St. Croix Food and Wine Experience
by Toni Gatti
St. Croix Food and Wine Experience was voted last year as one of the Top 10 Best International Food and Wine Events by Forbes Travel magazine. This year's "feastivities" are going to be bigger and better than ever! This year's theme is "Honoring Women." So in celebration, this year we will be joined by these fantastic women of the industry: Danielle Kyrillos of Bravo Channel's Top Chef Just Dessert, accomplished chefs Anita Lo, Ana Sortun , Tiffany Derry and Liza Shaw, and winemakers Michela Moretti of Villa Cervia Com, Jennifer Halleck of Halleck Vineyards and Lindy Novak of Spottswoode. Below is a convenient breakdown of the week's events.
The Experience begins on Sunday, April 10th with Cuisine on the Green, a day of golf at Carambola where you are treated at each hole with bite-sized pairings of food and wine.
Tuesday, April 12 will feature the Tutto Bene Gourmet Vintner Dinner . Here visiting chef, Tiffany Derry of Top Chef All-Stars fame will pair a multitude of courses with the wonderful wines of Rudy von Strasser of Von Strasser Winery in Calistoga, Ca. This winery was named winery of the year from 2002 to 2009 by Wine and Spirits magazine. There will also be a food and wine themed auction.
Wednesday, April 13 offers a host of gastro options like the Food and Wine Educational Symposiums ; these are a variety of educational classes given by our visiting experts. There will also be an Organic Farm Seminar and Lunch at VISFI, VISFI is the only organically certified farm in the Virgin Islands. Not to be missed is the Food Fight! On the Beach--a friendly chef competition at eat@canebay on the Northshore. Dannielle Kyrillos will host a competition between our visiting (and a local) female and male chefs, respectively that not only pits traditional kitchen skills against each other but there is always a local twist that throws the visitors off. Some of the most fun to be had all week! And if this wasn't enough to do on Wednesday, there will be several wine dinners to choose from among our local restaurants and visiting vintners.
Thursday, April 14 brings us A Taste of St. Croix at the Divi Carina Bay Resort. The hottest ticket in town is a ticket to this extravaganza of local cuisine and global wine. Here you can sample food from over 50 local restaurants and sip on dozens of terrific wines poured by the people who make them, import them and distribute them; and stay for the Taste After Party Sponsored by Moet and Hennessey .
Friday, April 15 is another jam-packed day and features three Cork and Fork Dinners. Here each of our three visiting celebrity chefs will pair up with wines presented by the vintners themselves at one of three spectacular private homes on St. Croix. The chefs and vintners go to extra lengths to wow their audiences at these very private affairs. Also on Friday night is a City Krawl Tour. Consider this a gastro restaurant-hopping tour of nearby establishments in Christiansted. And if that wasn't enough, come to Fort Frederik for a Sunset BBQ. Chefs Kevin Rathbun, Roberto Trevino and Michael Ferraro will prepare a feast with all the trimmins as the sounds of Sunset Jazz fill the air.
Saturday, April 16 begins with a cool opportunity for our very youthful aspiring chefs. Kids Cooking Classes will be offered for a limited number of kids between the 1st and 6th grades by our visiting female chefs. And last but not least on Saturday night is the Wine in the Warehouse. A festive evening of live music, appetizers and wines held in the wonderfully-chilly warehouse of Leeward Islands Management.
This year the St. Croix Food and Wine Experience will offer a dizzying array of events of all shapes and sizes while helping to raise money for the good works of the St. Croix Foundation. For more information on the St. Croix Food and Wine Experience, go to www.stcroixfoodandwine.com
