Posted by kathy on February 05, 2002 at 08:46:44:
In Reply to: Quincy Percentie does it again! posted by Max on February 04, 2002 at 13:15:59:
quincy does it again as do the other staff that work there. they have a great crew and the chef and quincy dont do it alone.
: Yes, yes, yes ... it IS better in the Out Islands!
: : AWAY IN THE BAHAMAS: Dunmore Sets the Mark
:
: : By John Mariani
:
: : My idea of heaven does not involve any beach in the world, but when I
: : occasionally yearn for warmer weather, skies of one shade of blue and water
: : of another, I begrudgingly repair to an island somewhere, hoping that I will
: : be left alone to sleep, read, and eat well (not necessarily in that order).
: : After many disasters in the Caribbean, especially in the food department, I
: : have finally found a spot reclusive, colorful, and delectable enough to draw
: : me back when the winter doldrums strike.
:
: : It is called DUNMORE BEACH CLUB (242-333-2200; 1-877-891-3100;
: : dbc@batelnet.bs; www.dunmorebeach.com), located on a three-mile stretch of
: : powder pink coral sand called Harbour Islands, a five-minute ferry from
: : Eleuthera in the Bahamas. The town is tiny, and there's not much to do here,
: : so it's not jammed with duffers, gamblers, families or cruiseship quickies.
: : The 1,500 locals are very friendly, including model Elle McPherson, who may
: : be spotted each morning jogging along the water's edge. Indeed, the island
: : is used for a lot of photo shoots, largely because it is not overrun with
: : gawkers and because it is very beautiful in an unspoilt way.
:
: : Dunmore itself rambles over lovingly landscaped hills down to the beach,
: : with 14 cottages gaily painted in the usual tropical palette colors. The
: : rooms inside are extremely comfortable without being effusively decorated,
: : and the service staff, unlike most in the Bahamas, is happy to help with any
: : request, led by the remarkable Quincey Percentie, who refuses guests
: : nothing.
:
: : Nor will owners Tony and Cynthia Shogren if they're on property, which
: : is often during the winter. They've owned Dunmore, once a private club
: : frequented by the ditsy Duke and Duchess of Windsor, for about a dozen years
: : now, but their hiring of chef Richard Hamilton last summer has distinguished
: : the resort from most others in the Caribbean, causing Dunmore to be
: : competitive with some of the best on St. Bart's, where a tradition of fine
: : cuisine has been long entrenched. Several Dunmore meals--from breakfast
: : through dinner--showed me that Hamilton, whose experience derives from
: : stints at Louis XV in Monaco, Daniel Boulud in NY, and Dean Fearing of the
: : Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas, is a star on the rise.
:
: : If he only served me his French toast (pre-emptively credited on the menu
: : with being "world famous"), I'd acknowledge his talent. And his lunch
: : buffets are remarkably free of the usual brunch/lunch clichés. But it is at
: : dinner that he, with a staff of just two in the kitchen, really shows his
: : mettle. One evening began with a sparkling stone crab salad with prawn and
: : apple vinaigrette, then a cannellini bean soup with white truffles, topped
: : with a quail egg. Local grouper-always better in the Bahamas-came on a
: : tomato and spinach risotto of creamy tenderness, matched in flavor by a
: : crisp, potato-wrapped bass on braised leeks with truffled red wine
: : reduction. The meat course was a duck breast whose essential flavor was
: : marvelously enhanced with a duck confit hash, and coulis of foie gras. For
: : dessert a very Caribbean baked pineapple with vanilla, two chocolates, and
: : coconut ice cream seemed the ideal ending as the moon drifted in and out of
: : the clouds over the Ocean.
:
: : The next evening was every bit as exciting, starting off with a leek tart
: : with black truffles, and a fricassée of monkfish with white onions, Anjou
: : pear, and pear chips. This night the main course was impeccably cooked,
: : richly flavorful squab with five spice seasoning, the salty taste of
: : pancetta, wild mushrooms, and a Madeira reduction. Only a starter of chewy
: : scallops with a poached fig and foie gras faltered. "Dueling" crème brulées
: : finished off the evening. The winelist at Dunmore is not yet anything to
: : rave about, , though a temperature-controlled cellar is on the future's
: : agenda, which should improved breadth and depth.
:
: : Hamilton changes his menus daily, depending on what's available, which
: : almost always means what he has flown in, and, with so small a number of
: : clientele, he can manage these changes with remarkable personality.
:
: : For me, flying to the Caribbean out of New York can be a laborious hop,
: : skip and jump by plane, boat, and taxi, but, given its prices-almost half
: : below comparable resorts (depending on high or low season, a suite can go
: : for $480 including all meals!)-Dunmore will draw me out of the increasingly
: : rare blasts of winter in New York.