Urban Thought Collective

Catch up on part one here…

The only reasonably priced meal that I ate during my 8 days in Provo was the very first one at “Hemingway’s On the Beach.” Every other meal absolutely broke the bank, but at least the food was very good. “Hemingway’s” does salads, sandwiches and burgers very well, and with a view to die for. You’ll notice that will be a common theme here. The seating is largely outdoors, except for a few tables near the little open-air room by the bar. I was amused by the fact that the people that had sat near me on the plane were at an adjacent table. All of us feigned indifference, pretending not to notice one another and blend in as if all of this decadence were old hat.

I was let in on a little secret amongst the residents of this place. Discussing something as trivial as the weather is pointless in Turks and Caicos. The weather is ALWAYS good and it almost never rains (except for 2 of the 8 days that I was around…and the rare hurricane). “So we talk about the food,” they explained. There is an amazing dining experience to be had nightly. In the resort part of town, this is an understatement. Nearly everything is a five-star establishment, or at least similarly priced. The first night that we were not in the office burning the midnight oil and eating pizza or chinese food, I ventured out to a place called “Coco Bistro.”

Hidden down a little dirt driveway and surrounded by palm trees, “Coco Bistro” looked unassuming enough. From the outside it was a quaint little brightly-colored house with some rocks creating a pathway to the front door. Once inside, it doesn’t look like much but a bar with a very small dining area until you realize that this is actually just the waiter’s and bus boy’s station. The dining area is outside under a canopy of coconuts, palm trees, and starlight that is perhaps one of the most romantic settings you can imagine. I was dining alone, but this was not lost on me as they set the white napkin on my lap and handed me a menu. For some reason, I was in the mood for something mildly Italian, so I had some scallops and pasta. Absolutely delicious!

My next experience was Grace Bay Club’s “Anacaona.” As with most locales on this island, this place could be summed up in one word: Spectacular. Dining alone again, I sat at the 90 foot long Infiniti Bar that seems to continue right on into the water where I could still order from the restaurant’s full dinner menu. The outdoor dining area (again, not a risk here since it rarely rains) was outlined by tiki torches which were quite striking as they accompanied the moon in dimly lighting the white table-clothed settings. Another nice visual touch were the brightly colored, yet elegant chairs. The appetizers here were too enticing to skip and I even lost my composure and ordered two of them in the Conch Chowder (made with cherry pepper and aged rum) and Crab Assortment (blackened Alaskan King crab with tomato marmalade, lump crab tempura, and king crab salad with creole salsa).

I opted against wine and instead indulged in one of their specialty rum-based cocktails. At a bar like this, how could you not order something? For my entree, I went to an old standby, Chilean Sea bass, that chefs Joel Rheaume and Eion Laird clearly “put their foot in.” I had been warned about the dessert and made sure to save room. Let’s not kid ourselves, anytime somebody has a warm chocolate centered cake that brings back fond memories of the Godiva chocolate cake at “Mortons,” I’m all in…whether you have to air lift me out of there or not. This one did not disappoint.

The next night it was on to the “Caicos Café” which I would’ve tried a few nights earlier had I not taken a left instead of a right and walked way down the street before somebody set me straight. When I finally made it on that night, the kitchen was closed. The great thing about being 6′7″ is that people don’t usually forget you (unless of course, you’re a criminal and you WANT to go unnoticed so that you can stay out of reach of Johnny Law) and they greeted me accordingly when I did finally dine there. “You made it back!” the hostess exclaimed upon my return down the walkway of multicolored gravel and up the steps. I showed up in shorts and sandals here and felt just fine about it. Actually, you can do that at most of these places but at this one especially. It definitely has an island feel, but the menu has a sort of French/Mediterranean twist to it.

Of course the seafood is great, and I chose to partake in a crab salad. The portions are huge here, so you don’t feel nearly as bad when the bill comes, and you’re definitely full. This place wasn’t nearly as swanky as “Anacaona,” but somehow, the bill was almost as much. Don’t come to this island on a budget. Upon that much we can be certain.

Next I hit “Bella Luna” for some outstanding Italian fare. I hate to keep calling everything spectacular (it kind of takes away from the word, like when actors and actresses call each other “amazing” whenever they are on the red carpet at awards shows) but it was. The food was quite good, though not the best Italian I’ve ever had, but coupled with the ambience it gets a definite thumbs up from me. I got there about 10 minutes before closing time and was still treated like a first class guest, and greeted with some peligrino and bruschetta almost immediately. Go ahead and kick me now for not bringing my camera to this one. The dining room sits atop a second floor patio overlooking a palm-tree lined courtyard accented with beautiful flowers. If you’ve got the loot and a date, you could win major points for booking reservations at this place. But then again, you’re probably way ahead if you’ve got a date with you on this island…

STAY TUNED FOR PART THREE…

Destah Owens is a single father of two from Northern California and proud UCLA Bruin who travels the world for his job as a computer engineer. His blog, “Soufflés in Saigon,” is exclusive to Urban Thought Collective.