Gastronomy Festival restaurant winners pose with St. Martin Tourism Office President Valérie Damaseau and Tourism Office Director Aïda Weinum at the village Sunday night.
MARIGOT--In a change to last year’s format, the Gastronomy Festival announced the winners of the four restaurant categories who will now compete against each other in tonight’s closing ceremony for the “Best Table of St. Martin 2022” award.
The Beach Star category was won by String Beach, the Authentic Star category by Good Food and Mojitos, the City Star category by Aux Mets Tissés and Gourmet Star category by La Villa Hibiscus (last year’s Best Table winner).
Judging of the 67 participating restaurants took place daily over the past 10 days, with the invited chefs judging eight to nine restaurants each. Restaurants were asked to feature plantain in an entrée, main dish or dessert.
In a twist to the competition, the judging for the finale will be done in the form of a blind tasting. Judges will not get to see the presented dishes from the four restaurants, but will rely on taste and smell alone, leaving the possibility that any one of the four finalists could win the coveted award.
The new category of Mixology will see three mixologists compete against each other in the final. The winners are Elise from L’Atelier, Thomas from La Villa Hibiscus and Aurélie from Maison Mère.
Eight mixologists participated in the competition. The final will be judged by an expert panel from USA: Arthur Sutley, Mia Mastroianni, and Dale Moss.
Complete results are as follows:
BBQ Competition; first place Eddy Cozier (Quality Foods), second place Kadian Brown (Roadside cool out), third place Kenneth Hyman (Heritage Kitchen), Best Ribs Eddy Cozier, Best Chicken Kadian Brown, Best Pigtail Eddy Cozier, Best Fish Kenneth Hyman, Best Surprise Dish Augustine Baly (TJ Delicacies).
The Coup de Coeur special prize: first place La Terrasse Rooftop Restaurant, second place Sandy’s Creole Cuisine, third place Good Food and Mojitos.
Best Dessert: first place La Dolce Vita, second place Chez Fernand, third place Chez Rosemary.
Beach Star category: first place String Beach, second place Waï Plage, third place 978 Beach.
Authentic Star category: first place Good Food and Mojitos, second place Chez Lainez, third place Star Bar.
City Star category: first place Au Mets Tisses, second place Kaz a Poke, third place La Terrasse Rooftop.
Gourmet Star category: first place La Villa Hibiscus, second place Le Pressoir, and third place Le Cottage.
