The V.I. Culinary Team turned in a stellar performance at this year’s Taste of the Caribbean Competition, bringing home a team silver and a host of individual awards. This year’s event, held in Miami, Fla., featured a new format, separating food categories—seafood, beef, cheese, pastry—allowing for more individual recognition. Teams were still presented with a mystery basket of ingredients to use in creating their dishes in the respective categories.
Although the V.I. team, sponsored by the Hotel & Tourism Associations, left for last week’s competition in search of gold, they nevertheless turned in a top-notch showing, proving that months of practice and experience can place you center stage and, in the eyes of the judges, top of your game.
Overall, the team won silver but individual chefs came home with the following medals:
• David Benjamin (The Ritz Carlton)- Silver in the seafood category
• Negust Kaza (Tutu Bene-St. Croix) – Gold in the Certified Angus Beef category, Best use of Cheese
• Dennis Vanterpool – Chef of the Year – Silver
• Afiya Augustus (St. Croix Complex graduate, Johnson & Wales student) – Bronze Junior Chef
• Al Boston (The Ritz Carlton) – Bronze in the rum category, Bronze overall
One of the most impressive showings was that of pastry chef Kunal Chakrabarti of The Ritz Carlton. Chakrabarti’s impressive “A play of chocolate & island fruits” won him the Albert Uster Imports Pastry Chef of the Year Award and a place in the Hall of Fame. The creative dessert included chocolate scotch bonnet spirals, mango sorbet, guavaberry, and speculoos cookies.
“I am beaming with pride for this team,” said Lisa Hamilton, president of the Hotel & Tourism Association. “They have worked so hard since last year’s competition, and now have proved themselves to be talented, creative and skilled chefs.”
According to Hamilton, the team’s success would not have been possible without the support of the following sponsors: V.I. Department of Tourism, Frenchman’s Reef Marriott, Innovative, International Capital & Management Corporation, Merchants Market, Premier Wines & Spirits/Cruzan Rum, The Ritz Carlton, St. Croix Hotel & Tourism Association, Taste of St. Croix, and the West Indian Co. Ltd.
