A windy last Cayman Cookout day

I absolutely love storms on islands.  The waves and the wind and even the rain fill me with happiness.  So, when I saw the rough chop and heard the breakers and the wind today, I was very pleased.

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Others on the island seem less happy, but for me, particularly on a day when events occupy most of my time, this weather is grand.

The big daytime event was the Bon Vivant Amateur Chef Competition and brunch.

As the amateur chefs on stage compete in a TV-style cooking competition, the judges (chefs Emeril, Irvine, Andres, Boulud, and Ripert) watch them work and eventually eat their creations.  Meanwhile, the huge crowd enjoys brunch from something on the order of two dozen stations scattered down a reception area and porch outside the ballroom.  I focused on not over-eating and on sampling only things I knew (from the reports of others or knowledge of the food and the chefs) to be good.  The approach worked well:  I enjoyed every dish and left full but not overly stuffed.

The next event, Rum and Robusto, is basically a drink-and-smoke-cigars gathering around a pool. I usually make only a quick pass through it, but today I ended up in a few interesting conversations and also just enjoyed the breezy weather--which served to keep the smoke away from me.

This guy had the best job of the event.

A nice addition was a pair of stations at which people could paint.

I liked more of the artwork than I would have expected.

All in all, the attendees seemed to have a good time,

and I enjoyed my brief visit to it.

The traditional final Cayman Cookout event is a dinner at Blue for which each major guest chef prepares a course.  This year, the tenth, brought a gala dinner with, naturally, ten courses.  The table settings were lovely,

and the menu promised amazing treats.

The chefs delivered on the menu's promises.  I enjoyed every single course, but the most amazing was the last, the dessert. 

By description and first glance, it was an apple with a side sauce.  After you pushed into it with your fork, though, it was so much more.

Sweet, complex, and entirely lovely, this dish was a complete success. 

Hats off to all the chefs, but particularly to Chef Thomas Raquel, the pastry chef of Blue, for this wonderful finale.

And so the Cayman Cookout event draws to a close.  I am fortunate enough to be staying here and enjoying this wonderful place until Friday, but I have to admit that I am both done with huge meals for a bit and also already looking forward to next year's Cayman Cookout.

Rain and sun and ocean and sand

Today brought rain and sun and despite it all was still beautiful. 

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Rather than risk my usual lunch outside, I grabbed a small plate of snacks and a Diet Coke from the club lounge.

I'll miss my privileges there, which vanish tomorrow and don't reappear until next week.

When the rain stopped, it was time to sit in a chair on the beach, sip a virgin mango daiquiri, and contemplate life.  After enough of a walk on the beach to heat me up, I worked up the stamina to go into the ocean up to my neck and then to dive underwater.  The water felt way better after the walk than it had before that time.  I followed this up with about two minutes in the equally cool pool and was completely refreshed. 

Dinner tonight was at the marvelous Blue by Eric Ripert.  I won't hit you with pics of all the courses, but I have to show off their signature tuna foie gras masterpiece, which was every bit as delicious as ever.

It's hard to explain this dish, but suffice to say that it's been on the menu at Le Bernardin and here at Blue since Chef Ripert first created it. 

A good day despite the rain.

The top five U.S. restaurants I'd most like to try

Today.  The list changes often.  Right now, though, it's easy and remarkably consistent.  I exclude from it all the restaurants where I've already eaten, because at least I've gotten to taste their food once.

5.  Per Se

Though Thomas Keller's New York interpretation of his flagship French Laundry has been the subject of some controversy in the last few years, it still makes my list.  I've been a fan of Keller's food for years, and my one meal at The French Laundry was exceptional, so I'm itching to try Per Se.

4.  Masa

I've heard so much about the sushi and service at Masa that I've wanted to try it for years.  Having experienced The Araki in London, I now understand just how amazing sushi can be. 

3.  Le Bernardin

It's a testimony to the top two places on this list that one of my dream destinations, Eric Ripert's amazing seafood restaurant, is in third place.  I've tremendously enjoyed Ripert's menus at the Cayman Cookout and at Blue by Eric Ripert, and Le Bernardin is supposed to be even better.

