Brothers cooking up mom's recipes at new Romanian-American restaurant at Galleria Shoppes

Diana Biederman, Naples Daily News

When getting a tour of the new fine-dining Tableside restaurant, co-owner Daniel Ilie bet I couldn’t guess what or where the grand painting in the dining room depicted.

My answer: A castle in Transylvania.

Why did I know?

I worked at a small PR firm specializing in fashion three decades ago. Instead of Mrs. or Ms. or Mx., a colleague’s honorific was baroness.

Specifically of Transylvania.

You get to keep the title after you divorce a Romanian baron. Similar to a certain university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, those with royal titles tend to mention it every chance they get.

Onward.

The new spot replaces Alpine, another Eastern European-focused restaurant that closed in 2023. Alpine was famous for its pastries, goulash, and schnitzel.

The Ilie brothers Daniel and executive chef Gabriel co-own Tableside, a new Romanian-American restaurant.
The Ilie brothers Daniel and executive chef Gabriel co-own Tableside, a new Romanian-American restaurant.

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My ears perked up when hearing the name because traditional tableside service is a lost culinary art. Who doesn’t get excited seeing flames shoot from the pan for flambéed Steak Diane?

Sure, here and there in town, your fish might be filleted by your server, sometimes with mixed results even at pricey Fifth Avenue destinations.

But the experience can be so much more.

Inside Tableside, a new Romanian-American restaurant at Galleria Shoppes on Vanderbilt.
Inside Tableside, a new Romanian-American restaurant at Galleria Shoppes on Vanderbilt.

Chef/co-owner Gabriel Ilie, Daniel’s older brother by more than a decade, has worked in American restaurants for 20 years in front-of-house and back-of-house positions. Locally for eight years, he lists M Waterfront Grille, The Continental and Ridgway Bar & Grill on his resume.

But it was an early restaurant job in Ocean City, Maryland, where Gabriel learned the art of tableside, what he calls "a forgotten service."

Right now, several items are presented tableside, including mititei, which Gabriel describes as a Romanian street food of small sausages served on a hot plate.

A cart is rolled to the table, and then “a little bit of garlic water makes them steam.”

The menu is a work in progress and they expect to add more tableside preparations in future months.

“We use simple ingredients and lots of love. That's how our mom cooked for us.”

Her name is Leontina, and Gabriel adjusted her recipes for an American palate.

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What to know

A bar-topping bas-relief depicting Transylvania at Tableside, a new Romanian-American restaurant.
A bar-topping bas-relief depicting Transylvania at Tableside, a new Romanian-American restaurant.

  • The Ilie brothers grew up near the Black Sea in Brăila, Romania, on the Danube.

  • It’s lovely inside, with white linen tablecloths and Versace-inspired velvet bar stools.

  • Much of the menu is gluten-free.

  • Wines, pint-sized bottles of beer, and sparkling spring water from Romania are among the beverages offered. Gabriel said his home country’s wines are vastly underrated, noting that the vines were brought over from the Greeks in 600 B.C. “They're processed French style, fruit-forward with balanced alcohol,” though this reporter spotted several Romanian power reds with 14% ABV in the mix.

  • The restaurant soft-opened May 1.

  • Hours: 3 to 9 p.m. daily. Happy hour from 3 to 5 p.m. offers 50% off appetizers, soups and salads.

(2355 Vanderbilt Beach Road, North Naples; 239-734-3854; tablesiderestaurant.com)

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Galleria Shoppes adds new family-owned restaurant: What to know