Coastal Commerce

Cooking Au Naturel

There’s nothing to be nervous about when you head to the longtime favorite restaurant Nervous Nellie’s in Fort Myers Beach. Owner Rob DeGennaro jokes about how he and his family came up with the name five years ago. “We saw seagulls trying to get a fish away from the pelican, and my daughter said, ‘ What a nervous Nellie he is!’ That bird was acting like a lunatic trying to fight off the seagulls,” explains DeGennaro.

But if he ever wanted to change the name of his waterfront restaurant with those iconic Adirondack chairs, perhaps Au Naturel Nellie’s would be a good fit. “Everything is made from scratch the old- fashioned way,” says DeGennaro. “You can’t compare the taste.” In fact, DeGennaro and the rest of the staff pride themselves not only on creating a relaxing beachy atmosphere with live music and waterfront views of Matanzas Pass and its boat traffic, they also want you to feel good about the food you’re putting inside your body.

“We went hundreds of years back in time,” says DeGennaro. “We started cutting our own meats, our own fish and growing our own spices.” It’s almost like Little House on the Prairie meets Top Chef.

DeGennaro and his family are no strangers to the restaurant biz. This Wayne, New Jersey, native has spent decades owning and operating other restaurants, including numerous ones in Maine and also several right here in Southwest Florida— The Island Cow, Hungry Heron and Captiva Art Cafe.

Nellie’s is not a one- size- fits- all eatery; in fact, the restaurant aims to please all tastes and palates. ( Did I mention gator bites are on the menu?) “You could come in and get everything from a hamburger and salad and right up to a lobster and a steak dinner,” says DeGennaro.

But with such a diverse menu, cooking without preservatives presents its fair share of challenges. “It’s definitely more costly to prepare your food from scratch than buying frozen products and dropping them in the fryer,” explains DeGennaro. “For example, we take a log of mozzarella, harden it up and cut into just the pieces we need, and then bread it to order. Everything is made from scratch— no hormones, no antibiotics— whenever we can.”

“WE WENT HUNDREDS OF YEARS BACK IN TIME. WE STARTED CUTTING OUR OWN MEATS, OUR OWN FISH AND GROWING OUR OWN SPICES.”

— ROB DEGENNARO, OWNER OF NERVOUS NELLIE’S

Among those who put all- natural ingredients to good use is head baker Kate Orzel. The Brooklyn native has been with Nervous Nellie’s since its inception. “We come in, mix our own breads, do the rising, the shaping and the baking up,” she explains. Baking truly is a labor of love for Orzel. She gets into work at 11 p. m. and doesn’t leave until 8 a. m. at the earliest. If it’s season, she may need to stay longer.

“I grew up with my mom making her own breads and selling them. You could say it’s in my blood. There’s something very nice about working with a live product. You’re able to see the results. There’s a certain amount of instant gratification … It looks wonderful, it smells wonderful, it tastes wonderful … It just makes you feel good.”

Orzel loves working with the natural ingredients, but admits, it does make her job a little more challenging in terms of how long her creations stay fresh. “We don’t work with any stabilizer or preservative,” she explains. “It doesn’t last that long. It basically needs to be eaten same day. It’s kind of sad to throw “the babies” out the next day.”

For Orzel, all the hard work is worth it because she knows that her customers are eating food that is good for them and free of chemicals. “I don’t see the faces all that often. I get a

certain amount of secondhand feedback from the servers and bartenders. Usually it’s just ‘ They love their breads.’ I run into people at the grocery store and their faces just light up. ‘ Oh, that’s your stuff. Oh, I love your breads.’”

It’s not just the baked goods customers rave about. Just a quick glance at the Nervous Nellie’s Facebook page will show you a landscape of devotees, some as far away as out West. One person wrote: “I’m craving some more gator bites. Too bad we are back home in Colorado now. Till next time!”

And for DeGennaro, that customer satisfaction is what it’s all about. The restaurant is armed with plenty of regulars, many who frequent the place at least a few times each week.

“We have a marina behind us, we’re waterfront, boats are coming in and out. It makes for a good staycation. You don’t even need to leave town, and you feel like you’re on vacation, ” he explains.

“When you start with a good product like fresh fish and fresh bread, you can’t ruin it,” he says about the success of his restaurant. “It takes a lot to ruin a good product … When you’re cutting your own meat, you’re cutting your own fish, and you’re baking your own bread, that’s a pretty damn good start.”

DEGENNARO AND THE REST OF THE STAFF PRIDE THEMSELVES NOT ONLY ON CREATING A RELAXING BEACHY ATMOSPHERE WITH LIVE MUSIC AND WATERFRONT VIEWS OF MATANZAS PASS AND ITS BOAT TRAFFIC, THEY ALSO WANT YOU TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT THE FOOD YOU’RE PUTTING INSIDE YOUR BODY.

Nervous Nellie’s Fort Myers Beach Waterfront Restaurant and the upstairs Ugly’s Waterside Bar are located at 1131 First St., Fort Myers Beach. For more information, call 239- 463- 8077 or visit nervousnellies. net.

Whether drinking a rum concoction at the bar, watching boat traffic from the waterfront patio or buying a T- shirt, a visit to Nervous Nellie’s is a quintessential Southwest Florida experience.

With its fun colors, funky signage and Adirondack chairs, Nervous Nellie’s stands out on First Street in Fort Myers Beach.

From left: Head baker Kate Orzel works through the night so diners can indulge in her fresh- from- the- oven breads; owner Rob DeGennaro found the perfect setting for Nervous Nellie’s on Matanzas Pass.