2.  Vespertine

This new restaurant made Grant Achatz grin like a kid on his Instagram.  Everything I've read about it sounds like it's both a strange experience and a source of amazing food.  I'm ready to go.

1.  Eleven Madison Park

Currently the number one restaurant in the world in the influential best 50 rankings.  Three Michelin stars.  Chef Daniel Humm, whose food I've loved at past Cayman Cookout events.  If I had the time and could get a reservation, I'd fly to New York City just for this one meal.

I hope one day to get the chance to visit all of these fine places.

A perfect dish

Behold the tuna-foie gras, an Eric Ripert classic that is permanently on the menu at Blue by Eric Ripert.

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I've eaten this dish more than a dozen times, and every single bite every single time has been delicious.  It used to be on the Le Bernardin menu as well,  but I've heard it no longer is--but is still available there if you ask.

Nestled under the incredibly thin sheet of tuna is a very thin strip of brioche coated with an even thinner layer of foie.

I cannot conceive of a way to improve this dish.  It is perfect, an amazing set of flavors unlike anything else.

If you ever get a chance to eat it, do so.

Just my usual day

Today was just my usual sort of day.

Woke up after nine hours of wonderful sleep in an amazing resort (Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman), stepped onto the balcony, and basked in the sound and smell of the ocean.

Flew with a group of about a dozen, including chef Eric Ripert, in a private jet (courtesy of the fine folks at Craggy Range wines) to Cayman Brac, a nearby sister island, for a two-hour special lunch at the incredible Soleil d'Or resort.

Flew back to the hotel in time to do a little email and nap.

Attended a wine and art auction that culminated with what the auctioneer, who was in the luncheon group, had called her greatest challenge:  a large chocolate helicopter handmade by a local master pastry maker.

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The man to the right provides a sense of how big this insane thing was.

Headed offline and to bed early to sleep a ton before a morning event.

Yup, just my usual day.

Two big meals

Today's main Cayman Cookout events--and the only two I paid to attend--both involved big meals, though in very different ways.

The first was the "Bon Vivant Champagne Brunch," which began at noon, ran for nearly three hours, and included a live cooking contest between two local teams of two people each.

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Around 500 folks attended this event.  We crowded around big tables to eat and chose dishes from two long rows of chef stalls in hallways outside the main room.  A caviar bar, a long cheese table, a charcuterie section, a big raw bar, and many stations with hot foods left even the hungriest diners with more to try than anyone could possibly fit into his or her stomach.  I enjoyed almost everything I sampled, with a chocolate and banana dessert--an iffy choice for me in the first place--the only dish I found truly weak.

The other meal, "Seven to Savour: An Evening with Eric Ripert & the Chefs of Cayman Cookout," is the showcase (and most expensive by far) event of the festival.  Despite its high price, this meal always sells out quickly, as it did this year.  Everyone dresses up, goes to an assigned seat in Blue by Eric Ripert, and enjoys a meal composed of seven dishes from the seven top chefs in attendance at the Cayman Cookout.

As one would expect, the menu for this year appeared marvelous.

It tasted even better.  Tonight marked my fifth such meal, and I have to declare this one the best yet.  Every single dish was excellent, delicious and complex and completely marvelous.  Each dish also contained surprises.

Consider Hubert Keller's squab breast.  At first glance, it is a very simple dish

with a squab breast and a small stack of tiny pieces of pineapple.  When I flipped one of the slices, however, it was clear that a skinless squab breast was sitting inside something that looked like but was not a skin.  When Chef Keller came by our table, he explained the amazing process by which he created this pseudo-skin, the very precise way in which he cooked the concoction, and the almost as complicated process of producing the sauce on the plate.  I can't remember everything he used in these two processes, but suffice to say that both the creativity and the skill necessary to create this dish were amazing.

And so the 2016 Cayman Cookout closed.  For the next several days, I will stay here and enjoy this amazing hotel and wonderful island.  I already hope to return for the 2017 Cayman Cookout!

Food and celebrity

The Cayman Cookout exists because it carefully harnesses three different forces:  the drawing power of a beautiful Caribbean island during the heart of winter, the ever-larger group of people who follow celebrity chefs, and the even bigger group of people who to some degree consider themselves foodies.  Today's events contained examples of all of these.

