On the road again: Cayman Cookout, day 0

I'm back in Grand Cayman in January for one of the greatest foodie events, the Cayman Cookout.  Check out all that's happening this weekend, and if you're at all a foodie, you'll wish you were here.

I don't want to kid you:  this trip is not rough duty.  I'm jealous of me, and I'm here.  Leaving a cold rainy Raleigh--a town that is facing a winter storm warning--after two and a half hours of sleep for the nearly eighty degrees of this beautiful island is a treat indeed.  It's not all party time; waking up was brutal, and I spent more of today working than doing anything else.  Still, it's almost impossible to complain when you're working under the slowly spinning ceiling fan and staring over your laptop at this view out the hotel room windows. 

As always, click on an image to see a larger version.

Today is, according to weather forecasts here, the worst day of the event:  cloudy and only high seventies. 

I can live with that.

The same view near sunset was equally but differently wonderful.

I could definitely get used to this.  

Dinner tonight was at Blue by Eric Ripert, a restaurant here at the hotel that reflects the passion for and genius with seafood that Ripert possesses and showcases in his New York flagship, Le Bernardin.  I, of course, went for the larger of the two tasting menu options, and it was marvelous.  The star of the group was tuna - foie gras, which is a paper-thin layer of tuna over a thin slice of foie gras, the whole thing delicately spiced with olive oil, chive bits, and no doubt several other tasty ingredients. 

I could eat a giant cookie tray of this light but intense dish that manages to trigger many different umami flavors. 

The other eight courses in the meal, all of which except the desserts involved seafood, were delicious and lovely. 

Tomorrow, a few Cayman Cookout events start, and then from Friday morning through late Sunday night, I will be pleasantly slammed indeed. 

As I said, I'm jealous of me, and I'm here.