St Maarten/St Martin
25 March 2007 Newsletter

Current Contest - until 13 May Read our rules, visit the websites of these sponsors, find their contest codes, and enter them on our entry form:

Horny Toad Guesthouse - seven low season nights for the price of four
Caribbean View Condo - half price summer rental (May-October)
Princess Casino and Baccara Restaurant - $100 plus limo ride
L'Esperance Car Rental - $50 off a week's car rental
SkipJack's - $50 off your bill

Future Contests:

13 May to 5 August
Caribbean View Condo - half price summer rental (May-October)
Princess Casino and Baccara Restaurant - $100 plus limo ride
SkipJack's - $50 off your bill
Alizes Car Rental - $50 off a low season weekly rental
Bikini Beach - A DAY AT THE BEACH
(including 2 chairs and a parasol, 2 welcome punches and $50.00 credit towards food and drink)

5 August to 4 Nov
Azure Guesthouse - seven nights for the price of four
Princess Casino and Baccara Restaurant - $100 plus limo ride
Bistrot Caraïbes - $100 off a dinner for two
Restaurant du Soleil - $50 off a dinner for two
Pack Light Rentals - Your choice: 2 chairs and 1 umbrella for a week or
one free cell phone rental for a week or
free snorkel gear for 2 for a week

4 Nov to 30 Dec
VistaRoyale - seven nights for the price of four
Princess Casino and Baccara Restaurant - $100 plus limo ride
Valley Car Rental $50 off a week's rental
Ti Coin Créole - $50 off a dinner for two
DK Gems - $50 off a purchase of $100 or more

30 Dec to 2 March 2008
Princess Casino and Baccara Restaurant - $100 plus limo ride
DK Gems - $50 off a purchase of $100 or more
Antoine Restaurant - $100 off a dinner for two
Le Cottage Restaurant - $100 off a dinner for two

2 March to 27 April
Caribbean View Condo - half price summer rental (May-October)
Princess Casino and Baccara Restaurant - $100 plus limo ride

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RESTAURANTS

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On 18 March the euro was at 1.332 and today it is at 1.329. A small victory for the greenback. This season, some restaurants are still offering a 1 to 1 exchange, but my list of restaurants is smaller this year. Moreover, it is getting to be something of a gimmick as by now the prices have been adjusted to enable a profit at 1 to 1 or else the restaurant would be out of business, so it merely helps with the math and eliminates currency transaction costs, not insignificant benefits to Americans. To further confuse the issue, others are offering an advantageous rate, but not as good as 1 to 1. In any event, these still have pretty good prices and as many restaurants have online menus, you could do the math (if the websites were up to date). We noticed 1 to 1 at Blue Martini, California Restaurant, L'Escapade Restaurant, Hibiscus Restaurant, Restaurant du Soleil, Ti Bouchon, Rancho del Sol, Kokomarina, L'Estaminet, and La Marine. Pedro's Beach Bar and Pirate Beach Bar on Orient are something of a special case as their prices have always been in dollars and still are. Note that some only offer this rate for cash. As always, know what the euro is worth, what the restaurateur is offering for an exchange, and what the costs are on the menu. Finally, you are here to have fun and fine food, not to do complex financial calculations, so don't worry about it too much.

Shortly before I sent out last week's newsletter mentioning Paradise View Restaurant, I received this email from Cindy Finch: "The view was spectacular from the outside gazebo high above Orient Bay - our island lunches were delicious, matched by the service! Nowhere on the island, in our three visits there, have we found scenery this perfect at a restaurant with such reasonable prices and fine food! Ocean breezes kept the air comfortable as we ate that afternoon of 22 Feb 07. And a row of nearby shopping kiosks added more island flavor. We will definitely eat there every year during our St Martin trip." As far as I know, she is not on my newsletter list and her email arrived about 8 hours before I started to send last week's newsletter.

Last week I also mentioned that we had St Patrick's Day dinner at Horny Toad Guesthouse and that the corned beef, finished on the barbecue, was spectacular. I was a bit busy last Sunday morning, so here are some photos from the event.

