A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH Tasty's, Anguilla, British West Indies By Joel Chusid Dale Carty is a young man with a dream. The 30-year old personable Anguillian plans to open an ocean view restaurant called Sheridan's where he can  provide a complete gourmet dining experience to discriminating guests. But  that's five years away. In the meantime, the chef, who studied under the  celebrated legendary chefs, father and son Jo and Michel Rostang in France  and at Anguilla's renowned Malliouhana Hotel, started his own casual restaurant, Tasty's, a couple of years ago. Featured in the October 2000 issue of Travel and Leisure and the February  2001 issue of Bon Appetit, Tasty's is a true diamond in the rough. I visited  the eatery on a November Sunday evening and was not quite prepared for the  cuisine and service that awaited me. From first glance, the place is  unassuming, on a main road, with brightly painted walls, a small bar area,  and rather basic although table-clothed tables, with room for only 30 diners. But open the menu and be prepared to be blown away! The cuisine is heavily  based on local fish and vegetables, products, enhanced by Dale's creative  touches. The chef does all the cooking himself, although he is making an  effort to recruit and train a local assistant. Tasty's serves breakfast,  lunch, and dinner daily except Mondays, all year except for a couple of weeks  when Dale closes in September so he can accomplish improvements on the  physical aspect of the restaurant, little by little. In 2002, for the first  time he confided that he'll take a real vacation, visiting friends in  Madrid. He's never visited the U.S., even Puerto Rico, a mere 55 minute  flight away. Breakfast is more than pancakes and eggs, with Grand Marnier French Toast and  Poached Eggs with Sautéed Mushrooms standing out. Bagels, smoked salmon, and  cream cheese are even offered for power breakfasts. Dale did not know what a  "power breakfast" was, so I enlightened him and, in fact, scheduled one with  some high level local officials for a couple of days later, so maybe we were  the first! The lunch menu offers a variety of interesting salads including conch, fresh  fish dishes, pastas, salads, and sandwiches, and Dale admitted he wanted to  expand it a little more. Dinner, however, is a dazzling experience. Following  a complimentary trigger fish appetizer, we had the shrimp and plantain kebabs  served on a green salad, lamp chops over vegetables with mashed potatoes, and  grilled fresh tuna steak with capers and lemon butter and garlic served over  ratatouille along with seasoned rice. The menu also offered grilled bell  peppers stuffed with goat cheese, crayfish and papaya salsa, a wide range of  local fish, a lemon chicken entree, pork chops, steak, and vegetable  papillotte. For dessert, we had the warm coconut tart with vanilla ice cream. There's a diverse wine list with selections from several countries in a  moderate price range, although Tasty's does not have a wine cellar yet. Dale  is learning about wines from Albert Lake, Anguilla's famous sommelier.  Service was solicitous and we were surprised to learn that it was one of the two waitresses' first day on the job. Anguilla being the small island it is  with only 10,000 inhabitants, it was also no surprise to run into the new  waitress the following morning at her other job at a travel agency. Dale makes it a point to get out of the kitchen and chat with each of the  diners. His personality is infectious, and he does not hesitate to talk about  both his short term plans (fixing up Tasty's little by little, enhancing the  luncheon menu) and long term plans (opening Sheridan's).  For Anguilla, prices are moderate. Credit cards are accepted, and it appears  that in peak season (Dec 15 - April 30), reservations are going to be  essential as word of mouth is spreading news of Tasty's fast. Dale has not  spent a penny on advertising.  Tasty's Café. South Hill, Anguilla. Tel. (264)497-2737 or 497-5734. Dale  expects to have a website up and running in a couple of weeks, but in the  meantime, he can be reached via e-mail at chefcarty@anguillanet.com. Do you have any questions, comments or suggestions? Email: jwdineline@aol.com Copyright © 1998 Inter Active Media Solutions. All Rights Reserved. The interactive components of this site require that you use a current browser version of Explorer; be sure to maximize your window out so you can see the entire page. This page was created by Inter Active Media Solutions.