Trinidad and Tobago Restaurant Week 2013 at Bella

I have a huge smile on my face while I'm typing this blog. As an individual obsessed with tourism and most things related to it, I get really happy when I see individuals or groups in Trinidad and Tobago adding more to the tourism product. And one such amazing initiative this year is Trinidad and Tobago Restaurant Week (TTRW).

Usually I look forward to food festivals, because more than likely when you go, you are bound to find some amazing items that you've never seen or heard of or even tried. I really wanted to go to the Food, Wine and Rum Festival in Barbados this year, but it was highly unlikely. Plus Taste T&T is clearly not taking place this year, and I really wanted to attend a food-related festival. I see it as a good way to gather family and friends and just spend a wonderful time together. Earlier on this year, I went to the Blue Food Festival in Tobago, which for me was a bit disappointing, but interesting nonetheless. All in the name of new food stuff, yeah?

So TTRW! How did I stumble upon thee? (Literally)

The logo for TTRW

On Facebook, I like a page run by a restaurant/hotel called Mariposa Gardens in Lopinot, Trinidad. I've visited the property on two occasions. The first time was for a hiking experience and the second time, I had some of the best food in my life; cream of pumpkin soup, beef slow cooked in a cocoa-infused sauce, tilapia seasoned with lime and fresh herbs and homemade cocoa ice-cream. Some days I could still taste the goodies I ate there. They posted a question on their Facebook page: What does TTRW stand for? If you got it right, you could have won a free meal courtesy of the facility for this TTRW thing. I was like huh? What on earth is that? Low and behold I find out about Trinidad and Tobago Restaurant Week, two weeks before it was about to take place. I found that it would have run from the 8th - 17th of November, and that some restaurants throughout T&T would be offering dinner at a discount during the time period. I said hell yes!

So there were categories according to price for the restaurants $120 - Savoury, $200 - Scrumptious, $300 - Delectable and $400 - Divine. If I had extra money, I would have gone to as many as I possibly could have. I ended up narrowing it down to two restaurants to dine at: The Lighthouse Restaurant in Chaguaramas or Bella on the Avenue on Ariapita Avenue. I chose the latter because it would have been less of a hassle to get there.

The restaurant had a lovely ambiance, and the menu was simple and seemed delicious. For the starter I ordered a lovely a soup du jour - which was really a coconut and broccoli infused soup. It was absolutely delicious.

Soup du Jour

There was also a roasted vegetable tower as the other option for the appetizer.

Roasted Vegetable Tower

I heard it was really good as well!

For the main course, I had pan roasted shrimp in a ginger coconut sauce with a rustic vegetable medley and mashed sweet potatoes and plantains. Amazing! The vegetables were perfectly seasoned, and the shrimp was creamy and savoury because of the coconut sauce, and the plantains and sweet potato added a light sweetness to the dish.

The other option was a cumin and garlic rub sirloin served with roasted saffron potatoes and some vegetables. I tried a piece of the sirloin, and it was pretty delicious.

For dessert there was an option of ice-cream or a house creme brulee. Mmm good! I was able to sample the creme brulee and it was unbelievablely delicious! I am a serious ice-cream person, so of course I had my ice-cream.

Creme Brulee

Dulce de Leche Ice-Cream

When we thought all that was over, the restaurant offered a complementary cocktail. They were pretty great too!

Pina Colada

This was a creamy pina colada, and below is strawberry mocktail.

Strawberry Mocktail

And yes, after eating here, I would recommend the place. On the regular menu, they offer mostly salads, burgers, pasta dishes and the like. If this is along the lines of what you prefer to eat out, Bella is for you. The staff treated us courteously throughout the night as well, which we appreciated immensely.

I had such a good time with my peeps at Bella on the Avenue! Thanks to Trinidad and Tobago Restaurant Week for this initiative. T&T has great culinary tourism potential, and this initiative was a healthy start. Looking forward to an even bigger and better TTRW 2014!

Blue Food Festival, Tobago

The Blue Food Festival is an annual event held at Bloody Bay, Tobago, that features by-products made from one type of ground provision, dasheen. Dasheen is a favourite of mine to consume as it regards ground provision. I love it boiled together with cassava, eddoes, sweet potatoes and plantain with salted fish ie saltfish. So, when I saw there was a festival centred around dasheen, and where I can see products made from dasheen, apart from the boiled dasheen I'm used to, I said hell yes!