We had dinner on Sunday at Montmartre Restaurant outside Atlantis Casino in Cupecoy. Having had aperitifs at Bamboo Bernies and Pineapple Pete's, we ordered a bottle of water and the 2002 Beaune du Chateau Premier Cru from Bouchard. It's a lovely wine and will probably be getting better for a few more years. It comes from Bouchard's Chateau du Beaune where they blend all the Premier Cru Beaune vineyards to produce a signature wine. Having decided on the wine, we proceeded to wrap several dinners around it. We chose the French onion soup, lobster raviolis, and scallops wrapped in bacon with a creamy pea sauce. The lobster and scallops were quite nice and the four of us sampled them as we waited for the onion soup to cool. The scallop dish has the smooth texture of the scallop and the crunch from the bacon plus the even creamier sauce. Just for fun (and more taste, texture, and color) Thierry, the chef, added a bit of sun dried tomato and a breadstick. For the main course we chose one of the prime rib dinners for two and the sweetbreads sautéed and served in a light, creamy morel (replaced with girolles this evening) sauce with seasonal veg. This isn't prime rib as in the US, it is a Cote du Boeuf, essentially a rib, weighing in at about two pounds. It's grilled and then sliced at the table, making it rather easy for Titan to spread a dinner for two over three plates. It's good beef and it came with four sauces: béarnaise, peppercorn, bleu cheese, and a red wine variety. The sweetbreads were also quite good, tender and tasty, with the girolles adding more texture than the sweetbreads. The beef came with a dish of scalloped potatoes and a pastry basket containing a purée of sweet potatoes topped with carrots, zukes, and some broccoli. The sweetbreads had a crispy potato wafer and the basket of goodies. This is not simple cooking, but it is not silly either. The flavors go together and the ingredients appeal to the eye. Our guests even had a dessert, something we usually forgo. The Grand Marnier Soufflé was a fitting end for such a lovely meal (although a few balloons of 1992 Laubade Armagnac added a bit also). Thierry Delauney was the chef at his own restaurant (Hibiscus Restaurant) in Grand Case, but he sold it two years ago. He is widely recognized as one of the better and more inventive chefs on the island. It is great to see him working before a larger audience.

On Monday we went shopping in Philipsburg, visiting Deepti at DK Gems who sent us to her cousin at Klass Electronics where our guests got a great deal on an Olympus camera. Afterwards, we celebrated at Antoine Restaurant with two salads Niçoise, two chicken salads, and a bottle of rosé. The online version of this newsletter has a photo of the Segways heading down the boardwalk and a great shot of a sailboat in Great Bay. Both were taken as we dined. The food is good and the entertainment is free.

On Tuesday we went to the wine tasting at Ti Bouchon and stayed for dinner. There were just the four of us sitting in a corner table as Momo poured a 2004 Côtes du Rhône from Perrin, the same family that produces the justifiably famous Beaucastel Châteauneuf du Pape. This was made from 60% grenache grapes, 20% Syrah or Shiraz, and 20% Mouvedre. It certainly was young and fruity. The next wine was a 2001 Côtes du Rhône Village, from the same general region, but an area recognized as providing better wine. In this case the town was Vinsobres and the vineyard was Les Cornuds. The grapes were 50% grenache grapes and 50% Syrah (or Shiraz in English) and a third of the wine spent some time in oak barrels. A Rhône red wine can use any of a dozen or so grape types, but most of the mixtures are field blends, which is to say, the vineyards have mixed grape types and they are picked and mixed together before they are squeezed. Thus, the wine maker is not mixing the grape types to get a specific taste, but is getting the mix that someone planted years before and the mix depends a bit on which grape type has produced best in the current vintage. This can be contrasted with a visit Martha and I made to Windsor Vineyards. Our eyes (and tongues) glazed over as we tasted about 50 barrel samples that winemaker Carol Shelton was blending into the various chardonnays that she would make. They were all chardonnay grapes, but there were different vineyards, different pickings, different fermentation techniques, different yeasts or no additional yeasts, and different amounts of time in oak. I know I had a headache when we were done, although it may not have been from thinking about the blending possibilities. For the grand finale, Momo brought out some slices of bread topped with goat cheese, a walnut, and a bit of strawberry and a bottle of Chapoutier's 2004 Beaumes de Venise, a sweet wine made from the muscat grape. The combination was wonderful. These Tuesday wine tastings are free, merely reserve a spot via email.

