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The Wall House serves traditional French and Creole cuisine and was voted the Best Overall Restaurant in the 2004 Best of St Barth Awards. Enjoy a spectacular view of the harbor while dining on broiled red snapper, spit-roasted rack of lamb or lobster and grouper lasagna. Save room for the hot and cold chocolate desserts served with coffee sauce and vanilla ice cream! In addition to the a la carte menu, The Wall House offers a plat du jour of either a salad or main course for lunch for 9,50 € and a prix fixe menu each night for 29 €. Open daily except for lunch on Sundays. Annual closing from June 1 through September 30. Major credit cards are accepted. Lunch 12:00 – 2:30. Dinner 7:00 – 9:30.
Below is a sample menu, prices (given in Euros) are subject to change.
Dinner Menu
Appetizers
Lobster and Sweet Potato Soup Baked with a Pastry Crust
15 €
Chilled Creole Squash, Tomato and Passion Fruit Cappucino
13 €
Leek Salad with a Vinegar and Beet Coulis Dressing
13 €
Caesar Salad and Glazed Yellowtail Snapper Filet
14 €
Sea Scallop Carpaccio, Olive Oil and Lemon Juice Dressing, Shaved Parmesan Cheese
16 €
Warm Lobster and Prawns Salad, Vegetable Provençale Pie
25 €
Crab, Wahoo and Fresh Herbs Cold "Paté" with a Lobster Vinaigrette
17 €
Poached Egg and Lobster Brioche with a Lobster Bordelaise Sauce
18 €
Saute Duck Foie Gras Escalope, Rhubarb Compote and Gingerbread Sauce
19 €
Main Courses
Braised Mahi-Mahi Steak, Chorizo Sauce and Roasted Asparagus
18 €
Broiled Red Snapper Filet, "a la Caponata", with a Red and Green Sauce
19 €
Roasted Monkfish Filet with a Black Pepper Sauce and Merlot Poached Pears
21 €
Lobster and Grouper Lasagna with Tomato Butter
25 €
Home Made Pesto Gnocchi
14 €
Roasted Veal Tenderloin, Garlic Sautéed Snails, Potato and Sun Dried Tomato Fritter
24 €
Duck Breast "à la plancha", Bordelaise Sauce, Creamy Leek Purée and Sweet Onion Marmalade
20 €
Crispy Chicken and Goat Cheese Fritters, Red and Green Pepper Coulis
16 €
From the Grill
Broiled Fresh Lobster from our Fish Tank with Lemon Butter 31,85€/Lbs
7 € 100 g
Broiled Mahi-Mahi Steak with Lime and Ginger Mayonnaise
18 €
Broiled Prawn Skewers Teriyaki, Roasted Baby Potatoes With Ginger
21 €
Broiled Sirloin Steak with a Red Wine Sauce
19 €
Broiled Beef Tenderloin with a Red Wine Sauce
26 €
Broiled Rib Eye with a Black Pepper Sauce, Red Wine Sauce, and Guérande Coarse Salt (for two people)
54 €
From the Rotisserie
Spit Roasted "Catch of the day" if any…with Lime and Ginger Mayonnaise
24 €
Spit Roasted Squab Stuffed with Foie Gras
29 €
Spit Roasted Rack of Lamb, Braised Haricot Beans, Tapenade-Flavored Gravy
28 €
Spit Roasted Five Spices, Honey and Pineapple Duck (for two people)
45 €
Spit Roasted Châteaubriand, Tartare Sauce, Glazed Schallots, Red Wine Sauce (for two peopel)
58 €
Spit Roasted "Provençale" Stuffed Saddle of Lamb (for two people)
"I ask Duensing to describe her typical day. "I get up when I wake up, walk with a friend of mine for three or four miles. Then we go to the bakery," she admits with a laugh. "I get a pain au chocolat (a chocolate-filled roll) and something cold to drink. We go fishing a lot, or we go to the beach."
Sounds good to me! There is a lot more here - it is a pretty good article with lots of tips for St. Barts travel.
The Hotel Christopher is located on the northeastern coast of St. Barts at Pointe Milou with views of St. Maarten and the sunset. This four-star hotel offers 41 rooms on two floors decorated in a French Colonial style with mahogany furniture. Each room has air-conditioning, ceiling fans, a king bed and a terrace with views of the tropical garden, the pool or the ocean. Amenities include a gym, yoga and water aerobic classes, two restaurants, room service, a pool overlooking the ocean with a bar, wireless internet, satellite TV, and a lounge bar with live music. The hotel is closed each year from August 25 to October 25.
