Saturday Video: Farm Dinners at Jakes Treasure Beach, Jamaica
If we truly are what we eat, then the growing popularity of the locavore movement here in the U.S. means that many of us are becoming bona fide products of our neighborhoods. To locavores, the closer your food is grown to home, the better, a notion many are anxious to adopt in line with prevailing environmental concerns. More and more Americans are starting their own gardens, shopping at farmer’s markets and enjoying farm dinners, even in New York City!
In the U.S., the locavore movement represents a return to more sustainable practices never fully abandoned in much of the Caribbean. Across our region it’s rare to find a yard without at least a few fruit trees.
At one hotel in Jamaica, the old West Indian tradition combines with the new locavore movement to create a truly unique dining experience.
The hotel is Jakes, a funky little boutique property with a distinctly local vibe and a wonderfully uncommon location on Treasure Beach along the western half of Jamaica’s south coast, far removed from the island’s touristy resort areas. The dining experience is Jakes Farm Dinner, which as you can see in the video above, is very special indeed!
As Chef Rachon Banks details in running down the menu for the January 2012 dinner, a wide range of locally-produced items are featured in the dishes. Some are left to their own devices, while others were adapted by Chef Banks to his gourmet New Orleans sensibilities. All are 100% organic, of course, prepared and served right in the middle of the same working fields where they were harvested.
Everything is also served at one long, family-style table draped in white linens, outdoors and under the stars. By the looks of the video, it’s a supremely magical setting and experience…one with a very tangible good cause, as well.
Jakes puts on its Farm Dinners in association with Liz Solms, a chef and local sustainable agriculture expert. The program works to support the small independent farmers of the nearby Pedro Plains, an area known as the “breadbasket of Jamaica.”
Jakes hosts its Farm Dinners on the one Saturday each month that is closest to the full moon. The price is only $95 per-person, seating is limited, and all are welcome, even if you’re not a guest of the hotel.
To reserve your spot, visit Jakes online, or call ’em at Tel: 876-965-3000.
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