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.
