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"Enhancements underway," promised the resort construction sign—an omen of great things to come. The construction that we would witness would not be the limited plebeian approach of "combining the typical fresh ingredients with local styles and flavors."

Our experience at these Caribbean resorts would be with the master craftsmen, known as Executive Chefs, preparing Epicurean delights that must fulfill the clientele's gastronomic expectations at these superb luxury resorts. Their guests are typically the ultimate sophisticates in culinary matters. To excite and enchant their palates the stakes are higher and the Chefs savor their challenges. In the Caribbean, the chefs are using the rich culinary traditions of Escoffier while seeking local and global ingredients with dedication and inspiration. The results are stunning and certainly worthy of island hopping!

This elevation of culinary principles is very evident in the Caribbean Islands, the playground of paradise favored by elite travelers seeking respite from the daily demands of their urban lives. Make no mistake; a major part of the vacation experience is the culinary enhancement. Certainly, those with pedantic tastes are accommodated, but for the adventurous who are truly ready to live, we will share five fine dining resort restaurants--Turtle Bay Estate House at Caneel Bay, St. Johns; The Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas; The Pavilion, Little Dix Bay, Virgin Gorda; and Palio and The Grille Room at The Westin Rio Mar, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

Caneel Bay Resort's Executive Chef, Hans Schadler, is often hailed as one of the premier culinary artist of his time. His professionalism is impeccable as pronounced by both his customers and staff. Having worked in Rockresorts and Rosewood properties for the last several decades, his aficionados include heads of states, movie stars, other famous chefs, and executives who make corporations and organizations work. Schalder's signatures of quality, creativity, and the ultimate in culinary balance are consistently evident and brilliant. The presentations are never too busy or too assertive, but the element of surprise will always provide a temptation yielding to appreciation and satisfaction. Schadler, a gracious gentleman, patiently and generously develops the talents and advancements of his staff members.

Turtle Bay Estate House at Caneel Bay reflects the genius of a Schadler restaurant. At the helm is Chef Claudia Fitzgerald, a rising star among resort chefs, who came from Schadler's group at the Williamsburg Inn in Virginia. Fitzgerald, who executes the myriad of dishes consistently delighting the diners, prepared sampler starters including garlic shrimp on yellow lentils with a hint of cilantro, Turtle Bay crab cakes (included luxurious Chesapeake Bay crabmeat), and a petite chilled fresh tomato soup with a vegetable spring roll. A delicate Schramsberg Blanc de Blanc was the perfect sparkling wine. A peppery arugula, just-picked from a boutique St. Johns' organic garden, with roasted pear was tamed with a light, balsamically sweetened, tamarind infused vinaigrette and sprinkled with pecans.

Turtle Bay's entrees are crafted with quality ingredients from virtually all over the world. A thick rich steak of firm Chilean seabass encrusted with Vidalia onions rested on pumpkin coulis with delicate baby bok choy (from the organic garden). Perfectly prepared lamb chops (from the rack) rested on an island root mash with a light ring of saucing reminiscent of a classic French mother sauce reduction with the essence lightly herbed. The wine steward brought an excellent Mondavi Pinot Noir. A sampler dessert portfolio featured a French apple tart with Caneel Bay-made rich vanilla ice cream, a flan with fresh island fruits, and a slice of a delicate German chocolate cake.

Separated only by a twenty or so minute boat ride from St. Johns is the Ritz-Carlton, St Thomas where the dining venues are under the capable helm of Executive Chef Joel Cruchet, a native of France. Cruchet, prefers a Continental concept of his cuisine tempered with a Caribbean twist. He patiently teaches his chefs to cook "the right way" and is dedicated to "helping people make use of their talents." The Ritz-Carlton quality efforts, continuing its Baldrige Quality Award commitment, are highly evident in all aspects of dining.

We fully applauded the four-diamond AAA designation for Olivier Piganiol, Chef de Cuisine at The Dining Room, Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas. Hailing from outside Dijon, Piganiol reveals his mastery of classic techniques with imaginative global elements. Dining started with an amuse bouche of a perfect scallop on brioche with Charles Heideseck champagne. Next came his signature French fois gras with roasted mango in a blood orange reduction—no gastronomic voyageur should ever leave the Virgin Islands without this experience. Delicately poached turbot on a baby vegetable and fennel ragout preceded the petite veal rack marinated in coconut milk with Caribbean spices sided with saffron potatoes and red cabbage cannelloni {Image, petite veal rack}. The '98 Chateau St. Michele Merlot matched well. The impact of Piganiol's statement, "I am cooking for you," was realized with the first and every bite of the mango soufflé with Caribbean chocolate heart and passion apricot sorbet!

