The Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) is proud to announce its national culinary team that will represent the country at the 2014 Taste of the Caribbean, the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s (CHTA) annual culinary competition, taking place June 28 – July 2, 2014 at the Hyatt Regency in Miami, FL.
Over the past few months, culinary pros from all over The Bahamas have dueled it out for a spot on the national culinary team and a chance to compete against the region’s best at this year’s Taste of the Caribbean, where they will vie for honors including: Caribbean Culinary Team of the Year, Caribbean Chef of the Year, Caribbean Pastry Chef of the Year, Caribbean Bartender of the Year and Caribbean Junior Chef of the Year. In particular, the team is excited about the individual Cheesecake Competition and Ice Carving Competition, and is preparing to pull out all the stops in hopes of taking home the gold in these categories and others.
The final team was selected through a series of on-island competitions and is comprised of: Executive Chef Emmanuel Gibson, One & Ocean Club, Sous Chef Charon McKenzie, Lyford Cay Club, Sous Chef Aviva Richmond Fowler, Albany Private Resort, Pastry Chef Sheldon Tracey Sweeting, Le Sprouts Private Catering, Junior Chef Dwayne Sinclair, Lincoln Culinary Institute Student, Bartender Marv Cunningham, Aura Night club, Atlantis Paradise Island, Chef Jamal Small, One & Ocean Club and Ice Artist Indra Solihin, Atlantis Paradise Island. This year The Bahamas’ National Culinary Team will be led by the returning Taste of the Caribbean Hall of Famer, Team Manager Sheldon Tracey Sweeting from Le Sprouts Private Catering and Team Manager Michael Adderly from Atlantis Paradise Island.
In an effort to raise money for team expenses, the Bahamas’ National Culinary Team will be hosting various fundraising events prior to the CHTA culinary competition. These events include a tapas cocktail reception, two fundraising luncheons and a gala dinner. In addition to the fundraising events, the National Culinary Team will host a mentoring session with student chefs of the College of The Bahamas.
The team is currently sponsored by the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association, the Bahamas Culinary Association, Bahamas Food Services, Atlantis Paradise Island, LeSprouts Private Catering, One & Only Ocean Club, Lyford Cay Club, Aura Night Club at Atlantis Paradise Island and Briston Wine and Spirits.
For more information about upcoming fundraising events and/or team sponsorship opportunities, please contact Charlotte Knowles-Thompson at cknowles-thompson (at) bahamashotels.org.
As the event draws nearer, be sure to stay up to date with all team happenings by following BHTA on Facebook.
Taste of the Caribbean Registration
Full Taste of the Caribbean event registration, applicable to hoteliers, government entities and food/beverage professionals attending the entire duration of the event, is US$175 for CHTA members and US$225 for non-members. The registration fee includes access to all educational sessions, all events on the program including the Awards Dinner and access to the tradeshow. The competition events are not included and are additional including US$40 for Taste of the Islands and US$50 each for the Competition Lunch and Competition Dinner. CHTA is also offering two package options for the competition events: US$85 per person for the Competition Lunch and Competition Dinner or US$110 per person for the Competition Lunch, Competition Dinner and Taste of the Islands festival.
For those seeking to attend the 2014 Taste of the Caribbean competition, CHTA has arranged a group rate of US$139 plus taxes and service charges (run of house, single or double occupancy) per night at the Hyatt Regency Miami. The group rate is available until May 23, 2014 and can be reserved via resweb.passkey.com.
For details about sponsorship opportunities, contact Gabi Doria Simpson call (305) 443-3040.
For more information about Taste of the Caribbean visit www.caribbeanhotelandtourism.com/events-taste/event-taste-about.php or contact CHTA at (305) 443-3040. Follow Facebook.com/CHTATasteoftheCaribbean and Twitter.com/CHTATasteCarib.
Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association
The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) facilitates the full potential of the Caribbean hotel and tourism industry by serving members’ needs and building partnerships in a socially responsible and sustainable manner. CHTA is the voice of the Caribbean hospitality industry for the development of the region in the highly competitive and sophisticated environment of international tourism. Today, tourism is widely recognized as a pivotal industry in the economy of the region – and CHTA functions as the common denominator for this industry in a region of diverse nationalities, languages and styles, identifying mutual problems and marshaling the resources of the active and allied members to devise solutions. CHTA represents all facets of the hospitality industry with more than 600 member hotels and over 300 allied members.
For more information, visit http://www.caribbeanhotelandtourism.com. Follow CHTA on Facebook Facebook.com/CaribbeanHotelandTourismAssociation and Twitter Twitter.com/CHTAFeeds.
Caption
Standing left to right: Indra Solihin, Jamal Smalls, Michael Adderley, Executive Vice President of the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association Susanne Pattusch, Team Administrator, Charlotte Knowles-Thompson, Sheldon Tracey Sweeting, Emmanual Gisbon, Charon McKenzie and Marv Cunningham. Inserted top left is Dwayne Sinclair and top right is Richmond Fowler.