We finished the last of the Côtes du Rhône Village and moved over to the table we had reserved for dinner. We thought about having a white wine with our aps, but decided to continue with red, ordering the 2004 Crozes-Hermitage Meysonniers from Chapoutier ($31). We ordered the chorizo and scallop ap that Martha and I had shared earlier this year, a cassoulet of snails with quartered potatoes and a bit of salad, and a bit of goat cheese, nuts, and grains wrapped in phyllo on a bed of crisp greens. I went on about the wonders of the chewy and spicy chorizo contrasting with the mild and smooth textured scallops when we had it earlier. Everything I said is still true. There is a similar experience lurking in the phyllo "bag" wrapped around the creamy goat cheese with nut and grain surprises. Our dinners were a rack of the tenderest veal chops in a reduction sauce, a long-cooked fall-off-the-bone lamb shank, and some crispy monkfish (lotte) with a tomato and chorizo topping. We had a special dessert: mango, banana, and pineapple crumble with strawberries and whipped cream for which Momo sent out the last of the Beaumes de Venise. We ended with espresso. All aps are $10 to $15 and the dinners were $20 to 25. Our total bill was $163 (if you use cash at 1 to 1) for two couples, although if you were counting, you see we had three aps, three main courses, one dessert, and one bottle of good, but inexpensive, wine. If you like wine and good, inventive food in a casual atmosphere, this is a great place, esp if you can make the Tuesday wine tasting and bring greenbacks. The physical plant is the old Créole cottage previously occupied by Piccolo. It has a new and striking paint job, but you still dine in the open air on the porch. Momo has a good, but not huge, wine list and lacks high end wines. He recognizes this and been known to allow diners to bring their own bottle ($10 corkage). In keeping with the "Bouchon" tradition of cooking what is available at its peak, he shops frequently. If you ask nicely for a "special" bottle he may find it for you in his travels. We, and many others, have met him in wine shops around the island, notably Select Wine Cellar and Cave de Marigot.

After our snorkel, we joined two more friends and the six of us had the usual lunch at Sunset Café. The moules were running (actually flying in from PEI in Canada) and six of us had two orders of the fabulous mussels in white wine, cream, onions, shallots, garlic, a bit of cream, and ??? with crisp fries. The fresh grouper was quite good and the various salads were fine. The window flaps were down, but the view was still great. They do 1 to 1 on cash, so the mussels flown in from Canada are only $17 (and they could feed two people in a pinch, but add an ap if you have a big appetite. We had a couple Carte Noir Rosés and finished with complimentary passion fruit and banana flavored rums.

We went for drinks at Club Fantastico on the hill above Orient. We had made an appointment to check it out. As they are a nude resort, they are not exactly open to all and sundry walking in unannounced. However, there is something of an invite sign with the phone number to call . The sign also says "naked ladies drink free", taking the Sunset Beach Bar approach to the next level. It's a beautiful villa with fantastic views. Later this week I'll get a feature up on my site, but it has been a hectic week.

We then went down to La Place, the square, in Orient Village, for an early dinner at Tai Chi Restaurant. We ordered a bottle of Chapoutier's Chateauneuf du Pape (49€), a bottle of water, and a boat of mixed sushi and sashimi. There are a couple photos on the website, so if you are interested, take a look, but in words, there were about 15 pieces of sushi and 15 pieces of sashimi plus quite a bit of veg, lots of ginger, and killer wasabi (30€). We required another bottle of water and a bottle of Drouhin's Laforet Pinot Noir (22€) before we finished this ap. After that we moved on to a couple Thai dishes: squid in curry sauce (15€) and duck with a spicy Thai sauce (19€) - both interesting and neither was very spicy hot. Now it is possible that the overuse of the killer wasabi had inured our tastebuds to the heat from Hades, but we had applied liberal amounts of quenching fluids. The squid was the tenderest that we have tasted in a while and that is no small trick. The duck was similarly good and everyone liked that preparation quite a bit. We ended with espressos (6€) and complimentary rum drinks with a Thai twist. Dinner came to $234 with the conversion to dollars and an additional 10% tip. That's a bit much for Thai food, but sushi is not Thai food and a $60 bottle of wine is not Thai food either. We had a great time sitting outside on the square watching the bocci ball players and all the other action.

