Connected bar Easy Tiger, led by Lynnette Marrero, offers cocktails intended to complement the chef’s food
Dale Talde, the Filipino-American celebrity chef, has opened Tigress, a Cantonese-influenced chophouse on the rooftop of The Perry Hotel Naples in Florida. It’s adjacent to a cocktail lounge called Easy Tiger overseen by mixologist Lynnette Marrero.
The debut menu includes dim sum items including mala-spiced lamb chops with mint salsa verde and brown butter labneh, dry-aged beef potstickers with Chinese mustard and soy vinegar, and kung pao chicken wings which have long been a signature item of the chef.
It also offers three types of fried rice and mushroom slippery noodles with hazelnut and tamarind black bean sauce. Larger plates include crown of duck with drunken fruit, lettuce, and plum glaze, and char siu Berkshire pork belly with Asian pear, coconut-Thai basil salad, and Chinese mustard.
Steak options are served with lettuce for making wraps, along with charred scallions, pickles, and choice of four sauces: black pepper, spicy Thai crying tiger sauce, soy garlic butter, and gochujang shallot butter.
Signature cocktails at Easy Tiger include the Hong Kong Old Fashioned, made with Japanese whisky, tamarind-black vinegar caramel, black pepper, and Angostura bitters, and the Fun-tini made with Oka Japanese gin, vermouth, pickled shiitake mushrooms, and white pepper.
Spirit-free options include an Ume Spritz made with salted plum, white tea, and sea buckthorn, and a Coconut Oolong Cooler made with coconut water, lime juice, oolong tea, and soda.
Talde gained fame as a contestant on Top Chef: Chicago (his hometown) and Top Chef: All-Stars, and critical acclaim for his New York City restaurants including modern Asian restaurant Talde, Italian-influenced Massoni, and Asian-American Rice & Gold, among other venues.
He operated those restaurants with business partners David Massoni and John Bush, who opened three restaurants in Grandview Public Market, a food hall in the Warehouse District of West Palm Beach, Fla. Those restaurants have all closed, as did the Miami location of Talde, but the chef and his life partner Agnes Talde still operate Goosefeather, an upscale Cantonese restaurant in Tarrytown, N.Y., and Talde Noodle Bar at LaGuardia International Airport.
“I’m thrilled to be back in Florida and to introduce myself to the enthusiastic culinary scene in Naples,” Talde said in a statement. “Tigress will be a Cantonese-inspired chophouse that fuses my signature style with a deep love for steak. Both locals and hotel guests can look forward to creative ingredients and global inspirations from my culinary journey.”
Marrero, who is a co-founder of the all-female bartender competition Speed-Rack, said the drinks menu was intended to go with Talde’s food.
“Each drink is designed to elevate and complement the vibrant flavors of his dishes, using bold, dynamic, and layered with flavors that surprise and delight."
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]
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