What a difference a few hours makes...

Jim A

Senior Insider
Woke up at 3:30am to a soaking nor’easter in NY and just under 12 hours later we were sitting by the beach in paradise with sunny skis on a beautiful day and with our only concern being “I wonder if Les Bananiers receive our reservation request for tonight”. Spoiler alert - I still don’t know.

Other than the white knuckle ride to the airport with a driver that may or may not have had a license and whose jersey plates show he likely didn’t know that in New York you avoid all parkways named after water ways during a storm like this it was a pretty easy travel day.

one interesting thing I’ll point out and assume it was somehow an oversight by someone: with all the talk of which test to take, NO ONE asked for our COVID test results. I’m sure this isn’t the norm and at least in part to a test not being required to fly from the US to PR. At SBH we were, however, asked for our vaccination cards. I guess if we didn’t have them we might have been asked for our “compelling reason” or maybe notified that self isolation would be required?
 
not knowing whether or not we had reservations for dinner and being in between lunch and dinner I headed to the supermarche for our normal first day items. Is it just me or have the wine and champagne prices skyrocketed there??? Wow. Any suggestions on where prices might be a little better?

then we headed to Pearl Beach for a pre-dinner drink. At 5:30 I called Les Bananiers and it still wasn’t clear if I had a reservation but luckily they had room for us, so we just made one then. We weren’t incredibly hungry so we split the raviolis de foie gras with truffles, a Pizza Tartufata (I literally get this every time) and a vanilla creme brûlée. It’s usually our first night stop and while we were very tired it was great as usual. I guess too tired to remember to take pictures before we started eating :D


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Good recovery. I always call for reservations. I don’t trust emails, text messages, alacarte, et al.
 
Wow, those ravioli look amazing! Looking forward to more updates as we dream about our next trip....
 
Walked to our favorite burger place yesterday, JoJo Burger. Just love their burgers and the vibe. Flies can unfortunately be a little bit of an issue but it’s more than worth it to sit there and enjoy those wonderful burgers. Usually have lunch there a couple of times per trip.

dinner was the tasting menu at Zion “the Chefs table” with the wine pairing. The food, the presentation, the wines, the pre-dinner cocktails and the service were all incredible. This was our first time eating there and we totally get why the reviews are all so fantastic. I’m not sure the turnover of service staff at restos on St Barth will allow for a Michelin Star but our dinner last night was certainly deserving of one. Jean-Baptiste (I hope I have his name correct) was not just a great chef but most welcoming from the time I walked in earlier in the day to ask about a reservation and throughout our sitting. His explanation of the dishes was fantastic and watching him and his team work from our stools at the edge of the kitchen was very interesting for someone who has never worked in a restaurant. The team work was as efficient as a well oiled machine. Side note that GM and the other ladies in the restaurant seemed to take a particular interest in watching his every move while working in the kitchen :eyes1:.

I have to say one of our favorite dinner experiences on St Barth to date and we definitely will be back. The dishes were so flavorful. Each ingredient worked together perfectly and both stood out and blended in (if that’s possible). Our tasting menu for the night below. It changes nightly and he logs your info into a program they have so if you come back the following year, or week, you won’t get the same dishes. Food pics to follow

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We loved Zion the few times we went - the service and food were excellent each time.

"Side note that GM and the other ladies in the restaurant seemed to take a particular interest in watching his every move while working in the kitchen :eyes1:." Too funny - one time my wife told me she was taking a picture of me in the restaurant but given the angle of her camera she obviously was taking a picture of the chef!!

Thank you for your updates - very much appreciated during these dark days

Cheers
 
Walked to our favorite burger place yesterday, JoJo Burger. Just love their burgers and the vibe. Flies can unfortunately be a little bit of an issue but it’s more than worth it to sit there and enjoy those wonderful burgers. Usually have lunch there a couple of times per trip.

dinner was the tasting menu at Zion “the Chefs table” with the wine pairing. The food, the presentation, the wines, the pre-dinner cocktails and the service were all incredible. This was our first time eating there and we totally get why the reviews are all so fantastic. I’m not sure the turnover of service staff at restos on St Barth will allow for a Michelin Star but our dinner last night was certainly deserving of one. Jean-Baptiste (I hope I have his name correct) was not just a great chef but most welcoming from the time I walked in earlier in the day to ask about a reservation and throughout our sitting. His explanation of the dishes was fantastic and watching him and his team work from our stools at the edge of the kitchen was very interesting for someone who has never worked in a restaurant. The team work was as efficient as a well oiled machine. Side note that GM and the other ladies in the restaurant seemed to take a particular interest in watching his every move while working in the kitchen :eyes1:.