The Guanahani Hotel & Spa, located on the northeastern coast of St Barts at Grand Cul de Sac on a 15-acre peninsula, is a member of the Leading Small Hotels of the World. One of its beaches is on the calm waters of Grand Cul de Sac with a beach bar, while the other faces the ocean. The hotel was completely renovated in 2004 and offers 69 rooms: 30 suites, 14 of which have their own pool; 38 double rooms; and one three-bedroom suite with a pool and ocean view. The hotel boasts a new state-of-the-art Clarins spa (the only Clarins spa on the island), a large swimming pool with a Jacuzzi, room service, a boutique, air-conditioning, ceiling fans, a gym, two tennis courts, two restaurants, wireless internet, satellite TV and three internet work stations.
The Hotel Le Toiny, located on the southeastern coast of St. Barts, is a member of the Relais and Chateaux chain. The hotel offers 15 villas, each with its own pool and terrace overlooking the Caribbean Sea. The villas are furnished in the traditional colonial style of the French West Indies with four-poster mahogany beds and ceiling fans. Each villa has a fully equipped kitchenette, satellite television, VCR and DVD player, CD player and stereo and air-conditioning in the bedrooms. Available services include rental cars, valet parking, a concierge, boutique, spa treatments, a sports trainer and gym equipment, 24-hour room service, wireless internet, a DVD library, cocktail bar and restaurant. The hotel is closed each year from September 1 to October 23.
Also at the hotel La Plage this week, was a trio called The Gypsys, the latest brainstorm of Papaguyo. If you’ve been on the island during the past five years, chances are good that you’ve had the pleasure of hearing him play with one of his many groups. Papaguyo is the former drummer of the band Sly and the Family Stone and is currently in the process of creating “a new vibe” for a new CD. He has been playing at La Plage with acoustic guitarist John Fritz and Michael Kott on electric cello (although, it too, sounds acoustic). Today, in addition to playing drums, Papaguyo is experimenting with all types of percussion instruments, from chopsticks to rain sticks. And, of course, if there’s music and local St Barth’s men in the same venue, you can be sure they’re contributing to the percussive sounds as well.
Jimmy Buffet has again graced us with his music and sense of humor. He has been here quite often since Christmas, and you can often spot his seaplane at the airport and his modest yacht in the harbor at Gustavia. And, since he recently purchased a home in Gustavia, we can only hope that he plans to be here even more frequently. Last year, he played for three hours nonstop at Bete a Z’ailes with his Coral Reefer band. No cover charge; no advertising – you just had to be connected to the “coconut line” or lucky. This last time he was at the La Plage hotel in St. Jean enjoying dinner and a quiet evening with his family and friends. Even so, he was kind enough to play three songs. He sang one song about the bar that he used to have on the cliffs in Lorient – a place where he said he saw the worst behavior in his life. The locals loved it as they well remember this spot.
Many have been wondering what’s behind the screening at the old Le Filao hotel next to Eden Roc. The Eden Roc has bought into the timeshare concept – Eden Roc Owners Society. They are offering the opportunity to purchase a villa for four to five weeks per year for the next 75 years. Weeks can be sold at any time or bequeathed to another person. One week, which will never change, will be during high season. You can change the other weeks each year, if desired. The five villas range in size from 736 square feet to 2117 square feet and from one bedroom to three bedrooms. The villas have been built of stone and hardwood and each is fully equipped and has a pool or a plunge pool. Services offered include housekeeping twice a day, 24-hour room service, concierge service, dry cleaning and laundry service, dedicated air-conditioned storage for personal possessions you wish to leave behind and organization of special events. Prices start at 286,000 euros. Eros is the Greek god of love and sexual desire and was also worshipped as a fertility god. Caveat emptor!
Just arrived after a long flight? Feel like staying in but don’t want to cook? Now you can call Allo Delivery. This new delivery service will deliver complete dinners from Kiki e Mo, Le Rivage, La Mandala and BarBQ or a bottle of wine from Absolutely Wine. Available seven days a week, they promise to deliver your meal within 45 minutes. The cost of delivery is 9 euros if your order is less than 60 euros or 15% if your order is over 60 euros. If you order from more than one restaurant, that charge is applied to each restaurant order. Credit cards and off-island checks are not accepted. You can call Allo Delivery at 06 90 53 05 40.
