This Thursday, the 4th of May, a fundraising dinner will be held at Holland House Beach Hotel to raise money for their participation at the Taste of the Caribbean. Taste of the Caribbean is the region’s premier culinary competition and cultural showcase that is every year organised in Miami.

The fundraiser dinners prior to the prestigious event in Miami serve to raise the large sum of money needed to get the Sint Maarten team to the United States. Besides raising money for the competition, this dinner is a good practice for the chefs to be prepared for the real Taste competition at the beginning of June. Since this is the first time the chef’s work with each other every fundraising dinner is a good possibility to get to know each other and everybody’s skills better. As the team largely comprises of last year’s award winning contestants, the organizing parties try to further improve their team as well as individual effort at the highest level.

This year the team that will compete on behalf of Sint Maarten consists out of eight excellent chefs, Renata de Weever (Executive sous-chef at Sonesta Great Bay Hotel and Casino), Justin Assendelft (sous-chef/fish specialist at Holland House Beach Hotel), Ronald Estephane (pastry manager at Sonesta Maho Beach Resort and Casino), Paul Peterson (bartender at Temptation restaurant and bartending teacher at NIPA), Dino Jagtiani (chef and owner of Temptation restaurant), Pieter Holstein (Chef at Canoa and Rum & Peas restaurant), Suzy Adoptie (Student at Sint Maarten’s National Institute for Professional Advancement), and Mrinal Wadhwa (Student at Sint Maarten’s National Institute for Professional Advancement).

All chefs have their own speciality to battle with the other teams during the competition. This to win the different titles that are being awarded. Besides the team competition, different individual competitions are organised as well, chef of the year, junior chef of the year, bartender of the year, and pastry manager of the year. The Sint Maarten chefs are absolutely determined to do their utmost best, which will give Sint Maarten good hope that they will return home with some prices.

The first fundraiser dinner at Infinity was regarded as promising. There are still limited tickets available. Reservations for TASTE fundraiser dinners can be made at St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association, 1 721 542 0108 / office@shta.com

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