Strong International Response to TCI Food and Wine Festival

Turks & Caicos News – September 2012

Strong International Response to TCI Food and Wine Festival

The preparation for the second Annual Turks and Caicos Islands Food and Wine Festival is in high gear as the country prepares to be graced with a throng of celebrity chefs and the some of the best wine makers on the planet.
The event will be kicked off on November 1, with the exclusive welcome dinner, which promises to be a five course meal prepared by celebrity chefs and wines served by master sommeliers.
The ever popular Gourmet Safari will be held on November 2, which is billed to be a culinary adventure, with the participants travelling to some of the finest hotels and restaurants in Providenciales to be served with the best culinary delights ranging from the most tantalizing appetizers to the zenith in main course preparation.
Day three will be the Food and Wine Tasting and Food Fair. On this day, guests would not only be able to taste the best wines on the planet, but would get the opportunity to whet their appetite on some of the most delectable meals in this hemisphere. This will include gourmet chocolate, cheese, sea foods, meat and local favourites. They would be able to choose from a wide selection of vintage international wines.
Nikheel Advani, a member of the TCI Food and Wine Festival Committee, said that plans were going great for the event. He said the event was shaping up to be a blowout because there was great deal of interest already been shown from both local and overseas.
“This is going to be a destination event. In the early month of November, we know that our key markets like New York and Canada and the Midwest; it gets a little bit cold there. Our weather is always beautiful by nature, so we want to attract as many people to come for the whole week, to enjoy Turks and to enjoy all the offerings from all our partners.
“I also want to let you know that, already, without the publicity, we have promoted this event in Aspen – at the Aspen Food and Wine Festival; we have promoted this event in New York a few weeks ago, with John Delucci, one of the top chefs in New York, who would be flying in, and the feedback has been tremendous,” Anvani said. “So far, we have got a lot of bookings and for the most part, they have taken the whole package. So I have to let all of you now, book early, don’t wait on the last minute. Last year was a sell-out, I have a good gut feeling that this year will be a sellout as well,” Advani said.
Founding partner Galmo Williams, through Gilley’s Enterprise, said that the TCI had a great deal of fantastic features under its belt, such as fine people, exquisite resorts, fabulous scenery and some of the best wines and food. “And I always thought to myself, if we could just bring this together, we could give our visitors and friends a number of reasons to come here, not only for the fine accommodation, but also the great dining experience with our food and wines. So, I think this event is certainly an event that Gilley’s Enterprises is proud to be a part of,” Williams said.  Williams also expressed delight at the little Chefs Programme, for which he gave participating hotels kudus. According to him, the resorts have shown a great deal of seriousness that they were willing to invest in the future of the Turks and Caicos in a number of areas, including culinary, as evidenced in the Little Chefs Programme, which is geared at providing an avenue for budding chefs to hone their skills.
Stacy Cox, Executive of the Turks and Caicos Islands Hotel and Tourism Association, expressed delight that her organization was a perennial partner in the venture and would continue to support events geared at promoting destination Turks and Caicos, and its culinary aspect.

###

Turks & Caicos Sun Newspaper, September 3rd, 2012