Flags of the island shot in the air and shouts echoed in the large ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Miami, Florida, as the Anguilla National Culinary Team not just achieved a Silver Medal in the Taste of the Caribbean Competition, but swept on to the finals. It was the first time in ten years that an Anguillian team accomplished such a feat in a contest that was both intense and exciting.

Anguilla’s culinary team, supporters and others

The Chefs were Glendon Carty, Guy Gumbs, Darren Connor and Dean Samuel. Their Manager was Denise Carr, Executive Chef at CuisinArt Resort and Spa. Executive Chef at Cap Juluca, George Reid, performed the role as Consultant. On the team as Bartender, was Catherine Niles who also did exceptionally well, having made the most creative use of Angostura Bitters in her non-alcoholic drink. She too secured a Silver Medal and competed in the finals with three other regional competitors.

Darren Connor, Guy Gumbs and Dean Samuel in action

The Chefs also competed in the finals with members of the other teams in the gold, silver and bronze categories. In the pastry chef competition Dean Samuel of Anguilla secured a Bronze Medal. In the Chef of the Year competition the Bronze Medal winners from Anguilla were Darren Connor and Guy Gumbs and in the Silver category, Glendon Carty of Anguilla was one of the winners.

Trudy Nixon, George Reid and Denise Carr

The journey to the finals by the Anguilla chefs and bartender drew much praise from Manager Denise Carr and Trudy Nixon, Executive Secretary of the Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association.

“This is a great honour,” commented Ms Carr. “It is especially so when you consider who they competed against: teams from Puerto Rico, Bahamas and Trinidad which are larger `countries with larger hotels and larger everything.”

Two of the Anguillian tables at the Gala Dinner

Asked what she would credit the performance of the Anguilla to, she spontaneously replied: “A great management. They were really pushed. It was team work. They thought about what they were doing. They thought about how to compose the dishes and one thing that George and I kept going over and over was keep it moderate and keep the plates clean. They were really a good team.”

Trudy Nixon was elated that the team had made it to the finals. “I truly believe that it was because we had a team with a really good balance and a team Manager who for the first time is actually an Executive Chef and who has competition experience.

L-R: Jordel Gumbs, Laureen Perkins and Collin Yearwood (Chefs in training)

“We also had a huge amount of practice. The four chefs in the team have practiced together jointly and they also had the three junior chefs knocking at their heels over the four months they had been practicing; so they had to keep their standards up otherwise they would lose their position in the team to the junior chefs. I think it was the practice, the element of competition that the junior chefs brought in and having a professional team manager.”

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