“Sometimes people say, ‘What’s next?’” said Nick DiMario. “What’s next is everything.”

It might sound a little immodest, but just look at how many burners DiMario, co-owner of coastal Alabama restaurant empire PP Hospitality Group, and partner “Panini Pete” Blohme have cooking.

It hasn’t been that long since the duo reopened a Causeway classic, Ed’s Seafood Shed, at a new location in Spanish Fort. As soon as that was up and running, they shifted their focus to The Waterfront, a revitalization of a bayside landmark in Daphne. Soon they’ll be bringing a new vision of food-court dining, Parc Le Tralour, to downtown Mobile. And all that’s stacked on top of the other PP Hospitality Group businesses: The original Panini Pete’s in Fairhope; Fairhope Squeeze, a juice bar and fruiteria; Sunset Pointe at Fly Creek Marina; Squid Ink Eclectic Eats & Drinks in downtown Mobile; and even a hair salon, Mob Town Proper, in midtown Mobile.

We’ll get back to what’s next, Parc Le Tralour, in a minute. But now let’s dwell on what’s new. That’s The Waterfront. Formerly the home of the Lake Forest Yacht Club, the restaurant served partly as an amenity for residents of Daphne’s massive Lake Forest subdivision. But over the last decade, the Lake Forest Property Owners Association struggled to give it an identity that would sustain it. In late 2022, a deal was struck with PP Hospitality to run it. Blohme and DiMario, no strangers to waterfront dining, began cooking up a seafood-heavy concept that would feature some Gulf Coast favorites, but also some treats drawing on inspiration from other parts of the country and other parts of the globe.

The Waterfront opened in June amid some extra fanfare, since Blohme’s buddy Guy Fieri was in town. From the start, a lot of curious diners were eager to see what Blohme and DiMario had done with the place.

“The Lake Forest Community, that actually owns the property, has been super supportive of all our efforts,” said DiMario. “The city of Daphne has been unbelievable, the mayor and his entire crew.”

“It opened as strong as any restaurant I’ve opened, volume-wise,” said DiMario. “Burgers were just off the charts when we opened up. I mean, literally, we were doing 800-900 burgers a week.”

For the record, there are three of those: The Eazy Cheezze Burger ($13.50), which is straightforward; the Waterfront Burger ($14.75), with toppings that include house pimento cheese, bacon and a papaya bbq jerk sauce; and the “Award Winning Sarah B Burger” ($14.75) with bacon, goat cheese boursin and strawberry jam.

But wait. If there’s one thing you don’t want to do after turned off U.S. 98 and made the short drive down to the water’s edge, and after you’ve had a minute to take in the bright, airy indoor dining area and the expansive metal-roofed deck, it’s to skip the appetizers.

Settle in. You might want to try a few of these. A companion and I ordered the flagship hot app, the Cast Iron Roasted Oysters ($16), and got a very nicely presented skillet full of small but tasty oysters on a bed of kale, topped with breadcrumbs, bacon and garlic butter sauce. You might find you don’t want to share – and objectively, this seems like a guilt-free path to having an appetizer for your meal.

Later, Blohme and DiMario offered samples of a couple more options. The Crispy Chicken Bacon ($8) is something that they came up with while playing around. Bite-sized chunks of chicken thigh are crisped and tossed in a jerk sauce. Between the texture of the chicken and the flavor of the sauce, they do have a bacon-y taste and texture, even though the recipe uses no actual bacon. And they’re phenomenal with a little ranch dressing. The Street Cauliflower ($10) presents a roasted head of cauliflower spiced up with chimichurri vinaigrette and cotija cheese. Cauliflower can be bland, but not when it’s dressed up like this.

And that’s just the hot side of the appetizer menu. Cold apps include a Seafood Goblet with shrimp and crab; a Watermelon Stack with herbs, crab and viper vinaigrette; and a Southern Charcuterie.

Entrees include a selection of sandwiches, tacos, bowls and salads, plus various catch-of-the-day specials. I went for the Royal shrimp sandwich ($11) and was surprised to find that it was (A) cold, (B) one of the sauciest, sloppiest sandwiches I’d ever eaten and (C) surprisingly spicy despite being cold. It turns out that the Royal is a prime example of Blohme’s and DiMario’s desire to draw on outside influences.

