At the Christopher St. Barth Hotel, Christopher Coutanceau (brilliantly) rethinks the culinary ecosystem

Two years ago, Christopher Coutanceau spent five days at the Christopher St Barth Hotel, on the occasion of a gastronomy festival. His work made a lasting impression. So it was only natural that the hotel's directors, Olivier Leroy, Katia and Christian Terrassoux, wanted to continue working with the Charentais. "They contacted me again at the beginning of 2024 to propose this partnership. For both restaurants, I revised the concept, the clothing, the crockery, etc.", explains the chef.

A collaboration with shared commitments

In France, ChristopherCoutanceau is renowned for his respect for the environment and the seasons. For its part, the Hotel des Antilles is also keen to promote similar values. "It's a place really based on respect for nature. For example, it recycles sea water to clean its linen", explains the Grand de Demain Nouvelle-Aquitaine 2018. When it comes to catering, these commitments are reflected in the chef's determination "not to offer a cuisine with the aseptic flavors that are unfortunately all too common on the island", he explains . To curb this phenomenon, the chef from La Rochelle has "joined forces with the island's fishermen to develop the reef fish fishery. Sadly, it has almost disappeared in favor of pelagic fishing for swordfish, tuna and mahi-mahi.

As a seafaring chef, he confides that he has adapted his cuisine and dishes to the island's resources. "Saint-Barthélémy isn't big, so we're going to try to do as much locavore as possible with the very fine produce available." For the occasion, Christopher Coutanceau has reworked his recipe for squid-based tartare in an atmosphere of beet juice. "The idea is to create a trompe-l'oeil of beef tartare. This is accompanied by fries in the form of puffed potatoes with a squid ink potato injection, and finally, a salad of marine plants and vegetables composed of obione, sea lettuce, currant seaweed and samphire." Recipes to be found in the hotel's establishments, La Plage de Chris for lunch and La Table de Christopher Coutanceau for dinner, from October 25, 2024.