Cugini is the Italian word for cousins. It’s also the name of the best new restaurant we found in our annual visit to Saint Martin. The name is eponymous because two cousins own this restaurant. It’s actually one of those reunion stories that you might see on TV. Sam and Tony were each born in Sicily. When Sam was a young boy, his family emigrated to Toronto. Tony’s family stayed in Sicily. They never really knew each other. But in a chance meeting just a couple of years while Sam and his wife, Francesca, were visiting Saint Martin, brought these two cousins together. Tony is a well-known restaurateur on the island and when they discovered each other and learned of one anothers’ love of food, it was a natural that they should open up a restaurant together.
I am so glad they did!
My friend Topper Daboul, the restaurateur whom I wrote about last week, invited my wife and me, along with his wife Melanie, and a few others, to take a boat ride across Simpson Bay into Marigot’s Port La Royale, on the French side of the island. Topper being half Sicilian told us we were about to have one of the best Italian meals ever.
He didn’t exaggerate.
I brought my camera and so I could illustrate as well as describe this incredible lunch, starting with a gorgeous antipasto with antipastoProsciutto sliced so thin you could see through it; Capiccola so flavorful; Genoa salami with just the right bite; and a beautiful Caprese, consisting of sweet cherry tomatoes, fresh basil and freshly made mozzarella cheese. The fruitiness of the extra virgin olive oil made it all absolutely perfect. I could have been happy eating this antipasto all afternoon, but our “cugino” Sam kept bringing more and more food to the table.
Next came house-made pasta in a meat sauce similar to the Bolognese style, but distinctly Sicilian in pastaflavor and seasoning. At the same time, he brought gnocchi in the same sauce, so we ate them together. These gnocchi were so light and delicate, they melted in your mouth. “Mangia, mangia! (Eat, eat!),” Sam urged. Not one of us at the table had to be told twice, as we scarfed up every last one of those gnocchi.
Pasta-making is an art in itself and the best Italian cooks make it by feel. Humidity changes affect the texture of the dough. You have to get your hands in it and at Cugini, it’s clear that these are very skilled hands.
Just when we thought the last gnoccho was gone, Sam brought to the table a whole platter of more, this time in a tangy and creamy Gorgonzola sauce. And he wasn’t finished. Because at the same time, he also brought two varieties of cugini lasagna, one with a meat sauce and the second with spinach. I told Topper that I was about to lapse into a food coma, because here it was midday and we had already eaten the equivalent of four meals — plus unending glasses of Sancerre Blanc.
Surely, you didn’t think we were finished, did you?! Sam insisted that we try one of each of his desserts:
Tiramisu, Tarte Tatin, and Chocolate Cake with a liquid center. I’ve made my own version of tiramisu and I’ve eaten it at countless restaurants. But I’ve never had one with the mascarpone cheese incorporated with whipped cream that was so light and airy. I also make Tarte Tatin. I think mine’s pretty good, but Sam’s had a quality that I have been unable to duplicate in the way the caramel developed around the apples. The chocolate cake also had a quality to it that spoke to me of some very high quality and high percentage of cacao content.
If we would have allowed it, Sam would have kept bringing food and wine to the table. As hearty as my appetite is, I was stuffed. But we weren’t finished! My wife and I decided we had to pay a second visit, but this time for dinner. I didn’t bring my camera and I regret that I cannot show you the beautiful food we ate, but we started with a glass of champagne (I thought it might have been Prosecco, the Italian sparkling wine, but I wasn’t complaining!). Sam didn’t even have to ask. He just knew instinctively that we had to have that antipasto again. This time, instead of the Caprese component, he served marinated mushrooms and artichokes with sun-dried tomatoes. Delicious. We then had the Cugini Sicilian Salad, with the freshest tomatoes, onions and herbs, along with capers and beautifully ripened Sicilian olives.
For her entree, my wife chose Sicilian Scampi, a succulent shrimp dish with a tangy and spicy red sauce, interspersed with sautéed slices of fresh garlic. I had a grilled veal chop, perfectly cooked to medium rare with some of that house-made pasta on the side. We complimented our meal with a bottle of a moderately priced Tuscan red wine. (And I couldn’t say no to another tiramisu.)
