THE CHEF
Gary Rhodes OBE
collected his first Michelin
star at the age of 26 in the
late 1980s and since then
the London-born chef has
collected five more. In
2004, he opened the first
of many restaurants
outside the UK: Rhodes
at the five-star Calabash
Resort in Grenada.THE CARIBBEAN TOUCH I visited the Calabash while
filming a television show in Grenada and fell in love
with its postcard-pretty aesthetics. Clients come to
Rhodes restaurant for classic British and French
cuisine, but I can’t ignore the wonderful produce
Grenada has to offer, so I introduce a little local
flavor – for example, instead of serving a lobster
salad with Marie Rose sauce, it has a slightly spicy
mango vinaigrette.
THE SPICE ISLAND Grenada is the third largest
producer of nutmeg in the world, which is quite
remarkable given how small it is. We serve nutmeg-
rich bread and butter pudding. And there are a lot
of other spices in the food – turmeric, ginger,
cinnamon and cloves. Then there is the seafood:
a guy drives up early in the morning in his
tiny car with a tail sticking out the back, delivering
a tuna or barracuda he caught in the night.
THE GRENADIAN INSTITUTION BB’s Crabback is in
the capital, St George’s. The chef, Brian Benjamin,
is a great personality and every inch of the wall
is covered with autographs from celebrities such
as Morgan Freeman and Sir Richard Branson.
I love going in there with my sons for some of his
incredible curried goat.
THE CASUAL LUNCH The Calabash Beach Club
(formerly the Bash) has revamped its menu to
include more local dishes – roti, jerk chicken and
sweet potato fries.
THE ASIAN TWIST The Beach House, in a secluded
bay near the airport, offers an unusual twist on
Caribbean food – lobster wonton and Thai-style
crab cakes.
THE SATURDAY MARKET Get to St George’s market
at the crack of dawn to get the freshest catch in the
fish market, then, in the main market, ready-to-eat
fruit. The bananas are so full of flavor; our pastry
chef makes incredible banana bread.
THE OVERPROOF RUM The River Antoine rum
distillery is well worth a visit. They still use an 18th
century waterwheel to power the cane-crushing
mill. Don’t overdo the rum sampling though – it can
be about 85 per cent ABV!
calabashhotel.comCARIBBEAN GOURMAND
SPICE IT UP
Grenada’s cuisine draws
heavily on the local spices for
which the island is famous.
Left: the Calabash Beach club.
Top: Rhodes’s trio of tuna164