Soluna Restaurant & Bar, emulating its namesake sun and moon fusion, plans to rise this month to illuminate the Naples dining scene.

The new chef-inspired venue will launch soon at 403 Bayfront Place, the former space of the longtime Stoney’s Steakhouse at Bayfront, the mixed-use development along the Gordon River where the southern end of Good-lette Frank Road meets Fifth Avenue South in Naples.

Chef-owner William Andraca provides a fresh face for the more than 20-year-old restaurant space. Bayfront developer Kevin Stoneburner and late local restaurateur Cloyde Pate launched the traditional steakhouse there in May 2002 as one of the first restaurants in Bayfront. After operating for 14 years, Stoney’s Steakhouse initially closed in 2016 and was renamed that fall as St. Germain Steakhouse under new ownership, then K-Prime Steakhouse for a short time before reverting to Stoney’s again years later.

The latest change will be the venue’s most notable. Andraca only awaits a beverage license for the full bar and outdoor dining approval by Naples City Council.

“I just want to open the doors and start showing the community what we can really do here, what we have to offer,” he said. “We’re really excited. We’re at the gate. The food’s dialed in. We’re starting to cook. So, it’s just a matter of time now.”

Expect an innovative presentation from Andraca, a local country club chef who was born in Miami with Cuban ancestry and raised in Naples, which he considers his hometown. He is excited about sharing his culinary talent with the community at Soluna.

“I pride myself on the eclectic array of food I can produce. I really consider this to be one of the true chef-inspired restaurants in town,” he said.

Andraca has amassed an impressive resume as a local chef at upscale private venues in the Naples area. Chef de cuisine at Bay Colony Club since 2019, Andraca completed five years there this summer. The certified executive chef through the American Culinary Federation also has served as executive sous chef at The Club at Mediterra, sous chef at Wyndemere Country Club, chef de partie and banquet chef at Naples Yacht Club and chef de partie at both Stonebridge and Collier’s Reserve country clubs.

“Coming from that club mindset, where we offered so many venues and we did so much variety, it was so much fun to be that creative,” he said.

The young chef clearly has immersed himself into this venue, drawing on his passion and experience. He wants the public to sample a taste of the private country club scene that he says is the best.

“I try not to be pretentious. I love food so much. I appreciate all levels of food, from pedestrian to Wagyu strip,” he said.

While his chef-inspired creations at Soluna will have an upscale fusion aspect, Andraca plans cuisine that is approachable and familiar. “I’m going to have a prime rib night. I’m going to have weekly specials. I’m going to cater to the people who used to love Stoney’s,” he said.

Andraca is starting with a smaller menu that he plans to progressively grow.

“I pride myself the most on variety, the quality of the ingredients, the fact that we’re going to have a seasonal menu,” he said.

One example of his fusion dishes is a reimagined steak tartare, which he throws a Korean curveball with kimchi, edamame, cashews and crisp baked taro chips. “I’ve got this 12-hour black garlic glaze that I’ve cooked down for hours and hours to garnish it,” he said. “So, it’s food that is somewhat familiar when you taste it, but it has a twist to it.

“I’m serving a Caesar salad where it’s not just a chopped and tossed Caesar salad — we’re going to use the best Pecorino Romano, shaved big. I’m going to take black garlic and layer it between the layers of the Romaine. It’s familiar, but it’s new.”

It’s especially familiar for Andraca, who is drawing on a lifetime of personal culinary influences.

“When it comes to lending my actual past into it, there are dishes on here that as soon as I taste it, they take me back to my childhood and anyone who’s had that will know,” he said. “So, my pork chop dish: It’s Heritage pork chop, 14-ounce on the bone. We’re serving it with a sofrito polenta, so basically as I grew up, with a tamale. We would cook this liquid tamale in a pot and we’d add all these pork belly pieces and pork rinds to it and you fry up onions and peppers and cumin and coriander and you add that in there. This version is sofrito polenta, and we’re serving it with these little blistered peppers that are original to Cuba.”

He also is serving octopus — but it’s not a typical Spanish preparation. “I’m serving it mojo-style with green plantains that have been pickled into an escabeche,” he said. “I’m creating all these blends of flavor with some of my background in those two dishes. I also have an Italian lamb ragout with homemade tagliatelle. Every single item is a composed dish.”

Soluna’s side dishes even lean toward the eclectic. “I’ve got a whipped miso sweet potato with toasted pine nuts and sage. I’ve also got whipped potatoes, like regular mashed potatoes with caramelized garlic cloves,” he said.

Although allergies will be accommodated, Andraca otherwise frowns on substitutions. He wants guests to enjoy his culinary artistry as intended. And while he’s trying to be as seasonal as possible and sourcing local produce and fish, he knows when it’s best to import the best.

“I’m using the best olive oil, straight from Greece. I’m using imported olives. I have the best cheeses, all imports. I’ve got world wines: Old World, New World, California, Willamette Valley,” he said.

Andraca plans a private wine club with regular wine dinners and public wine tastings with complementary charcuterie. He is creating a calendar of events with special nights suitable for an eclectic restaurant.

“We’re going to have world-class live entertainment,” he said. “My cousin Lazaro Arbos, who holds a key to the city, will be here with his Grammy-award-winning guitarist doing Sinatra nights and lounge singing. His guitarist is incredible.”

Photo by Tim Aten