SugarApple's Profile
Peanuts in soda?
Grew up in NC (home of Lance's peanuts) and GA (cokeland). So of course I remember this. Had to be the little glass bottles, back when co-cola was really fizzy and made with actual sugar. The coke had to be ice cold.
Restaurant recs in Trinidad or Tobago
I was there about 2 years ago and liked a place by the Queen's Park Savannah. It's an old house with an Indian restaurant called Apsara in the back, a Thai place called Tamnak on the terrace, and a nightclub inside (open only later at night). We enjoyed the food, I've had better Thai and Indian but good nonetheless and a very pretty setting in both places. Just be aware...service can be very slow but that's par for the course in this part of the world.
Frankly, some of the best food in the Caribbean is found in Trinidad. Some of it's not quite so hot and you add your own heat with hot pepper sauce, so you control the heat. You MUST try a double!. Just leave off the sauces.
St. Thomas Dinner Recommendations
I have a friend who lives over on St. Thomas and he just went to a new Middle Eastern restaurant called Hooka that he really liked. The chef is Syrian and they have fattoush, sfihas, chicken shawarma, that sort of thing. Might be more of a lunch place but it sounds good.
It's been a while since I went over to St. T so haven't been to any of these places recently but Cuzzin's, Gladys' and Fungi's used to be good places for local food. Herve's is popular but I found the food mediocre and expensive. My husband likes Oceana in Frenchtown but I haven't been. And I've always had a soft spot for Virgilio's, a sort of old world Italian place with very attentive waiters, kind of a throwback, but I like it.
Trip report: savannah, beaufort, charleston
Re: Hunting Island. Maybe you're thinking of the Johnson Creek Tavern on Harbor Island? Hunting Island is a state park and I don't think there are any restaurants there. The po boy is okay but they do a very respectable fried shrimp.
Tuscany/Umbria - Sagre in Late Sept.?
Try http://www.sagreinitalia.it/ . I know this is late but it's a good resource. And yes, it is in Italian but if you understand "food" Italian you can figure out a lot.
BVI Next Week
Your trip is probably finished now but here are my recommendations (I've lived in the BVI since 1993):
Dives - Night dive on the wreck of the Rhone. My husband's favorite reef dive is the Indians - shallow water, wonderfully interesting. Also, Alice in Wonderland on Ginger Island, Painted Walls, Dead Chest and the Chakuzin. The ultimate is the windward reefs of Anegada in calm weather but I'm not sure if any dive companies go there.
Restaurants - Brandywine Bay is our favorite special occasion place. The chef and owner, Davide, seems to have upped his game and our last few meals there have been outstanding. C&F is our favorite local bbq place but the owner, Clarence, has been ill and I believe it's still closed. The Dove is quite popular and there is the new Watermark at Frenchman's Cay. Try a roti at the Roti Palace in town. If you're here for the full moon, go to the full moon party (and great Jamaican bbq) at Trellis Bay. There's a new chef at Peg Leg Landing who's doing some great food. Skyworld (now called Sky Bar I think) has the best view on the island and a new chef that I don't know anything about. I've heard good things about Bananakeet Cafe and they have a great view. And there's a killer chicken bus in the parking lot across from Bobby's Supermarket where the chicken is fantastic.
I've had good lobster just about everywhere on Anegada.
Anguilla Restaurants
My husband just spent a year working on Anguilla and he seconds the Veya recommendations.
suggestions for Jamaican celebration food
Festival - it's a fried bread like johnnycake. The name is certainly celebratory and the bread is yummy.
Produce butchery: am I nuts?
Yes, it is ignorant. But, as you say, the poor kids are just doing what they've been told. It sounds like you need to talk to the manager of the store. The manager probably doesn't know any better either and needs a little polite education.
