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St Maarten/St Martin |
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ISLAND NEWS
Weather: It is
was rainy at the start of Christmas week, but you don't have to shovel it
and it's still warm. The rain also leads to green hills,
rainbows, and swarms of butterflies on the coralita growing alongside the roads.
One of the worst rainstorms came on 27 Dec. It was cloudy all day and several
inches of water came down in a few hours. The wind shifted to westerly, dropping
the temperature into the 70's and causing planes to take off to the west (out
over the carib). By 30 Dec it was fairly clear, but not hot.
Beach: Cupecoy is still here. The NW end has pools
and not much sand, but there is quite a bit heading south toward the monolith.
There is even some at the next tiny cove and a bit behind Ocean Club and
Sapphire. Simpson Bay beach is in fine shape. We were at the Horny
Toad Guesthouse (www.TheHornyToadGuesthouse.com)
for Christmas dinner and checked out the beach. No problems on Simpson Bay and
the Toad looks better than ever. Burgeaux Bay on Beacon Hill (south of
Caravanserai Resort) is filling in a bit. Orient is slim in the middle, but
Pirate (www.SXM-restaurants.com/orient/pirate)
has a row of chairs, as does Paradisio. Tropicafe and Continent would have
chairs except they burned to the ground. Probably not a weather related
phenomenon.
New since last
year: Bombay Brasserie finally seemed to be open in Grand Case.
Sitar at Atlantis Casino is closed. Pineapple Pete in Simpson Bay East (in the
former Charolais space) is run by Pierre who was a manager at the Greenhouse in
Pburg. Flo in Cul de Sac now appears to be Au Sud. Also in Cul de Sac, Cotonier
seems to have failed yet again. La Diva has been sold and may be coming back to
life, but without the original chef/owner. Indochine in Sandy Ground has been
replaced by La Plage, fashion restaurant - your guess is as good as mine. Endoit
(The Place, at least in French) has moved from Rue d'Holland to the space
formerly occupied by Alibi in the center of town. Peche Mignon, the bakery in
Sandy Ground, is now Chefs du France, doing catering and take-out. Splash, Bill
and Phil's new restaurant in the former Village Baker across from
Atrium is closed for renovations over the holidays. I doubt
it.
GROCERIES
Most Americans are avoiding the
French side for groceries, but we did find whole, frozen French farm-raised
chickens at Magasin du Pont for about $5. They are quite large (about 5 pounds)
and we had a dinner for four with about half a bird left over. For New Years, we
got a cote de veau, essentially prime rib from veal for about $11 per pound -
not cheap but very good. The smoked tuna appetizer came from Ram's in Cole Bay
at $30 per pound, but a little goes a long way. Also at the Ram's we found
lovely frozen tuna steaks for $4 per pound.
WINE
We stopped at Triple D in Simpson Bay
to look for our cheap wine. The Bourgogne Pinot Noir from Maison Forgeot NV
is still there and now priced at 13.30 NAF or about $7.40. It does not compare
with the wines we get from Vinissimo, but is quite drinkable. Next to it was
another Bourgogne at the same price, Domaine Champs Perdrix 2002 (Partridge
Field). We got one of each, tasted them side by side, and couldn't see much
difference, so now we have two cheap burgundies to choose from.
While we are on the subject of cheap, but good,
wine, I should mention the 2002 Straccali Chianti available at Rams (in Cole
Bay, but probably in Pburg also) for about $8.25. It won Wine Spectator's best
buy award last spring and rightly so, says the guy with a glass in his had as he
types.
For New Year's, we had a bottle of champagne
that we brought from the states, not exactly planned, but leftover from a nine
day vacation in Florida. It was great with the smoked tuna ap. The dinner, with
garlic mashed potatoes and oyster mushrooms was accompanied by a 1992
Bonnes-Mares from Mommessin supplied by Vinissimo (www.SXM-Shopping.com/vinissimo)
for a mere $45. There are a few similar bottles in the shop, but they won't be
there after I stop in tomorrow. I'm generally not a great fan of Mommessin as I
think that their name may be bigger than their wines, but this eleven year old
Burgundy from a poor vintage was smooth as silk and fairly long lasting. There
was a bit of champagne left for the traditional midnight fireworks at Maho that
we can see from our back balcony. However, the
building just south of Sapphire is owned by the owner of Rouge et
Noir Casino and he puts on an even bigger show that is significantly closer. All
in all, a great meal, fine wines, an excellent fireworks display, and no
driving! Happy New Year!
