Lucinda's List

When I started putting together all the individual restaurant reviews I’d already published to create a book about Grand Case, I thought to myself “gee, how hard could this be?”

HA! I say to my two-months-younger, more ignorant self. Little do you know, grasshopper!

I’d already written 80% of the content, and formatted about 50% of it, so it seemed like it wouldn’t be that difficult. Just cut/paste the rest of the reviews from the web site, pop in some pics, and bob’s your uncle, right?

Wrong.

First, let’s start with the fun that is Create Space, the self-publishing company that works with Amazon. Given the Amazon relationship, I stupidly assumed they would be a technologically-advanced, service-oriented type of company. Not so much. They have extremely strict formatting requirements that necessitated a complete overhaul of my original template. OK, that’s fair – I mean, I want my margins to all match up when I put them together too, and I’ll admit I got lazy about maintaining the integrity of my template with each and every individual review. But OMG. When you submit a file for “review,” i.e. to make sure it matches their specifications, you wait a day and a half for them to send you a cryptic one-liner that says “your file does not meet our specifications for the following reasons… you have insufficient margins.”

Wow, so helpful!

Oh, and did I mention that they have a 100 MB file size limit? In this day and age, that is crazy. When I first exported my Mac Pages file to PDF for the very first upload, and selected the “best” photo quality – something you want with all these travel photos, right? – it was 373 MB. DOH.

So, I cut. And I cut. And I cut. And I saved as “better” quality. When I finally got everything down to 98 MB, and submitted the file for review, I was told the photography quality was insufficient.

THAT’S BECAUSE OF YOUR @#!@ FILE LIMIT, YOU !@##!@.

Oh, and then they had the audacity to offer me design services, for a small fee of course. Seriously?

At that point, I thought perhaps I should skip all the detailed restaurant reviews, and just print the overview and tips. After all, that was still 50 pages. But when I got the printed proof, I was so sad. It wasn’t a book… it was… a PAMPHLET. (Curb Your Enthusiasm anyone?).

I went back to including all the restaurant reviews – all 24 of them, more than half of which still needed to be formatted and photography added (and formatted). And paginated properly, and margins set… Phew, it’s making me tired just describing what I’ve been doing the past two months.

Who knew being a writer would involve NO WRITING? It’s all editing, formatting, sizing, photoshopping.

As of two weeks ago, I achieved a huge milestone – a content complete draft, including all text and images. I *barely* got it down to 100 MB, sadly at a very low image quality, and submitted for a proof. I then sent a *carefully worded* support email to Create Space asking how I could submit a larger file size. I got the same obnoxious, generic response.

I called their help desk… I had some words to convey that I didn’t want written down for posterity. And you know what? THEY UPPED THEIR FILE SIZE LIMIT TO 400 MB. I was so relieved and thrilled, I didn’t bother screaming at them as to why they couldn’t have TOLD ME THIS BEFORE I DESTROYED MY BOOK. And so I again redid all my photos, this time bringing them up to better quality and size.

I exported. Crossed my fingers. File size? 498 MB. AAAAHHHhhhhh!!!!

But here I am. I received the proof of the 160-page book (the one with low-quality images that I submitted just before they told me the good news, but it was too late to resubmit, so there went $50), but you know what? IT ROCKS (if I do say so myself). I’m so close I can taste it. I’m revamping the photography treatment yet again, and fixing some of the styling (amazing how different it looks in print than on screen!), but I have a finite list of improvements I want to make. Finite. What a beautiful word.

Meanwhile, I’ve been trying to find a professional freelance editor to do a final pass. I’ve been looking at these words for so long, you’d think I could recite the whole book from memory. Alas, this may turn out to be the longest pole in the tent. Can you believe how busy editors are this time of year? I’ve already talked with five of them – three turned me down because of availability, and two are busy until mid-December. The search continues.

Bottom line? It’s been a roller coaster two months, and my husband can attest to my barely-maintained sanity (or maybe he wouldn’t)… but “Grand Case: The Gourmet Capital of the Caribbean” is soooo close. Stay tuned!!!

If there’s one thing I’ve never been good at, it’s business development. Or asking for an interview. Or asking for favors of any kind, really. Anytime when I need to ask someone else for something, especially if it requires me to hype myself in the process… well, it’s a disaster. I either come off as a hopeless homeless person or a narcissistic be-atch.

Once I’m in the interview or pitch meeting in person, I’m great. Amazing. But I have never, ever had that skill of getting someone to read my email and get that first meeting. Back in the dot com bust, I was forced by necessity to try my hand at business development. Complete donut. Not a single meeting. Jobs? I’m almost always hired by someone I know, or introduced to someone else, which works great if you stay in the same industry for 20 years.

