Chef Sebastien Landrin from Ristorante Del Arti receives the “Best Table of St. Martin” trophy on stage on Wednesday night in the Gastronomy Village, flanked by Prefecture General Secretary Fabien Sese (left) and Tourism Office President Valérie Damaseau. (Robert Luckock photo)
MARIGOT--Chef Sebastien Landrin from the gourmet Italian restaurant Del Arti in Anse Marcel won the coveted “Meilleur Table de Saint-Martin” award for his seared tuna dish as the curtain came down on the third edition of the Gastronomy Festival last night.
Ginette Lewis (Chez Ginette), winner of Authentic Stars, puts the final touches to her dish at Marina Fort Louis in the final judging segment on Tuesday evening. (Robert Luckock photo)
Lycée competition winners (from left) David Isaac (third), Kathiana Cenat (second) and Jahiem Brooks (first). (Robert Luckock photo)
A capacity crowd came out for the final evening of the 2023 Gastronomy Festival. (Robert Luckock photo)
Landrin was one of the four finalist chefs who competed against each other last night at Marina Fort Louis. The four finalists in the restaurant competition, in which 56 restaurants competed, were Landrin from Del Arti (in first place in Gourmet Stars), Chef Sarah Homonie from P’Tit Bistro, Orient Bay (first place in City Stars), Coco Beach (first place in Beach Stars) and Ginette Lewis from Chez Ginette (first place in Authentic Stars).
The four chefs were asked to make a hot dish from a mystery basket of ingredients which they had not seen beforehand. The dish also had to include fish – snapper, mahi mahi, or tuna, and this year’s themed ingredient, sorrel. They were allowed 2½ hours to complete the dish, and were given plenty of space, two cooking stations. The first tasting was at 8:30pm. The chefs were timed as photographers and the visiting chefs’ coordinator Alain Warth crowded around as they worked.
Once completed, the dishes number 1-4 were taken to a tent where 14 blindfolded chefs, relying only on taste and smell, tasted the dishes and sometimes had to be spoon-fed by assistants when they got disorientated. The competing chefs had to prepare seven plates, so two chefs at a time could taste the same plate.
In the BBQ competition, it was Sky’s the Limit (Rodriguez Gumbs) in first place, Chez Tatie Aline (Pierre Louis Arrondell) in second place, and T’s Delicacy (Augustine Baly) in third place. Gumbs also won Best Chicken, Best Fish and Best Pigtail. Quality Foods (Eddy Cozier, last year’s King of the Grill) won Best Surprise Dish. Best Ribs went to Heritage Kitchen (Kenneth Hyman).
First place in the Best Desserts category went to Claquettes Chaussettes, second place to Willy Ice Cream and third place to La Dolce Vita.
For the Lycée competition in which seven students took part, Jahiem Brooks was first, Kathiana Cenat was second and David Isaac third.
In the Mixology finals, which took place after the cooking final, Alessandro Corona from Le Pressoir was first, Thomas Maccury from Villa Hibiscus second and Mathieu Marlet from Karibuni third.
In the new Food Truck category first place went to Claquettes Chaussettes, second to Quesmex and third place to Taste of Joy.
The Best Caterer (Traiteur) category saw Laura Antonelli (Pick SXM) first, Jean Marie Jackson (Chef Jackson) second and Kareem Brooks (Chef B) in third place.
The “Coup de Coeur du Public” (the public’s favourite) went to La Terrasse first, Quesmex second and Coco Beach third.
Opening remarks for the closing ceremony were given by Vice Presidents Bernadette Davis and Dominique Louisy. Secretary General of the Préfecture Fabien Sese also spoke and assisted handing out awards.
St. Martin Tourism Office President Valérie Damaseau said guavaberry will be the themed ingredient for the 2024 festival.
