Basil’s – offering   culinary creations in an historical setting

In the historic Cobblestone Inn building, in the midst of the Bay Street bustle of trade in produce, craft and regional periodicals, sits a restaurant and bar, which patrons say serves up culinary delights that tease the taste buds.

The kitchen staff singles out its burgers, sandwiches and cocktails as favourites with clients, but it’s the business lunches that make Basil’s Bar and Restaurant in capital Kingstown stand out.

Voted as having the ‘best business lunches’ in the 2017 Best of SVG awards, Basil’s offers good dining, in an atmosphere of tranquility.

For over three decades, it has provided choice to patrons from its weekday buffet lunch, served from noon to 2 p.m.

“People go for that because of the convenience and time – if you choose from the a la carte menu [it] takes a longer time to prepare,” says Lenora Williams, who supervises the bar and restaurant.

It’s not only a favourite with locals: “A lot of businesses, whenever they have clients from overseas or anywhere, they usually bring them…to Basil’s.”

When SEARCHLIGHT stopped by, early lunch patrons were enjoying muted conversations in the elevated bar area, as well as the restaurant, as mellow music played in the background.

In the kitchen, chef Noel Richards and his staff were dishing out the day’s three-course lunch, serving a rich soup, attractively spread main course with generous portions of local root crops, colourful salads, delectable chicken and fish with fruit, cake and ice cream for dessert.

“We’ve got [a] very good service here, adds Richards, who has been in the kitchen at Basil’s restaurant from inception.

It is his task to plan the daily menu of freshly cooked food, ensuring that customers are satisfied.

“We got very good service here; our bartenders, waitresses and waiters try to make the customers comfortable.”  He thinks these were significant factors that helped them win the award.

The business is owned by Basil Charles, who, having established a bar on Mustique, decided to do something similar on the main island of St Vincent.

The state-owned building was available for lease and Charles entered into a joint arrangement with the proprietor of Cobblestone Inn.

He went “for the bar and restaurant and she took the rooms.”

Reflecting on the decision and earliest days of business, Charles tells of taking a month to “gut the room” which houses the restaurant that, in another era, was used to store casks of sugar from the Orange Hill estate, destined for England.

He has vivid memories of their opening day; the menu was a la carte and the people turned out to eat, but there was turbulence in the kitchen.

 “We were desperate; we couldn’t bring out the food fast enough,” Charles recalls. While some persons left, most stayed and enjoyed the food. That day, he took the decision to switch to a daily buffet.

 It’s a natural choice for customers. “It’s a clean place, it’s right at the street level, [and] we do our best to do a good lunch… even if you’re vegetarian, you can have lunch at Basil’s,” Charles concluded.