Vybe opens at Bell Tower with shareable plates concept 

Vybe, a new restaurant at Bell Tower in south Fort Myers, brings a throwback to a previous concept while putting a new spin on it. 

During the heart of the Great Recession, restaurateur Harold Balink enjoyed a slice of a restaurant heyday, injecting life into a Bell Tower concept called Crü. 

A business partnership with the late Shannon Yates didn’t last, and the two entrepreneurs moved on to separate projects. 

Fast forward 17 years, Bell Tower came calling again, Balink said, asking him to relocate his signature south Fort Myers restaurant. 

Balink told the shopping center’s leasing agents he wouldn’t move Harold’s, which is thriving at 15250 S. Tamiami Trail. But he was open to creating a new concept. 

Vybe opened to the public May 19 following 15 months and about $1 million in renovations to a space that previously housed Stogie Cigar Lounge and, before that, Dickey’s Barbecue Pit. All remnants of cigar smoke have vanished. 

Balink partnered with Mathew Baum, founder and president of Wolverine Management. Baum owns three Brass Tap locations, six Agave Bandido restaurants and Backyard Social food truck park in south Fort Myers, with a second set to open in about four months in Lakewood Ranch. 

Balink handled the kitchen, and Baum created Vybe’s bar offerings. 

“Crü was a great, vibrant scene, and Harold’s is a more elevated dining experience,” Baum said. “In some ways, we’re emulating the atmosphere he had at Crü.” 

At Vybe, the duo fused the two concepts, creating an atmospheric scene, with the words “Love Wins” adorning a wall covered in green vines just to the right of the entrance. The restaurant is across the parking lot from The Capital Grille and next door to Ulta Beauty, at 13499 S. Cleveland Ave., Unit 245, in south Fort Myers. 

The menu centers on shareable plates. 

Current offerings include pork belly burnt ends with spicy tamarind glaze, peanut, scallion and pickles ($16); wild mushrooms, brioche dumpling and marsala sauce ($16); pork meatballs with polenta, tomato sugo and garlic espuma ($18); and blue crab tacos with jicama, cilantro and poblano cream ($23). 

Feast offerings include spring pappardelle with parmigiano, pea puree, asparagus, torn burrata, lemon zest and tomato dust ($28), and seared snapper with potato fennel puree, saffron nage, tomato and zucchini ($32). 

Executive chef Cole Morris-McAuliffe runs the kitchen, and general manager Cale Zitman manages a team of 36 employees. 

“We have two or three items that are larger, but they’re all appetizer size,” Balink said of the menu. “And we’re super creative. My chef’s going to change it once every four weeks. There’s all sorts of textures and flavors. It’s not heavy seafood. It’s not heavy meat. 

“You put it on the plate, everybody gets a fork and everybody tries three or four things.” 

The showpiece is the bar, which has more than 200 different brands of liquor behind it. 

“We opened Tuesday for real, and at 3 o’clock, they were putting finishing touches on the back bar,” Balink said. “It turned out great. It’s a wow factor. 

“What makes Harold’s busy and part of the community we have is the energy. That’s where Vybe came from. It’s the culture here.” 

Vybe is open from 4 to 11 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 4 p.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays, and 4 to 9 p.m. Sundays. It is closed Mondays.