In-villa dinner ideas

[News of St. John]

Hi everyone-

It's raining in CT so naturally I am dreaming of St. John. Hopefully you all can help me on this one...

I will be at Coconuts (so excited!) for Christmas and New Year's. We will be out with Captain John on New Year's Eve day and will most likely be exhausted when we get back on land. I know that the Westin has fireworks on New Year's Eve so we plan top watch them from the villa. So here's the questions: what do we do for dinner? I thought about hiring a private chef but it was a bit too pricey for my taste. Do you recommend any great takeout places that are close to Gifft Hill so it does not get cold? Or how about a drop off option? Suggestions?

Thanks!

[Xislandgirl]

I would see what Sam and Jack's has in their case. They have awesome food and will probably have something yummy for NYE.

[Lindy]

I've never been on the island for holidays so I'm not sure how crazy the restaurants there get, but if it's anything like here I think it would be really busy just about everywhere. I'd consider maybe choosing a place of the beaten path a little bit....like maybe the new sushi place (don't have to worry about your food getting cold!) or making something at the villa that involves virtually no work. At home when we want something easy, but a little bit special, I will pick up a excellent bottle of red wine, a fair sized hunk of brie, a loaf of good french bread and some apples, pears,grapes and a small bag of sliced almonds. (This could even be done in advanced so you wouldn't have to stop anywhere after your boat excursion.) Have the fruit all washed and ready to slice. You just preheat the oven to 350 while you take a quick shower and cut the rind off the top of the brie and put it into an oven proof dish. Stick it in the oven for about 15 minutes to get all warm and melty. While the cheese is in the oven I open the red wine to allow it to breathe then brown the sliced almonds slightly in a small fry pan with a pat of butter and slice the apples and pears into bite sized pieces and arrange on a plate with the grapes. The french bread gets sliced into one inch slices. Dump the almonds on top of the cheese for the last 5 minutes or so in the oven. Once the cheese is melted and bubbling around the edges just plant yourself on the deck and dig in with two knives spreading the cheese and almonds on the bread with the fruit on the side. Somehow that combination of red wine, gooey cheese and crunchy fruit and nuts is just magical and seems so decadent! It's surprisingly filling too so if you pick up a nice dessert it's usually more than enough. A second bottle of wine or an after dinner liquore and you have a private New Year's Eve party!!

[papabou]

you would be hard pressed to find a better view while grilling steaks and dining on deck of coconuts. we've had good luck with filets and ribeyes from starfish market. bake a potato for everyone (or buy a pasta salad), green salad out of bag, and loaf of french bread. wash down with favorite beverage.

shop a day early and prepare all night before. you may be too tired for cooking after a day with capt john, but foregoing is not what i'd call cooking.

frankly, we've enjoyed evenings on deck at cloud 9 (just below coconuts) so much, we seldom go out for dinner. the ladies do prep, the guys grill and we all do adult beverages and assist in cleanup.

if you haven't stayed on gifft hill before, you will understand what i'm talking about once you walk through the gate.


papabou

[Skillians]

I'm with papabou-we are renting a gazillion-dollar house with a superb view, why put on shoes and underwear and leave it?
On our cook-in nights we have lamb shish kebab w/MidEast rice, steak & grill potatoes, BBQ chicken, steaks, tequila shrimp, a spicy pork tenderloin, and sirloin nachos with buffalo wings. I think the price of checking our cooler at the airport is less than the average meal for just one person at Fish Trap. And it's quiet! And the view is to die for! And we're able to afford a snorkel trip, or kayak trip, or some beautiful jewelry from Caravan.....

[Nic in KC]

Due to having a 1 year old this trip, we ate at the villa in the evening several times. I need to get my review written!

We carried in Cafe Roma full meal. It went from Cruz Bay to Coral Bay and it was still plenty warm. It was a great meal at the villa with our own bottle of wine. My parent's also got pizza there for carry out one night.

Another favorite night was a Rotisserie chicken from Starfish with side salads from their deli case. We got two medium sized pasta salads. The chicken was still really good on a sandwich days later. Highly recommend this options. We fed 4 adults and 1 toddler for 40.00 or less.

We also love doing a wine and cheese night on our deck. Get some different cheeses from the wine shop across from Starfish, buy a loaf of bread, some crackers and some fruit and you are good to go.

We even carried out Aqua Bistro one night. In the past we've carried out burgers from Woody's which would work too.

[jdw]

Some great suggestions - thanks everyone!

[Steve S]

Our version of in villa dinner ideas goes like this-

Fade in to Steve and Mrs Steve chillin at the villa pool after a day of snorkeling...

Steve - "Got any ideas on where to go for dinner?"

Mrs Steve - "I don't know, you got any ideas?"

Steve - "Let's have a drink while we come up with an idea."

Mrs. Steve - "Great idea!"

[Skillians]

Now this is a plan I fully endorse!

[News of St. John]

Thanks for all of the great ideas! I looked at Sam and Jack's and that looks perfect.

I am all for having Carib for dinner on the deck but I need something for the kids.

[Lindy]

CTBeachGirl - My kids used to love, love, love the baked brie with fruit minus the wine, of course. What kid doesn't like gooey cheese or bread? And that was actually one of the few times that I could get them to eat fruit because it was all cut up and looked 'pretty". Just don't tell them it's hoity toity French stuff....just gooey cheese like on pizza and you can leave the nuts off a portion if they have that "texture" thing. You could buy some sort of special beverage for them and serve it in some fancy (but unbreakable) glasses and the kids can join right in with the New Year's festivities. Heck, NYE with kids??? Even more of a reason to stay close to the villa!