Wadadli

A view of Antigua by helicopter taken by One Brown Girl / Caribbean Helicopters / August 2011

It's a beer, the name of a dish, a catamaran, a music festival and a reggae band.  It's also what folks call Antigua, an island in the Caribbean bordered by both the Caribbean Sea and Atlanic Ocean and an independent sovereign nation within the British Commonwealth.  It's Wadadli, prounounced Wuh-Dawd-Lee.  Cool, hunh?  (It is interesting to note that Antigua was called Wa-lad-li and not Wa-dad-li by the Amerindians before Christopher Columbus named the island Antigua after Santa María de la Antigua at Seville (St. Mary the Ancient) in 1493.  Ultimately, Waladli morphed into Wadadli over time.)  Moving on...

Wadadli Beer from Antigua Brewery

Wadadli for Lunch / Sea Grape Restaurant, Galley Bay Resort & Spa, Antigua

I spent the day sailing with Wadadli Cats & it was just perfect. / Antigua

If you hang out with me on my Facebook page or read my Twitter feed, then you probably know that I just got back from a trip to Wadadli courtesy of Elite Island Resorts.  You also know that I am now officially turned completely out and that between Elite's three quietly luxurious Antigua properties (which I'm going to write full reviews on at BlackAtlas.com), Galley Bay Resort & Spa got its hooks in me.  So much so that I'm going back.  Soon.  No.  Like really really soon.  See Antigua Sailing Week.





Award-winning Executive Chef
Andrew "Stan" Baxter
Sea Grape Restaurant
Galley Bay Resort & Spa

There are three al fresco restaurants at Galley Bay: Sea Grape Restaurant, Gauguin Restaurant and Ismay's Restaurant & Bar (which is named after a long time employee), all of which boast some fine fine cuisine from some fine fine award winning chefs. Heather, a delightful member of the wait staff at Sea Grape told us all to Eat Up!  "The food has no calories," she said. "It's the tropical sun that shrinks your clothes."  What a hoot.



I did have some delightful dinner conversation with Property Manager Cedric Henry and Executive Chef Andrew "Stan" Baxter while dining at Sea Grape Restaurant one evening. Andrew is a Brit that has lived on Antigua for 12 years with his family and spoke candidly about how he ultimately came to be the Executive Chef in Antigua. Cool guy. 



Left to right:  Galley Bay Resort & Spa General Manager Paolo Rovoletto,
 restaurant namesake Ismay (with 48 years of service)
and Property Manager Cedric Henry.

My favorite seat at Gauguin Restaurant / Galley Bay Resort & Spa / Antigua

I was also privileged to dine at Elite's St. James's Club Antigua at both Rainbow Garden and Coco Beach Restaurant & Bar for lunch although we ran out of time and I didn't get to The Docksider, where on Thursday nights guests can enjoy a live steel band and limbo contests.  *Holding my back*  For dinner, I dined with General Manager & Vice President Vernon Jeffers at Piccolo Mondo, the resort's fine dining restaurant.  Lovely evening, lovely & interesting dinner conversation about life in the hospitality industry, and a lovely and tasty meal.  I might have mentioned that I'll be going back.  LOL

At The Verandah Resort & Spa, another Elite property, I was fortunate enough to meet Executive Chef Rajah Pillay at a weekly Manager's Reception for resort guests.  Chef oversees the three restaurants on the property: Seabreeze, The Buccaneer and Nicole's, where I dined with Elite's Senior Vice President of Operations Alex De Brito for dinner and had some delightful dinner conversation about his family and about Paris, where he was raised and where I love.  Again, a fantastic meal.  Really.  *Kissing my fingers*

It was quite a treat to have such fine dining experiences at all of Elite's all-inclusive properties; I felt spoiled.  And the truth is that I somehow thought that all-inclusive might mean cafeteria-style food.  Um.  That wasn't even the case.  They aren't called Elite for nothing.  #luxury

Left to Right:  Property Tour Hostess Myriam Brown, Yours Truly,
SVP Alex De Brito & Executive Chef Pillay
The Verandah Resort & Spa / Antigua

Which leads me to the reason for this post, besides the cool info about Wadadli...

Besides using my Foodspotting account to post my food photos, I thought I'd place the photos here.  I know it's not Foodie Friday, but I'm excited to share, so here's my homage to my fine dining Antiguan food experience...courtesy of Elite Island Resorts. As the Antiguans say:  Thank you for your ears or Thanks for listening.  Enjoy.  Well...you know what I mean.  ;-)

Hungry?


Disclaimer: I was invited on a press trip by Cheryl Andrews Marketing on behalf of Elite Island Resorts.  Of course, these opinions are my own...because if you know anything about me at all, you know that I'm speaking from my heart.  Oh.  And my stomach.