​And the winners are…Bermuda food lovers!!!

However in this case, there could only be one winning chef, and on February 19th, the Bermuda Tourism Authority [BTA] presented its 2016 Restaurant Weeks People’s Choice Award to Muse’s Executive Chef Enworth Davis for his Bermuda Inspired offering.   He edged out 2016 runners up, Executive Chef Chad Mitchell of Red who was also in the running last year, and Head Chef Zaid Khan of Pickled Onion (two talented chefs in their own right who also put up stellar dishes that won each of their price categories.)

Tucked away just off of Front Street in Chancery Lane is a hidden treasure known as Bistro J, whose intimate setting always makes for a cozy dining experience.   A part of the Yellowfin Group of Restaurants, they are the casual dining arm to Port O Call, Pearl, Cafe Ten, and Ruby Murrys. What’s intriguing about Bistro J is that they only serve from a daily blackboard menu with delicious, innovative, scrumptious creations that generate a fun conversation about food. 

There was some hot debate around these parts as the team at @biteofbermuda discussed the options for the next stop on our tour of Bermuda Restaurant Weeks participants.  Have you seen the menus?  They make it seriously difficult to make a decision.  However, we narrowed this week's meal down to the $49 category and decided again to choose a restaurant with a Bermuda-inspired menu, leading us to eventually settle on the award-winning Café Lido at Elbow Beach.  Winner of a 2015 Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor, and well known for great seafood and ambiance, we felt confident in our choice and now, following our meal, we know that we made a great decision.

When thinking about our approach to the 2016 Bermuda Restaurant Weeks, the general consensus was that it would be appropriate to start out with the 2015 People’s Choice Winner.  We also wanted to ensure it was one of the "Bermuda Inspired" menus, and knowing that Chef Enworth Davis does not disappoint (a bit of a catch phrase around here) the decision was made that we would be dining at Muse Restaurant.  At the end of the meal, it was clear that the Chef is not planning on giving up his title very easily.

We were recently tickled to receive an invite to Bermuda Restaurants Ltd’s tasting of their #BermudaRW submissions (they own Chopsticks Fusion and Rosa's) before the event actually kicked off. They’ve capably combined the best of Bermuda foods and flavors with the cultural style of their restaurants, and what we appreciate about this family of restaurants is their drive to be creative and experiment.  They are also collaborative and the chefs welcome constructive feedback - this tasting was such an opportunity. By the end of it all, we were so impressed with their offerings, we decided to share (just a few) with you. 

To help you navigate all of the options for Bermuda Restaurant Weeks, we've pulled together the list of participating restaurants with their Bermuda Restaurant Weeks menus into the list below, organised by price category.  So click away and make your dinner plans, and don't forget to share your meals with the #BermudaRW hashtag on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter! 

BI = Menus containing Bermuda-inspired dishes!

'Giddy' is a word that could be used, but as we’re adults here, we will say that we are ‘extremely excited’ at the fact that the next 3 weeks marks the 5th year for the Bermuda Restaurant Weeks.  Hosted by the Bermuda Tourism Authority, the annual event has steadily gathered momentum over the past 5 years and in 2016 there are more participating restaurants than ever.  This fares well for food lovers in Bermuda as the 22 day event provides the opportunity to sample specially prepared, set price, 3 course dinner menus from over 40 of Bermuda’s best restaurants. (Click here to see the list)