15 Things you must eat in St. Barth, FWI

VILLA ACE, HOME SWEET HOME!

C'EST LA VUE!

SAME WONDERFUL MINI COOPER AGAIN THIS YEAR!

MARCHE 'U' NOW FULL OF FRESH VEGETABLES

We’re back!  We’ve just concluded our 18th visit to one of our favorite places on earth, St. Barthelemy. That little 8 ½ square mile slice of France plopped down in the middle of the Caribbean Sea but so different from the rest of the West Indies, it might be on another planet.  St. Barthelemy never disappoints.  In fact, I would actually say it improves with time.  At the moment, a public works project is making the formerly terrifying roads heaven to drive. All kinds of roundabouts have made traffic, what there is of it, much easier to negotiate.  And not just the roads have improved.  The food has gotten better!  How can that be?  Well, not too many years ago, we remember spotting Orange Juice in the Match Super Marche.  There seemed be a huge supply so we decided to pick it up later.  There was no later. The last we saw of orange juice on the island was that one day. It was delivered once a week and if you missed it, you missed it. Now, a French chain called “U” runs the SuperMarche.  It is positively packed with fresh produce, wonderful charcuterie and sensibly priced wines and an unending supply of Jus d’Orange.  Now I am going to highlight the highlights of our Gastronomical adventures in paradise. But first, I have to pause to dedicate this post to Gil, Andrew's father.

Jonathan Waxman’s Roasted Chicken with Salsa Verde

         When you can vividly remember a lunch you had ten years ago, I would have to say that’s the power of great cooking.  I distinctly remember a visit to Washington Park on lower Fifth Avenue.  The restaurant marked the triumphant return to New York of Chef Jonathan Waxman.  Chef Waxman was a California cuisine pioneer. Name a famed West Coast restaurant and Waxman may very well have worked there.  For starters, add Michael’s in Santa Monica to a list that included a stint at Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse.  In the mid 80s, he took Manhattan by storm after opening an Upper East Side place called, appropriately, Jam’s, which was pretty much how you felt jammed into the bar waiting for your table.  Such was the incredible popularity of the  place.  And what was it that I remember from that lunch in 2002?  Why Chef Waxman’s chicken, of course.