Yes I.

This festival has been something I have been looking forward to attending for the past three years. Yes, three years. However, I could not have attended since I first got interested because of commitments at school. This year I was finally able to make arrangements to head to Tobago to this much anticipated Blue Food Festival.

As previously aforementioned, the event is held at Bloody Bay, Tobago, which is more or less in the country side, and depending on where you're staying on the island, it may be about an hour or more in driving to get there. We took just over an hour to get there.

On to Bloody Bay!

The drive was a pretty scenic one I must say. Tobago has a lot of vegetation, ie, it ha rell bush! But the views were pretty amazing.

Englishman's Bay

Upon approaching the site, you park about fifteen minutes away, and one of the public transportation buses will shuttle drive you in to and out of the festival.

The banner 

Upon entering the stage is to the immediate right as well as a tent placement for judges, and when you turn to the left you see the many booths that are supposed to be filled with goodies made from the ever important dasheen. The day was pretty overcast, and it probably rained earlier, but the first thing that I noticed was how muddy and wet the ground was.

That was probably the first thing that probably dulled my excitement. I was aware that every year, it rains at the festival, but I said that since it's in it's fifteenth year, it would have been organized in such a way where that in the event that it rains, it wouldn't be an issue for patrons ... but that was not the case. Thankfully, while I was there it did not rain, but about an hour later it certainly poured.

So I walk to a few booths and I really just saw items on sale, basically. Some persons literally refused to sell some of their goodies, because according to them, the judges did not pass by their booths yet. And I couldn't help but think, huh? The judges were going to judge later in the day I believe.

But anyway...

There were all sorts of dasheen-related items.

Dasheen wine

The lady who sold this asked if I wanted to try some, but I passed on the offer at the point in time (it was still morning time ;} ).

Other by-products from the dasheen included, dasheen cake (which was pretty delicious), dasheen sweet bread, boiled dasheens with saltfish, dasheen cupcakes, dasheen bakes, dasheen punch a creme, etc etc.

Dasheen goodies

Dasheen ice-cream



The dasheen ice-cream was pretty decadent. I enjoyed that ice-cream so so much. I think I would go back (in the next ten years or so, because the event itself was disappointing to me), just to get that ice-cream.  My intention was to purchase a dasheen-based lunch, but because the seating area became a permanent spot for some of the patrons already seated, it was impossible to even sit and chillax for a bit there. Another thing that sort of dulled my appetite was the fact that the entire area smelled like manure, and that scent combined with food meant to be sold for consumption equals a more or less negative appetite for me. 

But it was pretty cool, and a bit barbaric to see pigs roasting on an open pit:

Because I could not sit to have lunch, and nothing seemed to be going on the time I was there, I had to leave. I saw no point in staying there just to stand in mud. So we ended up leaving Bloody Bay, and driving to Jemma's Seaview Kitchen and Treehouse Restaurant for a delicious Creole lunch, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

It was a fantastic end to what I can term a Blue Food Fiasco. I have a few recommendations to the organizers of the Blue Food Festival, since I am not the only one who felt the way I did when I left the festival (disappointed and highly annoyed):

1. Since it rains every year, perhaps change the time of year the festival is held, or locate the festival at some sort of indoor facility. The mud and the slight manure scent and the rain that was clearly about to burst was really a factor of discomfort, not only for me, but for others as well.

2. The festival is centred around the root vegetable, dasheen. For me, it would have been nice if there was a tent of some sort, featuring the dasheen, and the different types, and some of the raw products made from dasheen. It would have been nice to at least hear some of the health benefits, and even a little history of dasheen became an essential part of the Caribbean diet. That would have added to the festival (but this is just me).

3. It would have been nice to see some demonstrations (I know I left before 1pm, but still) of the way some of the food products are prepared using the dasheen, such as the ice-cream, or the baked goods that were available, or even the wine. It literally felt like a market to me, as opposed to a 'food festival'. 

4. I know I got there early and left long before the entertainment started, but I had to leave the sister isle at a certain time. The event started at 10am, I think some form of entertainment should have been going on since then .... something: poetry, local dancers, and the like. I know some well known artistes were scheduled to perform, but I left way before they even got there (well perhaps if I had gotten a seat .... -_- ).