I have to say one of our favorite dinner experiences on St Barth to date and we definitely will be back. The dishes were so flavorful. Each ingredient worked together perfectly and both stood out and blended in (if that’s possible). Our tasting menu for the night below. It changes nightly and he logs your info into a program they have so if you come back the following year, or week, you won’t get the same dishes. Food pics to follow

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So glad, Jim, that you enjoyed your Zion experience. As you probably have seen, I’ve been a stalwart fan since its opening . . . and as a new restaurant to the island, in an out-of-the-way venue, followed by the pandemic, Jean-Baptiste has not had an easy time in survival. He’s, however, not only an excellent, creative chef . . . but also an astute businessperson — a combination that isn’t often found in restaurant owners. In any event, I’m totally with you in appreciation of the “Chef’s Table” & what it means, as you described. (Jean-Baptiste & team, BTW, are very accommodating to dining limitations of guests.)
 
Dennis, your posts about it were definitely one of the reasons we knew about and tried the Chefs Table at Zion. So glad we did. Here are the rest of the pics. The pics do not do the items justice. I’m better at eating than taking pictures :cool:



We both started with a fantastic pre-dinner cocktail

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The amuse bouche was arancini on a bed of carmelized onions covered with smoked potato purée and topped with a pepper au jus. Of course there were many other ingredients but that is what I remembered.


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everything else is listed on the menu above


The veal tartare was incredible

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foie gras 3 ways. GM not a foie gras fan at all but even she thought this was great

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The prawns with a great cauliflower purée and caviar

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“Zion hole” a palate cleanser of a sorbet in rhum

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Veal sweetbreads also were incredible

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the first dessert was believe a chocolate filled with a caramel in a cream sauce with pears. Incredible

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dessert #2
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So far I would say about half of the restos have asked for our “green pass”

There are still signs on a lot of the doors but the mask mandate on the island seems to have been lifted for restaurants. Not sure exactly when but not one sign of a mask in a resto that I recall. A few of the stores still had employees wearing masks.
 
Zion food presentation is pure artistry! Great food, as well! So glad that you enjoyed & appreciated both, Jim.
 
Thursday we ate at the rooftop at L’Atelier. Seems like lunch a better deal as the sign out front for lunch stated $60euros per person and dinner was double that (amuse bouche, entree, main and dessert). We enjoyed it. Great setting, great views, great service and the food was good as well. A lot of upcharges on the menu and we were initially charged for 3 glasses of wine that we didn’t have (they stated that the bartender said we had them before dinner at the bar...we didn’t sit at the bar before dinner). We would go back for sure.

Friday we rented chairs at Pearl Beach, ate lunch at Lil’Rock and dinner at Black Ginger. Always love Black Ginger and think it is a little underrated but I guess you have to like Thai food. Very reasonably priced as well. Just remembered we went to 25 Quarter before for a fantastic cocktail. It’s like watching an artist watching them make your drinks.
 
Jim, agree. Black Ginger is a gem. And they will adjust the spiciness if you request them to..a plus in my book.
 
Weather beautiful at Flamands today. But the sea is angry, “like an old man trying to send back soup at a deli”


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Not sure this pic does it justice. Kids on the beach having a ball.

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Saturday was a beach day at Gouverneur and an always incredible lunch at Santa Fe. I won’t go on more about my favorite lunch spot in the world because I think I posted some pics and a gushing review in another thread. Saturday night was take out from Les Bananiers. The pizza takeout in the back was crazy crowded so even though I ordered and came back in I had to wait a while. Nothing that a glass of Chablis while I waited couldn’t cure. Timed perfectly around the short downpour and I was warm and dry inside. We always get takeout from Les Bananiers at least once per trip.

Sunday was a beach day at Flamand as mentioned above. The plan was a casual lunch at the villa after but I walked down the Chevalier Blanc and decided to make a reservation there. Absolutely incredible. We had a table right on the water (toes in sand of course). Water actually almost came to our table at one point. Food was great. The champagne they recommended was even better. We sat and relaxed and I don’t even remember how long we were there. The service was probably the best I’ve ever had on the island topped off with 2 free desserts (in addition to the one we ordered) and the waiter enjoying a little caramel vanilla rhum with us.



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Sunday night was takeout from L’Isoletta. Lasagne and pizza and salad and then settled in to watch the Cowboys win.

today GM had to work in the morning so I wandered aimlessly for a while, walked on a couple of beaches and floated in the pool. Then It was back to Santa Fe for lunch. Why mess with what works :cool:
 
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