Bars and Restaurants

Jerome’s Hot Sauce grabbed the gold ring in the St. John Sun Times’ first Sauce-Off among seven local products.  Using a black bean quesadilla as the heart of the test, staffers judged the contestants on the characteristics of heat, complexity, flavor and versatility.

Reading the newspaper’s report of its competition, it seems that heat may have been a big factor. Of Jerome's, it said “This is the only sauce that made us regret our spoonful … tear-jerking sinus-clearing spiciness,” the judges found.

Runner-up Trinidad Charlie’s Pumpkin Sauce “tantalizes the taste buds” with a pumpkin curry melange, the paper found.  Third place went to Miss Anna’s Garlic Habanero sauce which was described as having “hot/sweet flavors of garlic and peppers.”

It’s a safe bet that all the winners, plus the four other sauces in competition, Blind Betty's, Fish Trap Hot sauce, Cheryl’s Caribbean Sunburn, and Pirate’s Gold (”the perfect hot sauce for people who don’t like hot sauce”) can be found on sale at the island’s supermarkets and St. John Spice.

The New York Times’ Winter in the Sun issue offers 39 reasons to go to the Caribbean this year. St. John’s new Waterfront Bistro is one of them.

“This French-Caribbean hybrid offers items like poached Caribbean lobster tail with tomato-fennel broth, roasted sweet corn, leeks, crispy garlic and creamy white corn polenta,” says The Times.

Waterfront Bistro is located, beachside, in Wharfside Village.  It is in the space that formerly housed Panini Beach.

The Web site is http://www.thewaterfrontbistro.com/

Read the Times story at http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/travel/09carib.html?pagewanted=2&ref=travel

StJohnJulie gives the new Cafe Roma thumbs up.

It was showtime for the new owner of Cafe Roma. 

The opening last Friday night night followed several months of cleaning, polishing and refurbishing to the second-floor space above Joe's Diner in Cruz Bay.  The new owners, John and Michelle Hiebert, moved to St. John from Vermont in July. 

Hiebert has years of experience in the restaurant business, both as a chef and manager.  He intends to maintain the menu that's been so popular at the landmark for almost 25 years.  "The restaurant isn't broken," Hiebert said, "so it doesn't need any fixin'."

He'll be open 5 to 10 p.m., closed Sundays.  But when winter season arrives, he'll be at it seven days a week.

One thing that is new is the restaurant's web site.  It greets you with a ballad by Dean Martin.  The address is http://stjohn-caferoma.com/9caferoma1.htm.

A former bartender at the Stone Terrace has returned to the island's foodie business, taking one small step to what could become another St. John restaurant.

Allen Lancaster's Gastrogrub is an unpredictable, imaginative dining experience at the Inn at Tamarind Court.  The Inn is known for its value priced rooms, but also its dining patio which features a different specialty food menu each night of the week, prepared often by locals who like to cook.

An anonymous reviewer at the St. John Sun Times praised Gastrogrub's "sinfully rich" Swedish meatballs and pork braised in St. John Brewers' Tropical Mango Pale Ale.  But, added the paper, "The blue ribbon goes to the Gangsta Mac n cheez – you simply cannot go wrong with seven different kinds of cheese."

Gastrogrub is 'open' Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The menu: http://www.gastrogrub.com/menu

The Washington Post published a travel piece Sunday about the islands last weekend that focused as much on the denizens of the bar at Skinny Legs as the island's beaches and Park. 

Reporter Andrea Sachs wrote, "It's easy to feel the love, or at least the like … in Coral Bay, the wacky sister of Cruz Bay." 

She was two sips into a beer at Skinny's when she began talking with Carl and Lisa, Chris and two others.  By the end of the evening, Lisa had given her earrings, Phillip went into the kitchen to make her a salad, and a sailor named Vince invited her to join a regatta team.  "St John love all around," she said.

Read the Post article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/24/AR2008102402975.html?nav=emailpage

Hinds Restaurant, now occupying the former tage space, across from Sprauve School, has made some changes. For the better.

A reader says, "We ate at Hinds last week. Awesome food and service. He lowered his prices and he now takes credit cards, MC and VISA."

WOW!  Lower prices.  Nice to hear about that.  Here's an earlier report: http://barnako.typepad.com/news_of_st_john_usvi/2008/09/new-restaurant.html

Long ago, and far away, there was a bar on St. John called the Back Yard.  It was an iconic, laid-back locals’ place, where all the builders and carpenters, and painters would hang out after a hard day’s work, or ‘night’ as  befits the island’s reputation. 

It was dark and not too many tourists felt comparable in its dodgy environs, the building hidden behind gift shops and accessible by a narrow walkway.  But the place rocked, and was I think the soul of St. John’s development through the ’80s.

Well, one thing led to another, and the place closed.  recently, Duffy’s from St. Thomas tried to make a go of the place, then they closed.  And the space has been for sale for some time; not the building, but a "long term leasehold interest"  That means you don’t own the building, but you can rent it.

Finally, there’s a ‘contract pending’ on the Multiple Listing Service.  Will it return to its days of glory as a locals place serving Greenies for a couple of bucks, or will it go upscale with many other places?  or will it even be a bar/restaurant?  Stay tuned.