The biggest traditional Saturday gathering at Cayman Cookout is the beach bash, an event that for most attendees includes a boat trip to Stingray Bay and then a visit to a distant (for this area) part of the island for various grilled foods from chef-staffed stalls on a gorgeous beach.  I've attended this session in each of my previous four years here, but this time I opted for variety--drawn by the power of a chef whose food I've long enjoyed.

My choice for lunch was "Blending Cultures and Flavors with Chef Hubert Keller," a wonderful meal that took place in Blue by Eric Ripert.  Hubert Keller, no relation to the even more famous celebrity chef Thomas Keller, runs multiple restaurants, including Fleur de Lys, the Las Vegas version of which was where I enjoyed some of my first serious forays into haute cuisine.

The menu for lunch was classic Hubert Keller, a blend of local ingredients and traditional high-end French dishes.

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All of the dishes were absolutely delicious, but the last two stood out for completely different reasons.  The beef cheek with foie gras was an absolutely perfect version of a stunningly rich classic.

Every single bite of this plate was an exercise in luxury and decadence.

The dessert, by contrast, tasted light in every bite--and yet was amazingly delicious.

The cilantro granite and crystallized cilantro chips were revelations, two uses of the ingredient I've never seen before--and incredibly tasty in their own right.

Next up for me was "Sweet Secrets" with famous dessert chef Florian Bellanger.

Bellanger demonstrated how to make macarons and served us a couple of them, along with a raspberry sorbet.  He provided recipes and a great many useful tips, with almost all of his focus totally on the food.  Everything of his that I've tasted has been delightful, and these macarons were no exceptions.

My last session before the evening's dinner event was "The Adventures of Eric and Tony," a gathering that was almost entirely about celebrity and one that has been a Cayman Cookout staple for at least as long as I've been coming here.  Basically, chef and Cayman Cookout host Eric Ripert stands with his even more famous friend, chef, author, and TV personality, Anthony Bourdain, and the two of them tell stories and poke fun at each other.

While doing this, they also typically make some dish; today's was a delightful bouillabaisse.  The two genuinely care for each other but also have some areas of serious disagreement, so their banter is always interesting and enjoyable.

The Cayman Cookout folks have tried a lot of different approaches to Saturday night's dinner, and tonight's was another new one:  "Meat and Greet by Niman Ranch," which took place in the hotel's "culinary studio," basically a teaching kitchen and function space.  As you'd expect from the sponsor, the emphasis was on meat.

The main steak course was the star of this particular meal, with incredibly tender and delicious meat.

The final event of the day was a party featuring Hubert Keller as DJ.  I listened for a few songs and enjoyed a couple of them, but ultimately it wasn't my scene; no surprise there.

Overall, another good Cayman Cookout day with a great many wonderful flavors.

So much delicious food

No matter how much food you can handle, a full day at the Cayman Cookout will test your limits.  You have to take it slow and easy, sample but not finish every single dish, and even then, plan to miss some delicious offerings.

Today's sessions began with a Cayman Cookout perpetual favorite:  "Ole Jose!"  Each year, they find a new way for Jose Andres, one of the three amigos (with the event's host, Eric Ripert, and their mutual good friend, Anthony Bourdain) and earliest participants in the event, to make a dramatic entrance.  Today, a boat roared to shore and from it leapt several men and women in pirate outfits, who led Andres to the tent where we awaited his session.

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Andres was as entertaining as always, mixing drinks and telling stories while his team created two huge dishes of fideua, a dish that is basically paella but with small bits of pasta instead of rice.  For the first time in my five visits to this event, however, the team lost control of the dish and ultimately ended up burning the pasta.  It was still full of good flavors, but it was a far cry from the better versions they've cooked in the past.

Next up on my schedule--the Cayman Cookout folks run multiple sessions at the same time--was lunch at Blue by Eric Ripert, but with chef Tom Colicchio driving the menu.  (As it turned out, he and his team created the savories, but the Blue team did the dessert.)

The menu looked promising

and tasted better.  I particularly liked the squab, which was the most tender rendition of that bird that I've ever tasted.

From there I headed outside for "A Taste of Texas" with chef Dean Fearing.