They’re staunch users of Gulf shrimp, they said, but for this they reached a little farther: northward for the inspiration, southward for the shrimp.

“It uses these red shrimp from Argentina that we really like,” said Blohme. “It’s a play on a lobster roll.”

The lobster roll, a sandwich commonly served along the coast of New England, comes in hot and cold varieties, and we’re not going to get into the long-running fight over which is best. For the Waterfront version, Blohme opted to spice things up, and to use shrimp rather than lobster. Initially he considered royal reds, a big deepwater shrimp with a distinctive taste and texture. He ended up using the Argentinean reds, which are smaller but have a similar taste profile that’s somewhere in between shrimp and lobster.

“We like to color outside the lines,” said Blohme. “We’re going to do some fun, Caribbean-influenced stuff. We’re going to use these great red shrimp from Argentina. We’re going to do a play on a Northeastern lobster roll. We’re going to do a play on Caribbean ceviche. Why shouldn’t we be able to have fun with that?”

Why indeed? The sandwich was surprising in several ways and it took a lot of napkins to get through it – but I’d order it again in a heartbeat.

My companion at this meal went a more conventional route, ordering the Shrimp Po-boy ($13.50). But even there, you might spot a subtle playfulness. Blohme and DiMario don’t hew to the old-time Mobile gospel of cornmeal for oysters, flour for shrimp. The Waterfront uses a breading that combines cornmeal, flour, panko, corn starch and seasoning. “It’s a combo, so you get some really good textures,” said Blohme. It’s something they’ll soon be packaging and selling.

The difference between the wild Royal sandwich and the pretty-much-what-you-expected Shrimp Po-Boy illustrates another aspect of The Waterfront approach. They’re going to offer you some things that might be a little outside your comfort zone, but they’re not going to twist your arm.

“Not everything’s for everybody,” said Blohme. “We understand that. That’s why there are burgers on the menu.”

It’s all about the over-arching vibe, they said.

“This is a party place. This is a fun place to find yourself at,” said DiMario.

They’re positioning The Waterfront as a fine place to spend a day watching games on an abundance of big screens. But while they’re encouraging guests to settle in an relax they’ll be pivoting, yet again, to the next thing. That is Parc Le Tralour, their twist on a food-court concept for downtown Mobile.

Parc Le Tralour will go into the Royal Street space formerly occupied by the MoonPie General Store, a casualty of the pandemic. DiMario and Blohme said they’ve looked at food courts all over the United States, cooking up a concept of their own.

Rather than offering facilities to independent operators, the Parc will feature four PP Hospitality brands. One is familiar: Panini Pete’s, returning to Mobile after four years or so. The other three are new. Taco Hermanos will offer street tacos, Mob Town Slice will specialize in New York-style pizza and Astronaut Chicken will present a fresh take on grilled chicken.

The partners describe it as an attempt to combine some of the appealing traits of a traditional food court, particularly the a la carte eclecticism, while offering table service and the convenience of a consolidated payment system.

They reckon it’ll be late October before they can begin work on the space, so it’ll be a few months before the Parc can open. And maybe that gives them just a little time to rest on their laurels at The Waterfront.

With summer beginning to show slight hints that it will eventually fade into fall, DiMario said he is looking forward to “patio season.” He and Blohme plan to extend the metal roof over the central deck so that that it also covers areas to either side. They say this will provide more flexibility for hosting parties and other events: Groups will be able to book a section of the deck, for example.

“Where else can you come an enjoy the game but also enjoy living on the coast like this?” said Blohme.

“What we look for is to create that transformative place, where, when you come here, you leave everything behind,” he said. “Part of the allure is that it’s like you’re going to the beach without going to the beach. You get that vibe.”

The Waterfront is at 1 Yacht Club Drive in Daphne. For full information, visit thewaterfrontdaphne.com. For updates, visit www.facebook.com/thewaterfrontdaphne.

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