Locals don't have to check into The Ritz in order to check out the new sushi bar

Sushi a treat at The Ritz

One of the perks of living in Southwest Florida is having two Ritz-Carltons in your own back yard. While it's nice to spend a few days at either one and play tourist, you needn't invest that much time and money to enjoy their sumptuous ambience and worldclass service.

I recently spent a delightful and delicious evening at the beach resort's new sushi bar and can heartily recommend it as a restorative therapy.

The existing bar has been re-engineered to give it a Japanese flair, with delicate parasols twirling from the ceilings, a 150-gallon fish tank behind a well-appointed glassencased sushi bar and decorative rice jars lining shelves along one wall.

The menu isn't large, but it has clearly been crafted with the high level of creativity one expects from The Ritz. Take, for example, the cilantro jalapeno roll, which consists of marinated snapper, cilantro leaves, jalapeno and wasabi tobiko; or the saki maguro roll, which contains salmon, tuna, shiso leaf and sesame seeds. I particularly liked the sunset roll, with crabmeat, green bean, orange zest, masago and tobiko, along with the exceptional squid salad. Individual pieces of sushi, tempura, and other salads (octopus and wakame) are available, too.

The Ritz-Carlton, Naples, Sushi Bar. COURTESY PHOTO Sake lovers may choose from five premium varieties. There are also Japanese beers and elegant cocktails such as a guava Collins, Asian pear martini or the Tokyo sling.

The Ritz is at 280 Vanderbilt Beach Road.

Naples Tomato keeps evolving

Naples Tomato continues to reinvent itself. The innovative restaurant recently added a mozzarella bar, where customers can sample multiple types of this delicate cheese, including some made fresh by pasta Chef Pete Moore. On May 16, customers can try their own hand at crafting it during a cheese-making class.

The restaurant also plans to add tapas to its lineup on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting right after Mother's Day (which is May 12). Have it at the regular tables or communally in the Sunroom.

If you're a fan of Naples Tomato but haven't registered to be on The List, its e-mail newsletter, here are a couple of reasons why you should do so post haste:

•To help customers during tough economic times, Naples Tomato recently offered those who receive The List a discounted meal. Customers were invited to visit the restaurant the week after Easter and dine at a discount that equaled the percentage they have lost on investments. If, for example, their portfolio was down by 30 percent, they could request a 30 percent discount on their entrees. And it was all on the honor system, no documents required.

•This summer, there's another substantial discount available Sundays through Thursdays to those who receive The List. I won't tell you the specifics. You have to sign up for that. Naples Tomato is at 14700 Tamiami Trail N. Call 598-9800 or visit online at www.naplestomato.com.

Bamboo Café caters to wine lovers

The term "bottle shock" generally refers to the unsettled state of wine when it's transferred from cask to bottle, but it's also the name of a 2008 movie about a 1976 blind tasting in Paris that forever changed the way the world viewed California wine.

Bamboo Café will show "Bottle Shock" while serving a three-course meal and, of course, wine tonight (Thursday, April 30). Reserve a spot by calling 643-6177. The restaurant is at 755 12th Ave. South.

Wine lovers will also welcome the news that the restaurant will waive corkage fees throughout the month of May. Take a bottle, or two, of your favorite wine and enjoy home-style French fare at the café.

Summer wine special on tap

The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort offers all 750ml bottles of wine for half price at Lemonia from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays through July 31. The offer does not apply to private dinners, special events or holidays. The resort is at 2600 Tiburon Drive. Call 598-6644 for reservations.

Naples Originals has comfort food

The Naples Originals, 38 independent, locally owned restaurants, will stage a specially themed week once a month through October. The first, set for May 18-24, will feature comfort foods, with each restaurant offering a three-course menu of feel-good foods that week.

"What better to soothe the battered consumer than nourishing food served in a nurturing environment, surrounded by friends and family," says Lisa Boet, Naples Originals president and founder. "Each of our restaurants will feature dishes that produce the contentment of a warm hug or fond childhood memory, with creative renditions of homemade soup or gourmet grilled cheese, fancy mac 'n' cheese or pot roast, pasta with a rich sauce or a simmering made-from-scratch stew. The possibilities are as varied as our restaurants."

During Comfort Food Restaurant Week, three-course menus will be priced at $10 for lunch, and $15, $20 or $25 for dinner, depending on the restaurant.

Check out the group's Web site — www. naplesoriginals.com — to see the member restaurants and their menus.

Angelina's slashes wine prices

In celebration of its first birthday, Angelina's is offering some impressive half-price specials. All bottles of wine priced at $150 or less are half price. In addition, all appetizers and flatbreads are half price when ordered in the lounge. The restaurant also offers a three-course prix fixe menu for $27.50.

Angelina's International Wine Dinner Series continues in May with a Mediterranean theme. Wines and dishes will come from Spain, Italy and France. Highlights include: cherry wood-smoked duck breast with warm chorizo and potato salad and almond and manchego relish paired with Numanthia-Termes Tinta de Toro 2006, a 100 percent tempranillo wine with a 93 rating from Wine Spectator; and herbroasted chateaubriand with cocoa-truffle carrot gratin, pommes noisette and foie gras-Madeira jus paired with 2004 Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2004, rated 94 on Wine Spectator and ranked 20 in the magazine's 2007 list of the year's top 100 wines.

Future dinners are as follows: June 24, South American wines; July 29, French wines; Sept. 23, Italian wines; and Oct. 28, American wines.

The dinners are $89 each, but those who purchase two pay only $59 for a third one. Angelina's is at 24041 S. Tamiami Trail, Bonita Springs. Call 390-3187.

Restaurants offering prix fixe

Ridgway Bar & Grill now offers a threecourse menu for $24. Start with a field green or Caesar salad, followed by one of five entrees (sautéed salmon, sliced hanging tender steak, herb-roasted chicken, fettuccine pomodoro or lump crab cake) with Truffles' original carrot cake for dessert. An 18 percent gratuity will be added to the bill. Ridgway is at 1300 Third St. South. Call 262-5500.

Roy's restaurants offer a three-course prix fixe meal for $35. The spring menu features a choice of three appetizers (crispy vegetable spring roll, tamarind glazed salmon or curry citrus shrimp), four entrees (pecan-crusted spring trout, sage and thyme roasted double chicken breast, Pulehu style sirloin and Maui onion jus or mojo grilled pork chops) and two desserts (Anakalia's passion, which is an orange and lemon cake, or Roy's melting hot chocolate soufflé). The price excludes tax and gratuity. Roy's Bonita Springs is at 26831 S. Bay Drive. Call 498-7697. Roy's Naples is at 475 Bayfront Place. Call 261-1416.