February News

Well the holidays are well behind us, and the January blues have been put to bed, so what’s new on island these days? We thought we’d keep you in the loop until your next visit!

It’s all change on the restaurant front: Jean Claude Dufour, of Eden Rock fame, has taken over the Esprit de Saline, whilst Le Pacri has relocated from Saline to the Manapany Hotel at Anse de Cayes. The previous location of Le Pacri has since opened as a new venture, Meat & Potatoes, which is already affectionately known as M&P by the locals. In Gustavia, the old Bistrot has become Le Bagatelle and Francis Delage has handed over La Route des Boucaniers to Xavier and his wife – proprietors of Do Brazil. Oh, and Le Kafe Massai has had a complete makeover.

Following so far? Also brand new and closer to home is The Bistroy, here in St Jean. The owner, Jean Baptiste Barre, was previously sommelier at the Toiny Hotel and Absolutely Wine – no wonder then that the wine menu is excellent, as well as great tapas, appetizers, salads and snacks. Definitely worth checking out next time you’re in town.

In other news, the Les Ilets team are all still on a high after the St Barths Music Festival, which closed recently. It was an incredible fortnight with world famous artists visiting our island and performing for our pleasure. Thankfully we have the Saint Barths’ Bucket, les Voiles de Saint Barth, the Theatre Festival and many other events still to look forward to.

On your next trip you may notice the improvements to many of the roads and sidewalks. The commune has invested large amounts of time and money to make our roads safer, and there’s also a new roundabout in St Jean, located at the Saline exit. Let’s hope it causes less confusion than the last one!

Getting to Les Ilets has never been easier: we were delighted to discover in November that Jet Blue is now running a daily flight between Puerto Rico and St Martin, whilst those on the port may spot the Voyager 3 Dreamliner – a luxury 28-metre catamaran which now offers daily rotations between St Martin and St Barths. There’s even a business class, should you so desire.

The island is now busy preparing for the elections in March. President Bruno Magras is not standing for re-election, so the position is up for grabs. Watch this space!