Launched! The Trinidad and Tobago Table Talk Awards
When La Dame Novia McDonald-Whyte asked me to be part of the team to go to Port of Spain to help launch the Trinidad and Tobago Table Talk Food Awards, I rolled my eyes. Who goes to Port of Spain for food? I asked incredulously. Portofino, yes! But Port of Spain, really? Well, blow me over with a feather! I soon discovered that Trinidad is the Caribbean’s upcoming culinary mecca.
To be honest, I have not travelled that much in the Caribbean. It is terribly expensive to get around, and I have always felt that it would probably be just ‘more of the same’. Even when my die-hard Carnival-loving cousins and sister have asked if I had any interest in going to Carnival, my response has always been to say, “Yes in Venice, not Trinidad.” Well, was I wrong! Trinidad should be on all our bucket lists.
On Herself’s recommendation, I booked a room for five nights at the Hyatt, which is now Trip Advisor’s leading hotel in Trinidad, and braced for that exhausting two-stop (Saint Maarten and Barbados) milk-run flight to our esteemed neighbours down south. Any chance we can get more frequent direct flights between our two countries?
The Hyatt is on the recently completed International Waterfront Centre (Kingston Harbour aspirants, take note!), which is the first part of a walkway build-out on one of their main harbours. The hotel is unlike anything we have in our dear ‘Kingsdown’ — large, spacious, luxury layout, several restaurants, and vibesy bar. It has made a huge imprint on the local social scene as the place to see and be seen at breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks or late-night snacks.
Exhausted but exhilarated, I joined fellow Jamaican judges Table Talk Conceptualiser NMW, wine aficionado Chris Reckord, lifestyle mogul Patrick Smith and Table Talk reps on the ground, Rhys Campbell and Gracia Whyte, the gentler offspring of Herself. We hit the town. Seventeen restaurants and watering holes later, and we had all come to appreciate the breadth and depth of Trinidad’s emerging culinary landscape (all save Herself, of course… she already knew). Someone, please tell the cardiologist that I gained 30 pounds for a good cause!
There was the Breakfast Shed next to the Hyatt, which was a great place to start, with its creole offerings of a stewed callaloo and salted cassava. Legendary street food of Doubles, which is fried flatbread with curry chickpea, and more recently, Choubles, which is fried flatbread with Chinese fillings.
Dinner at Prime, a uniquely circular restaurant with an over-the-top wine list and an even more over-the-top display, had me dreaming for several days about a 10-ounce rib-eye (done rare, of course) and truffle oil mac and cheese. Hello!
The stars of the luxe Aioli (not yet opened, but Herself got us early access) were the desserts. They were delectable, mouth-watering sweets that one expects only in Paris. The handsome and charming chef John Aboud is only 29 years old, but is showing the kind of promise one expects of a much older veteran. How has he managed this? He has been willing to sit humbly at the feet of the European Michelin masters and is only now bringing his already well-developed culinary prowess home. Aioli is his first endeavour and from where we sit, it looks as if he is off to a smashing start.
In general I found that the pastries in Trinidad were first-rate, with the right kind of flakiness and flavour. Dessert at Adams, including baklava and key lime pie, had me smiling. A hearty lentil soup and a palmier (butterfly pastry) were my late brunch at Pêche Pâtisserie with the really delightful Chef Khalil Ali. He has a heart-warming story about starting his business above his sceptical parents’ garage. Now Pêche is universally acknowledged as one of the best places for breakfast in Port of Spain. His corporate lawyer dad comes often for lunch and bears witness to his son’s success.
There were some disappointments — like the Chinese restaurant Hakka which, while one of the more beautiful restaurants in Port of Spain, really delivered very disappointing food: they seem to use the same spices on everything, so offerings as different as shrimp, pork, and chicken all tasted the same.
There were sushi and margaritas at the Hyatt. There was the ever-expanding empire of Chaud, Chaud Café and Chaud Creole built out for every culinary desire. Chaud me more! We are all eagerly awaiting news of a Chaud Kingston. And dinner at Buzo was, in a word: magnificent! Chef/Patron Cristian Grini is a culinary whiz.
Apsara for rich and complex flavours of Indian cuisine is the best I have had outside of Kerala and Rajasthan. And then there is the eclectic and beautiful part-retail, part-Tea House of Jaipur, with savoury samosas and sweets.
The cholesterol-inducing, but oh-so-divine fried shrimp and tuna offered waterside at Wheel House Pub, which socialite and stylist Anthony Reid introduced me to, will live long in my memory.
