Travel Eats documents my food adventures outside of Chicago.
I spent the week before Thanksgiving on vacation in Aruba, a Dutch island located just north of Venezuela. The pristine beaches and sunset views were spectacular, but I was also impressed with the cuisine, which blended Caribbean, South American, and Dutch influences into its own mélange of flavors. My travel companion and I tasted both traditional and modern versions of classic Aruban dishes, plus a slew of fresh seafood and tropical cocktails, all proving why the country’s slogan is “One Happy Island.”
The most special dining experience of the week was an 8-course tasting at The Kitchen Table by White, a 16-seat kitchen counter–style restaurant opened 3 months ago by Urvin Croes. Chef Urvin’s original restaurant, White Modern Cuisine, was among the first to bring modernist cooking (à la Grant Achatz of Alinea) to Aruba; he opened this second restaurant in order to offer a more intimate and extensive tasting experience with a monthly changing menu. Over a leisurely few hours, we tasted course after course that employed truly creative cooking methods and flavor combinations. Among them was a modern take on keshi yena, one of Aruba’s most traditional dishes: instead of chunks of chicken stewed with fruit and nuts and topped with flame-broiled Dutch gouda cheese (which we tasted later in the week), it became a chicken roulade beneath elegantly constructed layers of gouda and crackers in many forms. In the same way, a “steak basket,” common street food fare in Aruba, was updated to include fries buried in a fascinatingly delicious powdered peanut sauce. I was blown away by how well the complex array of components harmonized in each beautifully plated dish, especially in the four shown below.
And then there was the seafood. Whether it was vanilla-scented scallops at sunset with my toes in the sand or richly spiced caribbean shrimp in a lush backyard garden, I enjoyed it all. Grouper was especially prevalent – my favorite version featured a crunchy almond crust and creamy spinach sauce that the restaurant claimed had been imitated-but-never-duplicated since the dish’s debut in 1999.
Standout dishes also extended beyond seafood. At Smokey Joe’s, I scarfed down half a rack of Caribbean-style ribs, which the menu touted as award-winning, and also snacked on pastechies, an empanada-like local specialty. Salt and Pepper, a quaint diner-style restaurant with thousands of namesake shakers adorning its walls, was a great spot for an egg wrap with ham and gouda. We even ate well at sea: while aboard the Black Pearl for a snorkeling sunset sail, we feasted on gouda-tomato sandwiches and grilled cheese (so yes, Dutch gouda is everywhere in Aruba).
I had a few favorite treats as well. Melk Chocolade Pasta, a Dutch chocolate spread we picked up at the grocery store, made a perfect snack when slathered onto pita chips. At the swim-up bar, I was especially fond of the Bird of Paradise, brightly colored with mango and blue curaçao, and the Slippery Monkey, a dessert-like blend of coffee liqueur, Caribbean coco rum, Irish cream, banana liqueur, banana puree, chocolate swirl, and a dark rum garnish. The best dessert of the week, though, was a classic chocolate soufflé boosted by roasted pumpkin seed ice cream, blueberry sauce, almonds, and a mountain of whipped cream.
The details: Hadicurari, J.E. Yrasquin Boulevard 96; Smokey Joe’s, Juan E. Irausquin Blvd. 87; Barefoot, L.G. Smith Boulevard 1; The Kitchen Table by White, J.E. Irausquin Boulevard 266; Salt & Pepper, J.E. Irausquin Blvd. 370-A; Black Pearl sailing trip; Madame Janette, Cunucu Abou 37; Papiamento, Washington 61 Noord; Seaworthy’s Pool Bar/Captain’s Galley at Marriott’s Aruba Surf Club, 103 L. G. Smith Boulevard (all Aruba).