Sea Salt Restaurant, the acclaimed Naples dining destination created by Chef-Owner Fabrizio Aielli, will close during August 2026 to complete a transformative renovation designed to elevate every aspect of the guest experience. The extensive enhancement project will introduce refined architectural elements, new furnishings, and a striking artistic centerpiece inspired by Aielli's Venetian heritage, further reinforcing Sea Salt's reputation as one of Southwest Florida's most distinctive culinary destinations.For more than a decade, Sea Salt has been recognized for its innovative cuisine, exceptional hospitality, and commitment to creating memorable dining experiences. The upcoming renovation reflects Chef Aielli's ongoing vision of blending world-class food, design, and culture into a seamless expression of Italian-inspired hospitality.

At the center of the transformation will be Magical Venice, a monumental 36-foot-long canvas created exclusively for Sea Salt by internationally acclaimed artist Yankel Ginzburg. Believed to be the largest indoor canvas painting currently on public display in Naples, Florida, the work will serve as a dramatic backdrop to the restaurant's renewed dining environment.

A native of Venice, Aielli invited his longtime friend and celebrated artist Ginzburg to create a visual tribute to the city that continues to influence his culinary philosophy. Rendered in Ginzburg's signature style, Magical Venice captures the romance, mystery, and beauty of Venice through its iconic canals, bridges, palazzos, gondolas, and shimmering waterways. The result is an immersive work that evokes the same sense of discovery and wonder that guests experience through Sea Salt's cuisine.

The renovation is designed not simply to refresh the restaurant, but to deepen the connection between food, culture, and place. Much like Aielli's menus draw inspiration from the traditions and flavors of Italy while embracing creativity and innovation, the new interior will surround guests with an atmosphere that reflects the elegance, artistry, and spirit of Venice.

Ginzburg's work has been exhibited internationally and is represented in collections throughout the United States, Europe, Russia, Israel, and Asia, including exhibitions and projects associated with cities such as Washington, New York, Moscow, Venice, and Hong Kong. His commission for Sea Salt continues a distinguished artistic career spanning more than six decades.

When Sea Salt reopens following its August renovation, guests will encounter a reimagined dining experience where exceptional cuisine, thoughtful design, and fine art converge. Anchored by Magical Venice, the restaurant will offer visitors an opportunity to experience the essence of Venice through its flavors, hospitality, and atmosphere—creating a destination where every meal becomes a journey.

"At Sea Salt, dining has always been about more than food," said Aielli. "This renovation allows us to further connect our cuisine with the culture, beauty, and spirit of Venice. Venetian Fantasy is not simply a work of art—it is part of the experience, inviting guests to immerse themselves in the world that continues to inspire everything we do."

Sea Salt in Naples, Florida, has been honored with the 2025 Best of Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator. This prestigious award recognizes the restaurant's dedication to a high-quality, comprehensive wine list, featuring excellent breadth and thematic depth. Check out one of the world's leading wine lists—a 2025 winner of a Wine Spectator Restaurant Award for its dedication to wine!

In Southwest Florida’s culinary landscape, where catching stone crabs at sunset pairs naturally with holiday gatherings, three celebrated chefs have distilled more than a century of expertise into volumes that transcend typical kitchen guides. Whether it’s your first time bringing a side dish to a family gathering, assembling an entire menu or looking for a gustatory gift for a culinary friend, these cookbooks from Fabrizio Aielli, Tony Ridgway and Jeanie Roland offer technical mastery shaped by decades of professional experience.

Fabrizio Aielli, chef and owner of iconic Naples restaurants Sea Salt, Barbatella, Dorona and Grappino, knows that a dish made from the heart cannot be duplicated. Food is personal and cooking is a fluid process. That’s why Fabrizio created Sea Salt as a roadmap rather than a rule book. “The cookbook is a good guide, good direction on how to create something, but you’ve got to have the flexibility to adjust your recipes,” the chef says. He compares cooking to getting dressed, both mandatory activities dependent on contingencies and guided by personal taste. The book’s roast chicken exemplifies his philosophy, with a recipe meant to be adjusted and expanded upon, preferably with a glass of wine in hand.

When successful restaurateurs Fabrizio and Ingrid Aielli relocated to Naples 16 years ago, they planned to retire. Their resolve to slow down was short-lived, however, lasting only about six months. Fabrizio was inspired to create a new coastal cuisine restaurant, and the acclaimed Sea Salt opened the following year.

Through much of November, the couple—alongside the Aielli Group—will celebrate 15 years of success with 15 Years of Dining – 15 Years of Giving, an initiative from November 1 to 16 at the restaurant. Each day, a different local nonprofit organization is highlighted, and 15 percent of each meal’s proceeds is donated to that day’s designee.

As for the culinary component, the chefs have curated a menu of Sea Salt’s most popular entrées since its opening. These include lobster risotto; grilled octopus with smoked potato, grilled frisée, tonnato sauce, and saba; and seared ahi tuna.

“Having patrons who supported us by utilizing our take-out offers during the pandemic or rushing through our doors when we reopened after Hurricane Ian was a blessing we will always keep close to our hearts,” Ingrid says.

