devouring st martin: the island's dining guide

8/9/2019 Devouring St Martin: The Island's Dining Guide

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April 2010 cAribbeAn trAvel+l54 cAribbeAn trAvel+life cAribbeAntrAvelmAg.com

O n e m a n O n a m i s s i O n t O e a t h i s w a y f r O m s h O r e t O s c r u m p t i O u s s h O r

On the French

St. Martin, Orient

offers diners eve

from snack stan

sandy beach bars

Euro-hip waterin

and romantic



56

There’s no shortage o options. A gantlet o chalkboard mar-

quees touts the oerings: Prime rib au jus, steak rites, steamed

mussels, cheeseburgers and, most curiously, in this home ground

o tasty, spiny Caribbean crustaceans, lobsters lown in rom

Maine. All delicious, I’m sure, but it’s anywhere ood. Not or me.

Instead, I zeo in on a cluste o big tents at the west end o the

bach, a m th tannin cwd. A ibbn smk wats up

om the middle, and whee thee’s smoke, thee’s possibility.

A 15minut walk nds m chattin up a ti mn dink

in Psidnt b in th shad a tap. It’s a Fiday, and thy

psnt th adanc uad a up 60 70 nmnt

mplys m th Dutch sid th island, snt h t st up

o a weekend camping tip.

“It’s a bndin thin,” says n th mn, Daid Ljuz.

“People who eat togethe wok bette togethe.”

That Ljuz and his cwks a buly, wlld mn bds

wll. But what bds bst all a th xtm lnths t which

they have gone on behal o cooking. No mee assotment o gills

and ic chsts thm; ths uys ha hammd tth bi

shts plywd t cat a 20by10, thsidd bachnt

kitchn cmplt with a and a f and a bad windw

azin ut at th sa whil thy ck. Thy ha hauld in a bat

tery o gas stoves and big rerigerators powered by generators that

ae hidden behind the dunes.

M mn a wkin insid th kitchn, and th’s th

sund clas whackin aainst cuttin bads. I s tall pts

stamin n th sts. I smll nins and ppp and alic.

I ha th sizzl mat i. I dn’t knw what thy a

Orient Beach, on St. Martin, is your quintessential Caribbean

postcard — frothy blue waves propelled by the offshore breeze, thesoundtrack of reggae and soca alternating with the beach bars youwalk past, and bodies basting on lounge chairs, their inhabitantsrecovering from a night at the casino or gearing up for a marathon tourof the duty-free shops. But I have come to St. Martin to indulge adifferent vice — not to gamble, not to shop, not to stretch myselfout on its beaches: I have come to eat, and eat seriously.

Clockwise from above

left: Finish a meal in

Grand Case with acrepe; heady spices at

the Marigot market;

idling under a sea grape

tree at Grand Case

Beach Club; succulent

chicken sizzles at a lolo.

Opposite: Strolling off

supper on Orient beach.

y by BoB Morris hghy by peter frank edwards



58

cooking. I know only that I want some.

My lust is not lost on Lejuez. He eaches into a coole, pulls out

a Pesidente and hands it to me. He points to a chai.

“Sit,”he says. “You must eat wi th us.”

He’s ight. I must.

F th nxt hu, th cks abut thi businss in th

makshit kitchn. Th amas w m nticin. Th b is

placd by ti punch, th tadmak ccktail th Fnch Wst

Indis, mad m hum aicl (um distilld m aw can

syup instad mlasss), swt can juic and lim. It’s, uh,

medicinal, but it pepaes my palate and constitution o the ood

that sn cms my way. Thins stat with a bwlul sh

sup, a pppy bth afat with bi chunks tish, whatthe locals call ole wie. Then comes a plate heaped with tangy pork

ibs and illd chickn, ic ’n’pas, and a n salad slathd

in dessing.

It’s moe — much moe — than I

bagained o.

Lejuez ashes a smile at my ove-

owing plate.

“Wlcm t St. Matin,” h

says.

BY o F F I C I A L g o v e r N -

mnt stimat, th a

sm 300 stauants n

th dualnatin isl St.

