Shoptalk: Shazam! Back to work

MARCO ISLAND — If you missed the news that Bistro Soleil in the Olde Marco Inn had a kitchen fire about 4 a.m. Monday morning, here are a few extra details, from co-owner Lisa Meurgue.

“We were open by 5 p.m. that afternoon, Monday, all cleaned up and serving diners. We called in a great team to put the place back in working order. We had to put everything through the dishwashers and had to wipe clean the entire kitchen.

“Luckily the smoke odor was not noticeable anywhere but the kitchen. If you walked in the front door of the restaurant, you’d never smell the smoke. The health and fire inspectors came in and signed off on the situation and we were good to go.”

We chose not to make jokes about whether Denis and Lisa might put smoked salmon on the menu.

Lisa told us the preliminary report that a passerby saw smoke at 4 a.m. and phoned it in was false.

“No, we learned that the smoke alarm in the kitchen sounded as it was supposed to do and alerted us. Besides who would be walking around outside around here at that hour?”

Lisa’s take on the entire adventure: “We think of it as an early, major spring cleaning?

A smart cost-cutting move by Collier County

If you’re doing your taxes and think you’ve misplaced your home’s property tax receipt that comes in the mail every year from the Collier County Tax Collector’s office, don’t waste time looking for it. We did that for a while but eventually phoned the tax office to ask for a copy.

“You didn’t misplace it sir,” a nice woman said. “We are not sending receipts by mail anymore. It’s a cost-cutting measure for the county.”

She then told me property tax payers can go online and download a printed receipt-type statement of the taxes paid. Here’s how: Go to colliertax.com. Click on the “Property Tax” box on the left side. Read down to where it says, “Need your Property Tax Notice or Receipt? Click here.

Click there. Click “I accept” on the disclaimer on the next page. Up will come a “Tax Roll Search Form. fill in the parcel number of your property. If you can’t find that, fill in any of the remaining blanks, and then click on the “search” button below where it says “current year”. Your tax statement should appear, ready to be printed.

iNet Cafe — A delight for cyber space surfers, latte lovers and more

Almost a month after a soft opening, the Marco iNet Cafe and Boutique had its official ribbon-cutting yesterday, March 11.

This newest commercial addition to the Marco Walk is near Chico’s on the South Collier Boulevard side of the plaza. And it hopes to be a popular concept on that part of the island.

“Ninety percent of our customers have told us that our array of fine coffees is better than Starbucks,” says Alex Vagner, who owns the iNet Cafe with his wife Monica. “And our coffee is fifty cents to a dollar less expensive than Starbucks.” Coffee choices include the highly touted” Nespresso”, plus cappuccino, latte, mocha, macchiato, caramel, hazelnut and more.

Staffer Lazaro Martinez is pleased with the public’s reaction to the cafe’s products.

“I got a lot of compliments on our caramel macchiato and all the various types of lattes we have,” he says.

The star of this smartly outfitted cafe may be the coffee, but increasingly, people also are coming in to surf the Internet while getting their caffeine fix or their decaf calm. We counted five spiffy new computers along one wall, plus space and Internet outlets for patrons to bring in and use their own laptops.

Access to the Internet is free to anyone who makes a purchase in the cafe. And there is a lot of good stuff to buy.

Shiny showcases are full of fresh muffins, coffee cakes, Danish, cinnamon rolls and other sweet treats, including cheesecakes, key lime pies, eclairs, lemon and chocolate mousse, tiramisu and canoles.

Also available are croissants, pizza and sandwich creations such as Philly cheese steak sand sausage, egg and cheese.

But wait, there’s more. Before or after you’ve gobbled up some goodies, assuaged your coffee cravings and completed your free wireless Internet tasks, you can browse a collection of jewelry, casual clothing and other retail items on sale.

“That’s the boutique part of our cafe,” Alex explains.

Alex and Monica have had an eventful winter here. They got married on Jan. 10 and opened the store on Feb. 10. They’ve been here, working in various hospitality-related jobs on Marco, for more than five years. They met earlier while attending university in Romania, their native country.

Their work ethic and desire to succeed with the iNet Cafe is obvious.

“We’ll be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week,” Alex says.

The new reality of taxes ... Arrgghhhh!

Most of us need help with our tax returns, not to mention changes in tax laws that are imminent or already here. An event next Wednesday might offer news we can use on the tax front.

“Taxes in America — The New Reality.” is a seminar at 10 a.m., March 17, at the Art League at 1010 Winterberry Drive.

A certified financial planner, Bruce Graev, will discuss “what leading experts see as probable tax law changes (including income taxes, capital gains taxes and estate taxes).”

If you want to attend, better call right away to 642-6020 or 272-6422.

Sponsors include Marco attorney William G. Morris, Robert Forsythe of Advanced Insurance Underwriters and Mr. Graev, of Ameriprise Financial.

Chris Curle is a former news anchor for CNN and for ABC-TV stations in Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Houston. E-mail chris@chriscurle.com.

Don is a former ABC News correspondent and bureau chief and a former news anchor for CNN and ABC-TV, in Atlanta. His Farmer File column appears Fridays in the Naples Daily News. E-mail: don@donfarmer.com.

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