First visit since 2017

[Big Dog]

Greetings all fellow St. Bart lovers.

My wife and I are making our 20th or so trip to SB this week. Between 2000 and 2017 we were fortunate enough to come once or twice per year. Our last trip preceded the hurricane and then of course COVID. We are very happy to get back this year. We are arriving on AA Thursday from CLT. Our group will be flying carry on and we have engaged the VIP folks and are flying a WINair Charter. Does anyone have any great advice for making the transfer as smoot as possible. i confess I miss the old airport. Some years we never went inside and were on SXM for less than 15 minutes.

Our absolute favorite restaurant of all time was The Sapotillier run by Adam and Nicole. If anyone knows how they're are doing we would love to know. We were there the last night they were open. We transferred our loyalty to Manny at Santa Fe. I hope he is doing well back in France. I know he missed his son. We will miss Maya and Randy as well.

We are planning on visiting L'Atellier de Joel Robuchon, Bonito, Dolce Vita, Entracte, L'Esprit de Jean Claude, Santa Fe and Tamarin. Maybe La Langouste and le Repair.

Is Cafe Gloriette in Gustavia run by the folks that were on the beach? Do they still have the lobster cassoulet?

We also heard Match moved.

Anyway we are very excited to come back, if you see two people walking around with huge smiles be sure to say hello.

 

[cec1]

Using a VIP service & WinAir charter, you’re doing as much as you possibly can do to make a smooth transition at SXM.

 

[JEK]

Welcome back!

Last I heard Adam and Nicole were back home not too far from where Manu now lives. La Gloriette is indeed run by Albert’s daughter Sandra, but is more of a snacks, sandwiches and smoothies place, so no lobster cassollete. Super U is a stone’s throw from the old location, just follow the cars.

 

[cec1]

Welcome back!

. . . La Gloriette is indeed run by Albert’s daughter Sandra, but is more of a snacks, sandwiches and smoothies place, so no lobster cassollete. . . .

Sandra’s no longer at Café Gloriette . . . in fact, it was closed for a number of months, including in early November. There was some talk of its operation being taken over by another of Albert’s daughters, but I’m not sure whether it has occurred.

 

[JEK]

In any event no cassoulet or cassolette!

 

[KevinS]

Greetings all fellow St. Bart lovers.

We transferred our loyalty to Manny at Santa Fe. I hope he is doing well back in France.

Manu has un-retired. Last fall he opened a small restaurant in Chateauneuf, near his home in the South of France. Here is today’s menu from L’Ardoise Chateauneuf. I like the 1:1 ratio between plats and desserts.

 

[cec1]

Is spelling of “cassolette” correct? Seems like it’s an ongoing quibble.

 

[JEK]

Is spelling of “cassolette” correct? Seems like it’s an ongoing quibble.

YES!
The quibble is those who refer to it as the white bean and duck confit dish: cassoulet!

 

[cec1]

LOL! Thanks, John, for defining this fine point in the discussion!

 

[JEK]

In defense of the offending parties, the bean thing is in all auto-correction algorithms.

 

[JEK]

And there is this:
A cassolette (from the diminutive form of the French word cassole, a small container) is a small porcelain, glass, or metal container used for the cooking and serving of individual dishes. The word also refers to dishes served in such a container: