Anse Chastanet resort on St. Lucia in the Caribbean turned one of its restaurants completely vegan.
The luxury resort — set in a 600-acre estate with two private beaches and healthy coral reef offshore — has switched up the menu at its Emerald restaurant. Previously, it served vegetarian cuisine. Now, it has ditched dairy and eggs for good.
According to Karolin Troubetzkoy — the executive director of marketing and operations at Anse Chastanet –, the move is in response to demand. “We saw an increasing demand for vegan meals from our guests, so we thought why not develop this concept and make it part of our dining experience,” she said in a statement.
A press release notes that all of the other restaurants on-site serve vegan and vegetarian options, but Emerald is the first to go completely plant-based. It will serve tapas dishes — including Bread Fruit Gnocchi, St Lucian Mango Chutney, and Crispy Cauliflower Accras — developed by consulting chef Allen Susser, a James Beard Award winner.
Susser is assisted by the resort’s vegan chef de cuisine Frank Faucher, and in the future, international vegan chefs will be invited to create new plant-based dishes for the restaurant.
Involving Guests and the Community
But it’s not just the chefs who are welcome to get involved with the food. According to Anse Chastanet’s website, customers are offered the chance to visit the local farm where most of its vegan ingredients are sourced from.
“Much of the fresh produce used in the restaurant comes from the resort’s own organic farm Emerald’s in the Soufriere hills, about 20 minutes away from the resort,” it notes.
The press release adds, “guests can visit the farm for a guided sensory immersion, accompanied by both farmer and chef and enjoy a farm-to-table cooking class using freshly harvested fruits and vegetables.”
“The farm focuses on growing produce that is not easily available on [the] island, and the resort supports farmers in the community by purchasing vegetables and ‘ground provisions’ that they do not grow themselves,” it continues.