Matin. But di a lap aund th

37-square-mile island — something

asily accmplishd in a cupl

hus — and yu can’t hlp but

cnclud that th cnsus is way,

way lw. Fm swank, litty s

tauants that wuld it th mix in

Las vas Nw Yk t cham

dnchd Paisianstyl bists,

watnt ish huss, stipmall

caés and guys manning gills along

the roadside, you can’t swing a resh

bautt h withut hittin a

plac that slls d sm kind. I th w an island

whlly dtd t atin, this is it. This pusin d is nt

th sult natual cicumstanc. Unlik sm Caibban culi

nay dstinatins blssd with ich sil and dis aicultu

— Tinidad and Jamaica cm t mind — St. Matin is latily

arid and largely deorested. Farmers grow watermelons and some

und pisins, and that’s abut it. Th tump cad is a m d

n intnatinal aipt wll sd by lts dict fihts m

eup and th Unitd Stats. “S chs h lack nthin,”

says Pascal Nam, wn and ch L’Aub gumand in

gand Cas, n th island’s mst acclaimd Fnch stau

ants. “What was in th makt in Pais in th mnin can b

hee in the atenoon and on the table that night.”

This cnucpian ailit, aln with th hankin many

classically taind chs t ply thi tad in wam clims, mans

that i yu a lkin th Caibban’s hihst cncnta

tin d stauants — b thy Fnch Italian, Indian

Japans, Amican stakhuss, usin this usin that

Matin is the place.

But my juics a stid by th knwld that this

abut 75,000 sidnts (sm 39,000 n th Dutch sid

36,000 n th Fnch) is mad up 140 dint natin

It’s a sius mashup cultus, and that manists it

sm siusly lius lcal d. Call it Cl, call it

taditinal, call it what yu will. Just knw that it is s

St. Matin in a ashion ound nowhee else.

And there is no better place to start sampling it than the

day morning market along the waterront in Marigot. By th

I aive, shotly beoe 8 a.m., thee ae aleady thongs o p

swarming around Anguillan fshermen, who are selling catcyllwtail snapp, mahimahi and kin mackl. Custm

lind up th dp at th lbst stand. vnds hawk

slaughteed goat and bead and a bounty o spices.

I mak my way t Miss e

wh th pnymus pp

a slnd, swtacd lady

a Clplaid kchi tid

aainst h had, is bhin

cunt ckin hmmad

sausage in a skillet while her d

t slls ccnut tats. Bttl

the counte, lled with ambe

and sald with what lks

white meringue. It’s mauby, a

zzy dink mad m th ba

t in th buckthn amily

nati t th islands. Bil th

in wat, tss in sm bwn

and spics (yn has a

blnd), and lt th bwin p

tak its cus. Whn mn

is cmplt, th whit m

ams up and sals th bttl

pcnta alchl in ma

s lw that mths tn i

thi babis at nap tim — y

chug it and baely get a buzz.

“H, tak,”says Miss ebby, handin m a chilld btt

usin t accpt my mny. “It is my plasu t int

yu. It is th bst way t stat a day. It sttls th stmac

all that will ollow.”

I tak a w pmpti sips as I had my pimay

natin at th makt — th lls. That’s what islands c

cllctin small sidbysid atis, pimaily in Mai

gand Cas, that spcializ in taditinal island a. Dsp

many inquiies about the oigins o the name, I neve get a

ti answ as t what ll ally mans. Sm tll m it d

m th “lw, lw”pics thy cha mals. oths tl

is a cuptin th “lcal”d thy s. And still th

m it stms m th act that mst thm a un by

and the Fench slang o a woman’s beasts is lolos.

Doesn’t matte. Just know that you Ameican dollas go

way at a lolo, where you have to work hard to spend more th

on a meal o two. What sweetens the deal is that most lolos

this island Of aBOut 75,000

residents is made up Of 140 different

natiOnalities. it’s a seriOus

mash-up Of cultures, and that manifests itself in sOme

seriOusly glOriOus lOcal fOOd.

Scenes from a

small island:

Bright signs, full

plates, smilingfaces and natural

beauty create a

mouthwatering

kaleidoscope

on St. Martin.

Mauby, a gently alcholic homebrew,

contains herbs that help settle the

stomachs of grateful gastroadventurers.



60

Dusk brings a rare

quiet moment to

one of many Grand

Case lolos, as the

chef prepares for

the evening rush.



62

us dllas nly. Manin a mal adtisd n th mnu

o 10 euos can be yous o $10, which tanslates to a 3-buck sav-

ings at current exchange rates — that takes a bit o the sting out o

u cnmic miasma. Plus, th d is cnsistntly tasty, n i

it’s ptty much th sam m plac t plac. In th nins, it’s

gilled ibs and chicken, maybe some sh, eithe gilled o stewed.

F sids, it’s a aiatin n a thm ic ’n’pin pas, mac

’n’chs and clslaw, althuh it’s nt unusual t nd illd

eggplant o chistophene gatin.

