Cap Maison in st Lucia is one of a growing number of hotels adding gastronomic experiences to the Caribbean cocktail of sun and sea, says Judith Baker.
Thanks to its terrain and climate the lovely eastern Caribbean island of St Lucia is blessed with bounty as well as beauty, and is fast becoming a gastronomic must go-to. Hotels such as Cap Maison in the north of the island, an area which has the best beaches and some of the best hotels and villas, are enticing visitors with a mix of fine dining, wines and rums and elegant relaxed glamour.
And they are finding out about the food as well as eating it. I met Cap Maison’s Executive chef Craig Jones earlier this year at Drake’s Brighton where he was taking part in their ‘chef exchange’. Back on his home turf, Craig takes hotel guests on tours of the market in the capital Castries (it has been voted one of the top three food markets in the world) as well as foraging excursions and visits to the organic farms which supply the hotel with fresh produce.
At the market Craig points out unusual fruits and vegetables such as yams, soursop, apple mangoes and strange looking herbs and spices in glass bottles. The sights and sounds are mesmerising, and back at the hotel some of the foods bought here make an appearance at The Cliff at Cap, the award-winning restaurant overlooking the sea. Craig’s repertoire includes delicious butter poached Caribbean lobster with mascarpone enriched gnocchi.
Guests can dine in the hotel’s Rock Maison, a private dining area set over the rocks where champagne can be delivered in a basket via a zip-line (should that be a sip-line?) with the waves crashing on every side. Manager Ross Stevenson tells me that there have been no less than 29 proposals at this spot, and not one engagement ring has gone overboard. The hotel’s other restaurant The Naked Fisherman Beach Bar & Grill is a toes in the sand casual dining and beach bar with great cocktails.
To work off some of the food the hotel has a well-equipped gym, but I prefer a brisk walk round the cliff point on the North east Atlantic side, and down to charming little beaches – Donkey Beach and Secret Beach where there is no one in sight but a few tiny lizards and the sea birds. Back at Cap Maison my drink of the day is a delicious watermelon cocktail made with the freshest ingredients and best enjoyed watching the sun go down over the horizon.
A garden view room at Cap Maison starts from £275 per night on a B&B basis (two sharing). www.capmaison.com; 020 8977 6099British Airways and Virgin Atlantic both fly to St Lucia from London Gatwick