It was a first for me: Caesar salad prepared and served tableside. Fancy! The hallmark of a singular dining experience for the islands of Sanibel and Captiva at then-named South Seas Plantation. It was the early 1980s, and my husband-to-be, a former captain at King’s Crown restaurant, wanted to impress me. It worked – to the grand finish of bananas foster flambe.
“King’s Crown was our crown,” said Andreas Bieri, who was recruited from Sea Pines Resort on Hilton Head in the early 1970s to help create what South Seas’ new owners envisioned to become one of the finest hotel dining experiences in the nation. “It was, at that time, absolutely the best restaurant around (Southwest Florida). There was no competition.”
European-trained Bieri came on as sous-chef in 1973, the year Mariner Group opened South Seas on Captiva Island. He advanced to chef a few years later and remained in South Seas kitchens until 1980 – a period many consider the resort’s culinary heyday. Bieri later went on to make a name for The Mucky Duck on Captiva, where he still holds the reins as it recovers from recent hurricane destruction. He also helped start and operate Green Flash on Captiva.
“I believe the King’s Crown was in the top five restaurants in Florida in the ‘90s,” said Harold Balink, who started as sous-chef in 1991 after apprenticeships at prestigious houses at Le Cirque and The Greenbrier resort and at The Flagstaff House restaurant. He advanced to executive chef at South Seas in 1994…