Tuscan Treats

Restaurant: Sasse's

Address: 3651 Evans Ave., Suite 101, Fort Myers

Phone: 239-278-5544

Website: sassesfortmyers.com

Recommended by: Jerron Hull, chief operating officer of AIM Engineering & Surveying. “It has always been a great place to bring a client,” he says.

Parking: Plentiful. It's located inside a shopping center in an older neighborhood in Fort Myers.

Reservations: No reservations needed, but call ahead if your party has five people or more, especially during the busier times between noon to 12:45 p.m. The restaurant is closed Sundays and Mondays.

Prices: Moderate. The bill for two people, including tip, was $39.

Size: The main dining area has room for 65 diners. There is a private dining area that seats 40 people for corporate events.

Cuisine: Northern Italian and European. The main dishes at lunch lean toward the pastas and risottos, but there's a wide selection of salads for those who prefer lighter fare. What's more, you can add salmon or chicken to any salad.

Ambiance: As is customary with Italian restaurants, the light is a little dimmer. But the service is cheerful and it's not a noisy setting where you'll have to raise your voice to be heard.

Privacy: The tables at Sasse's are spread out so you won't hear the conversations at nearby tables. It's a good place to talk business without being overheard. However, this is a popular spot for business executives in Fort Myers, so you may run into people you know. When we were there, we spotted land-use attorney Neale Montgomery from the Pavese Law Firm and David Depew and Tina Ekblad from the Morris-Depew Associates engineering firm.

One-hour test: Service was prompt and efficient. We could have been finished with our lunch within an hour, but preferred to linger longer. We never felt rushed and there are no lines of people waiting to be seated.

Ownership: Chef Josef Zimmermann is the owner of Sasse's since he bought it from the Snyderman family in September 2012. The German native started his culinary career in 1978 in the resort town of Baden-Baden at the famous Brenners Park Hotel and Spa.

In 1995, Zimmerman moved to Milwaukee, Wis., and was chef at the Milwaukee Athletic Club. He moved to Fort Myers because of romance. “I met a lady five years ago,” he chuckles. She didn't want to move to Wisconsin, so Zimmerman became the chef at Lexington Country Club in Fort Myers to be close to her.

When Zimmermann heard Sasse's was for sale two years ago, he bought it. “I fell in love with it,” he says. “Sasse's has been around since 1991.”

Zimmermann is closed on Mondays, but he's still hard at work making the sauces and preparing fresh food for the week. “Monday I'm by myself in the kitchen,” he says. “There's nothing coming out of the bag.”

Review date: June 2014

About
Power Lunch columns are occasional reviews of restaurants recommended by executives in cities on the Gulf Coast, from Tampa to Naples. To read reviews of other restaurants, visit BusinessObserverFL.com.