CONTEST
SXM-Info and Rainbow
Cafe (www.Rainbow-Cafe.com) are still
running a contest for a $100 gift certificate. Just go to their website, find
the link to sign up for the SXM-Info newsletter, click it, sign up, and you are
entered. Obviously everybody that is getting this email is already signed up for
the newsletter. Just tell me you are already on our mailing list, and I'll leave
you signed up for the newsletter and add your name to the contest list. You
could get $100 off your next meal for two at
Rainbow. Even if you don't win, you should check out the great
menu and wine list. Add in a great view and good service and you will have
one of the best meals you can find on the island. Only one entry per email
address, please.
RESTAURANTS
Happy New Year, the Euro hit a
new high against the dollar, almost a 30% premium. Last week we
reported that California is offering 1 euro for 1
$ on cash, and Rainbow is doing 1 to 1, even on
credit cards. Christian at Sol é Luna reports
that they are offering 1 euro for 1 $ starting at Christmas and
running through the high season. We can add that La Marine is
offering 1 euro equals 1.1 dollars. Note that some restaurants have repriced
their menu downwards, rather than participate in the floating exchange rate
shuffle. You can imagine that offering 1 euro for 1 $ is as
upsetting to someone from Europe as it is gratifying to those of us who shop
(or, more importantly, earn) in dollars. The important thing is to
know the exchange rate that you will get from the restaurant and calculate out
the cost of the dinner. Too much calculation is bad for you, especially in the
pursuit of gastronomical happiness. But you should find out if the restaurant is
offering a good rate for cash, credit cards, or both.
On Monday 22 Dec, we went
to La Marine (www.RestaurantLaMarine.com). It is still
one of the prettiest restaurants in Grand Case and it has one of the largest
dining rooms running parallel to the water affording waterfront tables for
almost all patrons. I've put new photos on the website, including a composite of
Grand Case Bay with the two pronged hill rising up from Molly Smith Point on the
west. There is also a sunset shot that is breathtaking. This is not
hubris, as I did not take the shot, but I like it so much that a print is taped to my desk here at
Sapphire.
We started with a consultation on the
wine. Camille said that Francois, the former wine steward at Hibiscus, now
manager of wines at Philipsburg Liquor, helped to pick out lesser known (and
therefore less expensive) wines from good producers. We went with a 2001 Pommard
from Leroyer Girardin for only 38.50 euros. A quick check of two other
restaurant wine lists shows Pommards at twice this price. The wine was
quite good and had no trouble with our sautéed shrimp in soy and coriander sauce
with Asian risotto and our main courses. this appetizer is typical Gilles, the
chef. He frequently blends in Asian influences and in this case, it made a
wonderful dish. The shrimp were tasty from the start, sometimes hard to find in
this age of farm-raised shrimp, and spiced up just a bit. They circled around a
risotto that owed more to Asia (via shiitake mushrooms and spices) than to
Italy. Our main courses were shredded quail meat, fresh foie gras, and truffle
in puff pastry with four quail legs surrounding the pastry and a tureen of tasty
sauce on the side and a duck and potato cake with duck breast slices in cocoa
and black pepper sauce. I know the cocoa sounds a bit weird in a main course,
but the reason that chocolate is so expensive is that the concentration of cocoa
in a cocoa bean is not great and the extraction process is difficult.
Gilles adds a few beans to the sauce and there is barely a hint of their
flavor. The intrepid may actually eat one of the beans. The taste is quite
mild but the texture is not my favorite. Both dishes were very good and
benefited from the lovely Burgundy. They were priced at only 21 euros, part of
the reason that La Marine is offering 1.1 dollars per euro rather than a more
generous 1.0. All the main course prices are 24 euros or less, except for
lobster. Camille added a complimentary digestif of Armagnac and we left a mere
$108 for a lovely meal on the water.