But here I am… with almost zero contacts in the publishing world… trying to find a publisher for my guidebooks.

As you may have seen, I’ve gone back and forth as to the necessity of old-school publishing. We could self-publish, through Amazon or Lulu or some other publisher out there… but then my book about Grand Case – one itty bitty town, on one itty bitty island – would cost you $60. I mean, I know my prose is riveting, but I’m not so delusional as to believe anyone would pay that. Except maybe my mother. Maybe. OK, probably not even her.

E-books? Well, Kindle doesn’t really handle photos all that well, and it’s black and white which, lets face it, not so great for a travel guide. iPad/iPhone? All has to be built in objective C. Not so developer friendly. Get on the Apple iPad book list? Apparently they’re only working with certain publishers, and you have to go through them.

Where does that leave me? It leaves me writing emails to publishers. The irony is that, as a writer, I’m completely incapable of writing an introductory email that doesn’t sound like an orphan begging for scraps. So yes, my husband had to give me lots of advice, and we went through several rewrites… and he might have helped write some of it. There, I said it. For shame, I know.

The best advice I have received in this process was the other day from a friend at Sunset Magazine. She told me to forget those generic email addresses they put on the web site, call the main number, and ask who to send it to. Worked like a charm yesterday.

So today, I decided to try and contact Wizard Publications, the people behind all those amazing Hawaii guidebooks: Kauai Revealed, Maui Revealed, Big Island… yeah, Revealed, you get the picture. I am a huge fan of these books, and I was devastated when I realized they didn’t have them for the Caribbean when we were researching. In many ways they are my inspiration for everything I’m doing. My writing style, my even bothering to create a book. Because what they’ve proven is that there is a better way to write a guidebook than the old school, just the facts ma’am.

After googling for a while, I finally tracked down a phone number – they don’t post a main number on their site, only generic email, so this took a little work. And guess what… THE AUTHOR ANSWERED. He didn’t say that was who it was, in fact he answered the phone with a simple “hello.” But when he explained they only publish in-house content, etc, I suddenly realized he was way more than the receptionist. And I said “is it possible this is Andrew Doughty?” and he said “yes.”

OMG.

I almost dropped the phone… then my flight instincts kicked in, and I almost hung up and ran upstairs to hide under my bed (there’s plenty of room under there, I’ve researched this option thoroughly already).

But, after years as a consultant having to dance for my supper, my training kicked in and we had a lovely 20-minute conversation. Seriously, he was the nicest guy, and turns out he has spent a bunch of time in Grand Case, St. Martin, and we bonded over the French police (I’ll save that story for another post . Alas, they really only focus on Hawaii and publish in-house writers… but I’m still holding out hope I can convince him one day.

In the meantime, I am waiting to hear back from the three publishers I’ve contacted. I can tell from bitly that at least two people have clicked on the link I sent, which means at least my email was opened and read somewhere along the way. Will I get any kind of response from anyone? Who knows. I really, really need to learn to live with rejection… or even worse, the deafening sound of silence.

It’s been two weeks since we launched our first deal, negotiated with Hotel L’Esplanade. Alas… not many of you were interested in it. Was it the hurricane coming through? I admit, that was poor timing on Earl’s part. Was it because of the October dates? Or is there a different hotel you want? I’d love to hear from you, so comment on our fan page!

All that said, creating deals is a bit time consuming, and in case you haven’t noticed… it’s just the two of us, and we aren’t actually getting paid for the deals. We’re doing those simply as a thank you, to you, our fans, whenever the opportunity arises.

Our intent has always been to publish guide books about the island we love. Leading up to that, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve been posting reviews of our favorite places, specifically restaurants in Grand Case, and beaches on the French side. I’m giving you, my fans, a preview of these individual reviews for free. Once we have everything ready, we’ll offer a full edition for purchase in as many formats as possible: kindle, print, iPad, etc. Hopefully having seen the free reviews, you’ll decide you want a proper book to bring with you on your next trip!

We’ll of course still post deals – with 25,000+ fans, we think many places will want to offer you a little something. But it will be opportunistic, when we’re approached. If there is a place you love to go, and you think they should do a deal with us, ask them to contact me at lucinda@lucindaslist.com. We’re always happy to entertain new deals.

Meanwhile, thanks for all your comments on the reviews! I love writing them, and thoroughly enjoy hearing what you guys have to say about these places, not to mention getting suggestions for new places to visit on our next trip.

Have you been to the places we visited? If so, comment and tell us what you thought!! Or better yet, more pictures!!!