On Friday we went with Wendy K for lunch at Durreche on the Marigot Waterfront. Durreche, according to Wendy K who has spent far more time in this restaurant than I, says that it started to serve the crew filming Speed 2, an execrable film from the mid-90's that featured a cruise ship about to crash into the oil tanks in Cay Bay, then into the Cliffs in the French lowlands, and finally running into the sandy ground of Marigot Harbor and ringing the church bell with its prow. Cruiseships generally take half a week to visit that many ports. However, we cannot blame Durreche for effectuating the production of this putrid film and certainly no one can be blamed for going to Durreche to get plenty of very good food for very little money. The local gendarmes know this and about a dozen of them were dining at two tables while we were there. No crime here! There is a menu, quite long, and Wendy had the beef tartare, I'd guess about a pound of beautiful beef and half of it went home with her to become part of a dinner. The rest of us focused on the blackboard specials: moules frites (13€), lamb stew (6€), and grilled shrimp (12€). Having done the moule frites the day before, we divvied up the lamb stew and shrimp. Each came with a bit of salad and a couple side dishes that included frites, scalloped potatoes, sautéed carrots, and more. Don't expect lamb tenderloin in a $14 stew, but you can expect flavorful, though bony, lamb in a deep brown sauce, some great scalloped potatoes, tasty carrots (probably grown in real dirt), and a nice bit of salad. The shrimp really was grilled, imparting an extra bit of flavor. The house wine costs under $10 a bottle and in the course of a two and a half hour lunch we consumed five bottles. Service was good and friendly. The physical plant is an open air deck looking out over the road to the market and the waterfront beyond. The best part: $50 per couple included a very generous tip and made dinner much smaller.

At about 8PM, we tore ourselves away from the Gators vs Butler and went downstairs to Blue Sapphire Cafe at Sapphire Beach Club. At night, it is called Opus Restaurant, but as you'll never see a sign for either. It is owned by José from Le Tastevin and Pascal from L'Alabama Restaurant and another partner. Last year José and Pascal were here almost every day, but now that things are running smoothly, they are rarely seen, although there is a photo of the wait staff and José with ties on (!) serving the queen of The Netherlands in the menu. She had stayed in one of the villas at Sapphire this summer. After our large lunch, the four of us split two vegetable soups (quite tasty thanks to a generous portion of leeks) and two dinners: grouper in a spicy tomato sauce and the very tasty, though subtle, shrimp on a bed of pasta with a lobster sauce. A bottle of Bouchard's 2002 Savigny Les Beaune ($44) and some water were added to bring the bill up to about $100. It was a pretty good dinner at a pretty good price, made even more wonderful by the fact that we could take the elevator to get there. Unfortunately, many other guests are getting the same idea and it was a bit crowded on a Friday night!

On Saturday night, for the last dinner with our guests, we went to Le Cottage Restaurant in Grand Case, parking in the central lot. We had an 8PM reservation and found our four-top on the porch waiting for us, while Bruno was turning people away. Reservations are good. Stéphane provided us with a glass of Viognier from the Rhone region. Viognier is one of the white wine grapes permitted in the Rhone and it has an aromatic nose and when chilled, is a great aperitif. We ordered two aps from the menu, foie gras with a soft boiled egg (14€) and the taste of crab (12€), and a special scallop sashimi. As we waited, two warm, crusty breads (one dark, one white) arrived with great butter and then an amuse bouche appeared: a monkfish mousseline with creme fraiche on a crisp bit of toast. While thinking about all the flavors and textures, a bit of heat snuck into the equation. Our friends began to realize that this was going to be a special night. The aps arrived with a mystery white wine from Stéphane. It was very cold and we all tasted, but didn't even recognize the grape. We were quite surprised to find that it was the 2005 Savigny Les Beaune from Girard, one of our house white wines from Sylvain at Select Wine Cellar. Only as the wine warmed up, did we recognize it as chardonnay. I liked the warm version better and thought it was better with the wonderful aps. What to say about foie gras and soft-boiled egg on hazelnut toast with Szechuan pepper? If you like foie gras, this is an excellent preparation. The scallops came in a crispy napoleon accompanied by a mache salad (from Nantes) with a dressing containing hints of lobster on the side. My crab was in a cylinder about two and a half inches high and an inch and a half wide. Moreover, there was an outbuilding constructed of potatoes run through the mandoline twice to produce lots of surface area to crisp up in the fryer. Several of these crispy chips were interspersed with a superbly spiced bit of fresh tomato. A small glass of juice heavily flavored with celery was also supplied. This was just one dish but it had textures running from liquid, to a soft crab, a bit more substantial tomato, and ending with a decidedly crisp potato chip. It was truly heaven to start with a bit of crab and wash it down with the celery drink, and then add some crunchy chips with a tart tomato topping and finish with a sip of chardonnay. Things got better as the main courses arrived. Stéphane brought a 2004 Crozes-Hermitage from Louis Belle, also from Sylvain at Select Wine Cellar to go with the taste of pigeon (26€), the taste of lamb (28€), and the taste of monkfish (24€). Most of the dishes are called "a taste of" to indicate that the chef may be rearranging things on the plate. The lamb was a very tender rack as one might expect with the addition of fairly normal white beans in a light tomato sauce and a new take on provençal vegetables. Martha's pigeon was roasted, but the tender breasts were removed while still rare, the leg and thigh were cooked a bit longer, and the heart and liver were presented on a skewer. It came with a mushroom foam, probably porcini, and asparagus spears. My monkfish was roasted with olives and French bacon, formed into a cylinder, and placed on a bed of gratinated eggplant. This was topped with a crispy baked parmesan cracker holding a chilled dollop of red pepper sorbet that featured a bread stick rising even higher. Frank Gehry would have been impressed. We passed on dessert but did get some sweet dessert wine (Ch Menates Sauternes) and Armagnacs along with our espressos to finish a wonderful evening. If you want to taste (and see!) some of the most inventive food on the island, this is the place. Moreover, with the Gault-Millau sommelier of the year (Stéphane) doling out fine wines by the glass at reasonable prices, you'll have a great time and great food without a large mortgage. Bruno is no longer doing 1 to 1, but is offering 1.2 to 1, even on US credit cards.