Overall, the Blue Food Festival was not too bad, but I thought after fifteen years, and all the excitement and anticipation I had, it would have been great, and I ended up leaving pretty disappointed. 

This is simply my two cents on Blue Food Festival 2013.

Please enjoy this picture, taken at the Treehouse Restaurant (ensure you visit there on every Tobago visit).

:)

What A Week

Work has been cool more or less this week. Living in a different country and getting the opportunity to explore the island when you have free time makes the entire experience holistic for me. I get to work and be a tourist at the same. Hehe!! Anyway..

Saturday I did my first tour of Barbados with Island Safari, one of the leading tour companies in Barbados. We basically did a drive through each parish, apart from Christ Church and St. Michael, since these are 2 parishes everyone tends to frequent. Our tour guide's name was Ian, and he was very knowledgeable about new developments and history throughout the island. One thing that had me a bit disappointed with Island Safari beforehand is the package we took, they told us no refreshments would be provided apart from cups and ice, so the group of us decided, to just walk with our own refreshments. To my pleasant surprise however, the tour guide offered us jungle juice (just a variation of the famous Bajan rum punch), and orange juice.

We went to several major look out points and I got some fantastic shots of Bathsheba Bay and Cove Beach on the east coast of the island. It was absolutely amazing, and I thoroughly enjoyed the safari experience with the tour team.

Isn't Port St Charles absolutely gorgeous?

When I saw the first class port in the parish of St. Peter, Barbados and how beautiful the water looked, I just thought wow Trinidad and Tobago has a lot of work to do as it regards its tourism industry. I remember there were some talks about investing in yachting tourism, but damn, after seeing this port facility, we have a lot of work to do.

I snapped photos of the yachts in the distance >.<

Barbados is indeed a beautiful place. The one thing I probably should have done is make note of the major points Ian drove us to, because I honestly cannot remember the name of some of the gorgeous places I've seen.

Cove Bay, St. Lucy

The tour was finalized by us going to the Bathsheba Bay and through a rainforest that is either Joe's River Rainforest or Turner's Hall Woods. I really cannot recall :/

Bathsheba's Bay

The forest

In the rural areas, agriculture predominates

Black-bellied sheep :)

Mayne that tour was awesome, and to top if off, we got some refreshments, which I was not expecting lol.

Afterward, my friend and I ventured to The Crane. I have no shame in saying this, it was the first time I took the bus in Barbados. And I laughed in my head, because I had to stand, and I kept swaying initially, and the people around me watched me as though I wasn't right in my head. The Crane is one of the premiere resorts in Barbados, and it really is an awesome property.

For me, The Crane has a more romantic, secluded atmosphere, as opposed to Atlantis Resort, the Bahamas, which I've had the pleasure of visiting earlier this year. Atlantis Resort is of course probably the most popular resort in the Bahamas, and there is more of a fun, bright atmosphere up there.

Just a snippet of what I first saw

The Crane I believe was named after the nearby Crane Beach. It is a beautiful beach, and if I only had my swimsuit, I would have been in that water in a heartbeat, but there is time to do that still in Barbados.

Crane Beach

We happened to meet up with the manager of the property, and we were able to see how the suites looked. I was literally on a high. We walked around the property and took several shots, and afterward, went to 1887 Bar to try the talked-about rum punch. In my opinion, their's was just alright and really strong.

I met some pretty cool employees at The Crane afterward, and listened to their life stories, while I heard remixes to mostly Rihanna's music in the background. I found out about the extent of domestic violence and a person's quest to be independent and settle down. It was good vibes. Afterward the intention was to revisit St. Lawrence Gap for dinner, but that did not happen, but it's all good. There's still time for that of course.

Sunday evening, I went to the Globe Drive-In Cinema, we watched two movies: 2 Guns with Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg and Redemption with Jason Statham and Agata Buzek.

Part of the drive-in cinema

2 Guns was okay for me, but because I was more or less distracted while the movie was going on, I didn't really take it in as much as I would have liked to, but the part at the end was awesome. And I'm huge fan of these two fantastic actors, so I would recommend it. Redemption was awesome for me because I actually paid attention to what was going on. It was really symbolic and interesting especially the relationship with the two main characters; in the end he was indeed redeemed.

