The food in the Cayman Islands has never been better.
If you are planning a tropical getaway,but are not willing to skimp on gastronomy, consider The Cayman Islands –otherwise known as the culinary capital of the Caribbean.
Trust us. We escaped to this sophisticated sun destination mere weeks before COVID-19 upended the world and can’t wait to go back.
It was The Cayman Cookout, one of several renowned epicurean events (Taste of Cayman, Cocktail Week and Restaurant Month among them) that brought us to the white-sand shores of these three idyllic islands, located 160 km south of Cuba in the western Caribbean Sea.
And yes, we had the time of our lives hobnobbing with celebrity chefs, chomping on hand-rolled cigars and feasting on Périgord truffles at the Ritz-Carlton. But it was actually a less flashy, surprisingly abundant harvest dinner at The Brasserie restaurant, which sustained us later while holed up at home during lockdown.
The Brasserie, known to locals as “Cayman’s Secret Pleasure,” was a farm-to-table pioneer when it opened in 1997 and continues to set a tremendously high bar across the islands, which boast more than 200 restaurants.
Our magical long-table dinner was held in The Brasserie’s organic garden, between lush rows of fruit and nut trees. While sipping on welcome cocktails garnished with à-la-minute picked herbs, we met the resident apiarist and nibbled on skewers of sticky honeycomb. Supper was a smorgasbord of shared plates made with impeccable ingredients, including grilled yellowfin tuna caught by the restaurant’s own boats and pavlova with coconuts harvested from its Coco Bluff Farm. The wines were extraordinary.
What intrigued us most was learning that this dinner, a microcosm of the Cayman Islands’ thriving epicurean scene, was just the tip of the iceberg.
From five-star fine dining (including Blue by Eric Ripert and LUCA for contemporary Italian) to authentic Caymanian flavours with fresh conch, lobster and snapper straight from the sea (Miss Vivine’s, Heritage Kitchen and Grape Tree Cafe are all good bets) – you’re not going to have a bad meal here.
BOOK NOW, TRAVEL LATER
Air Canada Rouge and WestJet offer 4-hour, nonstop flights from Toronto to Grand Cayman, with easy connections across Canada. Air Canada Rouge flights resume on December 4, 2021, while WestJet flights resume as of December 16, 2021. Cayman Airways also provides daily flights to the Sister Islands, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. For more information visit www.visitcaymanislands.com
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