Cafe on the Bay to open soon in Matlacha
There will be a new restaurant opening on Matlacha soon. Cafe on the Bay will open in the old Toucan Restaurant location before the end of the year. It is easily spotted by the new mural that covers the front of the building.
The decorative mural was painted by artist Sherri Hart.
Bruce and Deborah Pitts recently rented the building and have been redesigning the interior.
“There was a lot of damage from the fire in May 2012,” Bruce Pitts said. “Much of the interior was lost in the fire and the property owner has basically rebuilt the building.”
After the fire, a story in the Pine Island Eagle noted, ” you can’t tell how bad it is from the outside. The kitchen and restaurant are totally damaged and the second floor, which was storage, is beyond fixing. The ceiling between the first and second floor is hugely damaged.”
Both Bruce and Deborah were born and raised in the Akron, Ohio, area.
“We came to Southwest Florida in 1983,” Pitts said. “We owned a broasted chicken restaurant in the Cape on Del Prado called Cackle Shack for a couple of years and we were here for 15 years. Then we moved to Oregon from 1998 to 2011 where we adopted our daughter, Brianna Rose. We knew we wanted to get back to Southwest Florida and in 2011 we bought a home in Cape Coral. Because we were in the restaurant business before we really wanted to get back into it.”
The Pitts kept an eye on the property since they moved back.
“We were probably among the last customers to come here when it was Toucan’s just before the fire,” Pitts said. “It is a shame that this historic building was damaged so extensively. But we want to bring it back and someday our daughter may take over the restaurant.”
According to Pitts, the building was originally built as a cannery in the 1960s. Sometime in the early 2000s it was opened as Moretti’s Restaurant and was very successful until it was sold around 2009 when it became Toucan’s Restaurant. The restaurant closed after the fire in May 2012 and has been vacant ever since.
The menu for Cafe on the Bay will be centered around “broasting,” a method of cooking chicken and other foods using a pressure fryer. The technique was invented in the 1950s and essentially combines pressure cooking with deep frying. The result is a chicken (or other foods) with sealed-in flavors and less fat from the frying.
“We have purchased special equipment to broast foods correctly,” Pitts said. “There are places that try to duplicate this process but unless you have the right ‘patented’ equipment, it’s just an imitation. Our cookers operate at 14 pounds per square inch at 425 degrees. This instantly seals in flavor and prohibits the oil from going into the food. Much lower fat than frying. The health aspect, the cholesterol aspect the end result is you actually taste chicken not the fat.”
Restoring the property was challenging because of its historic value. Not only did the owner have to meet state and county regulations, but standards established to meet historic regulations. The building had 8-foot ceilings (low for a restaurant) and that was especially problematic when installing a restaurant hood. The hood for the cooking area had to be custom designed and installed with special equipment. Existing doors were removed for historical accuracy if the original plans didn’t show a door in that location.
“Everything about this has been wrapped in red tape from the beginning,” Deborah Pitts said. “The floors have to be ‘floated”‘ because of the sloping floors built for the cannery. We fell in love with the property but had no idea it was going to be this complicated. That being said, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and expect to be open next month.”
The breakfast menu will include “all of the standards:” eggs, Belgian waffles, crepes, homemade cinnamon rolls, homemade biscuits, homemade sausage gravy and several types of omelets.
The restaurant will also have at least three boat slips so people going fishing can stop by and pick up breakfast or lunch. The primary focus for lunch and dinner will be “broasted” meats and fish.
The restaurant can also prepare ribs and other foods with the broasting technique. Plans also include homemade pies and desserts, a coffee bar, homemade ice cream and beer and wine. There will be two windows for takeout. Upstairs there is a full kitchen for private parties, corporate gatherings, and larger groups.
“We think we have the most beautiful setting on the island,” Pitts said. “Soon people can come here end enjoy healthier food, a glass of wine and the sunset. Our sunsets here are spectacular.”