Welcome to year 15 of the Table Talk Food Awards. Indeed we’ve all been super busy keeping you abreast of the latest happenings on the culinary landscape, but here’s where our readers have the most fun, I gather: counting the calories consumed by our judges! Well, we hit the road last week Wednesday – two days after Easter Monday – ruing those extra slices of bun and cheese we devoured over the long weekend, but eager to dine at the table of one of The Rock’s culinary legends Stefan Spath, Corporate Executive Chef at Couples Resorts. The German-born chef, who honed his culinary prowess in the kitchens of Europe, Asia and Africa before coming to Jamaica, welcomed us along with his team to Tumbleweed, his St Ann pied-à-terre, where our palates were tantalised from the moment we arrived and elegant waiters passed plantain tostones with red herring coconut rundown dip to the cups of brewed lemon grass tea served with bitter chocolate pistachio biscotti that brought the evening to an erotic close.

Spath’s home is a glossary of his life, his passions, and the reason his food is always so exquisitely structured. Along with General Manager Couples Tower Isle Leonard Henry, and Alex Ghisays, director PR for Couples Resorts in Jamaica, Spath greets us warmly while an elite cadre of the hotel’s food and beverage staff serve flutes of perfectly chilled Santa Margherita Prosecco from the house of the world’s #1-selling Pinot Grigio and courtesy of Select Brands, and pass hors d’oeuvres of plantain tostones with red herring coconut rundown dip, grilled jerk sausages with mango rum chutney and crumbled basil feta and crunchy vegetable summer rolls with sweet chilli sauce.

Spath’s art collection – he’s a self-taught artist, his interior complete with a classic white leather ‘Tiplady Knole Sofa’ designed by George Smith, plus the light, ‘freshness’ of the crunchy vegetable summer rolls – became the immediate topic of conversation. It would be an hour before we were able to make our way across the manicured lawns and lush gardens of Tumbleweed to the cut- stone deck that surrounds the oval-shaped lagoon-style pool with water cascading from the infinity edge Jacuzzi into the pool below, where an elegant table had been set for dinner. Would dinner pass muster in a setting as idyllic as this, or would the location position the food into a comfortable setting? Eschew all such notions.

The appetiser – A taste of Caribbean Seafood styled in elegant containers and perfectly portioned comprised: pimento-smoked marlin ceviche with grapefruit, orange and shaved red onions; chilli shrimp cocktail with honey-grilled pineapple and roasted artichoke and smoked marlin dip with sweet potato chips. Debra Taylor of Select paired the Chilean, Lapostolle Cuvée Alexandre Chardonnay, 2011. The wine’s elegant aromas of sweet flowers and fresh tropical fruit, along with its elegant mouth feel, lively acidity and long finish, complemented the marlin, shrimp and roasted artichoke.

A welcome and absolutely delicious surprise for many was the pumpkin and caramelised plantain cappuccino – frothy mouthfuls of delight with the unexpected crunches of pumpkin seeds, bacon bits, pops of salt and sour cream. The soup, which was served in a calabash with a sprig of thyme on the side, and set on its own wooden tray, elevated it to the level of extraordinary.

Baskets of home-made cornbread smothered with butter elicited more sounds of approval. There was little doubt that this would be one of those memorable dinner parties.

The palate cleanser of local apple, Champagne and tarragon refreshed, thankfully without that all too commonplace sugary residue.

The symphony continued with the entrée – Deconstructed Beef Fillet Wellington with ackee mushroom duxelles, wild thyme cabernet glaze, a warm salad of fried breadfruit, leeks and grilled peppers with a rolled stick of puff pastry. With this plate of comfort was paired the Chilean Lapostolle Cuvée Alexandre Cabernet Sauvignon, 2011, whose dense nose of tobacco and coffee aromas and red fruit aromas influenced the elegant balance. Both (the wine and beef fillet) left us warm and fuzzy, as good comfort fare should, with neither competing for our attention.

Room for dessert? Indeed there was… lots!

Pot de crème of mango lemon grass and Blue Mountain Coffee

Bitter Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti

Pots of lemon grass tea and martini glasses of handmade chocolate chunks brought our romantic symphony to a formidable close.

Bestirring ourselves to travel back to Kingston was a challenge, and we’re putting it mildly.

– NMW