The husband and wife team of Daniel Keagins and Sarah Moonien-Klink opened Nonchalance, a casual dining eatery, in Plymouth Plaza at 15200 S. Tamiami Trail, Unit 104, in south Fort Myers.
The vision for the restaurant is a scratch kitchen that is laid-back yet refined.
“We know what we are and what we’re not,” Moonien-Klink said. “We’re not high–end, fine dining. We’re fun and have comfort childhood favorites with an adult twist.”
Keagins and Moonien-Klink have about 20 years of experience in the restaurant industry. Moonien-Klink has been on the wine, liquor and beer sales side of the industry for the past decade, while most of Keagins’ experience is as a bartender and a manager.
“I ended up being in the kitchen most of time,” Keagins said. “Now, we just wanted to do our own thing.”
Curating the menu started with two items, the caprese sandwich and the full monty, which is Monte Cristo roll-ups.
The couple started with a test kitchen, having friends over every night and experimenting with recipes. Keagins said it came down to trial and error.
“The caprese, I really wanted to do because I hate caprese sandwiches,” Keagins said. “Everyone does it the laziest way possible. The mozzarella is always the problem because it’s usually a dry mozzarella.”
Guests at Nonchalance can expect a twist on a caprese, where the mozzarella is lightly bread crumbed and pan–fried in olive oil first. “It’s got a meltiness to it and then we use a lemon and pepper olive oil to give a little bit of zing to it,” Keagins said.
There also is a $10 smash burger lunch special from noon to 2 p.m. daily.
With Moonien-Klink being from Montreal, poutine was a must on the menu. “We do it with spiralized fries, so it stays crispy and doesn’t get soggy. Then, we oven bake it so the cheese melts. We have a whole process for it.”
With the location previously being a fish and chips restaurant, fish and chips were kept on the menu to cater to those loyal customers. The regular french fries are a six-hour process as opposed to the restaurant’s spiralized fries.
The bestsellers are fish and chips, a meatloaf sandwich and pulled pork sandwich, both served on ciabatta.
The menu is evolving, with the couple looking to add four new menu items within the next few weeks.
“We’re listening,” Moonien-Klink said. “We’re seeing what people are enjoying and what they would like to see.”
As for the decor, Nonchalance is a nod to Keagins and Moonien-Klink’s high school goth days. The dark and moody colors meet glints of metallic accents and metals, along with various mirrors to give the intimate space a bigger appearance.
The paintings featured in the restaurant are all done by Moonien-Klink, with some pieces even incorporating her children’s help.
The couple said Nonchalance is the first step in their long-term goals, intending to open other restaurants locally.
Keagins and Moonien-Klink have been local for about the 20 years, raising their children just a few miles away from their new business.
Nonchalance will celebrate a grand opening once Keagins and Moonien-Klink acquire their beer and wine license. “The wine list is going to be fun,” Moonien-Klink said. “It’s not going to be the standard brand names you see everywhere.”
Seating 34, the restaurant is open from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with the possibility of extending hours and days of operation.
“You don’t have to go somewhere extremely high–end and really expensive to get great food and have a really nice glass of wine,” Moonien-Klink said. “It’s just easy here, it’s nonchalant.”
