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More about Paradiso, etc.

Suspend

Still no comment from the folks who own/manage the Balcony, Paradiso, Asolare and Chloe’s. 

First word the eateries were “in trouble” cropped up a week ago, courtesy of Anthony Finta’s Virgin-Islands-On-Line posting.  An e-mail to the company brought no immediate response, nor anything since then.

However, the Inquiring Iguana's publishing the story this week has brought more information.

  • One commenter alleged some employees of the restaurants are owed “thousands” of dollars in back pay and have been afraid to stop working for fear they’d never see a penny.
  • Another reader found that the company’s Web site, stjohn-restaurants.com, is now off line.  The site is apparently maintained by Andy Clausen at Savant Media Group in Coral Bay.

The Cleveland Clinic will see you now

The Cleveland Clinic has come to St. John, via telemedicine and generous financial contributions from the island’s Donald Sussman and St. John Rotary.

A ‘virtual office” at the Myrah Keating Smith Community Health Center is being outfitted to provide opportunities for specialists at the famed Cleveland Clinic to examine and diagnose St. John patients.  The Virgin Islands Daily News, reporting the launch of the project, said specialty services  including pulmonology, rheumatology, dermatology and cardiology will be available.

Sussman, who has been generous many times with donations on the island, kick-started the project with a donation to Rotary.  The Club then agreed to support the project’s operations for three years, the newspaper said.

Obviously, being in the middle the ocean, and at least 45 minutes
from a hospital on St. Thomas, the availability of top flight medical
care is desirable and now possible.

New restaurant in Stone Terrace location

Nilewright

Nile and Courtney Wright have leased the former Stone Terrace restaurant space in Cruz Bay. They are planning to open a moderately-priced Mexican restaurant in about two months. (Picture at left is from Nile's Facebook page.)

“My wife and I are looking forward to making the tastefully built building in prime location become alive again!,” Wright told the Inquiring Iguana.

“Our overall theme is eclectic Mexican cuisine that is upscale, but not overly pricey,” he said. 

Given the perceived uncertainty about the island’s best known upscale restaurants, Wright’s decision to be mid-range makes a lot of sense.

In fact, Wright's talking about value meals. “ It is also very important to me to not only serve excellent tasting food, but to give our customers hefty portions for plenty of leftovers.”

Doggy bags on St. John.  That would be a first!

But man cannot live by tacos and enchiladas alone, he said. “We also going to roll out our signature drink, the ‘Mexican Martini’, that is served with a full shaker for multiple refills."

Four fine restaurants in trouble?

4restaurantsUpdate:  There is now a report that one of the four eateries, Chloe and Bernard's, has closed.  The upscale restaurant at the Westin has had several operators during its life.

The hotel's Concierge desk confirmed, saying Chloe's is closed "this month, for the slow season."

It's reasonable to expect the second-floor space in the main Westin building will be in operation as another restaurant by winter season.  They won't allow the space to go empty.

—

Anthony Finta says he’s heard that the company which owns four the island’s best restaurants “may be going under.”  Finta passed along what he’s heard on Virgin Islands On-Line, the Web site he’s run for what seems like at least 10 years.  He is a true Internet pioneer.

In his posting early Friday, Finta said, “(I) am sort of loathe to post rumors and such – but this is pretty juicy.

"Hearing various rumblings that the restaurant group that includes Paradiso, Asolare, Chloe & Bernard’s and the Balcony may be going under. With the Stone Terrace already closed, this would be a huge event to St. John fine dining.”

Certainly we know the economy has been awful.  Even so, there has been very little turnover activity – or closings – among island restaurants.

Oddly, despite the popularity of these restaurants, only two comments were made on the report in the first 24 hours.   JohnLMBZ06 said, tongue in cheek, “That would not be good. Except for my wallet since my wife is so insistent that we visit those places every time we go."

"Devastating," was the word Mrs. Inquiring Iguana used.

The Inquiring Iguana sent an e-mail to the restaurants’ Web site (www.stjohn-restaurants.cxom), asking for a response, As of Saturday evening., none had been received.

