The Fourth Annual Turks & Caicos Conch Festival was a big hit, and highlighted the great diversity and quality of culinary expertise here in TCI. More than twenty restaurants participated in this years’ event and an array of innovative conch-based recipes were showcased.
Two restaurants in particular have battled it out for the Best in Festival prize of the past three years, with Aqua Restaurant successfully defending its crown this year, after having won it from Hole in the Wall, the 2005 champion, last year. Aqua won this year in a close vote over its cross town rival, but both restaurants and their head chefs deserve special recognition for their mastery of the ‘conch-eition.’
Clive Whent heads up the culinary operations at Aqua, which is nestled in a corner of the Turtle Cove Marina. Clive also runs a successful catering business (Kissing Fish) that provides everything from beach BBQs to elaborate wedding dinners. Clive and his crew from Aqua, wowed the crowd with their tasty conch won tons.
Meanwhile, downtown close to the airport, is Donavan Hales’ kitchen at Hole in The Wall. Known as a favorite local hangout specializing in Caribbean – especially Jamaican – cuisine – Hole in the Wall has established itself as a force to be reckoned with each year at the Conch Festival against much larger restaurants. They won the top prize in 2005 with a delicious chowder, and earned top honors in category voting each of the past three years. This year The Hole put on a veritable schmorgusborg of conch that ran the gamut of styles. Visit Aqua and Hole in the Wall next time you come to Turks & Caicos.
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