Changes: Tai Chi Restaurant has a new sushi chef. They are a peripatetic lot and I had quite a chat with this one who was from Thailand and had seen almost as much of the world as I have.

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BARGAINS AND HAPPENINGS

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Every Tuesday afternoon from 4:30 until 6:00, Ti Bouchon will host a small (ten people maximum) wine tasting on their porch. There is no charge, but if you would like to attend, please visit the website and call or send an reservation request no more than one month in advance. Be sure to mention a date and the number in your party.

Friday night sushi and happy hour (from 4 till 6 PM) is still happening at Halsey's Restaurant. We had a great time when last we were there.

Bali Bar in Marigot's Marina Royale generally has live music or a DJ starting at 7:30 CST (Caribbean standard time) on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

Roy Deep Sea Fishing is looking for two more people at $150 each to fill out a morning half-day charter on 1 June. Send an email if you are interested.

Coupons: Look on the SXM-Info website for a list of all restaurants and others that have coupons for some freebie or discount. There are several coupons there to make your vacation a bit cheaper. The easiest free welcome champagne cocktail from Auberge Gourmande, Montmartre, and Sunset Café is no longer available, but here's a list of what you'll find:

Le Baccara Restaurant Bikini Beach Beau Beau's Kakao Beach Escargot Los Gauchos Kakao Beach Oizeau Rare Pirate Beach Bar Paradise View

Paris Bistro Pedro's Beach Bar Saint Germain Tai Chi The Wharf Lots here and here Select Wine Cellar Endless Summer Beachwear Good Cards (and gifts)

We have a car from Don at GCL Car Rental. They have always been good to us and you can read several testimonials on their site from others. He and Daniel are certainly worth an email when you want reliable, yet inexpensive, transportation. I've never tested them, but they say they will come and pick you up if you think you have over-indulged.

Those who like Club Orient might be interested in Club Fantastico. Check it out. Richard says "At Club Fantastico the Jacuzzi is percolating and the pool is a perfect temperature for skinny dipping late into the evening. The Caribbean Sea is aqua blue and warm as can be. Chef Antonio was here over the holidays and will be back, so stay tuned. Music and fine cuisine will be the norm."

The Mario's Bistro Cookbook is now available. They are shipped via UPS and cost $49 for one, $87 for two, and $123 for three, delivered. Delivery via UPS should take a day or two in the US.

L'Esperance Hotel has great rates and is conveniently located. It's quite handy if you just need a night or two at either end of your vacation because of the wretched flight schedules. They have a lovely pool and offer free wireless internet access.

Sandy Molloy at Molloy Travel offers personalized service to fit your needs and budget.

Regards,
Erich S. Kranz
www.SXM-Info.com
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