you belong, only a brief distance from the open kitchen the place the Boyes do their work. The Liberty kitchen is the place every part occurs in a busy however completely orchestrated method. The place cooks personally ship their creations on the proper time. The place you’ll study extra about flavors, textures, and culinary goodness than you thought doable.
A menu of small plates to share.
Liberty is all about shareable small plates with sudden, colourful and artfully organized culinary mixtures.
Whereas the hungriest of the hungry can eat all the menu of roughly 16 dishes (a aim I aspire to), most are nice with three or 4 of the dishes.
The menu, offered on a single sheet of paper, options dishes written on a bingo-style grid of 4 rows with 4 containers every.
Lighter dishes normally seem within the first row, adopted by starches within the second, proteins and primary dishes within the third, and at last the fourth row, please save room for dessert.
Each dish, each mixture you order, will likely be a winner.
The order during which you obtain these objects might be as random (or is it?) as in a sport of bingo.
The Parisian gnocchi from the primary row (bitter and spicy clouds of pleasure that had us shamelessly scraping each final chunk) got here subsequent from the second row, a “Caesar” broccolini with enjoyable mixtures of spicy bacon and sourdough, crunchy and creamy, tender and textured. .
Subsequent got here the hen thigh pintxos with tandoori flavors that appeared as scrumptious as they tasted. That got here earlier than (or was after) the pink shrimp, coconut curry with cauliflower, chili oil and pickled pineapple that even I, a fan of heat curry, could not get sufficient of.
Different wonders of the evening included an Iberian pork shoulder that’s “good and straightforward.”
“It is the only however everybody’s favourite,” mentioned Richee because it melted in our mouths.
And the two-bite black garlic beef tacos (with shells made in pork fats!) that we savor in 4 bites to make them last more.
Do not skip dessert
As for desserts, we had been so glad we saved room for the Buttermilk Cake with Nutmeg, Apple, and Guava. Richee served it with the creamiest, creamiest home made Cinnamon Toast Crunch ice cream (they’ve an ice cream maker!).
Some or all of those scrumptious dishes we ate final week might be barely or very totally different this week.
“It is actually about what we get again, what concepts we’ve,” Richee mentioned. “When inspiration strikes, we make aware modifications. As a substitute of making a very new menu, we now modify it. I am pleased with the place we are actually. However there’s all the time room for enchancment. “There may be all the time one thing to work on.”
And we will not wait to attempt what’s subsequent.
Freedom
12995 S Cleveland Ave., Suite 112, Fort Myers
Worth: $$-$$$ (small plates vary from $12 to $26)
Name: (239) 689-5528
Hours: 5:15-Eight:30 pm Wednesday to Saturday
Net: eatliberty.us
Restaurant Information:Nevermind Superior Bar & Eatery to Reopen in Surprising Cape Coral Location
Pattern menu
Parisian gnocchi, $15
Steak tartare, $16
Celery root lasagna, $14
Honey Aged Duck Breast, $25
Iberian pork shoulder, $26
Buttermilk Pie, $9
*Menu, hours and costs topic to alter.
What do the symbols imply?
$: The common entree prices lower than $15
$$: $15-$25
$$$: $25-$35
$$$$: $35-$45
$$$$$: $45 and up
Jean Le Boeuf is the model below which our restaurant critics have been writing for greater than 40 years. This text comes from employees author Robyn George. Join: rhgeorge@gannett.com.