# St Barts Forums > St Barts Trip Reports Forum >  >  Jan 9th - Jan 16th

## SailAway

We flew out of JFK (NY) for our 4th trip to the island with 2+ hours of delays due to icy conditions. This caused us to miss our Winair flight. At the counter we were told we could wait and hope for room on a later flight, which probably wouldn't happen, or take the ferry. We wanted to get over to St. Barth ASAP and avoid spending the night on SXM so we took a cab to "the ferry" and ended up at Great Bay Express and paid $170 for 2 tickets which got us on the island around 6:15. Thankfully we booked our car with GUMBs and we were able to get in touch with Odile after hours who was kind enough to have our car meet us in Gustavia, despite the kiosk in the airport being closed already. After we got our car we made our way to Ptit Morne and let ourselves into our room. After unpacking we headed over to Baz Bar for some sushi and a bottle of wine. The food was great and the live music and drinks made for a relaxing way to unwind into the start of the trip. I will list the food/drinks by date, but the beach report is easier to do by beach, as multiple visits would make it overly complicated.
*
Saturday the 10th:*

The next morning we decided to do Nikki Beach so we could relax and drink by the beach to ease into the start of the trip. The service and the food was better than we have experienced in the past, however there was a little push to get us to buy the 2-300 euro per bottle rose, but we simply disregarded their bottle presentation and opted for a more reasonable choice.

That evening we went to Santa Fe and Manu picked our favorite bottle of wine of the entire trip and served us an excellent Lobster from his tank and a really great veal special, we finished with the always excellent Madagascar creme brulee and rum.

*Sunday the 11th:*

Started with the Brunch at Le Gaiac which was great as always, although a bit lighter on the seafood and a bit heavier on meats than we recalled from previous trips.

Lunch at Do Brazil was also much better than we have experienced in the past, the tuna with thai noodles was an excellent snack.

We stopped into Monbart and had the cheese plate which was huge and really great as well as 2 awesome cocktails.

Dinner at Andys, they were out of all of the seafood appetizers so we didn't really get to experience a full meal.
*
Monday the 12th:*


Sandwiches at the bakery in Colombier to start the day, as good as usual.

Picked up a couple of bikkinis at Gisele in St. Barth, the girl working was extremely friendly and helpful.

Cocktails/snacks at Le Gustav and Bar de l'oubli was a nice way to use the WIFI and check in on the dogs (we have a camera).

That night we had out best dinner of the trip at Le Sereno, everything was simply outstanding, and the bouillabaisse was the best we ever had.

Later that night we tried out Modjo which we were really really satisfied with, the cocktails were among the best we had on the entire trip.

*Tuesday the 13th:*

We went back to Le Sereno for Sushi considering how great the dinner the night before was and it proved to be a wise choice, lunch was excellent.

Later in the day we stopped into the new juice stand in Kiki Mo and had 2 really refreshing green drinks, we will go back.

Dinner that night we headed to Cote Port, which unfortunately for us was our weakest dinner of the entire trip. On a good note we did see some forum regulars and they may have noticed us notice them (we were a bit star struck), however we didn't want to interrupt their meal so we didn't say hello this time.

*Wednesday the 14th:*

Breakfast at the bakery, some drinks and snacks at Do Brazil for lunch, everything was good.

Dinner we tried the new Provenca and has a truly great dinner, everything was very well done and the thyme mashed potatoes and beef was an excellent dish. We like the 3 choices of after dinner rhum and our favorite was the ginger.
*
Thursday the 15th:

*Lunch at Tamarind was very good, the grounds were awesome and the parrots and cocktails were quite entertaining. We will have to try it again for dinner. They mentioned that the ground is being worked on so that the tables/chairs will be on solid footing.

Dinner at L'Esprit that night was good quality wise, the mahi-mahi was excellent, however the portion size of the appetizer and dessert left a bit to be desired. Unfortunately the service was very clumsy and forgetful as well (no wine list, had to wait longer than anywhere else to order, fight to get the bill, etc. and it wasn't very busy). We are likely going to skip it on the next trip.

Friday we packed and got light food and caught our flight back to NYC, no delays at all this time.

The beach erosion was very noticeable on St. Jean & Gouvernour so we spent more time on Shell, Flamands, and Saline. We did the steep hike to Colombier and that was fun and there seems to be some work going on at the start of the hike as there are real concrete steps at the beginning.

