Sunday, January 19, 2014

Turks and Caicos – Seaside Cafe

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Seaside - tuna sashimi
“What?  Ziggy the great foodie is writing a post on Seaside Cafe?  What’s next.. Pizza Pizza” I can hear the critics already.  For many years Seaside was a decent, casual, resort (Ocean Club West) owned dining spot, not exactly a foodie destination.  But things have changed.  New owners took over (same owners as Opus), brought in a Coco Bistro veteran, and a new foodie powerhouse is born.  This is not your old Seaside, and I’m a couple of years late to this party.
Seaside new deck
“Chef Driven” is a term used loosely these days.  Every place has a chef.  Some are great, some are ok, some are just learning on the job.  But then there are those chef who experiment, transform, and set trends.  The chefs that make me want to go there for the chefs, instead of the setting or atmosphere.  Quebec born Francois who started cooking from the young age of zero (I have trouble remembering simple facts sometimes but this sounds about right) knows a thing or three about cooking.  From dishing out all sorts of goodies in the army in Canada (Canada has an army?) at the age of 16, to sharpening his skills big time in Provo’s busiest Coco Bistro, Francois has gone a log way.
This was a first in Eating With Ziggy history.  Every single one of the 4 dishes we sampled in Seaside was a top dish of the trip nominee.  Choosing from this one will be harder than driving through a town that didn’t endorse Chris Christie.
The Escolar (aka “White Tuna” but not really) was another outstanding dish.  Another South Caicos beauty cooked expertly medium rare with jasmine rice, veggies, sweet wasabi mustard on one side and some sort of miso sauce on the other.
A note about south Caicos fishermen.  Lately those guys are simply kicking some serious ass.  Deep fishing for octopus, tuna, escolar are just some examples of what they are bringing to the table.  I don’t recall seeing so much locally caught fish on the menus, especially octopus.  Way to go South Caicos fishermen.  Way to go!
Tuna Sashimi with Wasabi mustard (top) -  A revelation!  Long time followers of Ziggy know how much I love a similar dish at Coco Bistro and it turns out that that was a Francois creation.  Fresh tuna from south Caicos, veggies, that wasabi again, and just a glorious concoction on individual tortillas.
Peruvian conch ceviche. Yet more awesomeness.  A fantastic combination of veggies (love his use of fresh veggies), fresh conch, lime and different peppers including scotch bonnet.  Addictive stuff to say the least.
Seaside is easily a top 5 in Provo after this trip!
Seaside - conch salad
Seaside - white tuna

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