For the first time in my life, I have been a part of a television audience, called 'Destination Caribbean', on CaribVision. It was really cool with all the lighting, and the cameras. It was hard not to laugh at some things though, but it was such a great experience. The panel discussed Festival Tourism and whether it is truly beneficial for the Caribbean region, and basically at the end of the discussion one can say so. My personal difficulty has always been whether we actually make money from these festivals, and how these festivals can remain authentic, if it's a cultural, and not become highly commercialized.

Panelists: The Gabby, Ms Sutherland, Mr Keens-Douglas and Sr Villalba

But it was a pleasure to have and meet a Trini representative, Shaneil Sutherland, and the other three panelists Elias Villalba of Venezuela, Anthony 'Mighty Gabby' Carter of Barbados and Ricardo Keens-Douglas of Grenada. If you want to catch episodes of Destination Caribbean, just YouTube 'CTO Destination TV Show' and enjoy!

Ah what adventures beheld in Barbados :)

Bridgetown Market and Grand Kadooment

Saturday evening I went to a popular event for the Crop Over Season called 'Bridgetown Market' in Spring Gardens. Before I went to the event, I heard the ad for it, and the announcer said it would have 250 stalls.

I was like Pfft...Yeah right.

So we found a park, and made our way into the Bridgetown Market. The first thing I noticed was Kensington Oval.

Kensington Oval

Outside the stadium, some people were lining up to go inside. I knew some cricket  matches were going on; and I wanted to go to the Trinidad and Tobago versus Barbados match, but I figured it would have been the next day. By the time I got home after Bridgetown Market and the TV was broadcasting the cricket match; it turned out that it was T&T vs Barbados at the oval, and T&T was losing pretty badly too; they made only 52 runs after batting first -_-

But anyway, walking in I saw stalls on either side of the highway.

View of the highway and its many stalls

There were lots of craft items, food stuff, and other items like inflated balloons, toys and such. On the field opposite the highway, there were some jewellery, paintings and cultural displays.

Traditional Bread Cart

There was also a fashion show going on, with great African print outfits on display. Afterward, I bought a fantastic pistachio ice-cream from BICO Ltd, and I also sampled sorrel wine and breadfruit wine from a company called Shalana's.

Varieties of wines at Shalana's

The sorrel wine was delicious; the breadfruit wine was really strong, but both were great! I also had some really great smoked chicken :D. And yes there definitely 250 stalls for the event!

On Monday 5th August was Grand Kadooment, which is the last big hoorah before the end of Crop Over 2013. The word 'Kadooment' I heard means 'letting go' and 'freeing up oneself'; which is very fitting for what takes place on that day. It's similar to Carnival Tuesday in Trinidad; but the difference in Barbados is that they pass through the National Stadium, and then through the streets of down town Barbados.

We sat at a spot in Black Rock, and watched the bands parade through the streets.

Masqueraders walking in the street

What I've noticed with Kadooment is that the bands are much smaller, and the costumes were basically all the same, which is the direction Trinidad's Carnival is taking; basically with beach outfits and beads and feathers. Also with the parade in the street, there was a half an hour up to an hour wait between each band procession, which I think is way too long; I expected a continuous stream of masqueraders, but it wasn't that way at all for the rest of the day. But the music was so great; even though there were half-naked drunk people everywhere.

Masqueraders up on de big truck

Drunk dude clearly wanted a picture, lol.

After leaving town, all I wanted to do was go to the beach, but we got back home too late :/

But definitely next time.

Really cool band from Martinique, drumming!

Two bands stood out to me, and they were from Martinique, not only because of their costumes, but also their amazing drumming! It was really different and fresh.

Below are just some of the couple hundred pictures I had taken for Grand Kadooment, before taking a cold shower and watch an episode of Suits.

:)

Probably the Best Week Ever!

Sigh it's been a while since I came to this website.

The past week and a half have been pretty eventful. In between work and being out more has really been so relaxing and made me love Bim a bit more (it has no callaloo here, so no total love for Bim yet!)

