Day 10: Queens Garden On Saba - The Best Dining Experience In The Caribbean
Day 10: Fine Dining On Saba Island: Queens Garden, my favorite restaurant on earth!
Best damn dining experience of my life at Queen’s Garden, Saba Island. Dutch Antilles
After our morning hiking mount scenery and our afternoon siesta, we had planned for a next-level dining ashore experience. We got all dolled up, Danny in his stunning white linen pants and hand painted Moroccan-inspired Iles des Saintes shirt (“Excuse me, sir, vere iz your yacht?!”). We had a cocktail-fueled mini photoshoot where Laura and Danny dawned their finest facial expressions, we hopped in the dinghy and made our way ashore, and rounding the mouth of the docking area managed to run over a fisherman’s line which did a next-level number around our propeller.
All dressed up and nowhere to go came to mind
as poor Danny had to do his best to untangle this mess of line that had set us slowly drifting. Four Saban men made their way out to us and helped us, which was comical and awesome and ridiculous all at once. One of them threw Danny his favorite pocket knife, which promptly bounced off the rubber inflated siding and became an instant relic of Saba. (Throwing knives at an inflatable dinghy… Questionable…) These guys were lifesavers. Laura sat there, laughing at Danny and the situation- such a typical working-on-boats-in-the-Caribbean-scenario, me sitting there exchanging looks with her, trying not to laugh, discreetly trying to film the debacle, and simultaneously feeling bad (and thankful) for Danny. And the fisherman? No one cared about the fisherman.
30 minutes later we made our way ashore, grabbing a couple Heinekens at Alfonso’s bar.
The locals were so genuinely friendly. On St. Thomas - you wouldn’t dare walk into a Santo bar as a bunch of outsiders. You might as well walk in with a sign around your neck saying “Jump Me.” “Easy Target.” “Suckers.” but here was a different story. This little makeshift bar was popping off. Alfonso and his family were some flavor of Latin descent. The people filling the bar were Latin, West Indian, a couple rugged Dutch guys. Most of the regulars were probably just getting off their shift in this industrial hub at Fort Bay. When we bellied up to the bar locals immediately started chatting with us, taking a genuine interest in where we’re from. We were welcomed there! Alfonso set us up with one of the locals who was just about to make his way up the Road, we spot him a $20 and he gave us a lift to Queen’s Garden in The Bottoms - my soon to become all-time-favorite restaurant in the world.
Queens Garden, the most relaxing hideaway of the Caribbean
Queens Garden describes themselves as, “The most relaxing hideaway of the Caribbean” A small luxury resort tucked away on the beautiful island of Saba.”
And honestly? I couldn’t describe it any better. You walk into this romantically lit outdoor dining courtyard. There’s an array of orchids lining the rockscape. There's a gorgeous trellis covered in vines and dancing with lights, a treehouse table they call “the bird’s nest”:
"A private, intimate platform situated high up in the middle of our over a hundred years old mango trees."
The perfect place to ask someone to spend the rest of their life with you, with the last lazy deep purple blues of the ocean's horizon slicing through the angles of the mountainside.
And then, we met Duco.
I’ll never forget how we walked up, he smiled, and then paused for a moment longer than you’d normally notice in conversation when you first meet someone. Why is he pausing? BECAUSE THIS MAN SPEAKS Dutch, English, and German; he was waiting for us to speak first so he could respond in the correct language. *Cue a pink spaghetti explosion as my American mind self implodes at this point*
Duco welcomes us to Queen’s Garden, and Laura asks him if he has a cocktail menu. He asks, “Do you like Gin and Tonics?” and proceeds to tell us he has an in house Gin collection, and with that, it’s “Gin and Tonics for the table!” Is this real life?
Duco’s passions include creating craft Gin and Tonics, complete with craft ice cubes with varying botanicals and ingredients to complement each gin’s attributes. I contemplated taking him up to that tree house table and proposing to him right then and there.
In a few moments, Duco returns, presenting each of us with the most glorious mixologist presentation I’ve ever seen. With his intuitive mixology wizard skills, he matched each of us up to the gin, tonic, and craft cube combination he felt suited each of our palettes. Between Madagascar vanilla bean, habanero, lemongrass and lavender, each of our minds were simultaneously blown by the creativity and exquisiteness of these craft Gin & Tonics.
With the three of us having served dozens and dozens of guests the finest foods we could possibly create - there's nothing like the gift of someone else expressing that same care through their service. Duco was impeccable.
My favorite cocktail, my new favorite resort, my new favorite island, my favorite part of the world with some of my all-time favorite friends. Pinch me, pinch me, pinch me.
Once we had our feet back on the ground after our first dive into the cocktails, Johan ( @ justmejohandejager ), our chef that evening came tableside and prepared one of their signature pasta carbonara: a glorious fresh pasta prepared in a drum of parmesan. It involves dripping fire, truffles, fresh cracked pepper, oh the things dreams are made of.
I ordered the lionfish (beautifully prepared and SO sustainable!), and to be honest, I don’t remember what anyone else ordered because I was so thrilled with what was in front of my face. It was nothing short of glorious. Every moment of it.
We dinghied back to the boat with full bellies and hearts full of new and novel experiences with great people. The team at Queen’s Garden had the kindest most gracious energy, which for me, makes a moment. Duco, Johan, the sweet GM, everyone was spectacular. We laid on the couch super buzzed, talked of carrot cake, and passed out on all the bliss from such a fun day.