Another Minnesota guy goes to Naples: What a shocker! When I interviewed him for my DeRusha Eats podcast a couple weeks ago, Chef Gavin Kaysen teased that some big things were coming, and today the first announcement dropped. Kaysen is the chef partner of the new Four Seasons Resort in southeastern Florida, the Naples Beach Club. His forthcoming restaurant will be called The Merchant Room, a name he said he originally thought about using for what became Spoon and Stable a decade ago.
Photo by Sarah Corder
It makes sense, as Kaysen has had a successful relationship with Four Seasons at Mara in downtown Minneapolis (disclosure: Four Seasons Minneapolis runs ads in my weekly Substack newsletter), and he opened Café Boulud at Four Seasons Hotel Toronto with Chef Daniel Boulud earlier in his culinary career.
This is going to be quite a location—the dining room has an outdoor terrace overlooking a pool and the ocean. Kaysen told me the menus will highlight flavors from the Gulf and evolve seasonally. Maybe more Spoon in culinary vibe and Mara in service vibe—open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
“We’ll definitely do some dry-aged meats, we have such a great pasta program at Spoon, I want to do that program down there,” Kaysen told me. Don’t expect a ton of Florida seafood, he said there’s already a seafood restaurant on the property, where “your toes are on the sand while you’re eating ceviche.”
He’s had a goal of expanding his culinary reach out of Minnesota. It’s how he was raised in the business, working for Daniel Boloud. “His first venture out of New York City was Cafe Boloud Palm Beach. Palm Beach to New Yorkers is like Naples is to Minnesotans. I’ve seen this book written before, I’m going to keep writing the pages,” Kaysen explained.
For Minnesotans who travel to Naples, the old Beach Club has been in a renovation and planning phase since 2018. It was sold in 2021 to a Phoenix-based luxury resort developer and has been in a transition phase to become a Four Seasons, according to Gulfshore Business. It’s right by the airport, about 2 miles north of the downtown area where The Continental from D’Amico is set-up.
“We’ve been looking and entertaining different deals. This is a killer location—65 seats inside, view of the ocean from inside. The patio overlooks the ocean and you get the sunset every night,” he said. “I can’t wait.”
