Chef Patricia La Corte, with decades of local culinary expertise under her toque, has likely, as the saying goes, forgotten more than many less experienced local chefs have learned about how to run a restaurant on St. Thomas.
The community-minded proprietor of Oceana and Grand Cru restaurants says she was moved by the familiar urge to give this time of year. "I wanted to give back to the community in some way," she said Monday afternoon.
The surprised and delighted residents of Bethlehem House were the recipients of LaCorte’s largess, as they dined on an elegant luncheon.
"Last year I asked Mic what I could do, and I supplied food for a couple families," LaCorte said. Mic Akin is executive director of Catholic Charities of the V.I., which manages Bethlehem House Shelter for the Homeless.
"I wanted to do more this year, and we came up with the luncheon, "LaCorte said afterwards as she and her staff were doing KP in the shelter kitchen.
"They were very happy," she said of her 24 or so guests. "It was just uplifting. They were so cheery and thankful. Basically, we served the food and explained what it was. They tried things they didn’t know about – the flank steak in guava barbeque sauce – for one."
And what a feast they served. Along with the steak, there was salmon in lime butter, au gratin potatoes, mac and cheese ala Grand Cru, grilled vegetables, a garden salad and, of course, homemade Christmas cookies, along with Passion Fruit cheesecake.
The youngest guest was 1-year-old Juliana, who LaCorte said was delighted not so much with the meal, but with the "loads of gifts" she received.
LaCorte said her staff happily volunteered for the effort. Chefs Denzel Hendrickson and Leo Vanterpool were at Oceana at 6 a.m. Monday preparing the feast, while dining room staffers Luann Jones, Allison Eikenberg and Melanie Turnbull, home from college, served the meal.
"And my friends, Karen and her son Tyler, chipped in their services. A real community effort," LaCorte said.
There were telling crumbs left in the shelter dining room where two youngsters were munching on the remains of the cookies. "Yum," said one, "very, very good.”
