Book Description

Paradise Found takes you inside the kitchens of eighteen of the most popular restaurants on St. Barths. All aspects of the island?s gastronomic scene ? from the creative genius of the island?s award-winning chefs, to Creole favorites made by local island families ? are explored. With eighteen dinner menus and over seventy recipes, Paradise Found is a comprehensive primer on the very best of modern French Caribbean cooking and includes such signature offerings as Provencale Fish Soup, Cod Fritters, Duck Confit, Fish Tempura with a Green Mango Salad, Tuna Sashimi with Avocado Sorbet, Chocolate Fondant Cake and Homemade Vanilla Rum. Equally important, Paradise Found takes you inside the lives of the people who own and work in the various restaurants on the island. You?ll meet Andy Hall, who left a life in the London insurance world to harvest grapes in France and ended up owning one of the liveliest restaurants on the island; Randy and Maya Gurley, who honed their cooking skills in the charter boat business and created one of the most popular restaurants in the Caribbean; Franckie and David Greaux, who set out early every morning in their boat to catch the fresh fish that is cooked by their mother and served in the ground floor of their parents? house each evening; and Chef Kiki Barjettas, who developed his passion for cooking while accompanying his father to the market every Sunday as a young boy in France. You will also hear Denis Chevallier and Franck Mathevet describe their move from the French Alps to St. Barths to open The Wall House Restaurant as a moment of ?unconsciousness,? and Adam Rajner, the owner of Le Sapotillier, explain that he decided to sell a very successful brasserie which he had operated for years in Nice and purchase a restaurant in St. Barths, sight unseen, because ?there are times when your conscience knows what your mind does not.? The residents of St. Barths are determined to live each day of their lives joyfully. Their love of life is infectious, and the visitor cannot help but be inspired by their example. So pull up a chair, share a meal, listen to their stories and let Paradise Found awaken your passion for life as well.