NEWS:<br>Seafood Galley has lasted a mere six months in their new location in Don<br>Carlos's old location. <br><br>Bamboo Bernie's appears to have received their licenses and are now<br>advertising that they are open. They have taken over the old Baywatch<br>facilities on the Caravanserai property at the end of the runway and are<br>serving upscale grilled items (ribs, chicken) and sushi.<br><br>Speaking of sushi, Port de Plaisance has a new restaurant: Sounds and<br>Sushi. Music and raw fish brought to you by Mario, owner of Old Captain<br>in Pburg and the new restaurant in the Oyster Pond Resort. We dined at<br>the Old Captain (see below) and Mario told us he was about to purchase a<br>fourth restaurant. A mini-chain in the making.<br><br>Citrus Restaurant and the Market at Cupecoy now have the Inn at Cupecoy<br>above them. Five fabulous rooms surround a swimming pool and terrace.<br>Richard and Jennifer London have given up high-powered lives in the<br>northeast to build a home on the French side and renovate this property<br>that has been idle since Bistrot Gourmand left two years ago. They are<br>working on a website, but until it's finished, we can say that Citrus<br>has great food, fantastic appointments, good service, no view (the rooms<br>on the second floor have great views), and prices that are among the<br>highest on the island. The Market next door is a cut above most markets<br>anywhere. There's a great selection of wine, fresh baguettes, a deli<br>counter, and frozen food from the restaurant!<br>(
http://SXM-Restaurants.com/lowlands/innatcupecoy - still waiting<br>on some pics, give it a few days for the finals)<br><br>THINGS TO DO:<br>On Saturday we went sailing from Simpson Bay Yacht Club catching the 9AM<br>bridge opening and headed to Grand Case. The boat was owned and<br>captained by our neighbor in unit 254<br>(
http://SXM-Hotels.com/sbc254). During the Heineken Regatta we<br>planned on going out with them and their friends on the friend's<br>trawler,<br>but there was so much wind that we canceled the voyage (and two ships<br>in the race were dismasted and two crashed because of the high winds).<br>This Saturday we should have canceled for lack of wind, as we motored<br>all<br>the way except for a brief sail on the edge of a squall that rose up<br>over Anguilla, flew over the channel, and drenched the lowlands of SXM.<br>After that, there wasn't even enough wind to tack. We gave up and putted<br>over to Créole Rock for some great snorkeling. We were greeted by an<br>entire platoon of sergeant majors, the colorful yellow fish with four<br>black stripes and as we continued around the rock we saw starfish,<br>trunkfish, needlefish, tangs, groupers, and more. There is a fish id<br>quiz at
http://islandharbour.net/snorkel.<br><br>RESTAURANTS:<br><br>On Wednesday we had dinner at Tastevin in Grand Case<br>(
http://GrandCase.com). It's been around for a very long time, so<br>long, in fact, that we were told that it is one of the few restaurants<br>that owns the building. It has a very large and lovely dining room on<br>the<br>sea and some of the largest halogen lamps to light it up for your<br>enjoyment. The room is built like a typical Créole house with a fairly<br>steep roof and plenty of exposed rafters, but the woodwork is finished<br>like an English drawing room: rich dark stains on all the ceiling and<br>rafters. At least half the tables are on the water and even though we<br>walked in without reservations, we got a waterfront table at about 7:30.<br>An amuse bouche arrived, the waiter explained some specials, and took<br>our wine and water order. We ordered a saffron-flavored mussel soup (a<br>special) followed by a tuna steak with a sauce Provençal and a veal<br>tenderloin with cepes. A 97 Volnay was the wine of choice (about $45).<br>The mussels were fine, but they contained my minimum daily sodium<br>requirement several times over. The tuna was fresh and perfectly done<br>and the veal was probably the tenderest I have ever had. The cepes<br> were harvested with the aid of a can opener. The check<br>arrived noting that the tip was not included (by law, the service is,<br>but that was not mentioned). We asked to be charged in euros and the<br>credit card processor does not allow for tips to be added. The returning<br>pile of paper included a plastic card that stated that a tip could not<br>be<br>added to the credit card charge. Lovely restaurant, great view, high prices.<br><br>Friday lunch was another trip to Old Captain <br>(
http://Philipsburg-Info.com/oldcaptain) in Philipsburg. Mario, a<br>Dutchman with an Italian mother, is married to Molly from Canton in<br>China. Put it together and you get Dutch food, Cantonese food, Italian<br>food, and Japanese sushi and tempura. I don't know how the last two<br>slipped in but we had a sushi platter and a pair of shrimp tempura. Very<br>tasty. We had started with the hot and sour Chinese soup. With a couple<br>beers and the 15% tip, the total was a bit less than $38. It's a lovely<br>place, right on the beach. Mario does have a beach bar, chairs, and<br>umbrellas for an even more laid back experience.<br><br>That evening we went to Portofino (
http://GrandCase.com/portofino).<br>They serve pizza, Italian, and French. I generally get pizza, as I like<br>their fresh ingredients, but we went for the full dinner, starting with<br>accras (fried fishcakes), probably the largest portion I have seen on<br>the island. Martha had a spicy shrimp dish and I went with the veal<br>parmigianna. The shrimp were good and the veal filled the plate,<br>certainly<br>not as tender as that at Tastevin, but this was a scallop, not a<br>tenderloin. We had a 97 Pommard from southern Burgundy with everything -<br>a bit over the top, but I can't think of anyplace that prices a Pommard<br>near $40. The whole dinner was only $72. They are on the land side, so<br>there is no water view, and the interior is not the finest, but the<br>prices can't be beat for good food. They even have a buffet on<br>Wednesday.<br><br>On Sunday we had lunch at Kakao Beach on Orient Bay<br>(
