Q&A: Eat Like a Chef on St. Barts

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 13 November 2012 | 17.35

There's more to St. Barts than its celebrity-studded stunning beaches (though that's plenty), according to the chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who says he has been vacationing there for the last 20 years.

With fresh seafood brought ashore every day; Air France flights importing wine, meat and dairy; and markets brimming with fresh produce, the tiny French island has wonderfully diverse food.

"I love the Creole flavors there," he said. "The curries are a bit lighter, just a blend of spice, tamarind, chiles, garlic, lemon grass, turmeric. Very exotic." Last year Mr. Vongerichten added to the mix by redesigning the menus of the Sand Bar and On the Rocks at Eden Rock, a luxurious hotel built into a promontory overlooking St. Jean Bay.

Below are edited excerpts from a conversation with Mr. Vongerichten on eating in St. Barts.

Q: Where do you go for good Creole?

A: Maya's, on the waterfront of Gustavia's harbor. My friend of 20 years, Maya Gurley, and her husband run it, and the menu changes every day. They do a shrimp salad with green papaya, a coconut chicken, a green curry mahi-mahi. I love her tamarind-spiced pork, and for an appetizer she makes a gratin of christophine, a white colored squash, to die for. She's the best cook on the island, a legend. She inspired me to cook there.

At Eden Rock, we use a lot of Creole flavors. We try to give a hint of spice in every dish. We have a tomato, avocado and mango salad, which is very Guadeloupian. We put a wood-burning oven in the Sand Bar where we roast whole fish with tomato, lemon grass and chiles. We use a lot of fermented chiles: you mix the green chile with salt and let it sit for 24 hours in the fridge, and it's quite flavorful.

Q: Any Continental options?

A: In Gustavia, there's a great Italian restaurant called L'Isola. It's food of the Almafi coast, but with seafood local to St. Barts: pasta with clams, grilled Spanish lobster, whole fish and burrata. So the flavor is a little different because you have a different terroir, with tomatoes from Guadeloupe.

A really fun place is Le Ti St. Barth, which does great steak. They have a delicious rib-eye on the bone with a green pepper sauce. It's a great ambience. They play all sorts of music. There's no way to go and not stand up and dance a little bit — on the table or not, but you have to dance.

Q: Any restaurants you stop in on your way to the beach?

A: Le Tamarin is on the road to Grande Saline, which, for me, is the best beach. The water is transparent, a beautiful blue. Always quiet, with great snorkeling by the rocks. The restaurant is built around a big, old tamarind tree, so you sit on the teak deck in the shade of the tree. They serve great, simple grilled fish, ceviche and conch ravioli.

There are two places I go to for lunch on Flamands, a long, wide beach, which is absolutely beautiful. From it, you can see St. Martin and other islands. One is at the Taïwana Hotel, which makes a great grilled chicken, wonderful lobster salads and lentil salads. All very local seafood. There is Hotel Saint-Barth Isle de France, which sets up tables right on the beach, so you have your feet in the sand. With a glass of rosé, it's magical. And for sunsets, go to a little bar called Dõ Brazil right on Shell Beach, which is covered with pink shells. You can get cocktails, caipirinhas and mojitos and watch the sun go down.

On the Atlantic side, there's a rocky beach called Washing Machine at the end of a trail from Grand Cul de Sac. There are no restaurants there because no one's there; it's too wild. But I have to mention it because it's the most gorgeous beach you've ever seen in your life. The waves are so strong, they carve natural pools into the rock, and you swim in them. It's paradise.


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