Gourmet Travels
Food & Wine Fest Caribbean Style
What happens when you combine well respected and reserved French chef Eric Ripert with 1st runner up from Top Chef 3, comically and gastronomically gifted Dale Levitski? A duo that will delight your palate with classic presentations, old world recipes, and a dash of humor. I was fortunate enough to attend the Caribbean Rundown at the Ritz Carlton in Grand Cayman October 5-8, a food and wine festival that included cooking demonstrations, tastings, and a Top Chef style competition.
Dale Levitski and I shared a ride from the airport to the Ritz Carlton. Humble, soft spoken, and utterly exhausted after having just finished taping Top Chef 3, he introduced himself to me and we talked about the upcoming weekend. This was already turning into what would become an intimate weekend filled with food discussions, demos, and sharing fantastic meals with people who care deeply for all things culinary. As we stepped into the lobby of the Ritz, the first face we saw was that of Eric Ripert, a culinary genius, famous for his seafood creations. He and Ritz Carlton staff members were there to greet us and whisk us through the check in process. I was already beginning to feel like a rock star and my exhilaration melted away the weariness of eight hours of travel.
The Chef’s Welcome Reception was a feast for the eyes with beautiful hors d’ouvres laid out on several tables. There was an Asian style build-your-own soup table with three types of broth, meat, poultry, seafood, noodles, vegetables, sauces, and seasonings. There was a seafood bar with your choice of lobster, crab, calamari, and cod served in martini glasses topped with mango, passion fruit, and a sweet citrus vinaigrette. An antipasti table featured grilled vegetables, bruschetta, and marinated olives. The wine flowed freely and so did the conversation. French Master Chef Eric Scuiller, Eric Ripert, and Dale Levitski worked the room chatting with the guests and the staff about food, the island, and the upcoming events. It was relaxed and casual and felt like the opportunity of a lifetime. I couldn’t stop smiling.
Saturday began with a Vienoisserie, where Pastry Chef Melissa Karasek taught us the intricacies of laminated dough, including croissants, puff pastry, and Danish. Participants could roll out the dough, cut and shape croissants, and of course there was a lot of tasting. Mushroom, ricotta, shallot, and garlic croissants were the delicious results of Melissa raiding the restaurant cook’s line the night before and engulfing the riches in croissant dough.
French Master Chef Eric Scuiller cooked one of his signature meals Feta Oregano Crusted Boneless Lamb Rack with Mediterranean Tarte Tatin and Fire Roasted Red Bell Pepper Coulis. The dish was delicious but more memorable was the story of how he was charged with hiring a kitchen staff for a hotel in France. One applicant begged him for the job, pleading how he needed health insurance to help pay for the medical bills of his dying wife. (Most restaurants don’t pay health insurance but hotels do). Chef Scuiller did hire him and the applicant was so grateful that he gave him a small worn leather notebook that his grandfather had passed on to him from generations before. The notebook contained recipes written in French by hand. It turns out that this notebook contains original recipes written by Marie Antoine Careme (b. June 8, 1784, d. January 12, 1833), the “architect of French cuisine”. Careme’s cuisine was later modernized and simplified by chef George Auguste Escoffier, known as the ‘father of French cuisine” and “emperor of chefs”. Chef Scuiller had tears in his eyes as he told us this story and he allowed us to peruse the book as he cooked for us. This was yet another intimate and unforgettable moment.
Chef Dale Levitski then made his “infamous” potato dumplings. During a Top Chef challenge he was chastised by cast mates and judges for using instant mashed potatoes. He used real potatoes for us, filling the dumplings with shredded short ribs that had been braising in red wine overnight. He served them with sweet onion puree, sautéed tart apples, and baby arugula, topped with a red wine reduction sauce that was out of this world. He still stands behind his decision to use instant potatoes and actually recommends it for consistently smooth potatoes every time.
Guests were then treated to the culinary genius of Eric Ripert, Executive Chef and part owner of Le Bernardin in New York City, a Michelin 3 star restaurant and top spot on the Zagat list as well as 20 years of four star New York Times reviews. His restaurant Blue at the Ritz Carlton Grand Cayman recently celebrated a AAA Five Diamond Award win. Eric Ripert is also author of “Le Bernardin Cookbook: Four Star Simplicity” and “A Return to Cooking”, a beautiful masterpiece of unique recipes, beautiful artwork, and exceptional photography.
There was an air of excitement in the room as we watched Chef Ripert prepare red snapper that was caught that morning and delivered by boat directly to the beach at the resort. He gave us tips on choosing the freshest fish such as smell the belly and make sure it smells like the sea, not like fish. The eyes should be translucent. If they are opaque, the fish has been on ice for a while. Any remaining blood should be blood color, not chocolate. Ripert’s rule #1 regarding ingredients and preparation, is that everything must be pristine. “Cheap oil will mean cheap flavor” says Ripert. Use the finest and freshest available ingredients, tasting as you cook to ensure proper seasoning. His Red Snapper and Wild Mushrooms in Port Reduction were indeed pristine and wonderful.
Le Bernardin’s pastry chef, Michael Laiskonis, winner of the 2007 James Beard Outstanding Pastry Chef award let us all in on a little secret – “The Egg” – a dessert only known to VIPs and “those in the know” who patronize Le Bernardin. The irresistible concoction consists of Milk Chocolate Crème Brulee topped with Caramel Sauce, Maple Syrup, a Caramel Custard foam and Cayman sea salt all neatly tucked in an egg shell. Four bites of pure heaven.
Additional seminars included a Fresh Catch demonstration by Richard Brower (chef at Blue), champagne and rum tastings, a Gala Chef’s dinner, and Afterglow Gaming. On Sunday there was a Bloody Mary Buffet followed by the Cayman Cook-Off, a Top Chef style competition. Three local chefs vied for the coveted prize of a weeklong apprenticeship with Eric Ripert at Le Bernardin in New York City. Caymanian chefs Glenovan Balfore, Paul Furze, and Sean Collins made a three course meal in one hour utilizing ingredients found in a “mystery basket”. The victor, Sean Collins, Owner, Chef, and Director of Operations at Mise En Place, a local catering company prepared snapper ceviche, a sausage, chicken, and black bean gumbo, and curried Cajun crusted snapper with garlic whipped mashed potatoes, and callallo with scotch bonnet peppers.
The program was well organized, educational, and full of energy. The service and attention given by the Ritz Carlton staff was phenomenal. The staff would not allow a guest to be hungry, thirsty or want for anything. Moët champagne flowed freely during the demonstrations but if champagne was not your preference; they were quick to bring you whatever you wished. The hotel itself is located on Seven Mile Beach on the largest of the three Caymanian Islands. There are 365 guest rooms and suites, five restaurants, Silver Rain - a La Prairie spa, a Nick Bollettieri tennis center, a Greg Norman 9 hole golf course, two pools, a Jacuzzi, shops, a beauty salon, and the largest fitness center I’ve seen in any hotel. For those traveling with children, there is Ambassadors of the Environment, a special program developed by Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of Jacques Cousteau. There are just nine such programs worldwide and they are designed to educate young people to develop knowledge and respect for the environment in fun and interesting ways. Virtuoso Travel Network named them “Best Children’s Program” in their “Best of the Best” annual awards.
Ritz Carlton Grand Cayman is planning to host the Caribbean Rundown annually with the next one in either May of 2008 or January of 2009. 
Me and Dale Levitski