http://SXM-Restaurants.com/orient/kakao). We think this is one of<br>the best restaurants on the beach. Good food, well-prepared, good<br>service. The tables are on the sand and the view can't get any better.<br>We just had a shrimp and chicken liver salad with spinach - try<br>convincing your kid to eat chicken livers AND spinach. OK, it's an<br>acquired taste. I had a pizza. We drank a red Saumur-Champigny, one of<br>the rare red wines served chilled. It's light and fruity, so it won't<br>overpower shrimp, but the fruit will stand up to chicken liver and<br>pizza. With a bottle of water, we got the bill up to $58, maybe a bit<br>more than most people wish to spend for lunch, but we brought half the<br>pizza home. <br><br>Monday night found us at La Gondola<br>(
http://SXM-Restaurants.com/sandyground/gondola). We were in Sandy<br>Ground talking to the owner of La Santal until about 9 PM, but being<br>France, this was a fine time to walk into a restaurant, even without a<br>reservation. David Foini was happy to see us, said our table was ready,<br>and escorted us to the same table we had two months ago. I don't<br>guarantee that he remembers every face, but he did train at La Samanna,<br>one of the island's premier restaurants.<br><br>We had an eggplant parmesan to start followed by a vegetable lasagna and<br>a veal saltimboca. A bottle of water and a bottle of Bardolino aided the<br>digestion. David further remembered that I had requested pasta (rather<br>than potatoes) the last time I was there and added two bits to my veal,<br>even though it really didn't come that way. The food was quite good and<br>the portions were as generous as the prices were low. We paid a mere $53<br>and were rewarded with an after-dinner grappa on the house. You can have<br>a free drink too. Just take in the coupon from his website. It's a cute<br>spot with limited parking. If you can get there, it's worth the effort.<br><br>On Tuesday we went into Pburg for a lunch at Fish Alley Cafe<br>(
http://FishAlleyCafe.com). It's a beach bar, but two Heinekens for<br>$3 is a good enough reason to stop and enjoy the view. If Pamela is<br>waitressing, the view is even better. They have the usual grill fare,<br>plus wraps, burgers, sandwiches, and salads. Martha liked her chicken<br>Créole and my Philly cheese steak had all the right ingredients<br>(thin-sliced steak, onions, and peppers smothered with cheese) and good<br>fries.<br><br>On Wednesday night we went over to Casablanca again.<br>(
http://SXM-Restaurants.com/lowlands/casablanca) We had a S'ffa<br>cous-cous and a tajine of lamb with prunes. The S'ffa had almonds,<br>raisins, and cinnamon with lamb all cooked on a bed of cous-cous. The<br>tajine had lamb and prunes cooked together with cous-cous on the side.<br>Both came with a side of mixed vegetables in broth. We learned from our<br>last visit that we could not eat all this and an appetizer. We learned<br>from this visit that we couldn't even eat all this! We added a bottle of<br>Moroccan wine and a bottle of water, but still only spent $71 with a 15%<br>tip added on, and an after-dinner eau de vie made from olives as a gift<br>from Gilles. <br><br>Fresh fish is air-lifted to St Martin on the 747s from France. On Friday<br>evening La Marine Restaurant prepares a special Bouillabaisse using the<br>traditional rascasse from the Mediterranean and also french sea bass,<br>sea bream, squid, langoustines, and mussels. We went with the special<br>and Camille recommended the 2000 Morgon, a grand cru Beaujolais.<br>Beaujolais is just south of Burgundy and north of Lyon. It is made from<br>the gamay grape and comes in three varieties: <br> Beaujolais - from anywhere in the vast region<br> Beaujolais-Villages - from about 30 villages in the center of the<br>region<br> Beaujolais Grand Crus - from about a dozen villages in the northern<br>part of the region.<br>There is also Beaujolais nouveau, a marketing scam to get publicity and<br>money as early as possible after the grape harvest. It's released with<br>great fanfare on 15 November and drunk while still fizzing. <br><br>The Morgon is one of the sturdier wines made from this fruity grape, having<br>enough acid and flavor to stand up to a most flavorful presentation of<br>fish.<br><br>First the fish and vegetables are cooked in a broth that is made into a<br>fish soup, brought to your table with croutons, two garlicky sauces for<br>the croutons, and grated cheese. The next course is the fish and<br>vegetables. Camille served each of us one-third of the fish that had<br>been prepared for us including an entire rascasse each. He told us he<br>would be keeping the other third warm in the kitchen. I managed to<br>finish my fish but Martha was not even close. We each had this two<br>course meal plus a bottle of wine and a bottle of water for only $77.50.<br>All this with a view of the water and valet parking in Grand Case on a<br>Friday night. (
http://RestaurantLaMarine.com).<br><br>On Saturday after our snorkeling we dropped anchor in Grand Case Bay and<br>dinghied to the dock for sunset drinks at Amandier Plage.<br>(
http://AmandierPlage.com) As we had a late lunch, we went simple<br>for dinner and walked to the lolos surrounding the dock. There are about<br>five shacks with grills around a courtyard, all serving ribs, chicken,<br>and fish. A leg of chicken costs $2, ribs are about the same, and while<br>the cost of the fish depends on the catch, you can usually expect change<br>from a tenner. Add rice and peas or a salad or any of several other<br>sides for another $2. Beer is $1.50. They have wine if you are so<br>inclined. Expect plastic plates and plastic cutlery, but don't expect to<br>use your plastic to pay for it. That's OK as our total bill for four<br>people came to $23.50. Which lolo to choose? We go to the one upwind of<br>the prevailing breeze.<br>