My mom and I managed to hit so many incredible restaurants and beaches during our two week trip – we went out every lunch and dinner, and even when she wanted to eat leftovers (blasphemy!), I made her go out. I told her “research” was a tough job, and I think now she believes me.

My “Auspicious Start” post got us through the first week. There will be so many more details and extensive reviews in the guide book when it comes out (soon! I promise!), but in the meantime, here are some highlights of how the second week of our fantastic research trip went down:

Sunday

Went to Pinel island with good friends Kristin & Marc and their kids, along with Madam J and Mrak (not a misspelling – we needed a way to distinguish between the two Marks . Having told my mom the boat trip was from Cul de Sac, where it’s a 10 minute hop, skip and jump across some of the calmest waters you’ve ever seen, we instead took Marc’s 18-foot whaler from Anse Marcel. For those of you who know your St. Martin geography, you’ll know that meant a half-hour ride around the northern tip of the island, which entailed a disneyworld-like roller coaster ride of skipping over waves, and sometimes getting drenched by them, going halfway to Pinel against the current before turning with the waves and riding them back to Pinel.

Marc is a phenomenal captain, carefully riding into the waves, and so it actually turned out to be great fun (for everyone except Madam J who luckily took her seasickness medicine). Wondering how my mom was doing, I suddenly realized the giggling and girlish exclamations of “whee!” were in fact coming from her. Once we got to Pinel, the island did not remotely disappoint. I just love that place – no cars, no hotels, no houses, only two restaurants. We rarely left the calm, warm, shallow water, except to do some excellent snorkeling and enjoy a serene repast of lobster, ribs, warm trunk fish salad, nems and other tasty delights at Karibuni. I highly recommend Pinel!

You might think after a day like that we would be too tired to go out for dinner… wrong! OK, right in the sense that we were exhausted, but we showered off and dragged ourselves to Il Nettuno. One of the larger restaurants on the water side of Grand Case Boulevard, Il Nettuno does have lovely views, but the pasta was only decent, and the service only fine. Not a highlight.

Monday

Minor rain. Decided to head to Anse Marcel and check out Le Domaine de Lonvilliers, a French hotel on the beach in Anse Marcel. Enjoyed a beautiful view during lunch at Domaine’s La Table du Marche. Though the menu was limited, I had a club sandwich that, while drenched in what I’m 99% sure was miracle whip, was tasty on a brioche-like bread slices and its untraditional addition of hard-boiled egg. Insanely usurious 1.5 exchange rate they charged us to pay in dollars. Crazy! Note: Anse Marcel is secluded, and the road there is definitely not one that should be attempted after a glass of wine, much less a bottle, and we heard some sad tales that support this advice.

Monday evening we met up with the rest of the Super Secret Squirrel Squad to enjoy the Tasting Fooding menu sampler at Le Cottage (see Tasting Fooding post for a more detailed review!). Great night with a fantastic assortment of women! I love it when a plan comes together…

Tuesday

Despite a minor hangover from ladies’ night, we got up early and hopped in our little red ferrari (ok, really it was a hyundai getz with 70k miles, but it was red), and headed to the French lowlands to check out the beaches. Our first beach was Baie Longue, down by La Samanna. La Samanna won’t let you go to the beach through their property – they’re persnickety that way, and if I paid $1500/night there, I’d appreciate it, so I can’t blame them. But Long Beach is in fact exactly that, Long, so if you turn off the main road at the La Samanna sign, then take a right at the La Samanna gate, you go a mile or so and suddenly you’re past the $10 million villa gates and find a small parking lot with an access path to the beach. Deserted. Not a soul that we could see in either direction. No amenities, so bring what you need.

Headed to Baie Rouge, where there are two ultra casual beach bars: Gus’s and Chez Raymond. Chairs were of the basic plastic varietal. I’ve heard rumors of amazing snorkeling at Baie Rouge, just around the outcropping of rock if you’re willing to venture that far. Beyond that, it was an extensive beach, though didn’t look as clean or well maintained as others. For lunch, we headed back to Grand Case to partake in the yummy thin crust pizzas at La California.

Tuesday night we headed to L’Escapade on the sunset side of Grand Case for dinner. We got there just as the sun was setting, and got some fabulous photos (sunsets here inspire photographer OCD). Our meal was decent if not earth shattering.

