Anguillan adventure

A little over a month ago, we were in Anguilla – as I sit here in Chicago looking out at the blowing snow, it certainly seems like longer than that!

Now, generally speaking, you don’t go to the Caribbean for the food.  But Anguilla surprised me with its restaurants – great meals, excellent wine, and of course, beautiful views.

There were several restaurants at the other end of Meads Bay beach from our hotel, which seemed so convenient – less than a mile away?  No need for a taxi or rental car, or even to walk on the road.  Somehow, though, every trip ended up as a comic misadventure.  The first night, we discovered that it’s kind of creepy to walk on a deserted beach in the absolute pitch dark, especially when you don’t know where you’re going!  The second night, we were caught in a sudden downpour – and discovered that it’s far worse to be soaking wet in the pitch dark.  Having learned our lesson about walking at night, a few days later we went for lunch and I discovered that it’s not a good idea to walk almost a mile on sand in the blazing sun after drinking a bottle of wine.

Fortunately, all of the restaurants were great:

The first, Straw Hat, is at a nearby resort.  During my pre-trip research, I’d noticed that they serve a well-regarded goat curry, so of course that’s what I had.  It was incredibly tender and just spicy enough, perfect with an inexpensive Côtes de Provence rosé.

The next Meads Bay restaurant we tried, Jacala, became my favorite, because of the food (of course) but also the fabulous ambiance and Jacques, the charming and très français host.  He took it in stride when we showed up drenched and covered in sand, only to discover that the hotel hadn’t made our dinner reservation as promised.  I had the grilled crayfish and an absolutely fabulous pot au chocolat, but my favorite part was the wine – a red Sancerre (Henri Bourgeous Les Baronnes, 2006).  I’m always drawn to unusual wines, and red Sancerre was new to me (and wonderful, icy cold with flavors of minerality and fruit). Jacques was excited to talk with us about the wine since he grew up in that region of France, and I think by now he had forgiven us for our ignominious entrance.  We returned a few days later for lunch, when I had the steak tartare prepared tableside by Jacques, and a second bottle of that wine.

An advantage of lunch?  The view in daylight!

Having learned our lesson about attempting to walk along the beach, when we went to Blanchard’s for dinner, we went by car.  Blanchard’s seems to be the grande dame of Anguilla fine dining, and it was good but perhaps a bit staid.  The most memorable part of dinner was the wine, a 2005 Chalone pinot noir (seemed funny to be drinking CA wine way out there).  Yum.

A week or two after we left, celebrity types descended on Anguilla – Michael Jordan, Liam Neeson, Derek Jeter, etc.  Apparently they’re all fans of a restaurant called Trattoria Tramonto, on the south side of the island facing St Martin/St Maarten.  When we were there, it was pretty empty – but the photos on the wall featured Bill Clinton and Paris Hilton (not together – sorry Bill!).  I still dream about the pumpkin souffle with parmesan sauce…  Though I did discover that it’s not a good idea to eat such rich food before snorkeling.

On our second-to-last last night, we went to Veya for dinner – the first restaurant we went to that wasn’t on the beach, so I figured that meant the food was going to be the main draw.  We had the tasting menu and it was by far the best meal of our stay – dishes sophisticated enough to be found in Chicago or California.  The coconut lime sorbet, part of our dessert tasting, was especially great.

I had been too full to eat my five spiced pork tenderloin, so I had it wrapped up (into a cute swan made of foil) – and when we departed, we had a delicious little snack to eat on the way to the airport!