A new place to eat
By Sarah Greaves-Gabbadon
CJ Travel Editor
There’s a new place to dine in the British Virgin Islands.
Helmed by two of the region’s best chefs, Xavi Arnau and Patrick Williams, The Club has just opened on Norman Island. Serving Jamaican and Mediterranean-inspired cuisine, the 80-seat beachfront is now open for lunch and dinner on the 600-acre private island said to have inspired Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island.
Chef Arnau (from nearby private-island resort Guana Island) and Williams (from Pirate’s Bight, Norman Cay’s popular beach bar and restaurant) have collaborated on a menu that features fresh-caught seafood and local ingredients, many of which are sourced from Guana’s five-acre organic garden. Emphasizing bold flavor combinations that reflect the restaurant’s setting in the BVI, signature dishes include Tuna, Avocado, Pineapple and Cilantro Toast; Maple-Glazed Bacon and Plantains; Grilled Shrimp with Caribbean-style Seared Chayote; and Lobster Paella with Saffron Aioli, which is inspired by Chef Arnau’s Spanish heritage.
The Club also has an extensive menu of cocktails, wine and rum flights, served to your chaise in the sand or at the beach bar. (We’re particularly intrigued by the Corpse Reviver, an enlivening combo of gin, Cointreau and Lillet Blanc liqueurs, and lemon juice, served with a “rinse” of absinthe.)
Open seven days a week from 11am to 9pm, The Club is just down the beach from Pirate’s Bight. Ferry service is offered three times daily from Hannah Bay