N&J Charter Yachts Serve Up Winning Dishes and Tablescapes in Antigua

Often heralded as the unofficial start of the winter yacht charter season, the Antigua Charter Show is a renowned event that takes place annually across the balmy and beautiful ports and marinas of Antigua. From December 4 to 9, the hottest charter yachts available in the Caribbean and The Bahamas this season participated in yacht hops, industry events, and the revered Concours de Chef competition.

With seven yachts in various size ranges in the show, Northrop & Johnson had several opportunities to take home honors in the 2024 Chef Competition, and success was had! The 108′ (32.92m) Custom Line charter yacht FIFI was awarded third place in both the chef and tablescaping comps for 125 feet and under category, and the 203′ (62m) Viareggio Super Yachts superyacht SEALION won third place in both the chef and tablescaping comps for 180 feet and over category.

This year’s theme for the Concours de Chef was “The Art of Charter: An Immersive Culinary and Sensory Voyage,” focusing on “Charter Theme Nights.” Yacht chefs and crew were tasked with recreating or innovating new magical charter theme nights for guests, effortlessly combining culinary delights and sensational sensory memories for those aboard. Judges were looking for a “wow” factor delivered through welcome cocktails, immersive themed décor and ambiance, exciting crew and guest costumes, engaging entertainment and a delicious dining experience.

Chefs spent countless hours planning their three-course meals: a first, a main and a dessert. They also were tasked with incorporating a mystery ingredient while holding to the yacht’s chosen theme. All chefs were provided a chef brief and preference sheets for the judges. Extra credit was available if chefs went above and beyond by providing additional culinary items, such as an amuse-bouche, crafting creative cocktails showcasing mixology skills, providing unique crew-based entertainment, or going above and beyond with the theme. During the chef briefing, each yacht was presented with a bottle of wine or Champagne to be showcased in the tablescape design. Each table was set for six guests and judged on appearance, presentation, creativity, originality, and overall impression. 

The bronze award-winning theme aboard FIFI was an underwater luncheon. The meal began with stunning arancini with cuttlefish ink filled with salmon mousse and topped with smoked salmon rosette and caviar, served with tamarind chutney and aioli. It was followed by Champagne granite, then a stunning Chilean sea bass marinated with black garlic soya sauce and wrapped in zucchini with grilled lobster tail served with Champagne and saffron sauce with carrot purée, bok choy, and asparagus. The dessert course was inspired by cookies and cream, featuring homemade cookies with white chocolate mousse, tamarind caramel sauce, meringue crumbs, and berries. Chef Graham Dutton designed this divine menu inspired by his travels and friends.

“[The first item of] my menu was inspired by living in Barcelona. While there, I was head chef at a Catalan restaurant,” says Graham. “One of our best sellers was arroz negre (squid ink rice with seafood), so I made arancini balls. I stuffed them with sockeye salmon, reminding me of my first Alaska trip. The main course was Chilean sea bass, one of the tastiest fish on this side of the world. I wrapped it in zucchini to keep it moist. Saffron and Champagne are delicate, and the flavors matched well with the fish. My dessert was inspired by my good friend Paula’s mother, Janice, who passed earlier this year. She made the best cookies I’ve ever tasted, so I used one of her recipes for chocolate chip, which I served with a white chocolate parfait and a tangy caramel sauce.”

The tablescaping was created by Chief Stewardess Kathryn Creighton and her interior team. For Kathryn, the inspiration for the setting came from the beautiful surroundings of Antigua, where she started her yachting career. “I’m happy to be back on the island and starting another Caribbean season,” she said.  Kudos to the entire FIFI crew for their exceptional work.

The theme aboard SEALION was an on-water celebration of love as the crew hosted a mock wedding and invited judges to a delicious and well-dressed reception. “The owner actually helped us come up with the idea of a wedding. A few team members are going to weddings soon, and we started chatting about how fun it would be to have a wedding or vow renewal on board,” said Chef Thean Labuschagne. “From there, [when planning the menu] I tried to incorporate as many white ingredients as possible. There were a few changes along the way with the judges sending preference sheets and so forth.”

Chef Thean’s meal started with a beautiful bread garden consisting of laminated brioche, white rye sourdough and dark rye fermented flatbread. It also featured infused wagyu dripping tallow butter and smoked tomato butter, which were made into candles. “We added the bread and butter into the tablescaping décor. They were placed into boxes on the table. The interior team opened the boxes they lit the butter candles so judges could dip their bread.” Next were canapés of beef tartar, bluefin tuna vegan radish, and ponzu. “If I were to cater a wedding, I would be thinking of dietary requirements, so I wanted to include canapes that would serve everyone’s [dietary] needs,” said Chef Thean.

“[For the first course], we discussed what Antigua and the Caribbean are known for,” said Chef Thean. “Our Chief Stew Nadine came up with the idea for chicken because when we thought of the Caribbean, our minds went to Caribbean jerk chicken.” The starter was a play on this, including chicken with a crispy waffle and a white truffle.

Sole with black truffle, celeriac, and vanilla rounded out the main course. “Our main course inspiration was a tuxedo. I tried a new butchering technique where you flake the fish and make it look like a rack of lamb. It was mixed with black truffle and egg,” explained Chef Thean. A lychee palate cleanser followed it. “In my mind, I wanted to showcase as many skills that I have learned throughout my career as possible. As a yacht chef, guests want someone versatile and skilled in many cuisines and techniques. And we wanted to add a theatrical element, so we used liquid nitrogen. The judges also gave us a mystery ingredient, tamarind, so I created a spumante and dropped it into the liquid nitrogen, which flash froze it and created a meringue texture, and when you bite into it, the steam comes out of your mouth. This topped a lychee sorbet.”

“For the dessert course, I tapped into recipes and ideas from other chefs and friends over the years. A friend gave me a burnt honey ice cream recipe and I fell in love with it. I decided to make the honey the star of the dish instead of the accompaniment. We created a honey cake, a honey tuile, and burnt honey ice cream. It was unique as honey was the star element.

After the main courses, we wanted to add a sweet treat, so we created petit fours to help showcase that we can do chocolate work onboard. So I made a life-like hazelnut. Inside was a hazelnut cake, ganache, and other elements. It was dipped into a chocolate shell and made look like an actual hazelnut. We also offered a life-like lemon with strawberry puree inside, covered with a lemon ganache, dipped, and sprayed. The final element, to stick with the white wedding theme, was a white macaroon.”

The tablescape was created by Chief Stewardess Nadine Coronado and her interior team.  Aside from the butter candles, one of the most unique elements was an edible menu made on wax paper with edible ink.

“At the end of the day, we served seven courses over 30 minutes. The inspiration came from a variety of sources. There were many factors at play,” explained Chef Thean—many congratulations to the impressive efforts of the SEALION crew.

For information on chartering SEALION, FIFI, or any other yachts available during the 2024 winter season, please contact your preferred Northrop & Johnson charter broker.