Andreas Bieri recognized this week he may have a major problem in bringing back his beloved Mucky Duck restaurant on Captiva Island.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the afternoon of Oct. 13, Bieri met with Captiva Fire District Chief Jeff Pawul, Deputy Chief Shawn Kilgore, construction contractor Victor duPont and kitchen range hood designer David Fusaro. After the meeting, he felt a sense of relief that The Mucky Duck finally had a path forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bieri said that if he can secure the permits in time, he expects to reopen by Dec. 1 or, at the latest, by the end of the year \u2014 just in time for the peak tourist season and the restaurant\u2019s 50th anniversary in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause right now, we don\u2019t really have much business anyway on the island,\u201d Bieri said. \u201cIt\u2019s really quiet, so if we are ready for the season by December, that would be great.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bieri admitted to feeling stressed prior to the meeting, which lasted about half an hour and included a tour of the kitchen area.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t want one spark to bring all of this down,\u201d said Fusaro, who married into the family kitchen hood business in 2002. His father-in-law Andrew Miranda founded Miranda El Dorado: Manufacturing Kitchen Hood Systems in 1945 in New York before bringing the company to Largo, near Tampa Bay.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As the Captiva fire department chiefs viewed the new interior of the reconstructed Mucky Duck, Fusaro, tape measure in hand, went to work inspecting the details. He concluded that one of the kitchen range areas perhaps did not have enough ceiling room to pass inspection. However, an area on the other side of the wall did.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Owner Andreas Bieri stands inside The Mucky Duck during renovations. He hopes to reopen the beloved Captiva restaurant by December, ahead of its 50th anniversary.<\/p>\n
David Dorsey<\/p>\n
duPont and his subcontractors will need to remove a wooden wall to create space for a second kitchen range. The original range area will be converted into a food preparation station, a solution Fusaro devised on the spot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we submit the drawings, we\u2019ll know they\u2019ll get approved,\u201d Fusaro said. \u201cAs far as chances of success, we went from a \u2018maybe\u2019 to 100%.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDifferent configuration,\u201d Pawul said told Bieri. \u201cBut it will give you a bigger capacity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Mucky Duck at 11546 Andy Rosse Lane, with a view of the beach and the Gulf, reopened January 2023, four months after Hurricane Ian, having escaped significant damage from that storm.\u00a0<\/p>\n