The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort has launched the Beach Club by Jose Enrique, an award-winning Puerto Rican chef. The debut of Beach Club comes following a multi-million dollar investment in the property.
Puerto Rico is an emerging culinary destination, with much credit due to chef Jose Enrique. The menu at the Beach Club highlights local island flavors, such as salads, fresh ceviches, and a new take on Caldo Santo (a traditional Puerto Rican fish stew made with coconut milk), which Enrique serves with lightly fried snapper filet, local roots and tubers, and coconut slaw.
Produce for Beach Club is provided by local Puerto Rican vendors in addition to the property’s own garden, where chef Enrique collaborate with the agronomists directly on what is grown. The garden at The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort covers over two acres of land and produces a wide range of fruits, vegetables and herbs, including five different varieties of mango, passion fruit, bananas, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, avocado, basil, rosemary, cilantro, ginger, romaine, as well as a variety of. It’s also home to hens that provide eggs daily for the kitchen.
Later this year, the restaurant and pool bar will offer a selection of rum-based drinks curated by the chef, including one made with guarapo (sugarcane juice), orange juice, and sour orange and lime juice, served in a highball glass over ample ice. Rums on the menu are all produced in either Puerto Rico or the Greater/Lesser Antilles. Additional Caribbean commodities available at the hotel include Puerto Rican coffee and cigars.
Beach Club by Jose Enrique overlooks the property’s private beach and pool esplanade at The St. Regis Bahia Beach Golf Club. Design-wise, the restaurant has a beamed ceiling, neutral color palette and a wall of glass doors that open up to the outdoor terrace.
Enrique was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, and graduated in 1998 from the Culinary Institute of America in New York. He worked in New York, Florida and Louisiana before he returned to Puerto Rice, where, in 2007, he opened his first restaurant. Enrique was chosen as a semifinalist for the 2013 James Beard Awards in the category of "Best Chef South,” the first time a Puerto Rican chef was nominated.
The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort is set on 483 acres in a Gold-certified Audubon Signature Sanctuary and has 139 guestrooms and suites. The resort offers St. Regis’ Butler Service, a 10,000-square-foot Remède Spa and golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr.
Beach Club by Jose Enrique is open for lunch and dinner. For reservations, please visit www.stregisbahiabeach.com/beach-club.