Sails coastal flavors to wow foodies at Paradise Coast Wine & Food Experience in Naples

Editor's note: This is the first in a series of stories previewing the Paradise Coast Wine & Food Experience on Oct. 27 in downtown Naples. 

You don't have to sail to the Mediterranean Sea to find the best seafood. Sails Restaurant in downtown Naples brings it right to your plate. Meet the man behind the fresh cuisine — executive chef Jacob Jasinski. He's one of numerous chefs in town bringing the heat to the Paradise Coast Wine & Food Experience this fall. 

On a recent Wednesday, a few hours before dinnertime, Jasinski talked with the Naples Daily News about Sails cuisine, his globe-trotting culinary career and what foodies can expect at this year's event. 

Jasinski takes pride in sourcing the freshest ingredients for every dish that comes out of his kitchen. 

"We're very much focused on getting fresh ingredients from the north shore of the Mediterranean Sea around France and Italy," said the 36-year-old chef, who previously managed the culinary operation of the historic Ocean House in Rhode Island.

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Sails opened its doors on Valentine's Day, but Jasinski and his staff were on hand at November's inaugural wine and food event, dishing out oysters and salmon tartare for hungry patrons. While it's too early to say what his menu will entail this year, Jasinski promised it'll be something fresh and tasty.

After all, he's a chef who prides himself on the quality of his ingredients, whether that's fresh fish from the coast of Italy or grass-fed prime tenderloin.

"The best cuisine is when you're able to put something on a plate and it tastes like the best representation of itself," he said. 

"That's what we strive for at Sails." 

While quality is important, so is the cooking process. 

Jasinski likes to keep his dishes simple and typically accentuates the natural flavors of a dish by adding sea salt and olive oil.

The Rhode Island native learned all about European cuisine from his travels to France and Italy. He brought his knowledge back to the states and cooked all over the country, making stops at Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas, Maine’s White Barn Inn, Newport’s Castle Hill, and The-Ritz-Carlton Buckhead in Atlanta.

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He most recently worked at Seasons, the acclaimed restaurant at Ocean House, where he elevated the venue to a 2017 Forbes Five-Star award winner. He also earned a spot on Condé Nast Traveler's 2017 Gold List. 

And to think, Jasinski started out his illustrious career as a dishwasher at a New England restaurant while attending junior high.

Despite his success, Jasinski said he gets the biggest thrill out of watching people taste his food. Which is why he's excited for the upcoming wine and food event. 

"Seeing their expression is your best gauge as a chef on whether they like it or not," he said. 

More than 1,800 people attended last year's event, which showcased food from about 40 area restaurants and cooking demonstrations from celebrity chefs Thomas Joseph and Graham Elliot. 

Presented by the Naples Daily News, the News-Press and the USA TODAY Network, the Wine & Food Experience gives local foodies a chance to eat, drink and to meet local and celebrity chefs during live cooking demos and special meet and greets. The event is part of a 12-city national tour that begins in Cincinnati in June and ends in Los Angeles in December.

Here's what you should know about this year's event

• The Paradise Coast Wine & Food Experience takes place at Cambier Park in downtown Naples instead of Fifth Avenue South.
• The event underwent a subtle name change. It was previously called Paradise Coast Food & Wine Experience.
• Tickets to the Naples event, which range from $85 to $180, are available at wineandfood.naplesnews.com/ticket-packages.
• The event also offers the Martha Stewart Brand Experience, which is available to all ticket-holders and showcases the lifestyle icon's books, kitchen gear and more.
• Celebrity chef and restaurateur Scott Conant, popularly known for his role as host and judge of Food Network's "Chopped," will be the special guest chef.

While Jasinski is the head of the Sails kitchen, the restaurant is the baby of owners Veljko Pavicevic, 38, and Corinne Ryan, 38.

The engaged couple work seven days a week to bring the freshest cuisine to Naples. Pavicevic, raised in Serbia, works as the general manager. He first visited America as a teenager, spending 1997 as a foreign exchange student at Naples High School. Later on he came back to work in the local restaurant industry before opening up Sails with Ryan. 

Ryan "is my strongest pillar. None of this would happen without her," Pavicevic said.

"And vice versa," said Ryan, an Australian foodie who handles the restaurant's operations to re-create a European coastal dining experience locally.

The duo are passionate about food and travel. For Pavicevic it was only natural to turn that passion into a restaurant in Naples.

 "I persuaded (Ryan) that Naples is the best city in the world. We love Naples and what it has brought us," he said. 

Paradise Coast Wine & Food Experience

When: 1-4 p.m. Oct. 27

Where: Cambier Park, 755 Eighth Ave. S., Naples

Cost: Tickets to the Naples event range from $85 to $180.