Less than six months after opening, 4 Shore in Naples has permanently shuttered. Even more, its space is up for sale just weeks after owner Joshua Sanchez said the closing was “temporary.”
4 Shore began with misconceptions and ended with many questions.
The build-up to 4 Shore was never one that started on the right foot. From the name to the first interview with Jo Murray over at the Press-Telegram, things perpetually went awry.
The brow-furrow-worthy name was just the beginning of what the 4 Shore hoped to be: While the restaurant’s play on “for sure” insinuates an über-casual if not outright lackadaisical vibe, Sanchez said, “Bottle service is required because there’s only going to be 14 tables and 20 bar stools. The seats will be in high demand.”
When Murray asked if there would be competition with nearby Michael’s on Naples, Sanchez said, “It will be like having Gucci next to Louis Vuitton,”
While Sanzchez, closer to opening, requested that these initial articles—including mine—be removed because they were “taken out of context,” even shiny’n’sexy Eater LA articles couldn’t save the space.
It was more about community than they thought.
On a personal and blunt level, it wasn’t that Sanchez was a horrible human or unkind; quite the opposite. 4 Shore was mired with inexperience and a lack of knowing one’s community. On the immediate face of it, they were taking over a space that has largely been home to two very beloved institutions—Kelly’s and Chianina. And while those two spaces couldn’t be further from each other in terms of character and taste, one thing was for certain: Each understood Naples.
Chianina, upon opening shortly after Christmas in 2013, attempted to have a dress code only to quickly reject it upon seeing all the Sperry-sporting, shorts-preferred crowd that would throw down on expensive bills. Surely, Naples has money; surely not do they have a stick up their derrières. The success of Marlena down the street isn’t because of some perfected concept more than a willingness to fit into its community. The longstanding strength of Michael’s on Naples has more than just their stellar food as a reason for that longstanding reputation; they connect with Naples.
The blunt fact that so few of the surrounding businesses even knew about 4 Shore, let alone shook hands with its owners during development, is really the essential red flag for 4 Shore.
The larger impact of 4 Shore’s sale on Naples…
While Naples will continue to be the resilient little space its been, it certainly represents a loss. That space, as mentioned, is intimately tied to two previously loved businesses, each of them steakhouses in their own right. The latter, Chianina, was a culinary gem offering the cattle of its namesake for the first time to American eaters. To have a proper take on bistecca alla Fiorentina using Chianina beef was an unparalleled jump for our local food scene.
So the Dene family’s decision to permanently shutter it in January of 2021 proved pretty harsh for Naples. That, in turn, meant high hopes for 4 Shore. Perhaps the next iteration, whatever it may be, will be led by a really simple thing: connection with the community.
4 Shore was located at 5716 E. 2nd St.
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