The V.I. Hotel and Tourism Association selected its 2014 national culinary team and announced its upcoming participation at Taste of the Caribbean, the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s annual culinary competition at the Hyatt Regency Miami Hotel on June 28 through July 2, the CHTA announced in a press release issued Monday.
Selected on a competitive basis, the team includes Marco Sanchez, team captain and executive sous chef at Frenchman’s Reef Marriott Resort; Taj Siwatu, the chef at Buddha Sushi Bar; Ryan Cross, executive pastry chef at The Ritz-Carlton-St. Thomas; Brandon DeCloux, bartender at Fat Turtle; Ron Duprat, executive chef at Sugar Bay Resort and Spa; and George Sittig, executive chef at Greenside Grille at the Carambola Golf Course.
While competing at Taste of the Caribbean, the national culinary team will participate in a four-day cook-off where top chefs and bartenders from the Caribbean present a variety of entrees and cocktails ranging from innovative to traditional as they battle for top honors. Those honors include Caribbean Culinary Team of the Year, Caribbean Chef of the Year, Caribbean Pastry Chef of the Year, Caribbean Bartender of the Year and Caribbean Junior Chef of the Year.
The culinary team is sponsored by the Tourism Department, the West Indian Co. Ltd., Innovative, The Ritz-Carlton-St. Thomas, International Capital and Management, Frenchman’s Reef Marriott Resort, Taste of St. Croix and Merchant’s Market.
For team sponsorship opportunities, business inquiries or for more information, contact the Hotel Association’s Lisa Hamilton or Nicole Friday at 774-6835 or lisa@usvihta.com or nicole@usvihta.com.
For details about other sponsorship opportunities contact Gabi Doria Simpson at gabi@caribbeanhotelandtourism.com or 305-443-3040.
For more information about Taste of the Caribbean visit www.caribbeanhotelandtourism.com/events-taste/event-taste-about.php or contact the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association at 305-443-3040. Follow Facebook.com/CHTATasteoftheCaribbean and Twitter.com/CHTATasteCarib.
For more information, visit http://www.caribbeanhotelandtourism.com.