Christmas eve dinner was
at Bistrot Caraïbes (www.bistrotcaraibes.com), always one
of our favorites. Amaury and Thibault are still there at the corner or
restaurant row and the entrance to the center of town. There is parking on the
right and the lot is offering 1 euro = 1 dollar. Several restaurants will deduct
your parking cost from their bill. It doesn't hurt to ask. We went with our
neighbors in unit 255, which is usually available for rent at www.SXM-Hotels.com/sbc255. Their ap
was the goat cheese in puff pastry and ours was the house-smoked salmon. We
added a bottle of Drouhin's Rully, a crisp white wine and sampled all around. I
still say this is the best smoked salmon I have ever had. For main courses, we
had two fisherman's platters in a lobster sauce, bouillabaisse style, lamb
chops on a bed of creamy garlic mashed potatoes with tomatoes, asparagus,
and butter beans in a reduction sauce, and the fresh French sea
bass on a bed of carrots and asparagus with a light creamy sauce and a
tomato caper sauce. The fishermen's platter is on the menu, the lamb chops are a
slight variation of those on the menu, and the sea bass is a special that is
almost always available. A bottle of Crozes-Hermitage from Chapoutier
helped everything along. It was a very busy night, but Amaury took the time to
explain that they were changing the wine list and the Crozes-Hermitage from
Jaboulet on the list had been replaced by the Chapoutier. All the meals were
very good and made better by extras like the strings of saffron in the
fisherman's platter, the peeled tomato flesh in the lamb dish, and the extra
tangy tomato caper sauce for the seabass. After dinner drinks were offered and
the bill came to $108 per couple using the approximately correct 1.2 $ to the
euro exchange rate. Bistrot Caraïbes has lowered
prices and we found that this meal cost about the same as it would have last
season. Visiting Europeans must be loving the new exchange rate. Some
restaurateurs have lowered their prices, some are giving good exchange rates,
and some are making extra profit per dish, but probably lower gross. Your bottom
line should be how many dollars come out of your pocket for what kind of
quality, not how the number of dollars are determined.
Bistrot Caraïbes still seems to be one of the best
values on the island.
Friday night dinner was at
Sol é Luna (www.SoleLunaRestaurant.com) in Cul de Sac. It
regularly gets voted most romantic restaurant in the Daily Herald's reader's
poll. The setting, on a rise overlooking a pond with Orient and hills in the
background, is lovely and has been considerably enhanced by plantings that
Christian and Brigitte put in when they started the restaurant several years
ago. The interior decoration is also wonderful, although most people dine on the
wraparound porch among the plantings. The menu was always good, but has been
tweaked by Christian over the years and the wine list has improved dramatically.
There are still wines in the 20 euro range (currently $20 for those
who pay cash) especially from Christian's native Provençe. The basic list
of about 30 wines includes five champagnes, as many celebrations occur here, six
whites, several rosés, nine Bordeauxs, and a half dozen Burgundies. The Prestige
list contains seven older and more expensive wines (90 to 450 euros). We had
arrived at 5PM to take some photos for the website before the sun set.
Brigitte has tweaked the interior a bit with more opulent curtains and some
very impressive table settings, napkins, chairs, etc. There are new photos on
the site. After a tough half hour of shooting, we repaired to the sitting area
in the back and downloaded the photos to the computer and went to work.
Christian was sure we needed some of his freshly made paté de foie gras and a
couple glasses of wine. I'm not sure the foie gras was an absolute
necessity, but most of my websites have benefited from a glass or two of wine.
