Villa Cooking Or Dining Out On Vacation At Four Seasons Nevis
To eat in or dine out, that is the question we faced daily while staying in a villa at Four Seasons Nevis. Typical family vacations for us involve a couple hotel rooms or two room suites with the kids (now adults) in tow and eating every meal out. In March, however, we opted to give a private villa a try. The results surprised me.
I do have a love/hate relationship with restaurant dining while on vacation. I adore trying local cuisine, wines and cocktails. Nothing makes me feel more attuned with another culture than to eat what they eat and drink what they drink. Another plus to noshing and imbibing on property is that it clearly provides more time to enjoy golf, tennis, spa treatments and less time spent on foreign grocery store scavenger hunts.
Four Seasons Nevis eliminated the guesswork of food shopping with their provisioning services. Items they know they can reliably procure are on a preference sheet; I simply filled out the quantity and the team did all the rest. We arrived to a fully stocked fridge with fresh fruits, veggies, meats and alcohol – the first bottle of Pinot Grigio was uncorked well before the suitcases were unpacked.
My husband and I mostly ate breakfast at restuarnt Neve (off the main lobby) because I loved the gluten-free bread options (yummy muffins) and he enjoyed the veggie egg-white omelets. A bonus for me were the made-to-order smoothies, perfect for pre or post tennis workouts. Our son rejected our early morning repast habit (can you imagine?) and preferred to make his own peanut buttered toast on wheat and coffee in the villa kitchen.
The two men golfed or worked out while I banged the heck out of a few hundred tennis balls on the red clay courts so I lunched solo. Kasteway, the beach bar grill near the adult-only pool, had some delicious grilled fish tacos with Chipotle aioli and cabbage. One day I lazed by the water under the shade of a canary yellow umbrella and ate Nevisian BBQ chicken wings and washed them down with a frosty beer I grabbed from the tricked out drinks golf cart serving beachside. The guys made sandwiches at "home" because the villa was adjacent to the first tee – oh so convenient for them!
Highlights for dinner included a sunset meal at Mango and Chef Samuel Faggetti's signature four-course extravaganza cooked in the villa. Chef Faggetti's team decorated the table on the screened in porch with tropical flowers and candles while he was busy prepping, cooking, and beautifully plating our food. We dined on Tuna Pearl to start – yellow fin tuna caught that very morning. It had a sashimi base and pounded thin and a Poke mix made with sesame oil, seeds, scallions, Kimchee base and fresh jalapenos from the garden on property.
The second course was Wahoo Crudo – it started out as a 28lb locally caught fish, then the loin cut thin and served raw. Slices were garnished with lemon juice, Maldon Sea Salt, orange segments and finely grated horseradish and garnished with micro greens and a fruity extra virgin olive oil – simple and light on the palette.
The main course was an outstanding melt-in-your-mouth 21 day dry aged short rib dish, served with a traditional Chimichurri, roasted brussel sprouts with lemon and oil and king Trumpet mushrooms.
The piece-de-resistance was the Raspberry Forest Cake, a flourless chocolate cake with chocolate mousse and fruit gel. It was a heavenly end to an incredible meal and the absolute best way to end our restful family vacation together. Fantastic food, wonderful wine and an outstanding venue, all ensured our time spent at Four Seasons Nevis was heavenly.
Disclaimer: Four Seasons provided provisioning for the villa and the chef's experience gratis.