I was impressed with the care Sam and his staff took to make sure that everything they served was to the highest standard. The restaurant is not fancy by any means. Like the food, it’s very simple. But make no mistake: Simple food, expertly made as it is at Cugini, is a gift. Furthermore, while we had only two encounters with Sam, he treated us as if we were family. How can you not love a place like that?
Cugini is open only four months of the year. I am so happy that my annual time in Sint Maarten/Saint Martin coincides with one of those months!
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SIMPSON BAY, Sint Maarten, Dutch West Indies – This will be this season’s final column about restaurants in Sint Maarten/Saint Martin. And in this one, you’ll get two-for-one because they are owned and operated by the same person.
And these two are as different as night and day and, though the cuisine is Italian, neither resembles the Italian food I wrote about at Cugini.
Let’s begin with IZI (pronounced, “easy”). Located in a new shopping plaza on the always busy Welfare Road just past Simpson Bay, it is a starkly modern building with cascading water on the front windows. They call themselves an “Italian Pasta Lounge,” and it’s an absolutely perfect name.
I must tell you that we visited IZI last year not long after it opened and, while the food was very good, it was so incredibly noisy we decided that we probably wouldn’t return. Fortunately for us, we heard that sound baffles had been installed. What a difference. You could actually carry on a conversation with the person or people at your table. Last year, you had to yell your order to the waiter and he was standing right next to you.
That’s one of things that I really like – not just about IZI – but its owner, David Foini, who also owns the best fine dining Italian establishment on Sint Maarten, La Gondola, listens to his customers and he responds.
At this point you may be saying to yourself that pasta is pasta. But pasta at IZI is quite different, and you’d see that right away as soon as you open the innovative menu.
You have a choice of three groups of pastas – special pastas such as filled pastas or gnocchi; regular styles such as spaghetti, rigatoni, bowtie or linguine; and finally, a choice of two pastas made with whole wheat.
The IZI menu then gives you additional choices for sauces and toppings which they group as “colors,” such as Red Sauces (pomodoro, Arrabbiata, Bolognese, Campagnola, and Amatriciana); “Blue” toppings – a reference to seafood such as mussels, shrimp, salmon or fuitti di mare; the White Sauces containing cream of cheese or both, including Carbonara, Alfredo, Quattro Formaggi, and Mushroom; and finally, the Green, which includes oil and garlic, basil pesto or sautéed vegetables including zucchini, eggplant and peppers in marinara.
You can make a nearly endless variety of combinations and each is priced from a low of $10.95 to a high of $22.95. I think the concept is unique and borders on genius, and it’s ripe for franchising – a concept not lost on Signore Foini.
There were eight of us in our group and with cocktails beforehand and wine with dinner, each tab ran right around $80 per couple. And even though it was pasta, it felt fairly close to a fine dining experience. That was due in part to the presence of an expert and personable chef and a friendly and knowledgeable wait staff.
Just a few nights beforehand, we had the pleasure of dining with Davide Foini along with friends and he and his brilliant Chef Matteo put on a seven-course tasting menu dinner for us that was extraordinary.
But here’s the thing: The dog ate my homework. I have torn my luggage and briefcase apart looking for my notes on this beautiful dinner and the wines Davide chose to accompany it. I can’t find them, so I cannot give you the detail.
But let me advise this: If you have the good fortune to be in Sint Maarten and you want a fine dining Italian experience, make your way to La Gondola in the Atlantis Casino complex in Cupecoy.
Here’s the way I think you should do Italian in Sint Maarten/Saint Martin. Begin with the trattoria/wine bar I wrote about last week, Cugini, in the French part; then go to IZI on the Dutch side; and lastly, go to La Gondola, located almost directly in between.
For a French and Dutch island, they sure know how to do Italian.
That’s it for this year’s Caribbean Gastronomic Vacation. Back to “normal subjects” next time. Ciao!
potatoes and bake about 45 minutes in a 425 oven until the exterior is crispy and the interior is soft.