With more than 9,000 bottles in its cellar, Best of Award of Excellence winner Sea Salt is a leading wine destination in Naples, Fla., a seaside city with a growing community of enophiles. (Its sibling restaurant in St. Petersburg, Fla., has held a Best of Award of Excellence since 2016.) Here, diners can choose from wine director Liset Zelaya’s diverse 1,200-selection list, with gems from across California, Italy and France, including verticals from celebrated wineries such as Sonoma’s Peter Michael, Burgundy’s Domaine Ponsot and Piedmont’s Gaja. Steps away from the Naples Pier, looking onto the Gulf of Mexico, the restaurant takes surf and turf to heart. Chef Josh Zeman’s menu includes the likes of swordfish Milanese and Key West pink shrimp ceviche from the sea, plus Kurobuta pork chops, free-range chicken and boneless short ribs from the land.

Executive Chef Josh Zeman shows us how to make scallops with Kabocha squash gnocchi

Recipe:

Mushroom puree‍

Add butter to pot add shallots and sweat for 5 minutes, add the porcini mushrooms, and white mushrooms and season with salt.Cook until mushrooms are dry, add mushroom stock and simmer until the stock has reduce by ¾ . add the cream and bring to boil than reduce to a simmer until the cream coats the mushrooms. Transfer mushroom mixture into blender and puree until smooth.

Radicchio

Melt the butter in pan over medium heat. Add the raddicco and rosemary and season with salt , sweat until the radicchio is wilted about 5 minutes , add the honey and turn the heat to medium high. Boil the radicchio and honey for 3 minutes. Add the port reduce until dry than do the same with the red wine , than add the water and reduce until it is dry again.. keep warm

Scallops

Heat a nonstick pan on high add olive oil season scallops with salt and pepper sear for 3 minutes on each side for medium rare. Add to a plate with a paper towel to absorb excess oil.

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Local chefs go the extra mile, wrestling with ambiguities, to lighten their footprint and impact on Mother Earth.

Consider this: Buying food from local sources keeps the carbon footprint shallow. On the other hand, it sometimes makes sense for a restaurant to branch out geographically for products that are raised on regenerative farms and in intelligent fisheries.

More inconsistencies in the world of sustainable food exist. Plant-based diets, for instance, are good for the body and the planet. This often involves working with protein alternatives. Yet, you have to consider how the ingredients for plant-based proteins are produced, and sometimes manipulating vegetables to taste and feel like meat requires additives that can mess with how you feel.

Another example: Carefully sourced, farm-raised fish are healthier and can save depleting wild populations. The catch here? Locally, environmental organizations protest the increase in nutrients the farms can bring, potentially causing more red tide outbreaks.

So, what makes the best sustainable restaurants? The answer is not always clear-cut, but today’s conscientious chefs agree the effort is essential for the future of their business and our world. Some local chefs leap quantumly beyond the bounds of early definitions of sustainability and battle with the double-edged sword of inconsistencies.

Fabrizio Aielli and his wife Ingrid have raised the standard of wining and dining in Naples since their culinary debut during the Naples Winter Wine Festival.

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“Wine is a very, very important part of food culture,” Fabrizio Aielli, chef-owner of five Florida restaurants, says. “Being from Italy, wine is the way we grew up. I cannot imagine having dinner without wine. A glass of wine emphasizes your palate and just makes you happy.”

As important as wine itself is to Fabrizio’s life and restaurant empire, the Naples Winter Wine Festival (NWWF) played a crucial role in the trajectory of his career. He was running an A-list Washington, D.C., restaurant when he was invited in 2005 as a celebrity chef for the fifth annual festival.

He and his wife Ingrid, who is also his business partner, had been vacationing in Naples since 2001. “That time, with the wine festival, we were down here not for vacation but for work, and that’s when the idea came to my mind to open a restaurant,” he says with his infectious, trademark smile.

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The Naples Children & Education Foundation, founders of the Naples Winter Wine Festival, joins with Sea Salt and The Wine Store for a new virtual dining series, “Purposeful Pairings,” at 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25. The event supports local restaurants and helps the organization fulfill its mission to support underprivileged and at-risk children in Collier County. The menu includes some of Chef Fabrizio Aielli’s signature dishes and “tips and tricks” on how to make a perfect risotto, presented by Aielli Group’s Corporate Chef Jason Goddard. Sommeliers Liset Zelaya of Sea Salt, wine portfolio specialist Marcello Palazzi, and Bruce Nichols, owner of The Wine Store, will guide participants through the wines. The presentation will last 90 minutes. The menu includes a sea urchin appetizer with Domaine Papagiannakos, Attiki Assyrtiko 2019; a lobster risotto entrée with Castello di Neive Barbaresco 2017; and a white truffle panna cotta with Henri Champliau Wild Miss Méthode Ancestrale Rosé Demi-Sec.

The inaugural ideas festival partnered with the James Beard Foundation and a team of national and local chefs to spotlight sustainability—and throw one heck of a party.

As it came to a close, the rest of the night’s chefs were brought onstage—a mix of local talent, including Asif Syed of 21 Spices, Jason Goddard of Sea Salt and Vincenzo Betulia of The French, plus a Miami-based pastry chef Soraya Kilgore of MadLab Creamery. They each announced what dish the audience had to look forward to in a matter of minutes at the party, and how it dovetailed with the sustainable theme.

And then everyone was off to eat, drink and be merry—and think about the big ideas behind them and what was still left in store.

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The Aielli Group is honored that all three of our restaurants (Barbatella, Sea Salt and Dorona) have been named among the Top 25 restaurants in Naples by food critic JLB from the Naples Daily News. This is a great recognition for all our staff members who put in much effort and passion in their daily work at each restaurant. Thank you!