Wednesday

After several days of croissant and baguette breakfasts – nothing wrong with them, but I’m an egg girl myself – we wanted to branch out in search of a hearty breakfast. We decided to try American Breakfast, a sign we’d seen by the side of the road just after you take the Anse Marcel turn from the roundabout past Grand Case. Inspired. Though we were awfully confused when we found ourselves in the parking lot for a tennis academy, Oliver, the French tennis pro and owner, left his tween boys on the tennis court to whip us up an amazing breakfast. Eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, and incredibly fresh kiwi and other fruit, plus fabulous cafe au lait… we were in breakfast heaven.

Headed to Calmos Cafe, my favorite beach bar anywhere. Great ambiance, with picnic tables under cover near the bar, then comfortably cushioned lounge chairs and umbrellas on the beach, not to mention wifi, it was the perfect place to camp out while we did some work. We sat and watched it rain over Anguilla, while it past us by.

Eventually we worked up to wanting a light salad for lunch, and their tomato and mozzarella did the trick. Not the best tomatoes… seems no one has good ones in St. Martin… but a light and tasty lunch nonetheless. My mom’s melon and prosciutto salad was fantastic, with crazy ripe melon.

Dinner we headed to Rainbow Cafe, a “new” restaurant – it was one of the originals decades ago, then closed, and recently reopened by a new owner, Douglas, who looks like a French Orlando Bloom. Beautiful views. Tasty Nems. We loved that you get to mix and match which meat, which size, what sauce, what preparation, etc. Nice to have control of your meal! And solid delivery of a good meal. Bearnaise sauce was the best.

Thursday

Thursday morning we headed over to Orient Beach to continue our survey. There are soooo many beach bars at Orient Beach. My camera battery died on our last trip, so I had to go back and finish photographing all of them and make it all the way to the end… the Club “O” nudist end, that is. My mom decided to park herself at Kakao beach bar, which charged us $15 for the privilege (and tried to charge us twice), and never bothered to offer us beverage service. Kind of a rip off.

Lunch we attempted to go to Le Tastevin, one of my favorites from last trip. Sadly they were closing early because they were heading out on extended vacation. We ended up at Le Soleil, one of my least favorites from last trip, but I figured they deserved a second chance. My alsatian tarte was tasty – I mean, creme fraiche, bacon and onions on a thin crust, how can you go wrong? – but my mom’s Gazpacho was so garlicky as to be inedible. And I love garlic, so it takes a lot to say that.

Dinner… turned out to be one of our absolute best meals of the trip, and maybe of our lives. We went to L’Estaminet. I had intentionally saved it till late in the trip for fear we’d want to go there every night if we went too early, and it was a good instinct. It was AMAZING. Best meal ever, and some of the most engaging and charming owners I’ve ever met in Carole (hostess) and Ina (chef). Highly, highly recommend a stop at L’Estaminet. The foie gras was impeccable, with unexpected highlights like popcorn, crazy but crazy good. The filet mignon with goat cheese and truffle tapenade, simply perfect. And the sides! I could go on forever…

Friday

Friday morning we decided we were a little crispy from sun, so we headed to Simpson Bay for breakfast at Zee Best (only OK) and shopping for Desigual, my favorite designer. Lunch in Grand Case at Brasserie des Iles, one of the casual restaurants where my husband and I spent many quiet nights on our last trip. As usual, it was filled to the brim with Gendarmes (i.e. hardcore policemen, not the basic munipical types). Our waitress had her hands full apparently, but the avocado and shrimp salad was delicious, if pretty heavy on the mayonnaise.

Bistrot Caraibes was our dinner destination, along with our friend Kristin. Love their lobster, especially Lobster Thermidore – they were kind enough to do half and half on the preparations. Highlight was the pop rocks in the chocolate lava cake. Pop rocks! But with a French name, of course, so they were gourmet pop rocks.

Saturday

Had to hit the Marigot market, which meant delicious breakfast at the best boulangerie on the island: Sarafina. Purchased spices, rums, and even a French provencal tablecloth for my mom. Found my favorite shop “Et You” and bought more Desigual. Tried to go to Rancho Del Sol for a simple lunch, but forgot they are closed on Saturdays. Instead hit up Palm Beach on Orient, where we had lovely salads and a glass of wine on the second floor veranda overlooking the beach. Beautiful.

Our last Grand Case gourmet restaurant on this trip was Le Ti Provencal, and it did not disappoint. You might be concerned when you see them walking over a tray of raw whole fish, but it’s so fresh, it doesn’t wig you out, just helps make your decision that much easier. Warm trunk fish salad? You might think it’s too cute to eat, but you’d be way wrong. So yummy. Herve, the owner and chef, simply rocks the fresh island fish, and he’s lucky enough to be on the sunset water side no less. Another highlight!

