Guest Chef - Columbus Tavern
DINING & ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE - JULY 2007
Guest Chef - Columbus Tavern
Columbus Tavern's Dexter Wilson
The heady smell of fresh thyme, bell peppers and tomatoes, steamed over fried fish in his mother's kitchen, still influences the culinary art of head chef Dexter Wilson, 40, of Columbus Tavern, a popular harbourside restaurant and bar on Paradise Island.
But while Wilson loved the food of his childhood in Gregory Town, Eleuthera, he had little interest back then in learning how to create those aromas himself.
"My mother did all of the cooking in our house," says Wilson. "I never saw preparing food as an actual way of making a living but I did enjoy everything about the taste and flavours of our local cuisine."
Today, Wilson's favourite flavours "tamarind, guava and coconut" are featured in the sauces he creates for dishes at Columbus Tavern.
His creations are a surprising blend of island simplicity and international sophistication, mixing down-home ingredients with French and Italian cooking techniques.
It's a combination that attracts newcomers and at the same time pleases longtime Columbus Tavern patrons. In three years Wilson has transformed the experience of dining at this casual, classy restaurant.
"I wanted to diversify the menu but I didn't want to change everything too soon," recalls Wilson.
Regulars, who dock their yachts at Paradise Harbour Club and Marina, expect the scorch conch (raw conch lightly scored and served with lime-pepper sauce), lobster salad and grilled fish just as they did when German timeshare developer Peter Kugler and his wife opened the marina and tavern in 1991.
Wilson came on board in 2004, shortly after ownership shifted to local restaurateur Freddie Lightbourne.
Wilson expanded the menu to reflect his training at Club Med resorts around the world. He added Italian dishes with homemade pastas, experimented with new flavours and changed preparation techniques, successfully maintaining a balance between old favourites and new dishes.
Seeing the world
"Working at Club Med opened me up to a whole new world of cuisine and culture," Wilson says of his early days as an apprentice chef.
Straight out of high school, he interned in the kitchen at Club Med, Eleuthera, and instantly fell in love with the international dishes prepared there and the camaraderie that existed among his fellow chefs.
"At any given time you were working with chefs from at least 12 different countries. I was able to experience [their] cultures while learning how to prepare classic European dishes."
After formal training at Club Med Port St Lucie in Florida, Wilson worked in St Lucia, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and later Club Med Paradise Island where he worked until its closure in 2003. Cooking has allowed me to see the world,? says Wilson today.
Popular on Columbus Tavern's menu is the grouper New Providence, a fillet stuffed with herbs and crab meat, smothered in a creamy lobster and shrimp bisque-style sauce.
Surprises like guava salsa add a rich island flavour to the blackened mahimahi and a tamarind glaze over the grilled barbeque chicken breast also adds a touch of Bahamian flavour.
Chef Wilson's top choice on the menu is the lobster thermidor, the classic French dish made with white wine and a touch of dijon mustard. Here are a few of Wilson's favourites to try in your own kitchen:
Columbus shrimp salad with guava vinaigrette
(serves one)
Romaine lettuce, chopped
Endive
1?4 yellow onion
3 slices of cucumber
3 jumbo shrimp
Shrimp: Peel and devein shrimp. Grill for two minutes.
Salad: Place 3 sleeves of the endive leaves onto a plate. Arrange chopped romaine in the center of the endive leaves. Place rough chopped onions and cucumbers over salad. Garnish with grilled jumbo shrimp. Guava vinaigrette:
8 oz olive oil
1 oz dijon mustard
4 oz crushed canned guava shells
2 oz balsamic vinegar
1 oz crushed basil
Salt and pepper to taste.
Whisk ingredients (except olive oil) together in a mixing bowl. Gradually add oil until blended.
Lobster thermidor
(serves one)
8 oz lobster tail, diced
1 silver dollar mushroom, diced
1?4 yellow onion, diced
2 asparagus spears, diced
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1?2 tbsp minced garlic
2 oz white wine
4 oz heavy cream
4 oz Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
Saut¨¦ mushroom, onions, asparagus, garlic and mustard in hot pan. Add lobster meat. Cook for two minutes. Add white wine and cook for 30 seconds. Add heavy cream. Cook for two minutes and gradually add Parmesan cheese. Cook until sauce thickens. Remove from heat. Serve with mashed potatoes, white rice or linguine.
Strawberries & mousse in a chocolate cage
(serves one)
Recipe courtesy of Executive Pastry Chef Peter Major
6 1?2 oz semi-sweet dark chocolate
3 1?4 oz heavy cream
4 large fresh strawberries
1 tsp sugar
Mousse: Whisk cream until it thickens. Melt 1 oz of chocolate in sauce pan. Gradually add a quarter of the cream to temper the chocolate. Then add the remainder of the cream. Spoon mousse into a round tin mould and refrigerate until firm. Remove the mould.
Chocolate cage: Melt the remaining chocolate in a sauce pan. Pipe chocolate onto parchment paper in crosshatched lines to form the chocolate cage.
Place parchment paper in the refrigerator until chocolate is solid but still pliable (less than 1 minute). Wrap parchment around the mousse (chocolate on the inside) and refrigerate for 10 to 15 minutes. When set, remove parchment paper.
Dice strawberries and place in the cage on top of mousse. Sprinkle with sugar and serve.
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