St Barts is home to the widest variety of marine birds in the West Indies. All of the 13 species that nest in the Antilles can be found on this small island. The three nesting areas are the small islets surrounding the island, the salt pond at Saline and the cliffs. The islets are home to the majority of the marine birds. The salt pond at Saline is home to the Least Tern. With only 1500 couples left in the Caribbean, this marine bird is threatened with extinction and is found only in the Gulf of Mexico and the Antilles. The White-tailed Tropicbird, the Brown Noddy, the Bridled Tern and the Petrel nest along the cliffs, especially those along Grand Fond. The biggest threats to these birds are land development and the increase of rats on the island.
Today, many people are enjoying their morning cup of coffee or a glass of wine later in the day at a number of restaurants while working on their laptops thanks to the arrival of WiFi (wireless Internet access). WiFi users have been seen at Do Brasil, Le Select, Le Square, Kiki e Mo, L’Oasis shopping center, Villa Creole, Maya’s To Go, Le Flamboyant Tennis Club and Le Repaire. Rumor is that there is a proposal to install WiFi throughout Gustavia.
At long last, the new building housing the offices for the harbor masters has opened on the quai in Gustavia. “The Capitainerie”, as it is called, is constructed of fieldstone and wood with stainless steel staircases and railings that enclose the teak decks and terraces. The “world’s largest Frisbee” – the round, white roof that caps the building – is visible from all the heights of Gustavia. The new office is equipped with the latest computer technology, TV monitors to display important information, an electronic weather station to track the direction and speed of the wind, and a large magnetic map of the Port with individual magnetized boats that can be placed according to their position in the harbor. Still under development are new services for boats including electricity, telephone and Internet access. In addition to all of this, the office also houses a small library – bring a book, take a book – with the starter set having been donated by Ellen Lampert-Greaux, the sister-in-law of harbor master Bruno Greaux.
The Rapid Explorer has just added an additional rotation to its schedule. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the Rapid Explorer will depart St Maarten for St Barth at 12:45 pm and will depart St Barth for St Maarten at 1:45 pm. This supplements the normal departures from St Barth at 8:00 am, 10:00 am and 6:00 pm Monday through Saturday (except for Friday evenings when it departs at 7:15 pm) and the normal departures from St Maarten at 7:00 am, 9:00 am and 5:00 pm (except for Friday evenings when it departs at 6:15 pm).
It's been too good to be true! But, beginning in March, all vehicles older than four years will have to pass a mandatory car inspection at a cost of 60 to 70 euros. The inspection must be done every two years for personal vehicles and every year for commercial vehicles. Failure to pass will invoke a 135 euro fine and possible retention of the owner’s carte grise (equivalent to the car’s title in the U.S.) If the car fails inspection, the owner has two months to make repairs and try again. Any car that has not passed inspection cannot be sold because a new title will not be issued to the prospective buyer. The first inspection station is scheduled to open in early March in Lorient. With an estimated 8000 cars on this small island, it may take a while to get things under control. Let's just hope they aren’t checking for rust!
The minibus has arrived in St Barth. For 10 euros you can take Le Shuttle to any destination on the island and call them when you're ready to return. They also offer 100 passes to residents of the island for 75 euros per month – probably a cheaper alternative than owning a car! This makes it more affordable to get around if you don't want to rent a car and prefer not to take a taxi. Le Shuttle is a bit larger than a minivan -- more like the vehicles used by many retirement/assisted-living residences in the United States. Tickets are available at hotels and the villa rental agencies.
Gouvernour Makes Forbes List of Top Topless Beaches
Forbes chose Gouvernour Beach as one of its ten picks for the best topless beaches of 2005. Among other choices were the exclusive, jet-setter beaches of Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro; Plage de Tahiti, Saint-Tropez; Paradise Beach, Mykonos; and Playa d’en Bossa, Ibiza. Pretty stiff competition! Although topless sunbathing is allowed on all the beaches of St. Barth, Gouvernour was chosen for its unsurpassed beauty and views of Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Kitts. In addition to all of this, it’s also one of the most accessible beaches on the island with a good-sized parking lot just steps from the sea.
Gustavia (590 590) 27 71 83
Jimmy Buffet has again graced us with his music and sense of humor. He has been here quite often since Christmas, and you can often spot his seaplane at the airport and his modest yacht in the harbor at Gustavia. And, since he recently purchased a home in Gustavia, we can only hope that he plans to be here even more frequently. Last year, he played for three hours nonstop at Bete a Z’ailes with his Coral Reefer band. No cover charge; no advertising – you just had to be connected to the “coconut line” or lucky. This last time he was at the La Plage hotel in St. Jean enjoying dinner and a quiet evening with his family and friends. Even so, he was kind enough to play three songs. He sang one song about the bar that he used to have on the cliffs in Lorient – a place where he said he saw the worst behavior in his life. The locals loved it as they well remember this spot.
