Culinary

Taste of St. Croix Cook-Off Names Chef Shawn Riley of Beach Side Café As 2017 Winner

ST. CROIX -- Three chefs who live and work on the island of St. Croix competed in the Taste of St. Croix Cook-Off on May 8. Michael Matthew of Ridge to Reef Farm and Eat at Cane Bay, Sean Skerrette of Lyric Sails, and Shawn Riley of Beach Side Café each earned first place awards during the Taste of St. Croix event and competition held in April. Monday's Cook-Off brought the chefs together to select a top winner. Mr. Riley won the fun, friendly competition and has earned the coveted spot on the USVI Culinary Team and will be joining the team for the Taste of the Caribbean, a culinary competition held in Miami, Florida. The competition, held at Ridge to Reef Farm in the hills of the West End of St. Croix, offered the chefs a huge cornucopia of local products including beef, fish, greens, herbs, fruits and the first mangoes of the season and more. Mystery ingredients that chefs were required to incorporate into the dishes included white bread, local Surinam cherries, and bread nut. B...