News of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

The best things on the restaurant menu

“Pieces of Ate” is a newly-launched feature of the St. John Sun Times.  It highlights the hits on the menus at bars and various restaurants. 

Recently, Asolare’s Moonbowtini was in the spotlight. “Choose your favorite vodka.  Watch while the bartender adds grapefruit juice and rosemary syrup.  Step Three: Enjoy responsibly.” Asolare’s web site is http://stjohn-restaurants.com/asolare.php

La Tapa’s Three Sauce Plate also got kudos.  Relying on the fact that La Tapa produces its own crunchy, baguettes, you dip the bread in one (or all) of the sauces.  They include green peppercorn and arugula aioli, sun-dried tomato aioli, and tropical fruit salsa.  La Tapa’s Web site is http://www.latapastjohn.com/

Read the St. John Sun Times column at http://www.stjohnsuntimes.com/pieces_of_ate.

What about you?  'Best things on the Menu" you'd like to mention?  Comment here.

Summertime, and the closing is easy

Summertime, and the livin’s supposed to be easier in the US Virgin Islands.  It also means a slowdown in the pace of St. John and restaurant closings. 

The hazy lazy months are when a number of businesses try to give their employees, and their owners, a respite from living on a rock in the middle of the ocean.  So, some head for the mainland for refreshment, relaxation and, truth be told, to be out of harm's way during hurricane season.

St. John Ruth has become the unofficial chronicler of the summertime closings and she’s begun posting what she knows about the summer at http://stjohnspice.com/stjohnrestaurants.htm.  Several eateries, including the Fish Trap, Lime Inn and Skinny Legs are closing for a month or two.  Looks like it’ll be quiet in September, for sure.  (The last big storm that hit St. John came ashore Sept. 15th, 1995.)

If you’re planning a St. John visit this summer, check Ruth’s page before you arrive - and, of course, visit her Cruz Bay store, St. John Spice. 

New chef at Paradiso Restaurant

UPDATE:  Things move fast on a small island.

In a comment on this story, Laura said, “Sadly Nick left island last week due to a better job offer in the states. He moved down after his friend and former co-worker, Kyle, moved to St. John to take over the head chef position at the Balcony in Wharfside. I recommend the crab cake and the fillet Mignon or chicken entree (if they have it). The food quality has certainly gone up."

The St. John Sun Times reports Nick Faucher has taken control of the kitchen and knife kit at Paradiso in Mongoose Junction.  “I wanted a new challenge in my life,” he told the monthly newspaper a few weeks after he moved from New York to take the job.  He didn't even bother to make a get-to-know-you visit before signing on.

A slower pace on the job is one of the differences he’s noticed, he said: 45 meals a night compared to as many as 800 on a New York Friday night.  He’s also had to adjust to "the fact that good ingredients are not as easy to come by on the island,” Faucher noted. 

The menu is pretty much going to stay the same until the fall, with the possibility of adding daily tasting menus.

What will not change? Half-price appetizers at the bar will continue to be available all night long.

The last chef, Paul Trujillo, is reported now to be working as a chef on a private yacht.

Pond Bay scales back a smidge

Developers of the Pond Bay Club have been given permission to downsize its plans for a restaurant on the site as well as repositioning some buildings and educing their size, according to a report by the St. John Source. 

The St. John Coastal Management Committee okayed requests for the changes by First American development Group/Carib Limited Partnership.  Pond Bay also changed its plan for supplying water to the facility.  Instead of tapping a line from the VI Water and Power Authority, First American wants to drill some test wells to determine if they can  supply the resort's needs.

The construction changes, the Source said, include reducing the restaurant building from two stories to one.

And speaking of construction, this is a photo update of the project, as posted on the blog, St. John Talk.

St. John Podcast #44 - La Plancha del Mar

A new Happy Hour promotion at La Plancha del Mar is a success, says Jonathan Fritz, co-owner, chef and bartender. 

Monday through Friday, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., La Plancha offers Sangrias and Heinekens for $2 and an appetizer plate of five selections for $5. 

“Now that the winter season is over, we know we have to draw support from locals,” Fritz said, and bargain prices for drinks and food will do it. 

Fritz explains he and his partners, Jason Howard (the tall, handsome guy in the picture) and Mike Prout, are working nearly 12-hour days, at least five days a week, four months after opening for business. 

But they’re loving it. In this week’s St. John Podcast, he talks about the challenges of starting a business on island.

Listen to the show. Press the "Play" arrow.

You can also download or listen to the show by clicking here.

Lots more 'historical' podcasts are available in the archive at http://barnako.typepad.com/news_of_st_john_usvi/podcasts/

La Plancha rides $5 bandwagon

It’s not your "$5 Footlong” from Subway. It's better. 

