Hot Spot to Shop-Peach and Pepper

Peach and Pepper, located at 105 E. Stuart Avenue, is one of the newest restaurants in downtown Lake Wales. Owner Gina D’Ambrosio brings a Mediterranean and tropical flare to the local restaurant scene. Peach and Pepper offers unique twists on breakfast and lunch standards. For breakfast, Gina serves up an avocado egg salad as well as toasted brie with brambleberry butter. For lunch, she offers a ham sandwich with smoked gouda, sliced apple and bacon on naan bread as well as her trademark salad called the “Walesbilt”. The Walesbilt salad is spring mix, butterhead lettuce, spinach, and tomatoes with grilled chicken. This unique salad is topped with olives, egg, walnuts and peaches and comes with a muscadine grape pour.
Gina is new to Florida, only arriving last year from New Jersey. Her daughter and son-in-law live in Lake Wales. It was during the yoga classes she took with her daughter at Yoga Bliss, which is also located on Stuart Ave., that Gina became inspired to open up a restaurant in the historic core of Lake Wales. When she polled her fellow yoga classmates about what menu items they wanted to see more of downtown, salads were the feedback she received most often. When creating the menu, Gina used the Waldorf Salad as an inspiration for naming her signature salad. The Waldorf Salad was named after the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City in the late 1800s. Peach and Pepper sits in the shadow of the Dixie Walesbilt Hotel. It seemed like the perfect name for this unique salad.
It was the aesthetic of the new and old coming together that drew Gina to open a business in downtown Lake Wales. She is excited about the improvements to Park Ave. and Market Plaza but also loves the vintage charm of Lake Wales. She has been so encouraged by the other downtown businesses. Denise, a regular customer of Peach and Pepper says that she loves the outdoor eating area. She loves the freshness of the food and said it is like home cooking with a twist.
Customized catering is available upon request with advanced notice. Peach and Pepper’s hours of operation are Monday through Friday 8am to 3:30pm. Please call for Saturday hours. You can contact them at [phone]. Their website is thepeachandpepper.com