The newest restaurant in downtown Fort Myers will blend vintage ambiance with modern flair and feature a fusion of Japanese and Italian cuisine, led by Executive Chef Brad Kilgore.
OISE Ristorante by Brad Kilgore plans to open next week at 2262 First St., former home of Blu Sushi. When guests enter the restaurant, they’ll step onto original 1920s mosaic tile flooring that restaurant owner Brad Cozza uncovered from the building’s days as a cafe called Poinsettias.
“To me, the imperfection is the perfection,” said Cozza, who explained that while some of the original tile was lost during excavation, most of it remained intact. “It shows our commitment to bring back the past.”
Cozza estimated the interior reconstruction budget at about $180,000, plus about $70,000 in new kitchen equipment. Restoring the floor cost about $7,500.
Cozza enlisted Kilgore, a Miami restauranteur since 2011, to be the executive chef. Kilgore has partnered in several restaurants, most recently Alter in the Wynwood district and Brava by Brad Kilgore, a contemporary Italian restaurant within Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center.
Kilgore, who has been nominated for multiple James Beard Foundation awards, said he always wanted to fuse Italian and Japanese cuisines. OISE, a Japanese expression for when something tastes really good, gives him that opportunity.
“I started cooking at a very young age,” said Kilgore. “That gave me a more formal education to go with the rock-and-roll lifestyle of working in the kitchen.
“There is a style of this in Japan, where the Japanese chefs are cooking the Italian food, and that’s where the inspiration began.”
Kilgore said he immersed himself in both styles.
“My career, I worked in Italy when I was young, two times,” he said. “My family is from Italy. And then I started learning Japanese ingredients and techniques.
OISE is like a convergence of both of those. My two passions. I’ve figured out how to make Italian food taste even better than you can imagine. There is sushi, and there is pasta. And you’ll be blown away by how well they work together. It’s an Italian restaurant with Japanese influences. And a really fun and cool sushi menu.”
Cozza hired Jared Boller as senior mixologist. Boller designed the original drink menu at The Guitar Hotel at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood.
“On the drink side of things, again, a lot of Japanese influence,” Boller said. “A lot of Italian influence. A lot of my drink-making is classically based, as well.
“I can take everything they do in the kitchen and figure out in liquid form how to put them in drinks, as well. I do believe the drinks are meant to compliment the food.”
OISE appetizers are in the $10 to $20 range. Sushi rolls start at $20. Italian entrees are between $24 and $32.
The two house specialty dishes are the Okinawan chicken parmesan — dashi brined chicken breast, housemade chili crisp, caper aoli and mozzarella for $26. And the Carmelized meatball — Wagyu beef, carmelized fondue, red-miso marinara and toasted sesame garlic bread for $28.
Interior design is being finished this week, and Cozza said he hopes to open by Aug. 4.
