Emma Sharp, Contributor

Carlene Peart, Bishop Carleen Riley, Janice Clarke, Simone Jackson, Cameon McKenzie and Charmaine Mullings enjoy Kingston Restaurant Week night out at Columbus Restaurant, inside the Pegasus hotel, during KRW last year.

Columbus Restaurant at the Pegasus

(Delectable Category $2,500)

Named for the Genoa-born explorer, Christopher Columbus, who discovered Jamaica in 1494, Columbus is known for its Italian cuisine. Presently undergoing refurbishment, it'll be opening again just in time for Kingston's Restaurant Week (KRW), as a gourmet restaurant. The menu will still carry Italian favourites, but the owners feel that they will be serving their customers better if steaks and seafood are brought into the mix.

Keeping the seating capacity to 50, the owners wanted to create "a very intimate 'occasion' dining room", says Nancy McLean, where patrons can celebrate anniversaries, birthdays and graduations. KRW patrons can start off with an aperitif in the Polo Lounge, which is also on the lobby floor close to the restaurant, and order wines from the sommelier, and your dinner before being escorted to your table there is always a buzz in the foyer, the piped music and the blinds separating the dining area create a uniquely soft ambience.

Everything is cooked by the in-house chefs, and the pastry department is particularly known for its desserts and, of course, pastries! You'll even get to see them live in action if you order one of their flamed dishes. They'll send someone out to flambright in front of you!

Traditional High Tea, served from 4.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. on Fridays, should not be missed. For as little as $1,000 per person, you can sip your 'English Breakfast' or 'Earl Grey' and nibble on cakes, while listening to orchestrated music and musicians.

Columbus Restaurant, at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, Knutsford Boulevard, New Kingston. - photos by Winston Sill / Freelance Photographer