Any Recent St. Barth Eating?

No, sadly we didn't make it to Le Bistro, Santa Fe, or Trois Forces. Santa Fe was recommended by the people at Francois Plantation, as it seems the new incarnation was started by the former sommellier from Le Sapotillier. Le Bistro was introduced to us as the place to go (get hammered at) before Le Yacht Club. I heard that Les Trois Forces has a very well-priced wine list.

mhirby in South & Central America & the Caribbean

Any Recent St. Barth Eating?

Hi - I just returned from St Barth yesterday, and I was going to write up a big report, but I'll give you the short version here.

To give you context, we live in Napa Valley and love great food, and eat out often. We travel to France about once a year and eat everything from street food to Michelin 3 stars.

Here were our favorite places:

La Plage: great casual food in one of the most idyllic beach settings. Very friendly and very fresh, with wahoo tartare with ginger stealing the show. Desserts were also great. Lounge atmosphere, but no pretense.

Francois Plantation: absolutely off the charts! We were told that a very famous Parisian michelin 3 star chef is now basically consulting. I can't name any names. Classic french high end gastronomy, with an emphasis on purity, with each dish having a rare exotic take, usually presented in a dish on the side. Poulet de Bresse stood out, with the classic breast meat in brown sauce, but with the thigh confited, chopped with foie gras, and tossed with potatoes and brown sauce! Absolutely delicious! Wine choices are phenomenally good, but very expensive (no surprise).

The Hideaway: (Andy's) Really casual and friendly. Good but not great pizza, but very enjoyable nonetheless. we also had the Salade Perigourdine, with Gesiers Confit, Magret fume, and foie gras, which was nostalgic and very good. Wine choices are dismal.

Eddy's: We had heard mixed reviews, so we stuck to the Creole specialties, and we loved it. Shrimp curry and the green Papaya salad were totally decadent, rich, and delicious. very good value.

The let-downs:

SandBar at the Eden Roc: Ambitious food that was just not very good. It looked good, sounded good on the menu, but just failed to deliver. We had the Wagyu beef salad, wherein the beef was surpisingly tough and chewy, plus flavorless, and another unremarkable salad. I'd choose La Plage over this place any day. Great view of the beach and very friendly service, but huge prices, too. Wine list is good: we had a 2005 Chablis from Fevre 1er cru for 70 euros that was great.

Wall House: I'm sure the 5 course was a good deal, but we just weren't that hungry, so we ordered a la carte. It was decent, but somewhat dissapointing. The plus side: the leek salad with beet juice dressing! This is really nice and simple french country cooking. Then we had a Daurade that was mediocre, and a (whole!) Squab with brown sauce from the rotiserrie. The pigeon was good and small, and cooked well, but not exciting. The real disappointment was the dessert cart, which looked enticing, but the choices were simply scooped off the cart and slapped onto our plates instead of being warmed and plated in back with accompaniments. It felt like eating leftovers. Overall a solid B, but we expected more.

Alas, we never made it Le Sapotillier! Too full from Francois Plantation!!!

Hope that helps, and have a great time!

mhirby in South & Central America & the Caribbean

Paris Reviews

Thanks for the reviews! I'll have to hit Au Bon Accueil next time.

mhirby in France

sommelier on a budget in Beaune

I highly recommend Ma Cuisine in the vieille ville. They have a 3 course menu which is very affordable. I can't recall the exact price off-hand, but it is somewhere around 30E I think. The wine list is incredible with many gems.

mhirby in France

Colmar Restaurants

I agree, Auberge de L'ille is a good experience. My wife and I ate there in 2004, and while we thought it was not on par with La Cote d'Or in Saulieu, anotyher michelin 3 star, it was very good. I especially remember the squab stuffed with foie gras and black truffles which tasted like refined wilderness on a plate. Very intense, gamy and rich. Expect to shell out a lot of money though.

mhirby in France