Saint Martin Tourism Office President Valérie Damaseau (front row, left) poses with local chef ambassadors, Chef Laurent Huguet, Préfet Cyrille Le Vély, President Louis Mussington (rear), and Head Mixology Judge Arthur Sutley (right) at the festival launch. (Robert Luckock photo)
GRAND CASE--The 2025 Gastronomy Festival was officially launched Monday evening, appropriately in the culinary capital of Grand Case, with a pre-event of music and entertainment on the Boulevard. The launch was preceded by Sunday’s “Taste of Sunrise” brunch at Loterie Farm.
Several speakers expressed their enthusiasm for the festival, which continues to grow and innovate each year. They included Saint Martin Tourism Office President Valérie Damaseau, Collectivité President Louis Mussington, Michelin-starred Chef Laurent Huguet who is the Godfather of the festival, Mixology Jury President Arthur Sutley, and Préfet Cyrille Le Vély who will be experiencing his first gastronomy festival.
Tourism Office Director Aïda Weinum gave an overview of the festival programme. She began by acknowledging the great job the seven local chef ambassadors had done at the “Taste of Sunrise” and called them up by name.
Head Mixology Judge Arthur Sutley, who oversees the USA delegation as well, has attended every festival from the beginning.
“The Tourism Office has cast an amazing spotlight on the culinary and beverage excellence of this island and if it wasn’t for their hard work a lot of it would go unnoticed. I work with them behind the scenes and I know what the stress can be like,” he said. “I thank you for making this such a great festival for us to come to. You know how well regarded this festival is when chefs block the dates on their calendar one year before, hoping to get the invite to come back.”
Damaseau reminded that the slogan “Culinary Powerhouse of the Caribbean” had emerged thanks to the Boulevard’s culinary and cultural diversity.
Mussington in his remarks regretted not being able to attend a gastronomy festival from start to finish due to often having to travel to attend to the business of the Collectivité. He praised the Tourism Office team for its dedication and effort in organising the “magnificent” festival.
Some 44 restaurants are taking part in the “Best Table of Saint Martin competition” and nine in the BBQ competition on November 16. Eight bars will be taking part in the Mixology competition and four food trucks will be competing against each other.
New for this year is the invitation extended to other Caribbean islands to present their national dish on the closing night of the festival on November 22. Participating are the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Haiti, Curaçao, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, French St. Martin and Dutch St. Maarten.
Visit www.festival-st-martin.com to view the festival programme of events open to the public.
