Our critic's favorite Lee County restaurant features small plates big on creativity

Southwest Florida culinary legend and Sage on 47th owner Ralph Centalonza eats there. So does one of our favorite local chefs, John Hill, of Gather and Next Door. And former JLB extraordinaire Annabelle Tometich has been recommending it for years.

And it’s our choice for the best Lee County restaurant in 2023.

We’re talking about Liberty, a magical, 4½-year-old spot in south Fort Myers.

That’s not to say it hasn’t always been fabulous.

Chef and owner Bob Boye opened the intimate, 30-seat sliver of a space in August 2019 in Pinebrook Park near Bell Tower.

“Back then, we were hoping for 15 on a Friday night,” Bob’s cousin and Liberty chef Richee Boye recently said on a bustling Thursday night. “We’ve come a long way.”

Part of Liberty’s charm is the speakeasy feeling it exudes. With no obvious signage, I wander the length of the dated strip mall until I see the restaurant’s name spelled out in vinyl letters on one of its two glass doors.

Inside, calm ensues as you settle into the barstool that will be all yours for the next couple of hours. When making reservations (as you should/must), I'd opt for one of the 10 seats at the kitchen table as opposed to a booth (which is lovely for quiet dates or parties of three or four).

And if you’re lucky, oh so lucky, you’ll find your nameplate somewhere along that counter, showing you exactly where you belong, arms-length from the open kitchen where the Boyes do their work. The Liberty kitchen is where everything unfolds in a busy, yet perfectly orchestrated fashion. Where chefs personally deliver their precisely timed creations. Where you’ll learn more about flavors and textures and culinary goodness than you thought possible.

A menu of small, shareable plates

Liberty is all about small, shareable plates with colorful, artfully arranged, unexpected culinary combinations.

While the hungriest of the hungry may be able to eat their way through the entire 16-or-so-plate menu (a goal to which I aspire), most are fine with three or four of the plates.

The menu, presented on a single sheet of paper, features dishes written in a bingo-esque grid of four rows with four boxes each.

Lighter dishes are usually listed in the first row, followed by starches in the second, proteins and entree-ish dishes in the third, and lastly, the please-save-room-for-dessert fourth row.

Each plate, every combination you order, will be a winner.

The order in which you receive those items can be just as random (or is it?) as a bingo game.

The first-row Parisian gnocchi (sour and tangy baby clouds of joy that had us unabashedly scraping every last bite) came after the second row, a broccolini “Caesar” with fun combinations of peppered bacon and sourdough, crunchy and creamy, smooth and textured.

Then came the chicken thigh pintxos with tandoori flavors that looked as dramatically delicious as they tasted. That came before (or was it after) the pink shrimp, coconut curry with cauliflower, chili oil and pickled pineapple that even I, a lukewarm curry fan, couldn't get enough of.

Other wonders of the night included an Iberico pork shoulder that’s “nice and easy.”

“It’s the most simple but everyone’s favorite,” Richee said as it melted in our mouths.

And the two-bite black garlic beef tacos (with shells done in pork fat!) that we savored in four bites to make them last longer.

Don't skip dessert

As for desserts, we were oh-so-happy to have saved room for the buttermilk pie with nutmeg, apple and guava. Richee served it with the creamiest of creamy homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch ice cream (they have an ice cream machine!).

Some or all of these lovely plates we had last week, could be slightly or greatly different this week.

“It’s really about what we get in fresh, what ideas we have,” Richee said. “When inspiration hits, we make mindful changes. Instead of creating a whole new menu, we now tweak. I’m happy with where we are now. But there’s always room for improvement. Always something to work on.”

And we can’t wait to taste what’s next.

Liberty

12995 S Cleveland Ave., Suite 112, Fort Myers

Price: $$-$$$ (small plates range from $12-26)

Call: (239) 689-5528

Hours: 5:15-8:30 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday

Web: eatliberty.us

Restaurant news: Nevermind Awesome Bar & Eatery to reopen in unexpected Cape Coral location

Sample menu

Parisian gnocchi, $15

Steak tartare, $16

Celery root lasagne, $14

Honey aged duck breast, $25

Iberico pork shoulder, $26

Buttermilk pie, $9

*Menu, hours and prices subject to change

What the symbols mean

$: Average entree is less than $15

$$: $15-$25

$$$: $25-$35

$$$$: $35-$45

$$$$$: $45 and up

Jean Le Boeuf is the brand under which our restaurant critics have written for more than 40 years. This article came from staff writer Robyn George. Connect: rhgeorge@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Liberty in Fort Myers is our critic's favorite restaurant of 2023