Bahamians, like Southerners, are a hospitable bunch. Wherever there’s food, fellowship naturally follows—and there’s always room for friendly new faces at the supper table. That’s exactly the ethos the folks at Kamalame Cay, a private island resort that runs parallel to Andros Island (the largest but least populated island in the Bahamas), are channeling with their new Progressive Dinner Series.
An extension of the resort’s popular monthly luncheons, which began as a way to inform people that truly great food can come out of the Bahamas (and it doesn’t have to be fried), the progressive dinners keep the focus on local ingredients. Nearly everything that hits your plate, save for some of the grains, comes from a handful of nurseries, farms, and fishermen located within twenty-five miles of the resort. “The oranges here might not be as pretty as the ones you buy in the grocery store,” says Kamalame co-director Michael King, “but the juice is just incredible.” Because you can only reach the cay by seaplane or the resort’s ferry, neither of which run at night, the dinners, which can accommodate thirty to forty, are only open to hotel guests or Kamalame residents. Once you’re here, though, you won’t want to leave, so you might as well book a room.
The dinners move between four waterfront West Indian-style villas, typically those of Kamalame residents who act as your hosts. The evening kicks off with champagne cocktails and light hors d’oeuvres before golf carts ferry you to the next stop on the culinary tour, where wine pairings accompany each dish. A tiki torch lit beach path leads to your third destination and the main meal. Depending on the time of year, grouper, tuna, mahi mahi, lionfish, snapper, lobster, or conch might be hauled up daily from the dock to the kitchen. At the February dinner, the menu included char-grilled lobster with coconut grits and a chile peanut sauce. As lobster season comes to a close, the chef and kitchen staff, all of whom are native Androsians, are looking toward locally harvested stone crabs. Finally, dessert is laid out at the Great House, the resort’s central gathering space and main dining room.
But the evening doesn’t end there. Head to the beach for a bonfire, s’mores, and a nightcap. “These dinners make for quick mingling,” says King. “By the end of the night you’ll feel that you’ve known everyone forever.” And already be looking for an excuse to return for another unforgettable experience. Try a Full Moon Dinner—an alfresco seated affair lit only by the moon and torch light.
For more information, visit kamalame.com or call 877-768-9423.
