The Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority has announced the list of celebrity
chefs and culinary arts professionals participating in the second annual Antigua
and Barbuda Restaurant Week (ABRW) starting May 4. During the two-week-long
celebration, visitors and nationals can enjoy a variety of special and discounted
dining and event experiences designed to showcase the twin-island nation’s
delicious and diverse food, restaurants, art, and culture. This year also makes the
return of Chef Andi Oliver who will headline events at the “The Pepperpot Rum
Shop,” a100-day food and cultural pop-up.
“The Restaurant Week annual celebration highlights the best culinary experiences
we have to offer–from favorite casual spots to multi-course menus at the finest
restaurants,” said Shermain Jeremy, Special Projects and Events Manager at the
Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority. “Given the fantastic lineup of Caribbean
celebrity chefs and guests confirmed for this year, we expect to draw record-
breaking participation from food loving locals and tourists. We’re excited, too, to
showcase the diversity of food from our twin-island nation, especially with an
elevated twist.”
Chef Kareem Roberts. Born in Leicester and raised in Antigua,
Kareem first set foot in a professional kitchen at 26. He began
composing salads at a small café in St. John’s, Antigua, and quickly
moved to the high-volume kitchens at Sandals Grande Antigua. Over
the next decade, he would hone his skills in a variety of kitchens in
the United Kingdom, ranging from fine dining establishments to
hotels to gastropubs. He worked his way up to his most recent
position as Head Chef of Trinity, a contemporary British restaurant in
Cambridge. Roberts attributes his development as a chef to the foods
and cultures he’s experienced, along with the fresh seafood he was
exposed to as the son of an Antiguan fisherman. His creativity and
passion were showcased recently on the BBC’s cookery competition
“The Great British Menu.”
Cookbook Author Althea Brown. Althea Brown is the creator and
voice behind metemgee.com, a blog about Guyanese and Caribbean
recipes and traditions. She offers simplified recipes, made accessible
with diet specific tweaks. She is the author of the bestselling
cookbook Caribbean Paleo. You can often find her on social media
sharing stories about traditional Guyanese food and culture, and how
she remixes dishes to fit her dietary needs. Born and raised in
Georgetown, Guyana, Althea now lives in Aurora, Colorado, with her
husband and three children.
Chef Angel Barreto. Chef Barreto is a three-time James Beard
Foundation Award semifinalist and finalist, StarChefs Game Changer
(2022), and a Food & Wine “Best New Chef” (2021). His highly-
awarded culinary career spans more than a decade, with exceptional
experience in both French and Korean cuisines. He’s best known for
his contemporary Korean cuisine at Anju in Washington, DC. Barreto
is of Puerto Rican heritage and will be honoring Boricua cuisine at
ABRW.
Chef Shorne Benjamin. St. Lucian born and New York-based, Chef
Benjamin is known for his ability to infuse Caribbean food with a
modern flair. Classically trained in French cuisine, he gained
international acclaim as a guest chef at Mimo’s in London. Career
highlights include an annual presentation at the James Beard House,
competing on the Food Network’s “Beat Bobby Flay,” becoming a
finalist on Chopped and winning the 2017 Jamaican Jerk Festival
Celebrity Chef Throw Down. Most recently, he opened Fat Fowl in
Brooklyn, where he crafts new age inspired dishes to showcase the
richness and depth of Caribbean flavors through a healthy and
imaginative lens.
Chef Digby Stridiron. A native of St. Croix, Chef Digby is inspired by
ingredients indigenous to the Caribbean and the history of regional
recipes. He is best known for his work as chef of award-winning
restaurants Balter and Braata in St. Croix, where he earned
recognition as one of USA Today’s 10 Best restaurants in the
Caribbean and Food & Wine named his food “the new heart of
Caribbean cooking”. A community leader, Stridiron served as a
culinary ambassador for the U.S. Virgin Islands, having showcased
West Indian cuisine at the James Beard House, and also received the
2014 Chef of the Year award from the Caribbean Tourism
Association. Currently based in Phoenix, Az., Chef Digby is also the
founder of the West Indian Chefs Alliance.
Sommelier Nadine Brown. Born and raised in Jamaica and Puerto
Rico, Brown fell in love with the hospitality industry after moving to
the United States and started her career as a restaurant host in
Washington, DC. Twenty years later, she's an acclaimed industry
veteran and award-winning Sommelier. Nadine worked as Wine
Director at Charlie Palmer Steak for more than a decade. Owner of At
Your Service, a wine consultancy, she is a wine writer, judge and
educator. Nadine sits on the board of the Restaurant Association
Metropolitan Washington and the Verasion Project, a non-profit that
works to help more people of color enter the wine industry. Nadine
curates a popular dinner series called, "Re-"Imaging Wines', where
she collaborates with chefs, exploring wine pairings with cuisines
from the Caribbean to the Philippines
