RESTAURANT NEWS | FORT LAUDERDALE
Sweetwaters Turns River Traffic Into Dinner Theater
Nicco V. Salanitro leads the kitchen at the Huizenga Park restaurant overlooking Fort Lauderdale’s New River.
SWEETWATERS | MAP | INSTAGRAM
By Eric Barton
Updated 11:29 a.m. ET, Oct. 12, 2026
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.
There are few restaurant locations in Fort Lauderdale with more passing traffic than the New River. Water taxis putter by. Yachts slide through downtown looking too large for the waterway. Drawbridges rise, cars stack up, and everyone gets a few unplanned minutes to contemplate the boating life.
Sweetwaters joins the parade from a prominent spot inside the remade Huizenga Park. The new restaurant has 291 seats spread between its dining room and outdoor patios.
Lobster pasta
Inside the kitchen, chef Nicco V. Salanitro is cooking from a menu of coastal dishes, drawing from 13 years spent cooking around South Florida. The Johnson & Wales University graduate previously worked at Galley at Hilton West Palm Beach, Elisabetta’s Ristorante, and The Belgrove Resort & Spa.
That background should prove useful at a restaurant serving several versions of Fort Lauderdale at once: downtown workers stopping for happy hour, neighbors coming in for dinner, and boaters who arrive having avoided the entire drawbridge situation. “We want it to feel like a true neighborhood spot, a place locals can enjoy any day of the week,” Salanitro said in a statement.
Salanitro worked on the menu with culinary director Matthieu Godard, who trained at the Culinary Institute of Rouen in Normandy. Godard has spent 29 years in the industry, including eight alongside Daniel Boulud, with later positions at the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection and Bagatelle Group.
Salmon with succotash
General manager Ashley Ermus oversees the dining room. A Miami native, she has worked in South Florida hospitality for more than 19 years and most recently ran special-event operations at Rusty Pelican Miami. Sweetwaters was developed by the family-owned group behind that longtime restaurant.
Skirt steak
Lobster mac and cheese
Dinner comes first, along with cocktails and happy hour. Lunch and a morning café are expected to follow.
For now, there are river views and reservations available. Salanitro has begun the considerably harder part: giving everyone something to watch besides the yachts.