Sunday

After two weeks of gorging ourselves, we decided we’d take it easy and head back to our favorite beach, Friar’s Bay. Not too quiet, not too deserted (two excellent restaurants), and it turns out Friar’s Bay Beach Cafe serves an American Breakfast! Seriously big breakfast, and sooo delicious. Hit about eight spots.

The highlight at Friar’s Bay was definitely when Eric and Beth recognized me and introduced themselves!!! It was the first time someone recognized me, and I was thrilled, they were so kind. Hope you guys enjoyed the rest of your trip!!

Lunch on Sunday had to be Sky’s the Limit, the best Lolo in all of Grand Case. Service isn’t great, but the food, OMG, the food is so good you think it’s sprinkled with crack, and crazy cheap, even relative to the rest of the lolos.

Sunday night we did what most people end up doing at some point on their vacation but don’t admit – we ordered in from Rancho Del Sol. Gotta love delivery, even in St. Martin! Perfectly crispy pork nems, and ultra thin crust pizza, they did not suffer from the drive.

Monday

Well, that was all she wrote for St. Martin. I had to arrive at SXM at the inhuman hour of 6am, only to find my flight delayed three hours, but too early in the day to make good use of the time beyond curling up on the chairs (thank goodness one airport has compassionate seats without armrests!). Missed my connection in Miami by a hair, 5 hour layover, delayed flight to SFO… Phew! But I made it home in one piece, albeit an exhausted one, with beautiful memories of St. Martin.

Now it’s back to work on finishing up our book! Stay Tuned!!!

(P.S. My apologies for closing comments on the blog – we have a spam issue we’re working out – so if you have comments, please post them on the Facebook Fan Page. Thank you!)

Last night we had a bit of an impromptu ladies night here in Grand Case, otherwise known as the first gathering of the Super Secret Squirrel Squad. In reviewing the restaurants for the first Lucinda’s List guide book, we’re being careful not to give away our secret identities so as to ensure our experience is representative of what others will find. Last night we enlisted the help of several of our favorite island women in revisiting Le Cottage.

We had been hearing all week about an innovative new menu at Le Cottage called “Tasting Fooding.” I’m always a big fan of poorly translated French monikers, so we simply had to give it a try.

After the six of us were seated in an appropriately segregated alcove – they were prescient in guessing the inevitable cackling and shrillness would eventually drive other patrons away – Bruno began to excitedly explain their new approach. On the left side of the menu, a list of 20 cold appetizers. On the right hand side, 20 hot appetizers. For 18 euro, you get to choose five cold or five hot or five combined. For two people, they would recommend splitting one assortment of cold, then one each assortment of hot. It is an innovative approach, but in fact it took us a little while to understand the explanation, so we simply put ourselves in Bruno’s ever-so-capable hands, and allowed him to work with the chef to craft us an amazing tasting experience.

When the platters arrived, filled with an amazing assortment of goodies of all colors and concoctions, we didn’t really know where to start… but eventually we all just dug in. Every single thing we tasted was delicious. Our favorite was what we renamed the “Fluffy Duck,” which as far as we could tell was duck tartare in a little mug, filled to the brim with magical duck-infused, creme fraiche-based, creamy froth. There was a small tomato stuffed with a burrata mozzarella cheese filling – it was a perfect bite that must have taken 10 minutes alone to hand craft. There were beakers of different flavored (and multi-colored) gazpacho, topped with sprout confetti, and complete with straws to facilitate sharing. The whole presentation made me feel like a science geek kid who has just received his first chemistry set and can’t wait to discover the joy of blowing up the basement. One of my personal favorites was the foie gras lollipop, crusted in pepper. We must have tried tastes of 30+ dishes, and not a single one fell short in either taste or presentation. The best part is we now each have a short list of dishes we want to order next time we go! Sadly, the Fooding Tasting is only for low season, but if you’re here when it’s available, I highly recommend it.

After the hot tasting, we decided we were happily full without being stuffed, a nice feeling, and therefore perfect for ordering several desserts. On our last visit to Le Cottage, I was introduced to the Grand Marnier souffle, and it was an absolute must order. And now they have a caramel souffle? Sign me up. Oh, AND there is a dessert fooding tasting? Yeah, that too. By the end it looked like there had been a sweet massacre, or at least a sacrifice offered up to the goddess of girlie feasting.

Verdict from the secret squirrels? Highly recommend the fooding tasting (despite its grammatical challenges).

It’s Saturday morning. My mother and I arrived in St. Martin on Tuesday afternoon: me bleary-eyed from a red eye from SFO to Charlotte, then a three-hour layover from 6:15am – 9:35am, and she exhausted from having been told to arrive at IAD at 5am, even though the security lines don’t open till 5:30. You might think it was an inauspicious start to our 2-week research trip.