This weekend I attended a fish fry fundraiser event in St. Patrick. I didn't carry my camera to that event, unfortunately. I thought I would have been bored for about three hours. But after I ate a delicious meal that of course consisted of fried flying fish, a couple people and I started engaging in conversation about our recent travels, and one of the ladies has travelled quite a lot. She was telling me about her Disney land trip. She went a few years ago, and said it was really expensive then. Imagine the price now! Yes I know I'm not a child anymore, but I would still love to visit Disney World one of these good days. I would prefer to go with my family, especially my younger sister, just because it seems very much like a family place. At the fish fry fundraiser, I got the opportunity to meet the Minister of Labour for Barbados, Senator Dr. The Honourable Esther Byer Suckoo.

The next day, I got my hair braided (woop woop!), and Sadie literally did it in exactly four hours like she promised. But we talked and talked for four hours straight. It turns out she goes to UWI Cavehill, and we know a mutual acquaintance. I can go on and on talking, and we literally talked til she finished. She told me I need to go "The Gap" at least three times before I leave Bim. St. Lawrence Gap (the full name for it) is literally a one-way tourist street, with restaurants, hotels, bars, clubs and souvenir shops lining either side of the street. I said I would definitely check it out some time.

Later that day, I met my friend Amanda at Dover Beach, and gosh what a fantastic beach it is!

Shot at Dover Beach

We literally lazed and chatted in beach chairs beneath an umbrella for about an hour and a half, and then we decided to dip in the waters and take some photos on rocks further down the beach. At the time, some people were sailing, jet skiing and canoeing in the waters, as well as just swimming and just being submerged in the waters. I did not want to leave the water for nothing. It felt too right!

Beach at sunset.

I honestly didn't know that the 'The Gap' was just walking distance from the beach, and Amanda and I walked through the stretch, that was basically empty because of the time (we're talking minutes to six in the evening). She said it would have gotten much more crowded as the evening went on.

The beginning of The Gap

It's similar to Ariapita Avenue in Woodbrook, Trinidad. Along the way I even bought a beach towel with Barbados all over it :D Saw some restaurants that I saw in the Ins and Outs Barbados magazine, such a Pisces and Paulo's Churrasco de Brazil; and I saw Cafe Sol as well!

Cafe Sol

I just have to include this shot of the board walk near The Gap.

Oh yes

When we walking back up The Gap, we stopped at this bar that still had a Happy Hour drink special going on.

Jobu's Sports Bar and Restaurant

I  had my first rum punch in Bim, and it was so good. When we asked the bartender what it contained, he said Mount Gay Rum, lime, nutmeg and water. So simple and so flavourful. Yummo!

Afterward, we walked back to Dover Beach and bought burgers for dinner from a restaurant and bar called Daddy's. Amanda said the burgers are really good, so I said I'd give it a try.

Burger and Fries

Indeed the burger was really really really good. I was surprised at how good it was, and the bread was also really good too! I would definitely purchase another one probably in September or so (I don't consume too much red meat overall). But it was so so good.

Weekend was pretty eventful! And I would love my weekends to continue along this route! :)

On Monday at the CTO, about twenty five children from a vacation camp visited the office to learn more about tourism. So I assisted in planning the activities and executing them. Before the campers came, I got the impression that there was a bit of disorganization, but the campers' visit turned out to be great, with no mishaps. The children were really adorable, and the first thing they said to me was 'You're not from Barbados.' Afterward the interns and I splurged on some fish cakes, cheese sandwiches and sponge cake (Serious cardio the next morning! Lol).

On Wednesday of that same week, Machel Montano held a concert called Soca Titans at Concorde, Barbados. Machel Montano is one of Trinidad and Tobago's biggest superstars ever, and he is my all time favourite soca artiste. I saw artistes like Cooper Dan, Bobo, Lil Rick, Ravi B, Patrice Roberts, Kerwin Dubois and of course Machel himself.

Ravi B singing 'Prescription'

Lil Rick killing the stage!

The crowd from the middle at Soca Titans

Before the show, I really was not much of a fan of Lil Rick, but I did love the song he did for CropOver 2013 with Kerwin Dubois called 'Monster Wine'. However, after seeing him perform for Soca Titans I was literally wow-ed. I am a fan now, lol.

The show was good overall though. I am so glad I went.