Jim and GM 2022

[PeterLynn]

a new pizza called chèvre miel which is with cheese and honey and whatever else made it incredibly tasty

Is this the Fermier (Goat cheese, creme fraiche, lardons & honey)? That's our favorite.

[amyb]

No. New item is chevre with miel pizza

[GramChop]

No. New item is chevre with miel pizza

Have they create a moelleux au chocolat pizza yet?

[Lake]

Had been too long since a trip report, thanks for posting! Looking forward to seeing posts from all of you going this month and next.

[Jim A]

No. New item is chevre with miel pizza

Ding ding ding we have a winner. I think I saw you post about it a week or so back which is what put it in my Mind and made me search it out as we arrived. Mental note - always take Amy’s recommendations as they usually are spot on (at least for us). See our soon to be posted Santa Fe Dover sole post which I’ve been suggesting to GM for three years now as I keep reading your recommendations of it.

[Jim A]

So, our second trip to the Zion Chef’s table. Couldn’t possibly be better than the first from last year but our hopes were high. We decided on not just the chefs table, but the wine pairing as well again. Lots of pics coming so I hope they aren’t too much. Just skip by if so.

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our menu:


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We started with a couple of rum cocktails when we sat and waited for the magic to begin.
The amuse bouche on a sea rock. The presentation Is half the fun. One was tuna I can’t remember the other but want to say it was also tuna based. There are always a ton of ingredients and I won’t try and guess and say something wrong so just watch and enjoy.

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followed up by arancini with the most amazing whipped potatoes from the magic canister that we always love so much

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I have the wine pics but I think that would just be too much and will leave my summary on the pairing at we absolutely loved the choices of wines with each dish and thought all of the wines were good. Personally though the pours were a little smaller than last year from what we recalled and we think next time we will just pick a great bottle of wine in lieu of the pairing. But again, the choices were really really good, we just felt maybe better bang for you buck picking a bottle instead as we ran out of wine a few times before we got through the food item.

[Jim A]

The squid was very tasty with a little flavored ice cream, curry and a little spicyness.

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the escargot was one of our favorites with parsley and garlic jelly with a smoked garlic light foam. The escargots was under everything and so flavorful when all taken together

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I love duck but don’t often eat beets so I wasn’t sure what to make of the duck breast tartare with beets and nuts but was really happy with it and we both after eating it felt we may add items with beets to our diet in the future based on how much we liked this dish. There was a beet ice cream and a beet slice and also a fermented beet so it was about as “beets” as you could get but it was really good and the red wine choice went with it fantastically. The presentation too was great IMO

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We’ll take a quick time out here for a pic of Jean Baptiste and staff and our view of the kitchen as we sat and enjoyed our experience. A great chef, artist and according to my dining partner not so tough on the eyes either


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[Jim A]

Only so many comments I can make about one meal so here are the rest of the pics. The scallops in particular were incredible. I can give a little description on anything in particular if I can remember and the menu above will give a quick description of each as well


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scallops and squid ink ravioli with lobster and eel inside above and the squab below


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the two desserts

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and the extra dessert which was really cool. It was a mojito Jell-O shot in a lime skin. One of the more creative items I’ve had. Even though you knew what it was it was tough to get yourself to accept you weren’t about to eat a lime. Really tasty

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lastly a little rum to finish off the night held by one of the amazing staff. They really all were incredible. The kitchen staff and the dining room staff were all very professional and very attentive and we loved watching them make not just our dishes but the dishes for the rest of the guests as well

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[amyb]

This is an amazing meal.

Lovely presentations and gong some place twice..double your pleasure and double your fun. Why not?

[marybeth]

Wow! Just wow! Everything looks and sounds amazing. Did you make your reservation well in advance? We’re there for 2 weeks. Can we wait or should I do it now?

[Jim A]

Wow! Just wow! Everything looks and sounds amazing. Did you make your reservation well in advance? We’re there for 2 weeks. Can we wait or should I do it now?

hi marybeth
I assume you mean Zion? We made them about a week in advance via the website - choose the chefs table option if that is your desire.

last year it seemed they only allowed one group per night regardless of size. This year there was us and another couple so perhaps a little easier this year to book. We thought we overheard the other couple mention something about booking that morning but I’m not really sure.

[Jim A]

The more I try to catch up the more I seem to fall behind. Sitting in the Tradewind lounge as I type this and trying to get another day done. Today is supposed to be a rainy day in St Barth so we were a little worried about the flight. Luckily there was no rain when we took off. Unfortunately though the flight to SJU was anything but smooth. A little bit of a white knuckler at times but we made it safely and are awaiting our next flight with a cappuccino in hand. We weren’t sure they would let us use the lounge flying in this direction now that the flights are all doubled up and the lounge fuller but they said it was fine.

back to the trip!

Thursday started with a check of the “croissant cam” and a walk across the street for our favorite breakfast and a couple of nespressos overlooking the beach/sea/surfers. Not as many surfers this year as in years past but always enough to watch as we relaxed.

since today was lunch at Santa Fe that meant our ritual of starting off at Gouverneur and it was as great as always. Some sargassum on the beach that shrunk the available spots for sitting and walking, but the water was clear and inviting


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since we got out of the house a little earlier than expected we decided we had time to run home between the beach and lunch instead of driving up the hill. This also gave us a dry run to figure out where to pull over for the valet parking with the construction right in front of Santa Fe. I could be wrong but it felt like the construction was a little worse this year than normal for this time of the year. It to say there was more, just that what is there seemed a little tougher to navigate.

We received our always friendly greeting from David and staff and exchanged a couple minor grumbles about how the construction was supposed to be finished by now but the valet service made it very easy - just pull right in front wherever you can and they were waiting right there for us. Then we were led to that always amazing view. is there a better lunch experience in the world? Not to me.

