Nonprofit Taste of St. Croix will focus on St. Croix’s favorite culinary locations and showcase the territory’s readiness as it begins to reopen to the world. Participants will notice famous dishes from the territory, spirits, a few past winners and more. Taste of St. Croix Inc., along with the Department of Tourism and caribbeanfoodnetworktv.com, will be hosting the event, which is set to be a micro-version of the usually crowded event.
Taste of St. Croix will return to the Divi Carina Bay Resort and Casino after three years of absence from the venue. Due to the impact of the 2017 hurricanes, the location was changed to downtown Christiansted in 2018 and 2019. “Thanks to the downtown merchants of Christiansted, and especially the Caravelle Casino, who made it possible,” said Collin Hodge, president of Taste of St. Croix Inc.
In 2020, the event was forced to cancel last minute due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Hospitality is important throughout the world,” Hodge said. “St. Croix’s hospitality industry, and specifically the culinary industry, has been very important in the growth of our hotel and hospitality development over the years.”
“With or without a big capacity of hotel rooms, we have always been able to attract people locally and abroad, whether it is for our Festival, Food Fair and Taste of St. Croix, because of our culinary scene. We have a unique hospitality and culinary scene on the island, and Taste of St. Croix has been able to add to it, develop it, and it has been an instrumental part in marketing our culinary scene throughout the world,” he said.
Online ticket sales for the event began on Sunday and the festivities are scheduled to take place from April 29 through May 1. To purchase tickets visit the Eventbrite website.
The following is a list of the events:
– Virtual Tasting – April 29 from 6 p.m. -9 p.m.
This will be held at the Divi Carina Bay Resort and Casino and is open to the press and sponsors. No public tickets will be sold for this event.
– Sunset on the Terrace – April 30 from 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
The location will be at the Terrace at the Buccaneer. Tickets are limited and priced at $85 per person.
– Bubbly Brunch and Food Presentation – May 1 from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. and food presentation at 5 p.m.
Tickets are limited for this event at $75 per person and it will be held at The Fred.
To access all the weekend festivities for Taste of St. Croix, it is required for participants to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination to receive tickets.
The entire weekend will be professionally filmed and broadcast live. Viewers can tune in to caribbeanfoodnetworktv.com, Facebook and other online and television media platforms.
The Taste 2021 V.I. Cares Grant Program was made available to all U.S. Virgin Islands restaurants, chefs and culinary talent on St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John. The application process is now closed, according to the website. The grant is a collaboration among Taste of St. Croix Inc., the office of the governor and the Department of Agriculture.
“Taste of St. Croix has been a staple for branding the island as a culinary destination in addition to anywhere else in the world. We have been able as a small island to be a destination for our culinary in addition to everything else,” Hodge said.
