The wood
Guava and logwood, two hardwoods that grow on the island. The fire is lit at 4 p.m. and takes three hours to burn down to coals that no longer smoke. Fish set over a smoking fire tastes like smoke and nothing else.
Ti-Braise
0590 00 00 00FRConcept — Studio Lagon
Creole wood-fire restaurant · Grand Case
We cook over fire.
The rest is set dressing.
Fish landed that morning, meat braised slow, rum infused in the back room. The menu changes when the market does.
- Address
- Boulevard de Grand-Case
- Evening set menu
- Starter and main 34 €
- Last seating
- 10:30 p.m.
Sections on this page
The fire
No gas, no convection oven, no bagged charcoal. Wood, a grate that raises and lowers, and somebody standing in front of it the whole night.
8:40 p.m., the second bed of coals
A kitchen with no dials
The height
The grate moves by hand, notch by notch. Whole snapper sits a foot above the coals, pork ribs sit two feet up, almost off the fire. It is the only way to cook two opposite things on one hearth.
The clock
Twelve minutes for a fish under two pounds. Six hours for the ribs. In between there is no undo.
You do not turn a fire down. You move what sits on it.
12 min
for a whole snapper
6 hrs
over coals for the ribs
50 m
from the dock to the grate
The menu
What the market gave us this week
One page, not a catalog. If it was not caught this morning, it is not written up tonight.
Swipe through the menu
To start
Made to share, though nobody is checking.
Salt cod fritters
11 €Sauce chien, lime from the yard.
Grilled Creole blood sausage
12 €Finished over embers, onion confit in vinegar.
Octopus fricassee
14 €Stewed in coconut milk, Creole rice.
Chayote gratin
10 €Aged cheddar, toasted breadcrumb.
Meatless
From the fire
Everything cooks on the same bed of coals, at different heights.
Whole red snapper
32 €On the bone, charred lime, mild chili oil.
Cul-de-Sac spiny lobster
46 €Split, burnt garlic butter, grilled bread.
when the boats deliver
Boucané chicken
24 €Smoked over guava leaves, house sauce chien.
Braised pork ribs
27 €Six hours beside the fire, aged rum glaze.
Island vegetables in the coals
21 €Yam, sweet potato, coconut milk and turmeric.
Meatless
On the side
6 € a portion, plated for two without an argument.
Plantain gratin
6 €Nutmeg, a little cream.
Meatless
Rice and red beans
6 €Cooked in broth, island thyme.
Meatless
Braised yam
6 €Under the grill, salted butter.
Meatless
Avocado and green mango
6 €Lime, red onion, cilantro.
Meatless
Sweet
Three of them, which is plenty after the ribs.
Coconut blancmange
9 €Guava coulis, lime zest.
Meatless
Pineapple roasted on the coals
9 €Allspice, cane syrup.
Meatless
Upside-down mango tart
10 €Whipped cream with aged rum.
Meatless
Evening set menu · starter and main 34 €
Every night we are open, across the starters and mains on the card. Whole fish and lobster carry a supplement.
An allergy, a diet, a picky nine-year-old: tell us when you book and the kitchen will work around it.
Book a table
The roomThe room, a Tuesday in January
The room
Thirty-four seats, one seating
A wooden room, the door open onto the boulevard, and a fire you can hear from the back table. No music loud enough to make anyone raise their voice.
At 7 p.m. there are still tables. By 9 p.m. the room is full. The last plate goes out at 10:30 p.m. and nobody gets rushed out from behind their glass.
Who takes care of you
On the fire
Yvon
Twenty-two years in kitchens, nine of them in front of a grate. He does not leave the post during service.
Front of house
Maëlle
She knows the card by heart and will tell you straight if tonight’s fish beats what you were about to order.
Worth knowing
- Ten seats on the terrace, boulevard side
- Groups up to twelve, by reservation
- High chairs and small plates for kids
- Dogs welcome on the terrace
- Cards and cash, no checks
The rum
Three months before the first glass
The infusions sit in the back room, in demijohns, on a base of white agricole rum. We taste at one month, forget about them, and pull them out at three.
At the bar
Vanilla and tonka bean
7 €The one everybody orders. Three pods per liter, nothing else.
Passion fruit and chili
7 €One whole seasoning pepper, pulled after ten days.
Guava and ginger
7 €Guavas from the yard, whenever the tree agrees.
Burnt coffee
7 €Beans roasted in Marigot, raw cane sugar.
Ti-punch
6 €Agricole rum, lime, cane syrup. You mix it yourself.
Pressed guava juice
5 €No alcohol, pressed to order, served very cold.
Twelve aged Caribbean rums on the board, 8 € to 22 € a glass. Wine by the glass from 6 €.
The rumThe bar, before doors open
What people tell us
The room says it better than we do
126 reviews since we opened
We ordered the whole snapper for two. The skin cracks, the inside is still pearly. We came back the next night with friends.
You smell the wood from the sidewalk. We waited twenty minutes at the bar with a ti-punch and nobody complained.
Find us
Boulevard de Grand-Case, water side
Book a table
The phone works better than anything else. Someone picks up from 5 p.m. and can tell you whether there is lobster left.
0590 00 00 00Email the restaurantWe hold the table fifteen minutes. Running later than that, call us and we will sort it out.
Hours
- Monday
- Closed
- Tuesday to Sunday
- 7 p.m. – 11 p.m.
- Last seating
- 10:30 p.m.
Address
Boulevard de Grand-Case97150 Saint-MartinFrench side, water side of the streetParking
The boulevard is one way and fills up after 7:30 p.m. Two free lots sit a hundred meters away on the salt pond side: five minutes on foot, and you drive off without a three-point turn.