Guest chef - Sun And...
DINING & ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE - JAN 2003
EDITOR'S NOTE: Sun And Restaurant is closed.
Guest chef - Sun And...
Sun and...'s Ronnie Deryckere
Sun and... is one of those hidden culinary gems that started its life as a private home. Initially called the Red Mill and owned by the Turtle family, it was built in the early 1940s for Jack Turtle, head of Coca Cola in The Bahamas. Belgian Ronnie Deryckere and his wife Esther bought the restaurant two decades ago and transformed it into the upscale establishment it is today.
Deryckere was born in Belgium in 1947 and educated in the Belgian Congo. His father was a diplomat. He enrolled in a restaurant school in Belgium at the age of 14 and started his restaurant career in Belgian restaurants as a pastry chef. His career took him to Paris and Dublin and eventually to Lyford Cay in 1966 as a pastry chef.
In 1968 he moved to the posh Cafe Martinique on Paradise Island and in 1970 got married and moved to Cat Cay. "That was paradise. That was the nicest job I've had in my whole life," he says of his stint on the small millionaire's private island south of Bimini.
He came back to Nassau in 1974 to the newly opened Del Prado and in 1975 he moved to Graycliff to introduce the dinner business. In June, 1981, he and his wife Esther bought Sun and... from Pete Gardiner, colourful and somewhat eccentric former RAF pilot, wing commander and distinct personality who often greeted guests in bare feet.
Gardiner had added guest rooms, another dining room, and the wall, gate and moat guarding the courtyard, and had run it as a guest house and restaurant. Photos of celebrities who have eaten at Sun and... still adorn the walls of the bar, along with remnants of Gardiner's days as a pilot.
"When we bought it Esther became part of the business and in the 21 years we have never had to look over our shoulder or ask anyone if we could do this or that. We have had 100 per cent freedom and I have never lost a night's sleep.
"We took Sun and... which was in desperate need of repair to one of the best restaurants in Nassau, and we achieved this as a team. We don't need stars to signify how good the place is. We offer quality, service and cleanliness."
Deryckere has firm views on the difference between eating and dining.
"Now if someone wants to go out eating that's one thing. But when it comes to dining, it means the service is good, the food is first class, the atmosphere, the premises, the whole operation is in good shape and clean, and after the evening is over you're really happy about the experience. You can tell they're happy when the waiters get extra tips."
He also has firm views on dressing for dinner. "I think the attire has to be correct, has to be elegant. You cannot dine with jeans and T-shirt, or shorts or tennis (shoes). You have to look good for the occasion."
There's a story in circulation that he once turned away a dinner party of 16 that included the prime minister and a couple of cabinet colleagues, because one member of the party was wearing jeans. Now that's a dress code! And it's one of the reasons that class is written in capital letters when describing the ambience and quality of Sun and...
Here are a few of Deryckere's favourite recipes.
Filet mignon tartare
(serves 1)
6 oz filet mignon (Angus)
1 tsp finely chopped onion
1 tsp extra fine capers
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp peanut oil or corn oil
2 tbsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
1 egg yolk
Salt and pepper
Mix egg yolk with mustard and oil. Add onion, parsley, capers, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.
Slice filet mignon thinly then chop into medium ground consistency. Mix half the sauce into the meat. Add more sauce if needed.
Shape the meat into a mound on the plate and dress with gherkins, capers, onion rings, frisse lettuce, chicory lettuce and tomato slices. Serve with toast.
Jumbo shrimp & crayfish
(serves 1)
Shrimp
1 7-8 oz jumbo shrimp
2 oz crab meat
Salt and pepper
Paprika
1/4 lemon
2 oz olive oil
Split whole shrimp. Stuff head with crab meat. Season with salt, pepper and olive oil. Broil shrimp until opaque.
Crayfish
8 crayfish tails
4 oz melted butter
Flour
Pepper, salt, Cajun seasoning
Season melted butter with pepper, salt and Cajun seasoning. Dip crayfish tails in seasoned butter. Dredge in flour and fry 2-3 mins.
Thai curry coconut sauce
1 tbsp chopped onion
1 tsp chopped garlic,
1/2 tsp hoisin (Chinese) oil
1/2 tsp Thai curry paste
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
8 oz can of coconut milk
Salt
Sautee onion and garlic in hoisin oil 2-3 mins. Add coconut milk and Thai curry paste, and reduce for 2-3 mins. Add cilantro and season with salt.
Arrange shrimp and crayfish on plate and spoon sauce over top. Garnish with lemon, star fruit, chives and cilantro leaves. Serve with basmati rice.
Coconut cream tarte
Sweet dough
4 oz powdered sugar
4 oz butter
1 egg
8 oz flour
1/2 tsp vanilla
Mix sugar and butter until creamy. Add egg and vanilla. Fold in flour. Refrigerate 2 hours. Roll out to make 6-8 tart shells. Bake and cool.
Pastry cream
1/2 pint milk
2 oz sugar
2 eggs
3/4 oz corn starch
Vanilla
6 oz shredded coconut
8 oz whipping cream
Boil milk. Mix sugar, eggs, corn starch and vanilla. Add a little boiled milk and mix well to form a paste.
Mix paste into remaining milk. Whisk over heat until boiling again and smooth. Cool.
Add coconut. Whip whipping cream and fold gently into mixture. Fill shells and serve with rum raisins, raspberries or other small fruit.
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