COCONUT BAY CHEFS AMONG TEAM SAINT LUCIA TOP MEDALS WINNERS AT TASTE OF THE CARIBBEAN 2015 CULINARY COMPETITION

Martha Hippolyte and Garon Jean of Coconut Bay Beach Resort and Spa are among Team St Lucia’s top medal winners at the just concluded 2015 Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association “Taste of the Caribbean” culinary competition. This year’s competition was held at the Hyatt Regency, Miami from June 12th to 14th, 2015.

Of the two (2) Gold and five (5) Silver medals picked up by Team St Lucia, Chef Martha Hippolyte received the Gold medal for the Cheesecake competition and was overall winner. Chef Garon Jean won Silver in the Sea Food and Beef competition. Martha was the only senior participant in the St Lucia team to win a Gold Award, the other Gold was secured by Edna Butcher for Junior Chef of the Year.

Chef Martha Hipployte is a Sous Chef at Coconut Bay. She has been with the Resort for the past seven (7) years. In last year’s Cheesecake Competition Martha received an honorary mention for her original recipe. Her mastery of infusing indigenous flavors along with traditional ingredients gave her cheesecake a competitive advantage. For the competition, Martha produced a Bay Leaf Cheesecake on a “Lababad” (traditional St Lucian biscuit) Crust served with Apricot puree and Chairman Spiced Watermelon with Sea Almond Crunch. Martha gets an award of an all expenses paid trip to Pennsylvania for her Gold Medal win!

Chef Garon Jean who won Silver for his beef preparation entitled Surf & Turf is a Sous Chef at Coconut Bay Beach Resort & Spa. He has worked on the resort culinary team for the past 5 years and this is his second appearance competing on the St. Lucia team.

“Coconut Bay staff and management are proud to celebrate this latest success by our chefs Martha and Garon,” said Coconut Bay Executive Chef V. Purmesur, “The consistent performance of our resort chefs on an international stage is testimony to their individual talents and our collective efforts to develop their skills while providing excellent food quality for our guests in all of the culinary experiences on resort.”

In addition to the success of Chef Martha’s and Chef Garon’s achievements, the resort’s Pastry Chef, Ronald Estephane left the island over the weekend for a one week internship to the Johnson and Wales University North Miami Campus in fulfillment of part of his prize as winner of the 2015 inaugural Independence Cake Challenge.
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