Michael's on Naples Verified listing

This long-loved Naples space has altered its menu consistently to reflect season, ingredients, and innovation—with a wine list curated by General Manager Massimo Aronne and a food program steered by longtime Executive Chef Eric Samaniego.

But their cocktail program, headed by master mixologist Jocelyn Jolley, is certainly an underrated gem that deserves constant praise (and yet receives so little).

The restaurant can easily boast of one of the city’s best bar programs—a continually changing seasonal cocktail menu paired with a steady negroni menu that includes quite possibly the wittiest play on a negroni, a negroni sour, that turns the sipping staple into a dangerous porch pounder of a cocktail…

For Jocelyn, there is a beauty in spring menus that other seasons don’t quite offer: You aren’t quite lodged into the chill of winter nor the heat of summer but a mixture of both, all the while playing with some of the best ingredients that can be offered at the farmers markets. It’s also a beautiful, metaphorical shadow of the feminine. And across her leadership heading the bar at Michael’s on Naples for the past two years, there is an undeniably refreshing aspect to her cocktail program: Femininity.

Written and photos by Brian Addison.

For the full feature on Michael's on Naples, click here.