A Feast for the Senses

Since its opening on June 6, 2025, Blackbird Modern Asian Restaurant in Naples has been receiving great reviews for its Cantonese ‘old classics’ along with the foods and flavors of Thailand, Vietnam, and a bit of Japanese. Checking out Blackbird’s Old School Chinese menu, you get a sampling taste of sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, and salty – representing the template of Southeast Asian cuisine. But the proof in the pudding is the ingredients used; how they overlap and are prepared, blending traditional flavors with modern techniques, led by Blackbird’s award-winning Chef Tim Nickey. 

Blackbird is known to symbolize mystery, magic, and rebirth according to the partners of Blackbird, Scott Frielich, Angelo Abbenante, Cleve Mash, and Executive Chef Tim Nickey. It was also used as a metaphor for hope and transformation in the 1968 Beatles’ iconic classic song, which all four partners connect with. These meanings resonated, breathing new life into the Jupiter Blackbird location, and the same spirit of revival and reinvention endures in the Blackbird Naples location. 

Jaye Spencer of Marco Island, and a member of the Sunshine Sisters, organized a dinner group of twelve friends to sample Blackbird’s culinary experience. On the walkway leading to Blackbird’s main entrance, a six-foot-tall sitting bronze Buddha head greets guests with a reassuring gaze. As you enter the main dining room through a keyhole entryway, your attention is drawn to the dramatic soft-lit cherry blossom tree hovering over the main dining area. The group was ushered to a private room finished with a wallpaper designed to duplicate intricate and artistic Asian silk scarves. 

The ladies started the evening ordering a round of cocktails from the Happy Hour Drink menu, which offered 50% cocktails, and enjoyed the whimsical names such as Crazy Rich Asians. For a group of 12 diners, our server Andrea was very patient in explaining each item on the menu. She reminded us that the dishes are meant to be shared and pointed to the two wooden Lazy Susans on the table. Family-style sharing is the norm in most Asian countries. 

The ladies shared the following comments: 

Craving Peking Duck? For the main course, the group ordered the Peking Duck with its crackling, crispy brown skin, tender and succulent meat, which requires a multi-day preparation. The duck was served pre-sliced with steaming thin Chinese pancake wraps, accompanied with garnishes of scallions, thinly sliced cucumbers, and pickled onions with the traditional hoisin sauce. The hoisin sauce added a sweet and savory flavor, while the garnishes provided a sharp contrast, enhancing the duck’s flavor. 

Server Andrea showed the group the proper way to use the thin Chinese pancakes: spread a little hoisin sauce on the pancake, then add a few slices of crispy duck skin and meat, some scallions, cucumbers, and pickled onions, then roll up the pancake and enjoy! Originally served for the Chinese imperial family, the Blackbird’s Peking Duck got 12 thumbs up from the Marco group on the elegant presentation and flavor, and a “must try” culinary and cultural experience.  

To finish the evening, the ladies sampled Blackbird’s Celebratory Dessert, an assortment of indulgent sweets and tropical fruits that is the creation of award-winning Executive Pastry Chef Denise Elrod.  

According to Manager Jason Hotchkiss the fortune cookies are personally composed by Blackbird, Naples. Adding a playful end to the evening, the ladies cracked open their cookies and mine read, “Blackbird flies solo but never lonely.”  

Blackbird Modern Asian is located at the trendy Naples Bay Resort and Marina, 1500 Fifth Avenue South, at the location previously occupied by Bonefish Grill.