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[Jim A]

Lunch started as it always starts…a bottle of white wine and an order of the escargots with extra bread for dipping into that wonderful garlic butter.

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we also shared a tuna tartare with mango, avocado and pomegranate. Very refreshing and a nice offset to the hot escargots

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here is where things changed a little. The white truffles never seem to arrive until after we leave but they came a little early this year so I was finally able to enjoy the homemade gnocchi with white truffles in a cream sauce and it was as good as I assumed every other year when I was told it was not yet available

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GM finally opted for the Dover sole with brown butter which I have been trying to get her to order for years after reading Amy always stating how fantastic it was and she absolutely loved it. Thanks for the wonderful tip



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[amyb]

We are so lucky to have Santa Fe close by our house.

So happy to see another fan of the Dover Sole.

Oh my, I feel another craving coing!

[Laubern75]

Excellent trip report!

[KevinS]

Very nice report! Good food, good wine, good times.

Great choice on the rosé at JoJo, but you might have been on thinner ice with the bottle at the villa. (Check the name of the adjacent villa, 😂.)

[Jim A]

Very nice report! Good food, good wine, good times.

Great choice on the rosé at JoJo, but you might have been on thinner ice with the bottle at the villa. (Check the name of the adjacent villa, .)

my “first world problem” of the day. I was disappointed that they no longer carry the Ott rose at JoJo they always had (I think they stopped last year). Now that was the way to start a trip!

[Jim A]

So we ordered our dessert at Santa Fe which the last few times has been an assortment of sorbet/ice cream and usually (and this time) a scoop of mango, raspberry and vanilla ice cream. The difference this year was neither of us wanted to share so it was 3 scoops each! The best sorbet IMO on the island, washed down of course with one of our favorite rhums which always puts a great explanation point on this great lunch


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bonus pic as the table next to us opted for the lobster

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then an additional treat on our way out was spending a few more minutes talking to Dennis before we left. And yes, we took you up on your offer of telling Christof we were friends of yours at our final dinner out a L’Esprit later that night and we enjoyed the extra preferential treatment that came with it!

[amyb]

The 3 times I have had a grilled lobster or chilled lobster salad.. all fabulous.

[Jim A]

The 3 times I have had a grilled lobster or chilled lobster salad.. all fabulous.

We’ve yet to try the lobster at Santa Fe but that time too shall come…

[KevinS]

Alix!

I rarely plan ahead far enough to email for reservations. I’ve emailed Santa Fé. The langouste, probably not for me. When you’ve lived your entire life around cold-water lobster it’s a tough try. But maybe.

[amyb]

HOMARD, cold water lobster wins. But Phil and I can share a big lobster with salad and frites..perfect. The sliced cold lobster tail salad worn spring rolls is a winner too.

[cec1]

Great to run into you several times, Jim & Gina . . . and delighted with all of your illustrated reporting. I share the enthusiasm!

[davesmom]

Fantastic reporting and gorgeous photos! I will vouch for the lobster..and I am an equal-opportunity lobster eater, having grown up with the NY/NE varieties, but far be it from me to deny the pleasure of the spiny variety! Just as an aside, DD is a master chef and creates the most beautiful lobster dinners for me, but they are the tails and I feel a little guilty when you do not have to work for your lobster...!

[CaribbeanSoul]

Thanks for the detailed report and great photos Jim! We are 10 days out!

[marybeth]

Thanks for the detailed report and great photos Jim! We are 10 days out!

Its 11 for us!!

[Jim A]

Not as exciting to finish this up from home but…

so we haven’t eaten at L’Esprit since before Irma. In the past we found it to be good but not great and this didn’t offset the fact that we found it too hot and to have a problem with mosquitos for GM. Me, I found the greatest mosquito repellant the world has ever seen - I just sit next to GM and watch the mosquitos ignore me and go for her. But, we have been meaning to go back for quite some time and decided to finally make a reservation this trip for our second to last dinner and last dinner “out”.

first off it looked a little different (remember we haven’t been since before Irma). I really loved the setting. They also still have the price fixe menu which is nice if you can find choices you like on it. We bypassed the first table they offered us because of a small issue and sat in the back near the bathroom which is exactly where we were last time for our mosquito problem which made me think if we made the right choice but they totally left it up to us so we could have just moved if we weren’t happy. We looked at the menu and were both excited by the options.

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Then the specials were told to us and I didn’t have to hear anything beyond duck spring rolls. GM went for the tuna tartare. We both really loved our choices.

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I don’t think I have ever had grilled black pork loin but was intrigued so I opted against the wagyu beef I would have normally ordered if on the menu and gave it a try. It was really, really good. GM ordered the roasted yellowfin tuna and also really liked it. The food and the presentation were both great for all of our options. Here is the roasted tuna with arancini but I messed up the pic of my pork and won’t post it but it was great; tasted like steak more than pork. The veggies that came with it were also really tasty and gave the dish a great look that you can’t see because of my poor photography skills

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we both opted for the selection of sorbets which were also really good. The mango was the best I would say


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all in all we were both really happy with our dinner. The staff were all fantastic and the food and presentation as well. We were really happy we gave them another try and will definitely be going back in the future. Oh and the mosquitos were not an issue at all (a little birdie told me they spray 3 times per week) and while it was perhaps a little warmer than we would have liked, it wasn’t uncomfortable at all thanks to a nice breeze that came through from time to time. A big thumbs up for L’Esprit for us this time and with the price fixe menu I thought it was an incredible bargain for the quality of the food, service and setting

[cec1]

Valuable commentary, Jim . . . thanks for your complete report.

[amyb]

A pleasure following your posts. Thank you, Jim.

[Dennis]

Nice wrap to your trip unless we're going to hear about the last, last meal which I assume was at "home".