But after we arrived at Hotel L’Esplanade and settled into our beautiful suite, then wandered down to Talk of the Town lolo for a life-saving lunch… then we were suddenly back on island time, and Island Lucinda reappeared.

Since then, we’ve been packing every minute into every day, and loving it all.

Wednesday: Breakfast at L’isle Flottante in Grand Case, then spent the day at La Playa at Orient Beach. Dinner at La Villa with great friends Jenn and Mark, who we met on our last trip. Finished up the evening with a rum bay breeze – where else? – at Calmos Cafe.

Thursday: Breakfast in the room. Hit Le Galion beach, but the weather and conditions weren’t great. Went to the other side of the island to Friar’s Beach, and the Friar’s Beach Bar Cafe for lunch, which was spectacularly good. Hiked to Happy Bay to see what all the fuss is about. Stunning. Dinner at Piazza Pascal. Stopped by salsa night at Calmos Cafe.

Friday: Breakfast at Sunset Cafe at the Grand Case Beach Club. Considered lounging there for the day, but not for $20 for the chairs. Instead headed to Calmos Cafe for their free Wi-Fi and chairs, and a bit of work, trying to catch up on reviewing everything we’d done so far. My mom suggested leftovers for lunch, but I explained we have to make every single meal count! Hit the Rib Shack lolo for lunch. Had to recover at the Esplanade pool, which we had all to ourselves for the afternoon, and probably the first time we really stopped and took a breath. Auberge Gourmande for dinner, the Grande Dame of Grand Case, the gourmet restaurant that started it all, and wow, did it live up to its reputation. 30 years it’s been in business, and still setting the standard.

Saturday: Breakfast in the room. Heading out to Philipsburg and Maho Beach to watch the jumbo jets land, including lunch at the famous Sunset Bar & Grill. May have to detour to the medical center for some angioplasty. Can they do emergency dialysis to strip out the cholesterol? I can feel my veins hardening… but really, I don’t care. Worth it. Thinking of hitting Il Nettuno for a little italian tonight, or maybe the Pirate Restaurant?

Tomorrow heading to Pinel Island with a bunch of friends, planning to hit up Karibuni Beach Bar for their famous lobster.

What can I say? We’re working hard. It’s a rough life, but someone has to do it, right?

Nine more days and sooo many restaurants and beaches left to go…

Vicki’s take: OMG, I cannot believe the beaches and the restaurants here. There is a reason why Caribbean blue conjures up a lovely clear blue-green: the water is impossibly clear and perfectly welcoming on the warm, sunny days we’ve had since we arrived. The restaurants run the gamut on food styles, but are all friendly, service-oriented and yummy food.

Choosing where to spend two months of our lives was not easy. It’s one thing to pick a hotel for a week – you’re not investing that much in it, time or money. But how do you decide where to spend two months? It’s a significant investment, and if this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip, then where you stay is the lynchpin, and it’s not as though you can drop by for a preview.

When we decided at the end of December to take such a long trip, we had already determined that we didn’t want to be on the road the entire time. The goal was to put a good think on, and if you’re constantly running around exploring the world, you’re too busy experiencing to actually reflect and do some proper soul-searching. This was more of a sit and think type of endeavor. And, we weren’t feeling lucky enough to just arrive somewhere and hope for the best.

So, we started by agreeing on some simple, obvious criteria:

• warm
• beach

Given that we were talking about February, that did immediately rule out ~ 90% percent of the world, so it was no longer a random game of twirl-the-globe. But there were still so many options. Australia? Tahiti? Hawaii? Mexico? Latin America? Caribbean? Thailand? We bought books on all of them (Barnes & Noble loves us), but still, how do you decide? We spent the entire week between Christmas and New Years researching villas, hotels, all sorts of destinations. But we realized that we needed to analyze further what constitutes a perfect trip in Steve & Lucinda land to make the leap and commit.

So, we mulled… and we did that by going to many of our favorite restaurants in Berkeley, and that’s when it dawned on us what was needed:

• a tasty variety of food
• cultural diversity (i.e. English not the primary language, and not thronged by American tourists)

All of a sudden that ruled out many, many places. Australia? Would love to, but it’s English-speaking (well, sort of , and for that matter it’s a hell of a plane ride. Tahiti? Most places you’d be relatively secluded, and limited in your food options. Mexico or Costa Rica? Beautiful, but not so excited by the food for two months. Hawaii? Been there.

The Caribbean!