At Little Dix Resort, Virgin Gorda—the smallest of these resorts—Chef Michael Rauter creates a globally inspired cuisine with the assistance of Vikram Garg, his sous chef. For our dinner at the Pavilion, an outdoor space overlooking the quiet bay, the starters were a gateau of smoked salmon, mango, and mascarpone with Keta Caviar and cucumber salsa and a glorious potato-encrusted shrimp. Rauter's signature potpourri of Anegada (a local island) lobster, soufflé and medallion with crayfish brandade and sugar snap foam is understandably one of the clientele's favorite dishes.

A popular entrée is the cornflake mahi mahi fillet on curried red lentils accompanied with pineapple raisin chutney. A second entrée was Angus beef fillet with a balsamic bordelaise served on angle hair pasta sided with a hint of red pepper marmalade. Anne Marie Schupfer, the pastry chef, provides a continual supply of pastries and European-style breads (do not miss the Swiss walnut multi-grain) and a glorious dessert--a yam pudding with caramel sauce. Its presentation was grand with a sail of fried plantain anchored on a chocolate mast

Located near the magnificent El Yanque Rainforest is the Westin Rio Mar Beach Resort, a 600 room mega-resort, designed to accommodate numerous guests with a variety of tastes. Meeting these needs is Greg Carroll, Executive Chef, with 12 food and beverage venues under his capable control. Included in the delectable dozen are the four-diamond, Northern Italian Palio; Shimas, an Asian Bistro; and The Grille Room at the Rio Mar Golf Clubhouse. Using his training from Johnson and Wales and pragmatic restaurant and resort experience, Carroll also supervises banquets for the largest facility in the Caribbean.

The Grille Room, a stately dining room in the Rio Mar Clubhouse, combines the best of a steak and seafood house with fundamentals of both classical and nouvelle cooking. After playing 18 holes on either the Greg Norman River Course or the Tom and George Fazio Ocean Course, one can dine on an 18 ounce signature prime rib of beef, an 18 ounce Iowa center-cut pork chop, a 14 ounce grilled center-cut veal chop, or even a 14 ounce Angus New York Strip. These superb meats may be teamed with béarnaise, hollandaise, wild mushroom, port wine, Marsala wine or balsamic honey sauces which are sided with garlic mashed potatoes.

The seafood side of the menu, lighter and more nouvelle, allows classical-trained Chef Don Lennon to venture into his creative side with pan-seared swordfish on pastina finished with chorizo oil (from olive oil, cilantro and chorizo). The Chef prepared a sampler platter. One favorite creation was the Cajun shrimp with lobster sausage lightly scented with white truffle oil and another was the pan-seared salmon on home fries topped with lingonberries

Unable to decide which soufflés to order, Lennon waved his magic wand for total soufflé bliss and presented five different ones with five sauces (including passion fruit, chocolate, Grand Marnier, crème anglais), more combinations than we wish to calculate. Convincing him to join us, he shared his passions for culinary achievements and his personal desires to please his patrons. He generously invited the golfer at this table to join him for a round the next day. And after sampling this many soufflés walking would have been the order of the day, rather than the lazy golf cart! (They took the cart.)

The magnificent finale of our Caribbean dining culminated in the four-diamond restaurant with the vivacious and enormously capable Elise Wiggins, Chef de Cuisine of Palio. The northern Italian restaurant bragged of stately elegance in their exquisite facility overlooking the gardens leading to the ocean. Wiggins knowledgeably demonstrated the differences between classic dishes of Pomodoro pasta (slow roasted tomato and sweet garlic sauce) and a brilliant, modern rendition of champignon pasta--oyster, shitaki, and portabello mushrooms and black truffle sauce (with generous pieces) on fresh paparadelle.

Tender leaves of baby spinach composed the house salad enriched with baked pancetta croutons, Gorgonzola, and candied walnuts masterfully balanced with a balsamic-maple dressing. Entrees were pan-seared sea bass with red wine risotto, clams, squid and lemon essence, and a heavenly rosemary rack of lamb with a rich demi-glaze of maple sauce, butternut squash hash and wilted greens.

We will never resolve which dessert was superior--an apple tart with vanilla bean ice cream or the Chocolatissimo, a flourless chocolate cake covered with white chocolate with dark chocolate stripes sided with vanilla bean ice cream and saffron sauce. The flawless execution of the meal, from the chef, her kitchen staff, and the attentive servers ended with rich coffee accompanied by a silver tray of chocolate biscotti, whipped cream, and chocolate shavings. Once more, we had truly dined in the Caribbean.

A combination of Caneel Bay's private ferryboats, Little Dix's Boston Whalers, taxis, Westin's limousines, Ritz-Carlton's SUV, golf carts and American Eagle planes enabled this culinary island hopping.

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