A new chef-driven dining venue has transformed the former space of The Causeway, a short-lived food hall that closed this spring in Bonita Springs.

The Industry Standard Kitchen + Bar debuted in mid-September at 28280 Old 41 Road, just south of Bonita Beach Road. Replacing four food concepts under one roof, the new full-service restaurant and bar includes the BrAva Pizza ghost kitchen.

“We tried it out with The Causeway. It didn’t work out,” said co-founder Ken Delaney.

His business partners didn’t want to continue with another local hospitality venture, but Delaney didn’t want to let it go. He bought out his original partners to co-partner with Executive Chef Adam Nardis on the new venture. Three years ago, Nardis launched and continues to operate Coldwater Oyster Market & Bar in south Fort Myers, and he previously was executive chef at Seventh South Craft Food + Drink and M Waterfront Grille in Naples.

“Thankfully, through friends of friends, I ended up meeting with Adam and he was willing to come in,” Delaney said. “He said he was ready for a new project, and we were able to put this thing together in a pretty short order. It took us about three months.”

The new venture is still in the Causeway Commerce Park—the former site of the longtime Causeway Lumber Co.—but The Causeway is no longer part of the restaurant’s name.

Nearly every table in the new restaurant has a view of the open kitchen, which features a chef’s bar at its perimeter.

“During season, we are going to have it reservation-only so you can interact with the chef,” Delaney said. “Chef Adam will be in the middle doing the expedite. We have other talented chefs who are working in the pasta and apps kitchen and the meats kitchen. We installed a woodfired grill. We set up a whole new pizza kitchen in the back.”

Delaney said the restaurant’s large kitchen is a laboratory for Nardis. “Because of the way the kitchens are built in the back, we have tons of space,” he said. “This gives him a big area to be able to be creative.”

Similar to what drew him to Coldwater, Nardis feels that The Industry Standard is another casual concept with a unique quality to its space. He feels fortunate to have found another fun opportunity.

“Everything that’s in there right now is brand new,” Nardis said. “I built the kitchen how I wanted the kitchen built from an engineering standpoint. At this point in my career, it’s not all about cooking food. It is about building the business and engineering the business and setting it up to be successful, and that’s become a little bit more my game as I get into my late 30s here. I thought, man, this is a great opportunity right here.”

It also was a chance for Nardis to reconnect with chefs he previously worked with. For instance, his chef de cuisine is Noel Willhite, the founding chef two years ago of Corner Spot Diner + Drink in Bonita Springs. “Noel and I go way back. He was my chef de cuisine at Crave Culinaire,” Nardis said. Nothing is forced at the new restaurant, Nardis said. He plans to change the menu gradually as he feels inspired but does not feel compelled to do so seasonally or regularly.

“It kind of feels like it’s all coming full circle. It’s almost like the style of food I started doing,” he said. “We’re making all the bread from scratch. Not only are we churning all the butter, but we’re culturing all the cream for 48 hours so it’s a cultured butter, European style. The vibe I’ve been giving people is that Heinz ketchup is the only thing not made in house because I just haven’t figured out how to make ketchup better than Heinz. If we can do it in house, we’re doing it in house.”

Thought, passion and inspiration are behind every dish curated and created for the menu.

“I have a dish on the menu now called Grouper Taino. The Taíno people were the original indigenous people of the Caribbean,” said Nardis, noting that the native tribes merged with African slaves brought by Christopher Columbus to combine cultures. “That’s where jerk cooking came from. So, I wanted to do kind of like a jerk grouper, some sort of Caribbean fish. Before I even do that, I have to spend an hour researching the history of jerk cooking. I want to pay that respect to the people and where it came from and the people who came before me, and really give it its due.”

The Gulf grouper is prepared with house jerk spice and served with a red bean and rice croquette, papaya and shishito salsina and a smoked lime mojo emulsion. Other entrees include Australian Wagyu short ribs, diver scallops, wood-grilled filet mignon, tagliatelle and hickory-grilled lamb meatloaf. Starters include king crab bisque, local snapper crudo, focaccia and red shrimp and grits.

The chef’s wife, Erin, has been a key part of his success. Beyond raising four children together, they combine forces professionally. Erin Nardis has been an integral part in the last two restaurants, especially Coldwater, on a day to day. “I know that because I’m the chef I get a lot of the attention, but I honestly could not do it without Erin. She’s fantastic,” he said.

Delaney’s pre-pandemic software company that started there was called The Industry, which included shipping containers for conference rooms in the shared co-working space. One of the shipping containers became a beer tap wall. Although it’s a full-service restaurant, the selfserve beer wall has 20 taps.

“We are taking it a step further with the education about which glass a beer is supposed to be drank out of,” Nardis said. “So, the first thing is pick your beer; the next thing is pick your glass.”

Delaney and Nardis wanted an approachable place, but they added some flair for an upscale restaurant, which still has a rustic dining area and lounge. Don’t expect white linen tablecloths, though.

“If you want to watch TV but also get a great meal, you’ve got that,” Delaney said. “You’ve got a lounge menu, which you have the choice of getting a smash burger and lobster roll and all that. Over in the dining area, we’re doing all the lobster crudo and the grouper and crabs and all the finer stuff. You still get your choice like you did with The Causeway, just in a different way.”

The pizza oven was moved to the back of the large kitchen for BrAva Pizza, which has New York-style pizzas available for takeout and delivery. The crew created and taste-tested different pizzas to formulate the menu lineup.

“We researched. We R-and-D’d the pizza for six weeks,” Nardis said. “We made 75 pies — different sauces, different flours, different starters, different fermentations, all kinds of things.”

This week starts “Pies After 9,” where the venue stays open until 11 p.m., serving pizza in the lounge area from BrAva starting at 9 p.m., when the main kitchen closes. Otherwise, The Industry Standard is open 4 to 10 p.m. daily.

The come-as-you-are casual venue has 160 seats inside and another 80 or so outside. Expect live music and a vibrant outdoor patio with a variety of seating options. “That garage door, that inside-outside bar, come Nov. 1 that will always be open,” Nardis said. Plans include the addition of sunshades, planter boxes and possibly a fire pit.

Meanwhile, Carl and Carol Smith, the former proprietors of The Causeway food hall and bar, are scouting out future restaurant possibilities in the area. “We’re still looking. We just haven’t found the right opportunity yet,” Carol Smith said.

A business split closed The Causeway on May 23, less than six months after its Dec. 6 launch. The Smiths left with their four food concepts — Smithy’s Kitchen, Orzo Pizza & Pasta, Roast Sandwich Bar and Dessert Lab — that shared the common indoor- outdoor dining area.