Fearing, an affable fellow with a storytelling style a bit reminiscent of the late, great Bill Hicks, prepared three different types of tacos, all of which looked delicious.  The two that those of us in the audience had the chance to sample tasted even better than they appeared.

In the short break before the next session, I sat in the shade and dangled my feet in the pool; as I said yesterday, beach life is good.

The final cooking session of the day, "Craving Ludo Bites," featured chef and occasional TV personality (via The Taste), Ludo Lefebvre.  Ludo was fighting a cold and clearly in a bad mood, so he played the role of temperamental French chef to the max.

Despite tricky conditions and equipment that wasn't always working as he wanted, Ludo--all anyone seems to call him--created a lovely vegetable tart, a souffle, and, as a bonus, an absolutely perfect omelet in the classic French style.  Audience members were able to sample only a bit of crostini, but it was delicious.

After a couple of hours of time to read, relax, and do email back in the room, it was time for the day's final event, the evening Barefoot BBQ.  At this annual event, which takes place on a different beach on the island, groups of chefs at ten or so food stations prepare a wide variety of barbecued items.  In this shot, Anthony Bourdain is assembling and serving some delicious sliders.

An additional two dessert bars complement the savories.  At this one, guest chef and dessert specialist Florian Bellanger is side on to the camera behind a stunning display of macarons.

Even trying every dish and dessert at this event is basically impossible.  Nonetheless, I ate enough that I felt I had--even though I didn't touch half the savories and the vast majority of the sweets.

Fortunately, today's sessions are over, and tomorrow's do not begin until lunch.

On balance, a fine day at the 2016 Cayman Cookout.

On the road again: Cayman Cookout, Grand Cayman, day 3

Today was a very busy day indeed.  It began entirely too early for my taste, but in the service of a good cause:  a boat trip to Stingray City to play in the ocean with the stingrays.  The weather and the water could not have been better as a large group of us sailed on a catamaran.   

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The boat captain used the engines part of the time and the sails for much of the trip.

The water was a bit brisk and perfectly clear.  I held a stingray, which was soft and silky on the underside.  

From there we sailed to the Beach Bash, where eight or so savory stations offered everything from pork belly sliders to lobster rolls.  Two dessert stations provided half a dozen sweets.  The whole time, a live band played instrumental variations of a strange assortment of songs that included "Folsom Prison" and "Freefalling." 

To my pleasant surprise, the band was quite good, and I enjoyed their music. 

After a boat ride back to the hotel and a quick shower, I caught the presentation by Norman Love on Artistry in Chocolate. 

I came away impressed with Love's dedication, artistry, and skill.

The final official session of the day was one at which I forgot to take pictures, The Adventures of Eric & Tony.  Eric Ripert and Anthony Bourdain chatted as Bourdain cooked a Portuguese octopus and assorted seafood stew (quite delicious), and they were, as always, fun and entertaining.  I was once again impressed by how very smart Bourdain is, though I never believe him when he says he has no agenda; his agenda is just a very subtle one. 

Cayman Cookout attendees were basically on their own for dinner tonight, though the event organizers helped set up meals at several local restaurants.  I opted for Upstairs at Kaibo, which required a boat taxi to reach in any reasonable time.  The water in the fading light was a shimmering, lovely gray. 

The setting sun over the water was once again lovely.

The five-course tasting menu at Upstairs at Kaibo was good, but predictably it suffered in comparison to the offerings of the many great chefs at the Cookout.

Tomorrow, the Cayman Cookout 2015 wraps up with three very different but fun events.

On the road again: Cayman Cookout, Grand Cayman, day 2

The Cayman Cookout events began in earnest today.

As always, the signature first event, and the one I attended, was Ole Jose with Jose Andres.  Each year, Andres makes an unusual--and sometimes spectacular--entrance.  This time, he followed a group of dancers and drummers.  In this shot, he is standing with the dancers and co-hosts Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert.

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Andres' presentation is basically the same each year:  He talks while his staff prepares some variation of fideua, a pasta-based dish that is otherwise basically paella.  This time around the fideua featured lobster and octopus.  The chefs cook it in huge pans over wood fires.  In this shot, the dish is nearly ready to come off the fire.

