Where would Barbie eat & drink? Super pretty eats, drinks and treats in Naples
A cast whose leads Margo Robbie (producer), Ryan Gosling and writer/director Greta Gerwig boast a combined seven Oscar nominations? Check. There's also Dame Helen Mirren, its narrator.
A budget of more than $100 million? Every bit of it is beautiful.
Will it be summer’s biggest movie?
Unless you’ve been hammocking at the beach, you know that Barbie is heading to the big screen this weekend. She’s seemingly at every movieplex too, from Naples to Fort Myers.
Childhood filled with Barbie memories
Growing up, I was passionate about three things: pink (still am), reading (still am) and Barbie. When getting the pricey-at-the-time Barbie styling head for my seventh birthday, I spent hours making up her face and teasing her hair. I learned how to braid because of Barbie. Manicures too.
It all came to a screeching halt when finishing the box’s provided cosmetics and I hit my mother’s vanity, removing her lipstick, blush, eyeshadow, etc.
Mom's cuticle scissors perfectly fit my tiny hands.
I then proceeded to overdo Barbie’s makeup as mom’s glided on more smoothly, less chalky. The hair? Too much teasing from previous sessions, and I couldn’t comb through it with the tiny plastic ones from the box.
So Barbie got a haircut. More of a chopped bob than a crew cut, but still.
Mom was mortified: After screaming at me (I am still unsure whether it was because I used her makeup or cut Barbie’s hair), she hid all my Barbies. Skipper too.
Barbie in 2023: She's a vegetarian
Barbie hadn't been top-of-mind until the movie previews started airing, rekindling my admiration for this doll of many talents. Sure, everyone knows astronaut/president/model/doctor Barbie.
But did you know her resume includes running her own food truck AND beachside cart serving hot dogs, fries and milkshakes?
A video sneak peek of Barbie's Dreamhouse via Architectural Digest reveals the contents of her kitchen, making it obvious she’s a vegetarian, not vegan as I always believed.
In the movie, her fridge offers four types of milk ― cow, nut, quinoa and hemp. Yogurt, eggs, milkshakes, cake, candies and mayo too. A shelf with tubs of cut fruit plus one filled with broccoli (?). So many sodas plus orange juice, cherries and cookie dough.
It led me to wonder, where would Barbie eat in Naples?
Barbie wants pretty food
Because she’s wearing heels in a town where it’s hot enough to melt plastic, this most fashionable of all dolls could keep most stops confined to Naples Design District.
And that's OK because she'll find something pink and delicious no matter when she's hungry.
For breakfast, Brooklyn Dough with a Hole’s rainbow bagels sprinkled with edible gold glitter are stuffed with strawberry cream cheese. Optional rainbow sprinkles add crunch. (935 Third Ave. N., Naples; 239-231-3159; brooklyndoughwithahole.com)
Craving a morning snack? Barbie would love CĀK’D, Maria Trupiano’s vegan, gluten-free bakery. Pink frosting-stuffed cookie sandwiches with nonpareils and daisy-iced cupcakes have Barbie’s name all over them. (304 Ninth St. N., Naples; 239-692-9062; getcakd.com)
Barbie would make Forever Fiore her home base, sleeping on a velvety settee. She would love the pink pots of lotion in the loo too. While changing for dinner, would she be more tempted by colorful macarons or gluten-free scones topped with rose petals? Why not both?
The cafe plays host to a “Life in Plastic Barbie Party” on June 20 at 6 p.m. Tickets via Eventbrite are $154 per person and include an advance screening of the flick at Silverspot, bites and bubbles. Splurge $40 more for Rolls-Royce roundtrip car service from the restaurant to the movie. (970 Fifth Ave. N., Naples; 239-529-5271; foreverfioretealounge.com)
Dinnertime means Turco Taco’s delish, nutrish "Veggie Taco Your Way" boasting Barbie’s favorite colors. (410 Ninth St. N., Naples; 239-331-4527, theturcotaco.com)
Sipping pretty
A drink named in her honor? Barbie would love that and hightail it to East Naples for “The Malibu” at Alchemist Kava. If shopping Third Street South’s pink-painted fashion emporiums like Marissa’s, she would stop at Jane’s Organic Cafe for watermelon-pineapple lemonade.
Barbie's neighborhood favorites
Uptown Barbie would say "yay!" any time of day to tres chic Cafe Crème de la Crème's $16 Nutella strawberry crepe served with ice cream.
Pinkberry is the movie’s official yogurt partner, but we don’t have one in Naples. Instead, she might head uptown to the new 16 Handles for a strawberry-vanilla swirl fro-yo with fresh-cut fruit and sprinkles.
For $8, savory indulgences include Simit’s beetroot hummus and The Local's spicy watermelon salad.
Barbie’s Florida visit wouldn’t be complete without Key Lime pie. Osteria Tulia’s riff with edible flower petals ($15) is tasty and pretty.
For more Barbie-inspired eats and drinks, visit our online gallery. Diana Biederman is NDN's food & restaurant reporter. Connect at dbiederman@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Barbie eats & drinks in Naples: Pretty pink ideas to make her happy
