Table Talk with Naples’ Culinary Talents

After slogging through almost a year of COVID-19 and its ill effects on their businesses and community, three Naples hospitality superstars seize a lighter moment to gather in a gorgeous home for a savory and sweet tasting dinner, accompanied by delicious wines. The first to arrive, with the sun bouncing off her shiny dark hair, is Liset Zelaya, a 10-year sommelier at Sea Salt. “Who doesn’t get excited when the guest with the booze shows up?” she jokes.

Chef Asif Syed, a father of two young kids, is the next to arrive, bringing with him a little rock-and-roll attitude. Though everyone in this trio knows each other from living and working in Naples, it’s the first opportunity they’ve had to spend quality time together. Syed came to Naples more than 20 years ago, through an internship at the JW Marriott on Marco Island. “Later, I got a job at the Hilton hotel on Marco Island and worked to become the executive chef,” he says. “Fifteen years later, I opened 21 Spices in Naples.”