“W ach i it u spcial tuch,” a waitss at Sky’s th

Limit, a ll in gand Cas, tlls m. “eyn has thi wn

avoite place that they ae loyal to, depending on how they like

thei avos.”

F bakast at ll cntal in Mait, I had ench’s

Plac, wh ench Hd hlds cut in th kitchn, assistd

by his daughte, Talia, and a small legion o women busily taking

ds and tndin t tabls. My daystat is a whl illd

snapp with ic ’n’pas, accmpanid by a cupl Hd’s

shmthy jhnnycaks. Whn I’m satd, th waitss

bins ut a small plastic tub lld with sapy wat and is

me a towel o washing my hands.

“That’s my spcial tuch,” Hd tlls m at th mn

in ush subsids. H statd 20 yas a ckin ut a

tuck at cnstuctin sits and thn launchd ench’s Plac

in 1996. A w yas a, h pnd a ullfdd stauant,

th Bid, in Sandy gund, with a bad in Cl

spcialtis. “Yu stat small and lt yu l d cay yu

thuh,”h says.

Hd’s sty is n I ha tim and aain as I mak my way

aund th island skin ut mmabl lcal mals. oii

nally om Dominica, the delightul Numely Buney got stated

serving meals out o her station wagon. Now she runs Numerly’s

Kitchen, one o the island’s oadside standouts, om a gloied

tail kitchn by th lan n Pndll rad, in Philipsbu.

Numely’s is not a place o the timid, but o those adventuous

nuh t ty such authntic bakast stalwats as pi’s t

sus (a ht sup bild dwn m atty ttts) cw skin

(pickld in a bin with lts salt and nins), th wads a

many. My ait mal at Numly’s is a lunch baisd at

and ungi — oka stewed with ne conmeal until it achieves an

almost soufé-like consistency.

Anth pnnial ait amn islands is Ytt’s rstau

ant, which opeates out o a small home on a side steet in Fench

Quat. Ytt Hyman, yt anth island ch wh built up a

clintl by sin d m h ca, statd with just th

tabls in 1983. Th additins lat, th stauant nw sats 50

60 ppl, and mst nihts in sasn, it’s ull a lily mix

lcals and patns wh’ bn isitin St. Matin yas.

Hyman passed away in 1999, but he extended amily caies on in

h bhal. Husband Flix, a tan ch at sal htls aund

th island, ss th kitchn, stickin t th xact sam mnu

his wi statd 27 yas a. Th hus spcialty is a lush and

pppy cnch ’n’ dumplins. Ytt’s dauht Jsphin and

ganddaughte Tjamalie hold down waitess duties.

“I things get really busy, we have cousins who live next door,

and thy cm in t hlp,” says Ytt’s sn, Bbby Daal, th

maite d’.

ON M Y L A S T N I g H T I N S T . M A r T I N , I H e A D B A C K

t Fnch Quat and Pult d’olans, wh ch

Tny rmny uns a laly sl patin ut th

sam hus wh h w up, a quaint inbad

aai with a st wath an atp th . H aplizs

bin sht sta.

“Usd t b my childn wuld wait tabls and hlp ut. But,”

he shugs, “they gew up on me.”

Still, th’s n dwnsid t th d that lls ut in lisuly

ashin th nxt cupl hus. rmny, n nin chil

dren, learned to cook rom his mother, who, he swears, never made

th sam mal twic. “Sh always kpt it sh and intstin,

and that’s my way t,”h says. H ckd in kitchns m Napa

vally, Calinia, t Nw olans b tunin t St. Matin,

and h daws m a multitud infuncs t cat his uniqu

is on island specialties.

Plats ai bain cdsh accas (itts) and spicy cab

backs, ollowed by boudin noi (blood sausage) and boudin blanc,

made rom conch, along with stued mushrooms and garlic bread.

I’m quite pepaed to call it a meal, but then come moe plates —

chickn in panut sauc, chickn in cl sauc, mahimahi with

lemon-galic sauce, plus ice and potatoes and beans.

My eyes glazed ove, Che romney gives me a look.

“I thought you came hee to eat, mon,”he says.

I take a deep beath and dig in. ✸

Clockwise from above

left: Pinel Island offerssand, sun and alfresco

dining; Surinamese

cooking at Déjà Vu; sun-

set on Grand Case; mahi-

mahi at Poulet d’Orleans,

which chef Tony Romney

(opposite) runs out of

his childhood home.

devouring st martin: the island's dining guide

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