It was so obvious in retrospect, but even then, so many islands to choose from, so we continued to research… until we read about Grand Case, a little town on the French side of St. Martin. It’s called the “Gourmet capital of the Caribbean,” with more than 50 restaurants packed into a one mile stretch. It seems to have evolved mostly because there are tons of direct flights from France and the Netherlands bringing in excellent chefs and their recipes. Also, St. Martin is still technically part of France, as opposed to a territory, so it really keeps to its roots… as though there were such a thing as a French Palm tree.

The last piece of the puzzle came when we read a review on TripAdvisor on a place called Hotel L’Esplanade. As most of you know, I’m a rabid fan of customer reviews, and this was one of the best I’ve read. It was written by a woman who was stuck in an airport for 20 hours, and clearly spent most of that time writing her review, desperately clinging to her post-vacation peace for just a few minutes more. We checked out the hotel website, and we were convinced.

When I called, and asked “what is your availability in Feb and March?” they thought there was a language issue, and kept asking me which dates. I tried to explain: “all of them.” As it turned out, they were booked until Feb 14th, hence our detours in the cultural swampland of Florida, but we ended up spending six full weeks there.

And we were not disappointed. Grand Case is by far my favorite place in the world so far, and I can’t wait to head back next week!

Want to be in our guide book?

We’ve been so excited to see the level of interaction on the new Facebook fan page. Seems like everyone who goes to St. Martin is just as passionate about it as we are!

Reading through all the posts… the thing that occurred to us was just how many of you have been going every year for 10, 15, 20+ years. We were reminded that we noticed the same phenomenon when we were down there meeting other travelers; it seemed like half the people we met were already addicted. And they were the best source of recommendations of anyone. Richie and Mame introduced us to Bacchus, the best wine store in the world. Jenn and Mark introduced us to Pinel and fabulous snorkeling. Kristin and Marc, well the list is too long to recount, but one of our favorites is Le Chalet for fondue. But beyond the recommendations, we were just floored by how many incredible people we met, and their fascinating stories.

And then it dawned on us. Why not put together a guide book that not only gives all the insider secrets you guys have amassed over the years, but also tells your story? The thing I hate about Trip Advisor is you never know enough about the reviewer to decide whether they’re credible or not. We want to flip that on its head. We think the people and their personal experiences are just as interesting as the places they’ve been.

So… do you want to be in our guide book? Photos are a great start. But we want to tell your story. Reply to this blog post, and I’ll reach out to you to set up an interview. Can’t wait to meet everyone!!

In preparation for my upcoming research trip, my propensity for list-making knows no bounds. New restaurants to review. Restaurants I’ve been to, but need to get more photos or information. Restaurants that might need a second look. New rating criteria. Beaches to visit. Beach criteria. Seriously. I can’t stop making lists. It’s a disease. And I haven’t even begun my packing list-mania. That will set in a few days before I leave, and then I really lose my mind… but that’s a topic for my therapist. I digress.

The most important list is of course which restaurants to visit, because ultimately that is who will be included in our first book, the Grand Case Restaurant Guide. There are so many great restaurants on the island, so it’s critical to focus, and make sure we hit the right ones in our limited time this trip. I’ve got a list of 24 so far, and we will be posting those on the fan page over the next couple weeks to get the community’s thoughts on them.

But the other important list is what aspects we should be evaluating for each restaurant. This isn’t a trip advisor review, where you just say yeah, it was good but slow. Nor is it a traditional travel guide, where they either post a two line description, or tell you what the owners want you to say. No, this is intended to be the defining review, the in-depth analysis, the end-all, be-all assessment. Everything you need to know to decide whether to spend one of your precious vacation meals at this restaurant. Vacations are too short to have crappy meals, right?

So help me out! Here’s my current list of what criteria we’re using to evaluate the restaurants. Any suggestions of other things you’d like to see included? What questions do you have when you are trying to decide about a restaurant?

Restaurant Ratings (each element scored on a 1-5 star basis)