As Andres repeatedly (and correctly) reminded us, the star of this dish is the pasta, which soaks up the lovely juices of the seafood and the sauces with which the chefs began its preparation.  Each attendee received a small plate to sample--they served the fideua with aioli--and it was absolutely delicious. 

After a half hour break, the standard intermission between sessions, next up for me was a lunch at Blue featuring the food of hot young British chef Adam Handling.  Earnest and passionate, he came across as a talent to watch.  After eating four courses of his food, I resolved two things: 

1. I will absolutely seek out Handling's food whenever the opportunity presents itself.
2. I must prepare for huge portions. 

The menu promised four courses, already a lot for lunch at a cooking event.

As Handling warned us, however, four was not really the number of courses; it was more like seven.

We began with two "nibbles:"  a beet dish, and a donut stuffed with crab and dabbed with apricot jelly.

I do not generally care for the noble beet, but I loved this beet-filled tube.  The donut was a rich and savory treat with a hint of sweetness.

We also received bread and two spreads:  chicken butter and chicken liver mousse.

Forget how they sound or what you think you know about chicken liver; these were amazing.

The meal then began in earnest with a riff on the traditional English pub fare of fish and peas, this time with salmon and many variations on peas.

At a foodie event featuring some of the world's greatest chefs, it's no surprise that I will end up duplicating superlatives, so let me just say that this was some of the better salmon I've ever tasted, and the many takes on peas were fresh and delicious.

We moved then to the chicken and lobster course.

Note the two large chunks of lobster sitting in a rich sauce atop a layered chicken concoction.  This course was easily twice the size it would be in a high-end American restaurant, but that was not enough for Handling.  No, we also each received a small sandwich of crispy chicken skin.

If you think you don't like chicken skin, you need to try Handling's take.  Wow, was it great!

We finally hit the main course, which he called Piglet and Octopus.

The pork contribution was, of course, a massive chunk of pork belly.  Octopus appeared in two variations, and the raviolis were made of apples.  Delicious, all of it, and amazing.

At this point, everyone in Blue was crying surrender, but Handling was having none of it.  Dessert arrived.

A crispy chocolate shell covered a mixture of cake and mousse.  Rich, intense, and delicious, it was simply too large to consume after all the other food--and yet almost all of us managed to do just that.

Lunch ran late, so many of us had to scurry immediately to the next session, which in my case was Essential Acqua with Sven Elverfeld.  A German chef whose cuisine I did not know, Elverfeld proved to be a wonderful cook but a bit of a bashful, no-nonsense presenter.

(He's on the right in this shot, standing alone.)  He said that he knew himself and that his place was in the kitchen, not on television.  He nonetheless was an entertaining and informative teacher.  His dish

which looks like breakfast food, is actually called "Rice, different ways."  Four kinds of rice go into the sauce and the bit under the white sauce/foam blend.  What appears to be an egg yolk is actually an intense cheese that they turned into something with the consistency and behavior of a yolk.  The bit of "toast" to the side was a sort of chewy cracker formed entirely of intense cheese and black truffle.  The entire dish was amazing and delicious.

I filled my final time slot of the day with Daniel Boulud's DBGB on the Beach.  Boulud is back for a second year at Cayman Cookout, and the legendary French chef seems determined to become the fourth amigo (Ripert, Bourdain, and Andres being the original three). 

Boulud and his team demonstrated two dishes:  a tuna crudo, and a Thai sausage.  I managed to capture only a shot of the tuna.

After a few hours of break, I headed to the signature Friday evening event, the Barefoot BBQ.  After a short bus ride to nearby Tiki Beach, I spent a couple of hours wandering the many savory stations, where name chefs (including the three amigos) presented dishes that their hardworking staffs prepared.  I particularly loved the jamon slider with foie from Jose Andres and the jerk bacon from Marcus Samuelsson.

Samuelsson is as happy and fun in person as he is on TV.  (Next to Bourdain on The Taste, he always appears short, but he's actually somewhere around 5'll".)

Did I mention the three dessert stations, including all-you-can-eat truffles from Norman Love?

Another bus ride brought a load of Cayman Cookout attendees back to the hotel, but the live band and the party was still going at the Barefoot BBQ. 

Tomorrow morning, I board a catamaran.