Turkey with goat. -GRUMPY GOAT / COURTESY PHOTO
Grumpy Goat gets social
Add some local flavor to your holiday table or get some of your gift shopping done during Grumpy Goat Coffee’s Thanksgiving Sips & Bites tasting event, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, at the coffee company’s Bonita Springs roastery.
The free event is open to everyone. Those who attend can meet the master coffee roaster along with other local food and beverage artisans and sample their offerings in a casual setting.
Among the exhibitors will be The Hoppy Homestead, with fresh-baked sourdough products; Kristi’s Key Lime Cookies; Olde Naples Chocolate; Pansardo, an Italian deli; Liberty Cove Interiors, a design firm specializing in kitchens and baths. AEON Regenerative and Aesthetic Medicine will sponsor the wine. 28280 Old 41 Road, Unit 11, Bonita Springs; grumpygoat.com.
Tulia Italian Steak opens at the previous French location
Tulia Italian Steak – Steak – Australian Wagyu New York Strip. -COURTESY PHOTO
In just two months – essentially a nanosecond in restaurant time – restaurateur/chef Vincenzo Betulia transformed his casually stylish French Brasserie Rustique into the elegant Tulia Italian Steak.
It becomes the fourth restaurant of the Campagna Hospitality Group, along with Osteria Tulia, and the Bars Tulia on Fifth Avenue and at Mercato.
The décor feels rich and nostalgic – red flocked wallpaper, deep velvet banquettes, barrel chairs and intimate dining alcoves encourage diners to settle in. The service team, dressed in crisp black uniforms, is as polished as the ambience.
Then there’s the food, the creation of Executive Chef Benoit Valota and Mr. Betulia. The menu demonstrates their commitment to fresh, carefully sourced ingredients, made-from-scratch preparation and an understanding that we eat first with our eyes and nose before taking a bite.
I had the opportunity to sample the new menu a few days after the restaurant opened.
Steak may be the star here, but the supporting cast deserves recognition, too.
The minestrone, for example, is comfort in a bowl, chock full of fresh vegetables, Tuscan beans and Parmigiano. The roasted beetroot salad resembled an intricately designed abstract sculpture, a colorful mélange of red and gold beets, breakfast radishes, feta, dill, wood-roasted eggplant-ceci crema and pistachio pesto. Also worthy of mention: the tender, house-made rosemary focaccia served with whipped Tuscan beans and roasted garlic.
The house-made agnolotti del plin – little pasta pockets filled with braised beef short rib, bathed in rich veal jus, Umbrian black truffle taleggio fonduta and 24-month aged Parmigiano Reggiano – is a taste and textural party for the palate. (Half portions are available, too.)
As befits a steakhouse, the beef options are varied and brawny. Choose from meat raised in the United States, Australia or Japan, 4 ounces to 40 ounces. That includes the richly flavored bavette steak, a thin but flavorful cut, or a 24-ounce bone-in ribeye. The 8-ounce Australian filet mignon was moist and had a delicate flavor that partnered perfectly with butter-laden whipped potatoes.
There’s red snapper and Faroe Island salmon, roasted chicken breast and heritage pork chops, all composed with the same intentionality as the steaks. Also available: traditional caviar service, steak tartare, and, in deference to fans of The French, baked onion soup.
The wine program that won The French a 2025 Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence, the second of three tiers, retains that coveted designation because the restaurant remains in the same hands and has the same beverage director, Marcello Palazzi.
We haven’t even talked about the cocktails with Italian touches, the oh-so-comfortable lounge or dessert. Check them out for yourselves.
Mr. Betulia is excited about the new concept.
“The French had an incredible 8-year run,” he says. “It was just time for a change.”
Covid affected the restaurant business, he says. “Costs are up; the workforce is down. People get bored. I just felt Fifth needed it.”
To fans of The French, he offers this hopeful tidbit: “The French will resurrect as a bistro. I want it to be smaller, feel more intimate, more cozy.”
No word yet on a location. He says he’s focusing on getting the steakhouse up and running first. 365 Fifth Ave. South; 239-315-4019; tuliaitaliansteak.com.
Send news to news@floridaweekly.com .
Dining and Cooking