The holidays in France are the time when the most decadent foods appear and
fantastic (and expensive) menus herald in Christmas and the New Year. Oysters
and foie gras are everywhere. This particular paté de foie gras was heavenly,
richly flavored yet light, spreading as if it were butter on the toasted
baguette slices. By 7 PM we had worked through the photos and moved to a table
on the porch. While the sun had set an hour and a half earlier, it is still
pleasant to sit in the night air, seemingly in the garden, as the lush plantings
come up over the porch railings. As mentioned, a paté de foie gras was
available as a special and as foie gras was thick on the ground over the
holidays, a fresh piece could be sautéed and served warm. We choose one more
appetizer from the list of nine, the goat cheese terrine with red bell peppers,
eggplant, onion confit, and pesto (11 euros). It was a wonderful blend of
rich flavors and textures aided by a bottle of Bouchard's 97 Volnay premier cru
Taillepieds (65 euros). At that price, they bring out the Riedel crystal. Our
dinners, chosen from the ten on the menu were a sushi-grade yellow fin tuna,
cooked very rare, on a bed of spinach, wakame seaweed, and braised endives
in a soy-based sauce and sweetbread and oxtail chunks supporting a slice of pan
seared foie gras in a merlot sauce. The tuna was exquisite, as always, and the
sweetbread and foie gras dish was a wonderful addition to the menu this season.
We added in some coffee and they added in some rather tasty rum (mine with a
coffee been was quite nice). With a 1 to 1 exchange rate, the meal would have
been $141, or considerably less than $100 for the wonderful meal and still
reasonable if we had been a bit more conservative on the
wine.
On Sunday 28 Dec, we drove
through the first road out of Pburg past the American School and the now closed
house of ill-repute to Dawn Beach. Don't do it. The far end of this road is in
terrible shape. Take the next turnoff and come back to Dawn Beach to visit
Scavenger's (www.SXM-restaurants.com/orinet/scavengers on the site of the old Dawn Beach Hotel.
Marla is still the Grill Goddess and Mike was actually working the bar. We had a
few drinks and talked to a couple who had stayed at the hotel in the early
80's. They allowed as to how it had changed a bit in 20 years. The truth is that
it changed completely on 5 Sep 95 when Luis hovered over the island with winds
reaching 200 mph for 36 hours. We made an appointment to come back in a couple
weeks to look at an apartment that Mike wants to offer for rent on the www.SXM-Hotels.com website. It's a lovely
location, and barring force 5 hurricanes, one of the best snorkeling spots on
the island.
We headed north to
Orient, entering at the northern end at Bikini and turned south
to Kakao but it was almost impossible to get a parking
spot and impossible to get a table on a Sunday afternoon. Good for them. We
continued south to Pirate (www.SXM-restaurants.com/orient/pirate). It was a bit hard to spot as the pirate on the water
tank was missing. It turns out that the fire that destroyed the neighboring
beach bars did considerable damage to Glen's kitchen. It's back together and
Sylvie, the kitchen wizard, is back at work. She turned out some nice grilled
swordfish for us ($10) with salad and fries or rice and peas. They do have a few
chairs and a coupon on their site so you can get them, an umbrella, and a couple
drinks for only $10 with a couple lunches.
We went to Domaine de
l'Amandier (www.GrandCase.com/amandier) for
dinner with our neighbors on Monday. The restaurant received a
nice write-up in the December Bon Apetit from Jinx and Jefferson
Morgan. Amandier is an amazing collection of buildings: a tapas, bar, a martini
bar, a boutique, a spa, a sundeck with a pool, three dining rooms, a large
lobster tank, and some place for the chef. Jinx liked the food while Jefferson
seemed to like the ambiance around the pool and small beach area. I'm not fluent
in French, but in this case, I think ambiance translates as topless.
We had talked with Cedric, the
manager, when we made reservations and he told us about the Bon Apetit write-up
and he also mentioned that the chef had changed. However, he liked his new chef
better, saying he had been waiting five years for a chef this
good. The menu is a bit longer, possibly a bit fancier, and even cheaper
than last years model. Even though they had revised prices downward,
they were still offering 1.15 as the exchange rate. That is still 10 to 15%
better than one would get on a credit card. The bottom line is indeed the bottom
line, and ours read $117 for a complimentary lobster bisque amuse-bouche, a
sashimi-grade ahi tuna tartare with soy sauce and a hint of vanilla (excellent
tuna and interesting flavors), osso bucco with morels and garlic mashed
potatoes, and duck breast with mago and island mashed potatoes (sweet
and white potato). We split a bottle of Chablis and a bottle of
Crozes-Hermitage and had coffees all around. That seemed like a pretty fair
price to pay for such a good meal. Our neighbors had the duck and the snapper
with no complaints.