Good Food, Delightful Music, Trade Marks of Saint Kitts

By William Doyle-Marshall

Sunday morning breakfast at Sunset Café at Timothy’s Beach Resort in Saint Kitts is a wonderful experience. We sit casually at a table in a corner where we can hear the music being piped through speakers that offer a soothing satisfactory dose of Caribbean music – Calypso and Soca. The day begins with what feels like the selector dusting off “severe Licking” (He Lick She) by Barron (Timothy Watkins) the Groove Master from Trinidad and Tobago. That song catapulted him into the consciousness of music lovers in the Twin Island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

    For the rest of the day it feels almost like non-stop Barron as “My Lady” plus many standards popular to Soca lovers on dance floors around the world. There were visits from Crazy with “You Want Me For Card” as well as occasional stop over by Machel Montano, the young hit maker from Trinidad and Tobago and Barbadian Alison Hinds.

   Any meal that causes the consumer to consider licking the plate on which it is served, has gone beyond the classification of being a good dish. In fact, something in the creation of meals that, when it lands on your plate before you, it magically enters your mouth, travels down to your stomach and taps the bone of digestive satisfaction. It leaves nothing to warrant asking for a doggie bag assignment.

   This Sunday morning’s breakfast of Local salt fish and Johnny cakes (fried bakes) at Timothy Beach Resort qualified for that enviable description without fear of contradiction. Indeed it stood out from the familiar North American offering of continental this, that and the other with the normal variations of eggs. People should be encouraged to try local creations by nationals who run these establishments. It will certainly boost their coffers.  A tourist or visitor need to be more exploratory. Venture into the new cultural experience.  You don’t know what you are missing. That new overture provides vehicles for pleasant discoveries. Barring allergic complications, food on this twin island opens new doors to the inexperienced taste buds.

   From my perspective the layout of the Sunset Café provides a rather appropriate setting for me to enjoy the music and ignore the American propaganda being broadcast over the television as televangelists were selling their brand of Christianity to the audience. I had no interest in that.

Spice Mill Restaurant at Cockleshell Beach almost feels storybook-like with its personable staff, marinated with perfect tropical weather – wind, sun, breeze and pleasantly soothing music from members of the Greenhouse Band.

Greenhouse band performing at Spice Mill Restaurant, St. Kitts

   Neslyn and Bernice are indeed graceful hostesses. Yes, you expect to be welcomed into an establishment but these two ladies add a special flair to their work. You immediately feel at ease. Of course their behavior transcends the designation of visitor. In their presence you feel like a family member as they tend to every hint of a need. Even when they offer you water, you have a big decision to make: would it be bottled water or tap water? Wow, that question is never asked of me in Toronto. Well, we are in St. Kitts so we agree to  consumer water from the country. No foreign stuff for me.

   Denisha, a personable,knowledgeable and energetic young woman is the server at Shiggidy Shack,  who welcomes  and seats us comfortably in a spot where we can speak and enjoy the evening ambiance beneath the stars-scarce sky. A mild rum punch and a Carib beer began the evening while Denisha dashes over to the kitchen to fill our diner order. 

   A vegetable medley salad which is a regular feature at the restaurant is delightfully  creative. It's made from local ground provisions – plantain, egg plant (Melogene), white potato and a cream sauce. Sometimes breadfruit and green bananas could be included to keep it kind of fresh with string bean, carrots and corn and sometimes green papaya or sweet milk sauce. “We try not to make it too heavy but really refreshing. You can have it with  fish or shrimp, whatever meets your fancy. 

   If the name does not roll naturally off your lips, have no fear, the owner and his wife  named  the establishment because of its look and feel:  Just come on in and enjoy yourself. No shoes, no shirt, no problem. That's the way live is on Saint Kitts and Nevis -- very relaxing without a worry in the world.