Dinner At Orega, St. Barth

OREGA IN ST. BART’S by Dan Evans It’s quite a change to leave the snow back in Philadelphia and arrive in sunny Gustavia, St. Bart’s. We’re back in our lovely rental ‘villa apartment’at the Colony Club, with the spectacular view of the harbor. Jim even went swimming just after we arrived Friday afternoon, on Shell Beach. For dinner we decided to try Orega, one of the new restaurants which have opened since we were last here two years ago. It’s a very popular venue, with a menu that suggests a fusion of Japanese and French cuisines. (See pic of Dan with the owner Greg.) The French staff all speak fluent English and offers advice on what to order. For starters there was a complimentary small cup of cold turnip soup, which was piquant. Then for his appetizer Jim had “Organic Bouquet” which was a large plate of raw vegetable salad. Jim enjoyed the enoki mushrooms most in the salad, although there was not enough of the ponzu sauce to cover all of the sliced veggies. Dan had a tuna tataki, tender slices of raw tuna with an oil-infused ponzu sauce. For his main course Jim had “Caribbean Treasure” a combination of ravioli pieces with spiny lobster and roasted mushrooms. The lobster was chewy but flavorful. My Hotate, grilled sea scallops were just cooked enough and served with mushrooms and a very delicate, delicious puree of edamame. Our bottle of Cotes du Rhone was not one of the better selections, but we both had excellent desserts. Jim’s lemon tart received 5 ***** and my Bomb Chocolate was ice cream in a chocolate shell, with pieces of cake, all covered by a hot chocolate sauce. The Lichee-flavored rum liquor finished off the meal nicely.