The celebrated Dinner on the Beach series at Skylark Beach Resort, hosted by the Rockhouse Foundation, welcomed its first local talent last Saturday when it featured the Rousseau sisters, for a night that blended exceptional cuisine with a powerful cause.

A Three-Course Tribute to the Caribbean

The main courses began with the Garden and Farm course: A celebration of freshness and complexity featuring a local burrata, tomatoes prepared three ways with chilli crisp, whipped chèvre, burnt thyme, mango compote, charred scallion, and vibrant herbs and greens from the Rockhouse Garden — splashed by a shallot vinaigrette.

The second course, Fire and Bush, brought the heat — and the soul. Diners were treated to banana leaf-steamed shrimp with grape tomatoes, fever grass, and a punchy Scotch bonnet sambal, nestled beside cassava polenta enriched with coconut and parmesan. The pimento-crusted beef tenderloin was the other side of this double-entrée course, accompanied by ember-roasted onion, oyster mushrooms, ginger, scallion oil, roast breadfruit, and a Scotch bonnet honey glaze that balanced fire with finesse.

Finally, the Finisher: A silky ginger lychee trifle, layered with ortanique citrus and kissed with Jamaican rum — a light, fragrant close to a wonderful evening that started with passed canapes and cocktails.

Wine, Waves, and a Worthy Cause

Diners also enjoyed pairings with thoughtfully selected wines from Caribbean Producers Jamaica (CPJ): The elegant Fleurs de Prairie Rosé, the mineral-bright De Ladoucette Pouilly Fumé Sauvignon Blanc, and the velvety Antinori Il Bruciato red blend. The pairings enhanced the Rousseau sisters’ creations while grounding the experience in global-meets-island sophistication.

But the evening’s real pairing was cuisine and community. The dinner is a fund-raiser for the Rockhouse Foundation’s flagship initiative, the Savanna-la-Mar Inclusive Academy — established in 2017 as Jamaica’s first public institution serving children with and without disabilities side by side in a full inclusion setting and built from the ground up by the Rockhouse Foundation.

“What we really wanted to showcase were ingredients from local purveyors, to use the products from the Rockhouse farm and we did a menu that was appropriate for the season. That would showcase our homestyle cooking approach that’s big on flavours, vegetable-forward, herb-driven and Mediterranean in style,” Suzanne Rousseau explained.

“We looked at the Jamaican terroir and used great quality products from small, local producers that usually don’t get the opportunity to be showcased in a hotel. These included delicious mushrooms, local goat cheese, stracciatella and the beef tenderloin. We focused a lot on re-presenting some of our own provisions in different ways,” sister Michelle added.

The Rousseau sisters have been credited with redefining Caribbean hospitality. Through pioneering restaurants, beloved television series, and award-winning cookbooks — including Caribbean Potluck (an NPR Best Book) and Provisions: The Roots of Caribbean Cooking (acclaimed by The New Yorker, San Francisco Chronicle, Epicurious, and Serious Eats) — cementing their place as stewards of Caribbean culinary heritage.

Oven-roasted ripe plantain and roast breadfruit (Photo: Aceion Cunningham)