Another great St. John restaurant has died. Blame a terrible location, not the chef.
Walter Hinds has closed his business after vtwo years in the old Tage space, (Tage died, too!) across the street from the Sprauve School and Winston Wells ball field. Hinds previously was head chef at another fine dining restaurant in Cruz Bay, the Stone Terrace – also closed.
For many people, Hinds' unquestioned skill in the kitchen could not overcome the noise from tricked out, black-windowed, boom-boxed SUVs which cruised past Hinds' open porch during the dinner hours.
No word on what Hinds will do next (private catering, villa dinners, etc.?) but Pia, a local, posted on TripAdvisor that a New York City operation plans to open a branch in the space.
The new restaurant is called Fatty Crab, which in its two Manhattan locations, specializes in a tasty Malaysian menu featuring fresh ramen, duck leg confit, duck jus, chili sauce, and cincalok.
- Fatty Crab's Facebook page is here
- Rave reviews for the late Hinds Restaurant here
I thought the Stone Terrace was a great place to eat…
So sad that St John’s is fast losing its quiet nature and relaxing pace. The St John’s of the 80s and 90s has been replaced by ugly construction and crowding of Cruz Bay and noise pollution.
Forget all the chef challenges,bravo,and food network wonk, that is such a small part of operating a restaurant. St.John is a notoriously difficult place to operate a restaurant. Overcoming the fixed costs, utilities, and food costs along with sesonal customer base and weather uncertainty reak havoc with planning and margins. Location hurt Hinds, Tage had chef owner disputes, John’s Zo Zo’s knew he had to get a better spot to survive, and Olive ‘r Twist had to resort to only being a bar. Is that location cursed?
The Fatty Crab is still trying to get established in Manhattan. Right now they’re driving around N.Y.C. In a huge food trailer, all set up with a steam table and until November 19th they are giving away FREE to anyone who wants to try the Thai cuisine, a plate consisting of rice, chicken wings, and I think, pea pods. There was a story about them on the news last nite.
Ftty Crab is good. I eat there in New York. St. John will like.
Amen to that! Haven’t returned in a years due to all the cahnge that is going on there – want to keep my great memories of the quiet island I love!
Ann,
I liked where you live before you were there much better than now too!
Yes, I was trying to remember the name Olive’or Twist… That place used to rock on the weekends. People would dance inside and out, so it did not matter if cars were going up and down the street. Woody’s has no problem with being on the street. =)
That place was great when it was a
grocery store!!!
Kaya