The wraparound veranda of our classic West Indies style rental house was just begging to host a crew dinner one night during the regatta. The house overlooked the bay of Gustavia and was conveniently located right on the main shopping strip {contact Jean~Pierre at St. Barth Estates (or me) if you’d like more details}.
Planning the menu was easy, because right across the street was La Poissonnerie, where the local fisherman would sell their morning catch. On the morning of our dinner, I strolled over to see what looked good and selected some beautiful Mahi Mahi which they expertly filleted for me. I prepared the fish with this flavorful Thai coconut sauce. We made the sauce in the morning, and allowed the fillets to marinate in a cup or so of the sauce in zip lock bags in the refrigerator for the rest of the day before grilling them in the evening.
Beverages were easy, the markets in St. Barth’s are well stocked with all of the French wines and champagnes, for this dinner I bought bottles of Ott’s and Minuty rosé, champagne and rum. We also had some ginger beer to make Dark & Stormy’s {rum + ginger beer}.
Now, what to do about a centerpiece??
Without my closet of vases and other flower arranging supplies, I had to get creative.
Thankfully, the gardener was doing some pruning on the surrounding properties, and was more than happy to give me some of the trimmings.
But what to put them in….
after doing all of the prep work for dinner, my daughter and I headed to the beach for lunch, and a little down time. Here on the beach I found the answer to my question….sand…
beautiful, natural, plentiful, sand.
I scooped a few pounds from the beach into my sarong.
Back at home I spread the sarong and sand out on the table and plunged in the stems of these
beautiful celadon colored branches that the gardener had given to me that morning.
I think these are baby dates from a date palm {any other ideas??}.
In the sand they looked almost coral-like. Bougainvillea grows all over the islands, so I added several little bouquets for bursts of color.
Sadly, I didn’t have any candles to sink into this sandy beach scene,
but the beautiful sunset provided a naturally warm glow to the scene.
If you’re thinking you’d like to bring the beach to your table this summer, you may find some inspiration from this beach scene table scape how-to,
and these DIY beach scene invitations.
Here’s a little interior shot,
I love the combination of colonial furnishings and palm fronds, don’t you?
Emily what a splendid getaway!
I love the home you stayed in and the table centerpiece was so inventive. I have no idea what else the branches could be; they are perfect though!
xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
Emily-
You brain works on overdrive, and this centerpiece is so pretty. I would love to taste the fish!
I hope that all is well with you. I haven't been the greatest in blogland as Angela graduated and we are moving.
Teresa
xoxo
It is also my favorite to go outside and see what nature provides for a beautiful tablescape. Yours are 'simple beauty'!