One scary thing was getting caught at the checkpoint by Tom Beach after half a bottle of wine. They didn't speak much English but did have me do the blow test, thankfully I passed or they didn't want to deal with the language barrier and they let us go. What is the story with the check points? Does one need to worry about having a couple of cocktails or are they only looking for seriously impaired drivers?

Overall, the best trip yet, and we're already looking forward to the next one!

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## Bart -my real name-

Nice report.  

Interesting to see Le Serano getting so much love.  It doesn't' seem to get mention much around here.  It's on the list for next time!

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## JEK

Great report thanks for taking the time and adding all the detail. Le Sereno has beautiful food, but seems to get knocked for being deserted.

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## amyb

I enjoyed reading all you did on your January 2015 visit. The best news, that you plan to return.

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## SailAway

> I enjoyed reading all you did on your January 2015 visit. The best news, that you plan to return.



Thank you! 

We saw you at Cote Port (you may have heard "it's Tim!" not so subtly said in the background).

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## SailAway

> Nice report.  
> 
> Interesting to see Le Serano getting so much love.  It doesn't' seem to get mention much around here.  It's on the list for next time!



Thanks! The regular menu as well as the Sushi were really excellent and worth going for.

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## SailAway

> Great report thanks for taking the time and adding all the detail. Le Sereno has beautiful food, but seems to get knocked for being deserted.



Thank you.

It was just us and 1 other table in the entire place, but we didn't mind. Plus the resident cat kooky.

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## Dennis

> One scary thing was getting caught at the checkpoint by Tom Beach after half a bottle of wine. They didn't speak much English but did have me do the blow test, thankfully I passed or they didn't want to deal with the language barrier and they let us go. What is the story with the check points? Does one need to worry about having a couple of cocktails or are they only looking for seriously impaired drivers?




Great report except this part.

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## LMAC

Great Report - fun to see the restaurant reviews.   What time of day did you encounter the "checkpoint"?

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## tim

> Thank you! 
> 
> We saw you at Cote Port (you may have heard "it's Tim!" not so subtly said in the background).



You should have introduced yourselves.  Thanks for a great report!

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## amyb

Next time say hello--always fun to meet the forum folk

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## JEK

> Thank you! 
> 
> We saw you at Cote Port (you may have heard "it's Tim!" not so subtly said in the background).



He is a rock star of the forum!

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## tim

I'm only a rock star when I'm with Phil and Amy, as I was on this particular occasion.:)

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## SailAway

> Great Report - fun to see the restaurant reviews.   What time of day did you encounter the "checkpoint"?



It was right after dinner at L'esprit so I would say around 10:30, give or take 15 mins.

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## SailAway

> You should have introduced yourselves.  Thanks for a great report!



Next time! It sounds like the perfect excuse to begin planning the next trip.

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## marybeth

Great report, thanks for sharing. Helping to build my frenzied anticipation!

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## GramChop

Very nice report, Sail.  Of all my trips to St Barth, I have never seen an alcohol check point.  Thank the good Lord!  :cool:   I'm sorry you didn't have a more pleasant experience at L'Esprit.

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## debd

I sometimes think we should all wear a SBH on liners bracelet !!!

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## JEK

RFID or barcode.

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## debd

> RFID or barcode.



 :thumb up:

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## cassidain

> Le Sereno has beautiful food, but seems to get knocked for being deserted.



Except by those who fly out of TEB.

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## stbartshopper

We are going to Sereno on our first night. Surprising about L'Espirit? Where was the checkpoint as we have never seen one either except on the curvy hill in the daytime into the Port but we believe that is for seat belts more than anything else? Great report!

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## cassidain

I'm not surprised about L'Esprit. We like it and food is _very_ well conceived and executed, but service amateurish in our limited experience. It's really hard on Saint-Barth to have truly professional wait staff. For a number of reasons...

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## Bart -my real name-

> I'm not surprised about L'Esprit. We like it and food is _very_ well conceived and executed, but service amateurish in our limited experience. It's really hard on Saint-Barth to have truly professional wait staff. For a number of reasons...



That's very interesting.

Was it over crowded that night?  I heard some reports about bad service at night but the place was packed at the time (Dec 2013).

We've only been there for lunch and have always had great service, but the place was probably only 1/3 full.

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## JEK

Service on the island is on island time. I enjoy the languish.