My last evening in Port of Spain was spent on a pub crawl with the on-the-ground judges, Gracia Whyte and Rhys Campbell. Our watering hole stops included Chaud Café, Drink Wine Bar, Paprika and the balcony of Nuvo Sera . The smooth Green Tea Martinis at Paprika is my new favourite drink.
For a population of only 1.6 million people, the sheer number and variety of dining and drinking options is really staggering. Trinidad should be extraordinarily proud of what they have managed to build. As we say in our neck of the woods, “Big up! Big up!”
And of course, if you are in Trinidad, there are the mandatory stops at celebrated local fashion designers Meiling and Claudia Pegus for the ladies back home.
Our Table Talk Food Awards is now in its 15th year. Our Oscar night is on May 30th on the East Lawn at Devon House. It is incredible to see how far we have come. Starting with a handful of invited guests, we now have over 60 exhibitors and all of Kingston’s stylish set coming out to taste, see and applaud what we have to offer. We have already honoured a number of Trinidadian masters including restaurateur Peter George of Prime and executive chefs Khalid Mohammed and Debra Sardinha. The Table Talk Food Awards by acknowledging the best, also ups everyone’s game as the players vying for the prizes end up improving the local industry. It was time to expand the concept and the brand. With all of what has been happening in the Trinidad and Tobago culinarium, this seemed like the next obvious place.
On Tuesday April 23rd, we officially launched the Trinidad and Tobago Table Talk Food Awards. A panel of local foodies have been selected and introduced as judges. They will explore, taste and assess the offerings around the country for the next few weeks along 14 categories, including Best Service, Best Value, Best Décor and Best Restaurant.
Putting aside issues of rivalry, the Trini glitterati came out in droves to the intimate gathering of the style elite, which was hosted by Peter George and Cristian Grini of Buzo. In attendance were Miss Universe glamour gal Wendy Fitzwilliam, Peter Elias, Meiling Esau, to sprinkle a few names. Peter Elias, Peter George and Wendy Fitzwilliam generously welcomed the Jamaican team and endorsed our effort to jump-start the food festivities in Trinidad and Tobago. This is clearly a bi-national team effort. Our Trini sponsors are Scotiabank, Digicel and Caribbean Airlines.
Who will unite Caribbean flavours and sensibilities under a single high-end dining experience? Who will pull the richness and diversity of our delicious street foods, and style it for bone china? We would love to see the Caribbean equivalent of the Peruvian fine dining chain Astrid y Gaston that takes its place among the 50 best culinary houses in the world and is seen across South America.
The issue is not Jamaica vs Trinidad vs Grenada, which misses the point entirely. Europeans and Americans should be touring the Caribbean for the summer, the way we tour Europe. As of this date, we are seen merely as a week-in, week-out destination, not a lifestyle mecca. Only by working together can we change this perception.
McDonald-Whyte’s ambition is to build out a global Caribbean lifestyle brand based on how we already live but rarely celebrate. With mostly good weather all-year-round, we are the perfect locale for indoor/outdoor dining. Whites and bright colours should be our styling. We don’t have to arrive, we are already here. With our easy all-year access to fresh ingredients, we are the original farm-to-table without that name. Our palates range from fine dining to exceptional street food. We are at the culture of at-home entertaining, impromptu meet-ups and liming, street fetes and festivals, carefree laughing and dancing. The Caribbean is all about easy living.
It would be a cross-cultural step forward if we began to treat the Caribbean the way the Greeks treat their Isles. Athenians routinely ferry out for weekends in Santorini and Mykonos. Maybe one day Kingstonians will spontaneously jet off for Port of Spain. Maybe Trinis will fly in to hole up at Royal Plantation, Round Hill, Sandy Haven or The Spa Retreat in Negril. Let’s build for a time when we don’t consider Miami the only appropriate weekend option for the well-heeled and nearly well-heeled. Broaden our palate to our own. How about starting this June?
June 9-16, 2013 will be a great week to be in Trinidad. Meiling’s Fashion Show is slated for Tuesday, June 11. There will be a Table Talk Restaurant and Watering Hole Crawl lasting the whole week, where dozens of eating and drinking establishments will open their doors with special menus and attractive prices, so gastronomical sampling across Trinidad and Tobago will be the new sport. It will be a chance to eat and drink yourself silly and see in person what’s happening on the T&T landscape. The final invitation-only ceremony for the Trinidad and Tobago Table Talk Food Awards will be on Saturday, June 15th.
The time has come for us to discover and celebrate each other. Our leaders have failed to unite us and build bridges across the isles. Let the celebration of food and style bring us together! Vive La Caraïbe! One love! One vibe!