• Overall Rating – one to five stars (whole stars only)
• Quest Ratings – one to five stars
  • Romance – was it beautiful? inspiring? quiet? intimate?
  • Relaxation – was it quiet? Mellow? Not too intense?
  • Fun – was it a good party atmosphere? Great for a group?
  • Family – is it appropriate for you to bring your kids? is there a good kids menu? will you annoy the other diners if you bring them?
  • Value – not was it cheap, but was it worth the money? Was it a bargain exchange rate?
• Food Ratings
  • Quality – was it good? was it well prepared? tasty? is it fresh? greasy?
  • Presentation – how did it look? was it artfully presented?
  • Drinks – extensive wine list? mixed drinks? were they good?
  • Authenticity – is the restaurant true to its claimed cuisine? did it appropriately represent the island and/or the cuisine it claims?
• Service
  • Attentiveness – did the waiters pay attention to you? check on you? or leave you hanging?
  • Speed – how long was the wait for your food once you ordered? was it appropriate given the restaurant?
  • Knowledge – did the waiter know his wine list? speak knowledgeably about the dishes? is the wait staff friendly? professional?
• Atmosphere
  • Views – views of the water/beach? sunset? mountainside? or is it a road?
  • Decor – was it well decorated? standard beachy? chi-chi? even if the restaurant is on the “wrong” side of the boulevard, it still could have a nice atmosphere
  • Comfort – good chairs? could you sit for the entire meal? were you worried about breaking the plates or glasses they were so fancy?
  • Noise level – was it too loud to hear each other? (five stars if it was easy to have an intimate conversation)
  • Cleanliness – is the restaurant clean? are the restrooms clean? do they meet mainland sanitation standards? are tables cleared quickly?
  • Crowd Factor – how busy is it? are there crowds? do they take reservations? when is it not busy? is this a tourist trap?

Restaurant Review Elements (qualitative descriptions of each element)

• Call outs (key points to highlight)
  • Pros – Bullet form. What are the highlights of this particular restaurant? Why bother?
  • Cons – Bullet form. What might deter you from this restaurant
  • Local Secrets – things you only really know if you’ve been there a few times, or insider secrets if they exist
  • Don’t Miss – what’s special about this particular place? for example, Le Cottage has awesome grand marnier souffle
  • Getting There – less applicable for restaurants, unless it’s someplace like Bacchus that needs some explaining
  • Caution – only if there is some kind of danger to note, like be careful leaving alone in the middle of the night
• Restaurant review (narrative form)
  • Overview – when did you go? what was it like? what stuck out the most? give the highlights… how hard was it to get there? is it near hotels/villas/condos?
  • Food – what did you have? good or bad? Essentially explain why you rated the food the way you did, make it obvious why it did/didn’t rate well
  • Service – how was your interaction with the owners? the waiters? again, make it obvious why the ratings
  • Atmosphere – was it fun? romantic? crowded? relaxing? beautiful? Again, make it obvious why you gave the ratings you did
  • Restaurant story – did you meet the owners? what’s their story? what are their credentials? why do they love their restaurant?

Just the Facts (summary of basic information)

• Price level – on a scale of 1-5, 5 being highest (like l’Estaminet, Le Pressoir, etc.), 1 being a Lolo
• Restaurant category – gourmet, casual, beach bar or Lolo?
• Meals served – breakfast, lunch, afternoon (stay open in between), dinner
• Cuisine – what type of food do they serve?
• Good for – kids? groups? couples? seniors? gourmands? everyone? no one?
• Website – is there a website?
• Phone number
• Location – Town, like Grand Case
• Credit cards – Visa? Amex? Not sure or None
• Currency conversion – do they do 1:1? market rate? don’t know?
• Outdoor seating – water view? balcony? on beach? other? or none
• Parking? on site? street? nearby parking lot? none?
• Other restaurant info? this is a wide open text field – is it closed on certain days or months? live music? anything else you should know?

It’s official: I’m heading back to St. Martin! Just for two weeks this time… I know, boo-hoo, such a short trip. But it will be a crazy whirlwind as I attempt to gather all the remaining content for our first book: The Restaurants of Grand Case. I mean… so much eating and tanning to do in such a short time, right?

Can I justify some spa research if the book is about restaurants?

As it turns out, Steve won’t be joining me on this trip. Instead, I’ll be accompanied by my intrepid traveling Mother. I wasn’t sure if she was going to want to go on such a long trip with me, but when I asked, there was exactly zero hesitation. I explained… this is going to be a working trip, lots of research… “Yes. I want to go to there.” So there it is. It’s actually perfect: she’s recently retired, an awesome traveler… and not without strong, insightful opinions. I have a feeling our content is going to improve considerably with her help.

We’re heading down August 2 – 16th. Flights have been booked. I’m finalizing my checklist to make sure we don’t miss any restaurants, or any key pieces of information or photos. Steve has promised to give me a crash course to improve my photo-tography skills (a la strategery). Now we just keep our fingers crossed that we avoid the big H (that’s hurricane, not heroin… obviously .

In the meantime, Steve is embracing his inner marketing genius. And, in exciting news, our desks arrived today, so our new office is all tricked out. I can’t  believe I have an actual desk, chair, keyboard… and even a screen! It’s actually the best set-up I’ve had at any company. Bigger desk, better chair, bigger monitor… and definitely better company.