The Anguilla Culinary Experience (ACE) 2024 returns for its third year, held May 23-26. This year’s guest chefs include Zachary Engel, James Beard Award-winner and executive chef and co-owner of Michelin-starred Galit in Chicago; and Yannick Rochat, sous chef at Saison by Mauro Colagreco at Raffles London at The OWO.
On Thursday, May 23, Chef Proprietor Alain Laurent of Jacala will partner with Nathalie Le Sénéchal of Grands Vins De France Anguilla and Brian Bostwick of The Duckhorn Portfolio, to present a five-course, wine pairing dinner at the beachfront, Meads Bay restaurant. Separately, Savi Beach Club will host Savor, Soirée & Sensation on Meads Bay. The evening will begin with a set dinner by Executive Chef Dario Schiavo paired with Napa Valley wines and live music, followed by a comic cabaret show, and after-party with a DJ and dancing.
Chef Engel will merge his Middle Eastern flavors with Chef Proprietor Carrie Bogar’s Cuisine of the Sun at Veya Restaurant in Sandy Ground for Thursday’s Restaurant Night. The duo will alternate dinner courses and team up for dessert. At Bamboo Bar & Grill at Four Seasons Anguilla on Meads Bay, Executive Chef Manu Calderon will present a Caribbean multi-course dinner with live music. Chefs Engel and Bogar will reunite on the oceanfront terrace at Villa Alegria on Cul de Sac to present a tasting menu on Friday, May 24. Hosted by ACE Co-chairs Neil and Wendy Freeman, the evening starts with cocktails and live music. Each course will be paired with wines selected by Bogar’s husband and Veya co-owner Jerry Bogar and curated by Grands Vins de France Anguilla. Chef Engel will also share his industry insights with local culinary students at a morning Q&A session at Aurora Anguilla Resort & Golf Club.
At Altamer Luxury Villas on Shoal Bay West, Guest Chef Yannick Rochat will join his brother, Chef Xavier Rochat of Anguilla, to present Flavors of Altamer, a Culinary Tapestry of Caribbean Cuisine. The gastronomic journey will spotlight ingredients specific to Anguilla and feature a rooftop cocktail hour with snacks, followed by an oceanfront dinner. Also on Friday, the shores of Maundays Bay will become the setting for a Barefoot Beach Dinner, complete with live music and interactive culinary stations by Executive Chef Bruno Carvalho at Cap Juluca, a Belmond Hotel.
On Saturday, May 25, Aurora Anguilla Resort & Golf Club will host its ACE signature party, A Taste of Aurora, at D Richard’s Steakhouse. Guests can savor customized offerings from six of Aurora’s restaurants, sip cocktails, dance under the stars to a live band, and enter for a chance to win raffle prizes.
On May 26, the ACE Beach BBQ + Basket & Bartending Battles, presented by NCBA, returns to the Anguilla Great House Beach Resort on Rendezvous Bay. Chefs from Paper’s BBQ, Tasty’s POV, Anguilla Great House and Roy’s Bayside Grill will serve up gourmet burgers, slow-cooked brisket and grilled seafood, chicken and ribs, along with desserts by Heart & Soul Takeout, Catering & Confectionery. ACE-goers can dance to the DJ’s tunes, enter prize raffles, play trivia, make a kids’ craft with KidzKare and cheer on the members of the Anguilla National Culinary Team (ANCT) as they square off in this year’s mystery basket challenge and a new bartending battle. Following the BBQ, guests can head to Leon’s at Meads Bay for an ACE edition of the resort’s Sunday Funday. The gathering will feature live music, cocktails and island-inspired fare from Head Chef Kelston “Sweets” Connor. Later that evening, Aurora Anguilla Resort & Golf Club’s Culinary Director Chef Michele Greggio, Executive Sous Chef Lester Gumbs and Sous Chef Karla Hughes will present a Farm-to-Table Garden Dinner accompanied by wine and live music.
Guests can also enjoy guided cultural experiences such as harvesting natural salt, making traditional Johnnycakes in an outdoor oven, and more.
For more information, visit www.anguillaculinaryexperience.com.
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