Chester Francis-Jackson, Contributor
Stella Maris Dancers provided spectacle for the event - CONTRIBUTED
MY DEARS , first class, is really not a boarding pass, but is really about venerable attitude!
There are many in polite societies and on the fringes who masquerade as members of this rare and privileged class, who in their desire to lay claim to class and or fine style, would relegate the concept to basic cash and or a question of affordability! Why, there's even an advertisement on the airwaves advising its prospective client to wit:"Class and style you can afford."
Now, I put it to you!
Alas, those whose claim to style and or class is based on one's bank balance, and not breeding, behaviour and or attitude are the ones more likely to be found arguing with the help, or staff in public facilities. Worse even, in their efforts at reinforcing some imaginary line of demarcation highlighting their superior social status are likely to be heard berating some minor official and or employee with the silly "Do you know who I am?" question.
Well, me daahlings, style and class, are not material things, and consequentially they cannot be bought. Not to worry my dears, style still abounds as does class.
One place to look is the annual Epicurean Escape, the brainchild of the dynamic Zein Issa-Nakash of the SuperClubs chain of resorts which was first launched some seven years ago in Negril, at the Grand Lido Negril, with general manager Bryan Drew, its executor and organiser.
GRAND DINING EXPERIENCE
If ever there was a grand dining experience, the Epicurean Escape, is it! This event is not only a welcome respite, but a class act so deserving of emulation, especially designed as it is, to capture the very essence of the Jamaican culinary experience, as well as that of the wider Caribbean, fused with the influences of other regions and create a fabulous exposition.
Well sweet-things, the SuperClubs Grand Lido Negril, Epicurean Escape, is now all that, having come of age, now in its seventh year, as declared by master distiller Joy Spence, of the Wray and Nephew Group!
Originally staged during the month of September, this year it was repositioned to the end of June culminating July 4. This my dears, was a stroke of genius, as by combining this glorious esoteric get-away, with the American Independence Day, it created a whole new block of interest.
Now, if y'all missed this here fabulous outing this year, or have never bothered to avail yourselves of this absolutely fine Epicurean outing, then honeys, get with it because then and only then, will y'all have truly dined.
A number of the world's leading chefs, sommeliers, wineries, food critics, and television food commentators, all descended on the hotel. They set about the task of taking those in attendance on a culinary exposition that ended with a rendezvous of the esoteric senses!
JAMAICAN CUISINE AT ITS BEST
Honeys, we are talking the challenging, but the exciting pairing of Jamaican foods with established wines; the re-ordering/reworking of traditional dishes to create new and exciting flavour, appeal and satisfaction. There were wine-tasting classes and seminars; cooking demonstrations and classes - all accompanied by a partying camaraderie.
Well, that two weeks ago, Grand Lido Negril, was the preferred destination, its culinary offering, making it a must for those with that discerning palate and discriminating sense of style, taste, and élan.
Dovecotes, we are talking food and wines for the gods and this was it! And for my word, what a treat!
Honeys, picture the rolling beach of the Grand Lido Negril, transformed into a Jamaican village (of sorts) hemmed in by chic bamboo fencing, housing an endless array of stalls, really, offering the very best, of Jamaican cuisine.
Children, we are talking paradise being revisited here, as flaming bamboo torches, lit a path that illuminated a feast of the Romanesque proportions in scope and magnitude, and whatever, it was, that y'all have ever heard of, eaten or thought of was there, except for 'asham'! Dears, that aside, think it and it was there for the glorious tasting, and I mean how!
Jamaican cuisine was at its best with fabulous fruits and vegetables; and a near royal feast of a dessert offering that ran the gamut form the potato-pone, to some divine-vine 'cocanut-draps' and some orgasmic macaroons - and all fabulously and riotously tasty, beyond compare, it was all good, and then some!
And what's a good feast without spectacle? Nada! But honeys, this had it all, and then some, as between the resort's resident band and the Stella Maris Dancers/Performers - there was spectacle of the finest order! And they ended the night doing a performance of the much celebrated "Dutty Wine".
Those out included: Chris Nakash and his lovely wife Zein Issa-Nakash; master distiller Joy Spence; Jag Mehta; Sue McManus; Easton Douglas; Shirley Golding; Sam and Yvonne James and their son Sam James, Jr.; Stuart and Yvonne Fisher; Paul and Odette Pennycoke; Eric "Busha" Clarke; Jean Lowrie-Chin; Virginia Burke; Ron Droegmyer and his fiancée Mai Ling; Clive Taffe; Winston and Margaret Barrett; Dr. Witold Rodomski; Tracy-Ann Menzies; Sascha Hossman and wife Dr. Paulette Hossman; Lenworth Tracey of FCIB; Calvin and Marcia DeSouza; Heather Blanco; Sylvan and Blondie Walker; Stacy Adams; Christopher and Kerri-Anne Reckord; Derrick Drayton; Lorna Clarke; and the man known to his friends and associates as the Mayor of Negril and Errol Bennett.
Also out were: chefs Gianluca Pardini, in from Rome, Italy; Bryan Ogden, from Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas; David Cramer, in from Chicago; and the multi-award winning James Trabocchi, in from Virginia; sommeliers John Burke of the Bellagio; and Anthony Giglio of New York and the fabulous Sheryl McGaw-Douse, and hosts chef and souse chef Martin Magnify as well as Anthony Miller; plus several others gusting from across the island, plus a few hundred in-house guests, all making for a fabulous time!
Sadly however, it was GM Bryan Draw's last performance as CAE of the Epicurean Escape, as family commitments will see him elsewhere.