5 Appetizers for $5 is a Happy Hour special that the boys at La Plancha del Mar have kicked off to bolster business at their four-month old Marketplace restaurant.  Now that winter season is over, La Plancha is looking to locals to keep business humming and “cheap eats” seems like a good idea.  The deal is offered Monday through Friday, from 5 to 7 p.m.

Wait!  There’s more.  Did I forget to mention? Happy Hour also means $2 Margaritas and Heinekens!

Surly Cantina a cheery experience

One of  newest, and smallest, eateries is hitting a home run. 

Craig Sullivan and Suanne Schlessinger have opened Surly Cantina, described by the St. John Sun Times as “a no frills taco stand ... (and is) making a killing.”  Offering three tacos and two beers for $10 and food that “is consistently excellent”, the Cantina at Wharfside is a great option for a quick-and-easy and, dare we say, healthy dining option.

“Everything is fresh and made to order,” the Sun Times reported.  The tacos, the newspaper added, are exactly what tacos should be, never mind some fine big-as-your-face burritos. 

Read the complete review here:  http://stjohnsuntimes.com/surly+cantina

Don't miss the Donkey Diner

Can a former molecular biologist and a financial services expert find happiness flipping eggs and spinning pizzas in Coral Bay?  So far, so good say Sean and Sue Rubin, formerly of Boston and now proud, relatively new owners of the Donkey Diner.

Striving to offer the best breakfast on the island and all around “kickass food,” the Rubins visited 10 islands before they decided on St. John.  Since closing their deal, they’ve made a few changes to what was already a well-known spot for omelets, 'stuffed' French toast,, pizza and barbecue.  They also added eco-friendly 100% Organic Cotton t-shirts with a new design drawn by a local artist and added another guest chef for Sunday evenings which feature Caribbean seafood.

When we visited, Sean and Sue were happily talking about the fact they’d just gotten a liquor license for the restaurant, no small feat they thought since the Diner is across the street from the Guy Benjamin School.  But so, too, is their neighbor, Sputnik, which also serves drinks.

Sue’s parents had just been visiting the week before we met up with the couple.  She says it all went well and that Mom and Dad left satisfied that the Diner was a real business and their daughter hadn’t made a bad, or frivolous, decision.

To talk with Sean and Sue is to come away impressed by their energy and optimism, and their commitment to each other as well as to making the Diner more successful.

Donkey Diner web site:  http://www.donkeydiner.com
menus: http://www.donkeydiner.com/menus.html

Restaurant ch-ch-changes

Eateries come and go.  This week, Satyuma is gone.  The vegetarian bistro at the Martketplace shoping center closed its door after being on the market for several months.  A family illness of none of the owners’ parents drew them away from the isl;and and the business weakened. (Original posting had a typo, said 'none' sted of 'one'.)

Meanwhile, at the Lumberyard, Lucky Pagoda was scheduled to open this week. It's a Chinese restaurant which hopes to do better than the late-and-departed China Shack. It was also at the Marketplace.  Pagoda is on the space most recently occupied by the Artists Association and, before that, by Polli’s Mexican.

Meanwhile, out on East End, Concordia restaurant is making a go of it, despite its remote location.  The menu includes eight entrees each night, relatively bargain-priced (for St. John) at $16 to $22, according to Lynda Lohr’s story in the St. John Source.  She talked with chef Elizabeth Muro who emphasizes freshness and variety.  Offerings have included a fisherman’s platter of shrimp, mussels, scallops and conch; brown rice stir fry with fennel, peppers, and onions, and a baked chicken breast with fennel and summer squash. Fresh vegetables are provided by Coral Bay’s green, green farmer, Josephine.

Concordia Web site: http://estateconcordiapreserve.blogspot.com/

Hot, Hot, Hot sauce

We’ve been dousing our food with Blind Betty hot sauce for years. Sometimes we take home liquor, but we always take home BB. This year we’ve added some Trinidad Charlie's hot stuff, too - both purchased at St. John Spice.

But there’s a new taste going into the suitcase. It’s Valley Doll Hot Sauce. We found it on the table at Shipwreck Landing in Coral Bay, where it’s prepared by someone who works at the restaurant. That probably explains why you have to use cash to buy it; you can’t add it to the restaurant bill and pay by credit card.

Never mind. The stuff is great. 

Now, here’s the funny thing. On the table, you get the bottle you see at the left. It's about nine inches tall. Its label says 10 ounces, and with a marker of some sort, there are a few “ingredients” which have been crossed out. As in, ‘This bottle doesn’t have such-and-such, but if you buy another flavor (there are two, light and dark), that bottle WILL have such-and-such.”

The bottle we bought, for $10, is pictured on the right. It's about six inches high. It has the same label: 10 ounces.  Hmm ....