On Thursday, March 16, the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) announced the members of the 2017 national culinary team.
Team members will compete at the illustrious Taste of the Caribbean; an intensely competitive, highly-regarded regional culinary competition hosted by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) in Miami, Florida, from June 2-6, where Caribbean nations bring along their best chefs and bartenders to compete in a variety of categories.
The members of the 2017 national culinary team include: Chef Mario Adderley, team manager, University of The Bahamas (UB); Chef Emmanuel Gibson, team captain, "Manuelo Lettuce Eat"; Chef Tamar Rahming, Graycliff Hotel and Restaurant; Junior Chef Kenria Taylor, UB; Apprentice Chef Ryan McIntosh, Sandals Royal Bahamian; Chef Angel Bantacourt and Chef Kevyn Pratt, One and Only Ocean Club; Dicienzo Storr and Gino Longley, mixologist and alternate mixologist respectively, Melia Nassau Beach; Chef Carvison Pratt, Baha Mar; Chef Owen Bain, "Cassava Grill" and Grand Bahamian, Asteir Dean, Bakers Bay Golf and Ocean Club, Abaco. Team consultants include Chef Jay Lockhart, "Jay's Catering/Private Chef", and Chef Jamal Petty, Courtyard Marriott. The team administrator is Charlotte Knowles-Thompson. Bridget Murray, is the UB liaison for the team.
The chefs on the national culinary team are sponsored by their respective employers who represent a wide cross-section of hotel properties in The Bahamas, including Baha Mar, Courtyard Marriott, Graycliff Hotel and Restaurant, Melia Nassau Beach resort, Sandals Royal Bahamian, and One and Only Ocean Club. In addition, a young chef from Grand Bahama is being supported by the Grand Bahama Island Tourism Board and his employer, Baker's Bay Golf and Ocean Club, Abaco. The University of The Bahamas' Culinary and Hospitality Management Institute is providing its training facilities as the team will undergo an intensive training process to prepare for competition.
"The excitement and enthusiasm emanating from team members is infectious," states Carlton Russell, president of the BHTA. "The team members are eager to represent The Bahamas, to show their regional competitors and their fellow culinarians what they are capable of. The Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association, working alongside our partners and sponsors, is so pleased to support this endeavor as it serves to promote The Bahamas as a premier culinary destination, with an abundance of world-class chefs and mixologists who can deliver flavors of food and beverage that are spectacular; indigenous and unique to The Bahamas."
The team will be following in the formidable footsteps of their forefathers, as the national culinary team (2015/2016) won the coveted title of "Caribbean National Team of the Year" in 2015, and brought home hall of fame status consecutively, for categories such as Pastry Chef of the Year (three years in a row) and Caribbean Bartender of the Year (two years in a row). Both achievements are precedent setting feats. In 2016 the team won gold in Team of the Year, Caribbean Chef of the Year, Bartender of the Year; and Hall of Fame Gold Medal Status in the seafood category.
"The Bahamian team will have all eyes on them at the competition," states Charlotte Knowles-Thompson, team administrator at the BHTA. "Over the past several years, particularly in the last few years, The Bahamas has become the team to beat, so the pressure will be on team members to perform, but what is important here is how the team works together to support each other. Already we can see the team gelling beautifully, so in a sense we are already successful in achieving our goal."
In addition to the chef corporate sponsors, The national culinary teams' participation is made possible through the efforts and support of the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association and its partners; the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Cable Bahamas, key platinum sponsors of the team; Sandals Royal Bahamian, gold sponsor; Bahamian Brewery (Sands Beer); Bahamas Food Services; Bahamas Air and the MailBoat Company.

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