What makes a chef great? Is it flavour? Is it plating? Is it passion? The Caribbean is one of the world’s greatest culinary destinations, with thousands of talented chefs making mouthwatering dishes featuring local and international cuisine. But the Caribbean also sends a number of terrific chefs abroad to hone their craft and bring the region’s food to the world. So our inaugural Best Chefs list includes both chefs working in the Caribbean and Caribbean-born chefs making their mark around the world. Here are our top Caribbean chefs for 2014, from rising stars to established veterans. Who is your favourite Caribbean chef? Tell us in the comments section.
Xiomara Marquez — Puerto Rico
To put it simply, Xiomara Marquez is a culinary artist, trained in the highest level of Spanish cuisine and continuing to wow diners at the Yantar restaurant in San Juan’s Condado district.
Rick van den Broek — Bonaire
It’s no surprise to see van den Broek, a native of the Netherlands, on this list, having vaulted his At Sea restaurant in Bonaire to the top of CJ’s Caribbean restaurants list last year.
Nina Compton — St Lucia
Nina Compton, Chef de Cuisine at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach’s Scarpetta restaurant, captivated the Caribbean with her exploits on Bravo’s “Top Chef,” finishing second overall.
Carrie Bogar — Anguilla
Carrie Bogar and her husband Jerry fled the cold winters of Pennsylvania for Anguilla, opening Veya in 2007. In a short amount of time, Veya has become one of the island’s most sought-after tables.
Khaled Mohammed — Trinidad
Mohammed’s Chaud (and the newer Chaud Creole) are taking Trinidad’s spectacular street food to fine-dining tables. His talents have brought guests from Bill Clinton to the King and Queen of Spain.
Ron Duprat — Haiti
You could make the argument that Duprat, a native of Haiti, is the most famous Caribbean chef today, most notably by starring on Top Chef. In addition to his restaurants, he’s now trying to take the cuisine of Haiti to the world as a kind of culinary activist.
Alain Laurent — Anguilla
Anguilla’s modern tourism industry was born at the famous Malliouhana hotel, where Alain Laurent spent many years. Today, he creates enchanting dishes at Jacala, one of the greatest restaurants on an island that has a surfeit of great restaurants.
Brian Lumley — Jamaica
Jamaican native Brian Lumley took home the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association’s Caribbean Chef of the Year honour last year, and deservedly so. He’s now turning heads with his latest venture, 689 by Brian Lumley in Kingston.
Travis Phillips — British Virgin Islands
A native of Canada, Phillips has been in the British Virgin Islands for nearly a decade, now helming the exceptional The Dove restaurant in Tortola.
Babette de Roziers — Guadeloupe
Few Caribbean chefs have accomplished as much as de Roziers, a chef, restaurateur and author who has opened restaurants in both Guadeloupe and mainland France. Today, she’s continuing her exceptional career at La Case de Babette in the city of Maule, France.
Tim Tibbitts — Bahamas
A native of Nassau, Tibbitts now plies his trade at the acclaimed Flying Fish on the island of Grand Bahama, where he continues to put a creative, contemporary spin on Caribbean seafood.
Roberto Treviño — Puerto Rico
Roberto Treviño is an Iron Chef and perhaps the dean of San Juan restaurants, with two eateries on CJ’s Top 50 in 2013.
Frank Pugliese — St Croix
It’s not easy to combine fine dining with Caribbean beach cuisine, but Pugliese is doing it at one of the more inventive restaurants in the region, Eat at Cane Bay in St Croix, where he serves everything from eclectic burgers to his famous “food shots.”
Collin Brown — Jamaica
A native of Trelawny, Chef Collin Brown has taken Caribbean food to the most discerning eaters in the United Kingdom and Europe. Now, he’s quickly building a budding culinary empire.
Wilo Benet — Puerto Rico
Like Anguilla, Puerto Rico has one of the Caribbean’s great collections of top-notch restaurants. That’s in large part thanks to chefs like Benet, best known for his Pikayo restaurant at the Condado Plaza Hilton.
Jean-Charles Bredas
The cuisine of Martinique is a rich marriage of French and Creole cuisine, and nobody does it better than Jean-Charles Bredas, best known for his eponymous Le Bredas eatery.
Curtis Smithen — Nevis
Smithen served as executive sous chef at the Four Seasons Nevis, but he’s now the executive chef at the Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti, a Caribbean culinary ambassador in the heart of East Africa.
Jasper Schneider — Anguilla
Yes, Anguilla is considered by many to be the restaurant capital of the Caribbean. And the CuisinArt, an Anguillian hotel known for its food, UK-born, American-bred Chef Jasper Schneider has developed a simple yet astonishing culinary style.
Joël Kichenin — Guadeloupe
Kichenin, a Guadeloupe native who recently took over the venerable restaurant at the Hotel Auberge de la Vieille Tour in Gosier, remains one of the leading ambassadors for the cuisine of the French Caribbean.
Sarah Mair
A native of Jamaica, Mair, a former Top Chef contestant, is the former Executive Chef at Ortanique Camana Bay in Grand Cayman and has now set out on her own path with her new venture, “Cookin n Tings.”
Dean Samuel — Anguilla
Samuel is both the executive sous chef at the tony Cap Juluca resort and the manager of Anguilla’s national culinary team, focusing at both on celebrating the rich fusion of cultures that is Anguillian cooking.
Amar Santana — Dominican Republic
A native of the Dominican Republic, Amar Santana learned in some of New York City’s top kitchens, including Aureole, and has hit a home run with his first restaurant, Broadway by Amar Santana in Laguna Beach, Calif.
Nigel Spence — Jamaica
He’s gone toe-to-toe with Bobby Flay (and won), and the Kingston native continues to impress at his widely-praised Ripe Kitchen & Bar outside of New York City. Spence, who is also a CJ contributor, is working to take Jamaican cuisine to the next level.
Bram Verleg — Aruba
Verleg was the longtime chef at Aruba’s best restaurant, Verleg’s beachfront Flying Fishbone.
Adriyel Lourens — Curacao
Lourens starred at the Taste of the Caribbean in Miami last year, taking home three medals. Now, he continues his success at the Baoase resort in Curacao, devising one of the more inspired menus you’ll find anywhere in the region.