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## cassidain

No, Bart, not crowded dining room, just amateurish service. Like presenting your wine to be approved, opened, and poured _after_ 
the first course was on the table. And that only with additional prompting. No apology either. Not island time, just poorly trained amateurs. 
This guy was no where in site:
image.jpg

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## SailAway

> No, Bart, not crowded dining room, just amateurish service. Like presenting your wine to be approved, opened, and poured _after_ 
> the first course was on the table. And that only with additional prompting. No apology either. Not island time, just poorly trained amateurs. 
> This guy was no where in site:
> image.jpg



That sums it up. I would say about 30-40% of the tables were occupied. When we criticize service we actually set the bar relatively low. We're in NYC and visit a lot of the higher end restaurants, but we don't bring those standards on the trip. We had to request the wine list, flag someone else down to give the order, and the same for the order and then the check itself.

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## SailAway

> We are going to Sereno on our first night. Surprising about L'Espirit? Where was the checkpoint as we have never seen one either except on the curvy hill in the daytime into the Port but we believe that is for seat belts more than anything else? Great report!



The checkpoint was right before Tom Beach. They asked if I drank and I motioned "1" glass of wine, they still had me take the blow test. The more junior guy showed the screen to his superior and then they sent us on our way. I'm not sure what my BAC was or if I passed, or what the fine/repercussions would be.

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## Bart -my real name-

> This guy was no where in site:
> image.jpg



Well, you were eating in a place with no walls, no one in suits and no opulent dining rooms like that one.

Do any servers where suits anywhere on the island?  They don't at Le Gaiac (for brunch).  


But I get your point about the wine and the lack of apology

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## Reed

> Well, you were eating in a place with no walls, no one in suits and no opulent dining rooms like that one.
> 
> Do any servers where suits anywhere on the island?  They don't at Le Gaiac (for brunch).  
> 
> 
> But I get your point about the wine and the lack of apology



Hardly a suit wearing kind of island or uniform at most places.  Crash at the beach the night before and shake your jeans or shorts off, throw on a ratty t-shirt and head to work.  Aaaaaah……island life:)kr

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## cassidain

Y'all are missing the point. It's not that the sommelier is in fine livery, it's that he's clearly a pro. L'Esprit's prices are not much different from the grand restaurant pictured and J-C D takes his cuisine seriously like un grand resto. He needs to bring his wait staff up to snuff. I agree with sailaway, I don't expect same level of service as NYC or Paris (or Collonges-au-Mont d'Or) but I expect competency.

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## JEK

I've had that happen (late wine service of the previously selected bottle) at a few places, including Le Gaïac -- usually early in the year with new staff. Decidedly a first world problem, especially while on vacation.

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## Reed

> Y'all are missing the point. It's not that the sommelier is in fine livery, it's that he's clearly a pro. L'Esprit's prices are not much different from the grand restaurant pictured and J-C D takes his cuisine seriously like un grand resto. He needs to bring his wait staff up to snuff. I agree with sailaway, I don't expect same level of service as NYC or Paris (or Collonges-au-Mont d'Or) but I expect competency.




I get it Cass. Trust me:)  I can count maybe a little over a hand full of places that I feel have proper service on SBH irregardless of the attire worn. It is very hard to find seasoned "professional" waitstaff in resort locales.  Housing is the key problem.  I have never heard of lack of housing being such a problem as it was being spoken about this year.  Same thing on Nantucket last summer.  Seems like the season hits too quickly and the staff are never properly trained……presuming there is someone to properly train them.  No part of this comment is geared toward JCD's place btw. kr

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## GramChop

> Y'all are missing the point. It's not that the sommelier is in fine livery, it's that he's clearly a pro. L'Esprit's prices are not much different from the grand restaurant pictured and *J-C D* takes his cuisine seriously like un grand resto. *He needs to bring his wait staff up to snuff*. I agree with sailaway, I don't expect same level of service as NYC or Paris (or Collonges-au-Mont d'Or) but I expect competency.



Who knew that JCD had waitstaff.  (tee hee hee.... :Embarrassment:   :Couple Inlove:  )

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## cassidain

> Housing is the key problem.  I have never heard of lack of housing being such a problem as it was being spoken about this year.



Exactly. Kimberly, I read notices like these in Le News frequently:

Screen Shot 2015-01-29 at 7.03.45 AM.png

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## cassidain

And from Le News today, GdS offering possibility of housing (logement) in effort to attract new cook.

Screen Shot 2015-01-30 at 7.23.54 AM.png

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## JEK

ER, Guanahani and perhaps IdF have "dorms".

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## PIRATE40

> I sometimes think we should all wear a SBH on liners bracelet !!!



...Or at least a special hat..!!

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