The Peter Island Resort & Spa Caribbean Food Festival will make its debut the weekend of November 11-12, 2016 in celebration of the British Virgin Islands’ “BVI Food Fete.”

The resort will host top chefs and mixologists for a weekend of food and culinary competitions to raise funds to support the further education of the BVI’s culinary professionals.

The Festival’s lineup of celebrity chefs includes: Chef/Owner Nina Compton of Compère Lapin in New Orleans; Chef Ron Duprat from Haiti; Chef/Owner Alex Ewald of La Tapa on St. John, USVI; Mixologist Abigail Gullo of Compère Lapin in New Orleans; Peter Island Resort’s Executive Chef Todd Howard; Chef Joseph “JJ” Johnson from Cecil’s and Minton’s in Harlem; Chef Lisa Sellers of Carlyle Bay in Antigua; and Chef/Owner Roberto Trevino of Budatai and La Pizza La Pasta in Puerto Rico.

“We are very excited to debut Peter Island’s annual Caribbean Food Festival,” said General Manager, Scott Hart.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for local chefs to enhance and expand their skills and talents with an incredibly accomplished group of top chefs from all over the Caribbean, New York and New Orleans,” Hart said. “With proceeds going to the Peter Island Culinary Scholarship Fund, we’ll be supporting the further education of the BVI’s culinary professionals. It’s going to be a great weekend, for a terrific cause and will undoubtedly become a much-anticipated annual event for guests, foodies and BVIslanders year after year.”

Guests will attend events such as the Taste of the BVI Dinner Competition, Chefs’ Beach Relay Race, Chefs’ Cocktail Challenge and a Caribbean Tasting Menu & After Party.

The resort is also offering a Caribbean Food Festival Getaway Package, which will include all-access passes, three-night suite accommodations and a BVI Foodie Welcome Kit.

Guests can also choose the BVI Food Fete Celebrations Rum Package, which includes 20 percent off an Ocean View Room or Ocean View Deluxe Room for two people for five nights, a welcome bottle of rum and mixers, full breakfast buffet daily for two, and private rum appreciation and cocktail classes with expert mixologists.

The post Peter Island Is Launching a Caribbean Food Festival appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

The government of Jamaica is planning to spend just over $7.8 million to develop the old Hampden wharf in Falmouth, Trelawny into an artisan village.

The village will feature 300 shops where crafts and other indigenous products will be produced and sold.

When completed, the artisan village is expected to complement the adjoining Falmouth pier, repositioning it as the Caribbean’s premier cruises ship port of call.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett said that this and other earmarked will significantly transform Falmouth by encouraging “buy in” among stakeholders.

“The important thing for us is that we want Jamaican goods to be showcased and merchandised at this artisan village so that the people of Falmouth will have a chance to be a part of the process,” Bartlett said.

Visitors will be able to see the creation and merchandising of craft items, while enjoying traditional Jamaican entertainment and interacting with artists.

So far, the Government has spent almost $1.5 million to renovate several of Falmouth’s iconic landmarks, including St. Peter’s Anglican Church, the Falmouth Post Office and Courthouse and Water Square.

— Dana Niland, CJ Contributor

The post Jamaica Plans New Artisan Village in Famouth appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

The post A $4.9 Million Home in Anguilla appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization Taleb Rifai will make his first ever appearance at a Caribbean Tourism Organization event when he presents at the State of the Tourism Industry Conference next month.

Rifai will be joined by the President of the World Travel and Tourism Council David Scowsill and CTO Secretary General Hugh Riley on a panel to discuss how to pilot an industry that is subject to a constant state of change.

“The commitment of the UNWTO and the WTTC to participate in this conference fulfills our mandate to make leaders of the global industry accessible to our members, to share information with us and exchange ideas on how to resolve issues and challenges and how to take advantage of opportunities in tourism globally,” said Riley.

During the session, entitled “No Place For The Status Quo,” the tourism leaders will delve into issues such as shifting demographics and how to continuously align the product to consumers’ tastes.

“There is really no status quo in the tourism sector,” said Riley. “Things are constantly changing; it’s a dynamic industry, it’s vulnerable to external shocks but it always recovers. When we look at issues that affect public health, security, terrorism, economic shocks, all of these things affect and the sustainability of the tourism.”

The session takes place from 9:45 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Friday, September 16, immediately following the feature address by Craig Landry, the president of Air Canada Leisure Group.

The State of the Tourism Industry Conference – themed “Honoring Our Legacy, Defining Our Future” – brings together tourism decision-makers, including ministers, commissioners and directors of tourism, hotel and airline executives, students, the media and other persons.

A number of other presenters have been confirmed for SOTIC, which will explore subjects ranging from how to transition the product and multicultural and emerging markets to creating a luxury experience and sharing the economy.

This year’s conference at the Hilton Barbados Resort is organized in collaboration with Barbados’ Ministry of Tourism and International Transport and the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc.

The post Why Taleb Rifai Is Coming to Barbados appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

GRAND CUL DE SAC — It’s early.

Not morning, but not quite lunchtime.

On a hot summer day in the French Caribbean, that means only one thing: a Ti’ Punch.

The world’s greatest (and simplest) cocktail: Rhum agricole blanc, a quarter lime (or sometimes more), cane sugar. Sweet enough for this time of day, powerful enough to get the day going right.

Because this is how one starts the day, even when the day has already started.

The site? O Corail, a great little Caribbean beach bar on Grand Cul de Sac, a few steps away from the tony Le Sereno hotel.

This is an archetypical Caribbean beach bar that’s also the height of French Caribbean cool: no pretentiousness, just divers and snorkelers and those in search of ti’ punches, just a soft patch of sand and calm waves.

Le Sereno, just a few steps away.

And it’s never too early for that.

The post Rum Journal: In St Barth, the Right Beach Bar at the Right Time appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico