Kinugawa

Looking good-I remember years ago there was an Asian Restaurant called JOA over in that same area but on the water side
 
Kinugawa looks like it'll be a great success and interesting addition to the local dining scene. The place is light & airy, very pretty and very open to the street. It also has much of the same "feel" as La Guerite (perhaps the same designer?). Always genial host Pascal Ramette was ebullient in greeting guests . . . so many and very "local!" We particularly enjoyed a little walk down memory lane, recalling other venues with which Pascal also has been associated. Among them, a favorite recollection for so many -- PaCri when it was in Saline . . . and a short-lived restaurant in Gustavia named Jao. The latter was one of the most beautifully designed restaurants ever to grace St. Barths. (BTW . . . an interesting twist to Kinugawa is that the entrance into the bar & restaurant is through its boutique -- clever marketing!)
 
The former restaurant at that location was Carpe Diem. The building was demolished, and the new restaurant tenant is Kinugawa. I don't know what they're paying for the space, but I do know that the proposed asking price was into five figures per month. That area, and most especially the area across the street, has often been referred to as "Rockefeller Wharf". The actual Rockefeller Wharf area is now owned by the Collectivité.

With regard to location, if one goes back far enough, it formerly was the site of an old restaurant named L'Entrepont. A gracious, lovely old home with a very large "veranda," a surrounding, thickly vegetated garden, and a white picket fence. Tables spread throughout, and colored lights (the old fashion kind that one might have seen in the "carny" section of a county fair) strung among tree branches. In the "Sorry No Telephone" days, it was a legendary late night gathering spot.
 
The former restaurant at that location was Carpe Diem. The building was demolished, and the new restaurant tenant is Kinugawa. I don't know what they're paying for the space, but I do know that the proposed asking price was into five figures per month. That area, and most especially the area across the street, has often been referred to as "Rockefeller Wharf". The actual Rockefeller Wharf area is now owned by the Collectivité.

Wondering if the big beautiful tree is still there ? hope so, but probably not. Anyone know ?
 
With regard to location, if one goes back far enough, it formerly was the site of an old restaurant named L'Entrepont. A gracious, lovely old home with a very large "veranda," a surrounding, thickly vegetated garden, and a white picket fence. Tables spread throughout, and colored lights (the old fashion kind that one might have seen in the "carny" section of a county fair) strung among tree branches. In the "Sorry No Telephone" days, it was a legendary late night gathering spot.

Ah, L’Entrepont! After Luis, for a time it was Chez Francine by day, and L’Entepont at night.
 
Ah, L’Entrepont! After Luis, for a time it was Chez Francine by day, and L’Entepont at night.

Yes, Kevin . . . I had forgotten that time. It was an easy transition because most of the people who hung out at Chez Francine / St. Jean at lunch were hanging at L'Entrepont at night.
 
It was also the Ti Zouk Café before it was Carpe Diem...


Yes! Ti Zouk! I was trying to remember what it was called back then. The first time we came to SBH was our honeymoon in 2004 in the middle of July - the island was pretty dead and since we were staying at The Hotel Carl Gustaf, we ended up at Ti Zouk most nights because it was the only place where anything was happening! We had many fun nights there listening to music!
 
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