FORT MYERS
Brad Kilgore Opens Oise in Fort Myers, Bringing Sushi, Meatballs, and a Tiramisu Highball
Written by Eric Barton | June 26, 2025
AUTHOR BIO: Eric Barton is editor of The Adventurist and a freelance journalist who has reviewed restaurants for more than two decades. Email him here.
I’ve been writing about Brad Kilgore’s restaurants for years, mostly with the same conclusion: he has a way of putting things together—flavors, ideas, cultures—I didn’t know could work together, and somehow making them delicious. I loved MaryGold’s, where he turned a hotel brasserie into something that felt both Floridian and entirely new, and I gave a rave to the first version of Oise, which started as a sushi-and-red-sauce concept tucked inside a Wynwood food hall.
But Miami seems to be bleeding chefs these days, and Kilgore is among those who’ve quietly drifted out of the 305. Now he’s landed in Fort Myers, bringing with him a full brick-and-mortar version of Oise. The address—2262 1st Street, downtown—comes with a preserved 1920s tile floor and a dining room that feels like a cross between Tokyo and Naples: sharp lines, polished concrete, a live-edge bar, and just enough greenery to remind you this used to be a sleepy town.
The menu still leans on Kilgore’s high-low magic. He folds Japanese and Italian flavors into one another like it’s a party trick—crispy rice with truffle ponzu here, a Katsu Chicken Parm Sando there. There’s a meatball that he’s been tinkering with for five years, broiled to a caramelized finish under a cloud of parmesan espuma like it’s a science experiment. Like everything I had at the first iteration of Oise, it blew my mind both in how good it was and how it put things together that I would’ve told you did not belong on the same plate. And there’s sushi, of course, including a signature handroll that smuggles pork belly and tuna tartare under a crown of truffle caviar.
And there’s sushi, of course, including a signature handroll that smuggles pork belly and tuna tartare under a crown of truffle caviar.
The cocktails come courtesy of the Escondido Lounge team, already known locally for having some of the best drinks in Southwest Florida. They’re serving things like a yuzu negroni, a tiramisu highball, and a bellini with a peach fruit roll-up garnish made from kitchen scraps. In case it wasn’t obvious, Kilgore and his partner Brad Cozza didn’t come here to blend in.
Desserts walk the same tightrope—pistachio gelato paired with cherry-lychee kakigori, and a salted caramel tiramisu that probably shouldn’t work but does.
Another Oise concept is already planned for Cape Coral. For now, Fort Myers just became a little more interesting—and a lot harder to ignore.