La Plancha’s Saturday Night Food Fever

LaplanchaThe best-received new restaurant of the year isn’t resting on its good reviews.

La Plancha del Mar, stuck back in a hallway at the Marketplace shopping center continues to give diners a reason to find them.  Great drinks, tasty entrees and reasonable prices have been the draws for the first year.

Now, La Plancha is adding ‘surf or turf’ options.  Every Saturday night, starting at 5 p.m., the restaurant is offering Prime Rib and a raw bar, including oysters, steamed mussels from Prince Edward island, and shrimp cocktail. 

This is a big step for these guys, to do this on little St. John with its legendary supply chain challenges.  But the owners, Jason Howard, Jonathan Fritz, and Mike Prout have shown they know what they’re doing.

Can St. Johnians dance?

Rumba New York’s Dancing Classrooms has come to St. John, courtesy of Pond Bay.

With a slogan of “Teaching Children to Take a Bow,” Pierre Dulaine kicked off a 10-week dance course with a demonstration at the bandstand in Cruz Bay, according to the St. John Source.  About 40 people were on the stage while about 100 more looked on, added the Virgin Islands Daily News.

Pond Bay’s Robert Emmett said offering this sort of program to the community is part of his desire that Pond Bay be a positive and contributing resource for the island.  This is one such community project, he said. The dance class will be offered to fifth graders on St. John.

The founder of Dancing Classrooms, Dulaine told the Daily News, "As well as learning the steps, they will really learning to be ladies and gentlemen. Dancing is all about making friends."

Sprauve Library is cool

0211_library_1 That’s the first thing people remark about the year-long renovation of the Elaine I. Sprauve Library. 

It’s cool … because it’s air conditioned.

It’s also wired. WiFi Internet access is available in the two-story Enighed building which is more than 200 years old.  It was brought back to life as a library, from decay in the late 70s. 

During the recent $700,000 renovation, walls were plastered, the roof was replaced, the building was repainted and, as we mentioned, air conditioning was installed.  The better to protect the library’s holdings and to encourage people to spend more time there. A new generator was also installed. 

The Library also has a museum including a collection of photographs, documents, and historic artifacts about St. John.

St. John and Florida are similar, how?

Stjohnunitylogo A warning that St. John could be “the next ‘Paradise Lost’” has been sounded by the Virgin Islands Unity Day Group.

The Coral Bay-based group ignited out of the widespread anger about the government's recent real estate re-assessment on St. John.  Unity Day has launched legal challenges to the revaluation figures.  It has also been vocal in contesting the ferry companies’ request for higher fares.

In an op-ed column for the St. John Source, the group worries that the VI government has been so ineffective, inattentive, and insular that “St. John soon will be experiencing … (an) exodus.” Both the VI and Florida governments, Unity Day says, :are forcing their citizens out of their homes by bad decision making and ‘politrickin'.”

“Salaries and wages are on the decline because our biggest employers have closed their doors," the Group’s statement says. “When the government cries that it is broke we must accept it … But when we say, ‘We can’t afford it,’ they just raise fees anyway.”

Serious trail clearing at Francis Bay

JanetCutThere was a festive air in when about 40 people gathered round for the ribbon–cutting ceremony of the Francis Bay Accessible Trail, the Virgin Islands National Park’s first handicap-accessible trail. 

Janet George-Carty cut the ribbon to open the trail, which is about 650-feet long, beginning at a parking area and then goes to a pier and then into a salt pond to allow for bird watching. Photo credit to Cristina Kessler.

Joe Kessler, president of the Friends of VI National Park, expressed appreciation to volunteers who donated more than 500 hours of labor to finish the week-long project.  Thanks were also offered to MSI Building Supplies, which donated almost $20,000 worth of lumber.

This is the first trail to be built as part of the Accessible Trail Project.  A second trail is planned for Cinnamon Bay, through the ruins and along the Loop Trail, according to Noreen Cavanaugh, director of development for the Friends.

Property taxes: late and often

From a Virgin islands Daily News story about the Territory's 2010 budget:

“The increase in revenues is based on borrowing  $100 million and collecting three years worth of property taxes in FY 2010.”  (Emphasis added).

Full story here.