Catch 41 Bar “n” Grill is a restaurant located in the Ramada Inn in Naples, Florida. As of this writing, Catch 41 has been open for about one week. The Executive Chef is David Lani, who was kind enough to invite me and a dining companion to sample some of the items served there.
(L-R) Executive Chef David Lani; Owners Heather Leek, Lawrence Merlino and Samantha Leek
David has been in some very good kitchens, and was happy to tell us a bit about it.
After working at La Côte Basque as a Poissonnier (cook of fish and shellfish and their sauces) David attended the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, NY. This included an internship for celebrity chef David Burke at Park Avenue Cafe. He then moved on to Aureole at Mandalay Bay and Postrio at The Venetian in Las Vegas run by chefs Charlie Palmer and Wolfgang Puck, respectively.
After furthering his business skills as Executive Chef of Aramark, a global food service corporation, Chef Lani undertook an entrepreneurial venture as Executive Chef of Skinnyfats. Skinnyfats was a unique restaurant concept, with items that were 150 calories or up to 10 times that on the menu.
Having moved to Naples, David developed the initial menu at 7th Avenue Social, winning numerous accolades for both himself and the restaurant. Now at Catch 41, I think he has incorporated bits and pieces of these experiences into the restaurant’s menu. One of Catch 41’s concepts is quality food at reasonable prices. I could not wait to try some of the establishment’s fare.
The restaurant has a nice indoor dining and bar area. Even better is the outdoor seating poolside, perfect in the winter months.
Fried burrata in Puttanesca sauce
The first thing served was a recent signature dish, fried burrata in Puttanesca sauce accented with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. The flavors and textures of this dish almost hit you over the head with the cast iron frying pan it is served in. This was a lovely dish; comfort food to the nth power.
Catch 41 smokes meats in house. My dining companion and I sampled the in house cherry wood-smoked ribs with a bourbon barbecue glaze. Tender and falling off the bone, the ribs were nicely complemented by garlic Hawaiian rolls to seal the deal. Another very good menu item.
More comfort food was next. Multi-grain bread was topped with spreadable Brie cheese, an avocado shmear, pastrami smoked salmon, poached egg, capers and a jalapeno Hollandaise sauce. Terrific, terrific, terrific; another wonderful meld of flavors and textures.
Deviled egg trio
An appetizer followed, deviled eggs in 3 “flavors”—Maple bacon, spicy crab-flying fish roe and white truffle-chive. These were also “egg” cellent in both appearance, texture and flavor. If you are an egg lover, this is a must order!
Despite the threat of acute hyperglycemia at this point, we sampled a bit more of Catch 41’s menu items.
The steamed bao bun trio was very good. Wild mushroom-hoisin, shrimp-kimchi and bourbon bbq-glazed pork belly with garlic aioli were the three fillings for this dish. There is something here for everybody. One caveat, this dish was hard to share. If you have this in mind, order two!
Ceviche duo
After appetizers and mains we devoured a ceviche duo. This was the kitchen’s take on a Caribbean-style ceviche (shrimp) in a sweet tomato cocktail sauce and a traditional Peruvian style ceviche (mahi/shrimp) in a more citrus/cilantro base. Separated by perfectly ripened avocado slices, these dish was terrific and served with house made tortilla chips. If you are a ceviche lover, this dish is for you.
We finally finished with a strawberry shortcake cheesecake which was remarkable.
Catch 41 also serve a number of craft drinks. In house made lemonade and a key lime martini were two of the items we sampled. The latter was made from vanilla vodka, coconut milk and lime, finished with graham cracker crumbs on the rim of the martini glass.
The food sampled at Catch 41 is both unique to the area and for the most part, excellent. Chef Lani and crew have seemed to perfect the notion of “comfort food”. The food served to us on our visit was aesthetically and texturally appealing, the likes of which hard to come by, if at, all locally.
As an added plus, most menu items can be had for under twenty dollars. I consider their prices to be a great value compared to other local establishments for foods of this caliber.
Catch 41 is a real winner on the local food scene. I cannot wait to go back and hope readers will dine here. The food served at this establishment will not disappoint both in price and quality.
There are also good happy hour specials in addition to entertainment.
