With its waterfront location, exquisitely prepared food and lush SoBe-style decor, Osetra Bay Restaurant & Lounge reopened after the summer with fresh menus and renewed focus, thanks to progressive management and its new, award-winning executive chef.

The owners of the trendy fine-dining establishment - with its chic lounges, waterside dining gazebo and billowing white soft furnishings overlooking Morgan’s Harbour - spent the closed season taking stock and mapping out its future.

Expect the unexpected
Part of a trio of restaurants which have helped put the locale firmly on the culinary map, the goal is to make Osetra Bay more than the sum of its parts. Opened last November, the time had come to reassess all aspects of the popular establishment.

“We were happy with the rustic elegance and laid back ambience but felt something was missing in our food choices and menu offerings,” says co-owner James Sedgley.

“We’re basically going all out to build on our strengths and enhance every aspect of the overall dining experience our guests can expect. We want to exceed expectations and have set the bar really high for ourselves. We’re offering what diners won’t find in other restaurants and want them to expect the unexpected.”

This commitment meant bringing in a rising star to head up the kitchen: Chef Joseph Watters.

The gastronomic hot-shot, though young in years, is far from green, having already acquired a wealth of experience in the high-pressured environment of professional gastronomy. In honing his talents while working in senior positions in several restaurants, including at a 3 Michelin star establishment and receiving a 4 Diamond CAA award  in his native Canada; he is breathing life into Osetra Bay’s vision to become the best restaurant on the Island.

An innovator, Chef Watters is adept at creating dishes using up-to-the-minute techniques and cutting-edge science that are bound to feature in future menus.

Trained in classical French cuisine in France for five years, he has the flair, attention to detail and consuming passion for cuisine that has made him such a sought-after chef.

Keen to find out whether the rhetoric and the breezy, upscale ambience matched up to the reconceptualised menus, I headed up to Osetra Bay in West Bay to sample the new tasting menu on the restaurant’s expansive, moonlit deck.

The restaurant changes its tasting menu on a weekly basis and its kitchen staff now pride themselves on making everything from scratch.

Having sampled the bar’s popular Forbidden Fruit cocktail, I was escorted to my table by James who has worked in some of London’s most up-and-coming restaurants.

Tasting menu
The first dish sampled was the amuse bouche, which consisted of lobster popcorn emulsion with fried, liquid cauliflower and vegetable tempura. The creamy texture and delicate flavour of the emulsion complimented the cauliflower well and the light, crisp tempura definitely whetted the appetite for more. The next course was the mushroom velouté with shitake and oyster mushrooms, ‘sous-vide’ quail egg and white truffle oil. The delicate, velvety texture of the velouté had a heavenly quality, which allowed the subtle flavour of the fungi to come through. The quail egg, nestled at the bottom of the bowl, was a welcome treat.

With both courses I was offered a selection of Osetra Bay’s restaurant-made artisan breads and butters. I’m glad I broke my rule of not grazing before the entree and tried a little of the bacon and the onion flat breads: they were very morish and it was hard not to try the other speciality breads baked daily on the premises. A smidgen of the sea salt, scotch bonnet and seaweed butters, churned on-site, was enough to make me an instant fan.

Dense and pleasingly nutty, the Arborio risotto with mascarpone quenelle and garden herbs was another upmarket comfort food dish that was richly satisfying. The tasting menu next offered a choice of either the mahi mahi confit with parsnip, braised pistachio, raisin puree, plantain pickled daikon with a red wine veal butter sauce or the rack of lamb with potato cannelloni, cabbage roll, vegetables etuver with naravin sauce. For the purpose of thoroughness, I was given both.

The mahi mahi dish, with its firm texture and light taste, went well with the pleasing symphony of flavours which were part of the accompaniment. The lamb, a standout favourite on any menu, if prepared with care, did not disappoint. Served with a melangé of vegetable sides; each accompaniment offered interest and appeal to the beautifully prepared dish.

Now here’s a thing you don’t often find on upscale menus: cotton candy as bright and as fluffy as a cloud. This whimsical, feather-light confection with its powder puff consistency and sugary appeal, was sheer heaven and as unpretentious a menu offering as I’ve ever enjoyed. Hung and torn bit by bit from a ‘tree’; it brought back memories of carefree summers spent in search of fun.

I hardly had time to come off the sugar buzz when Osetra Bay’s friendly and attentive wait staff presented a dish of bite-sized goodies. A finger of flourless chocolate cake atop tiny cubes of pineapple and a generous dollop of orange sorbet, garnished with a stripe of long pepper butter scotch sauce, rounded off the tasting menu.

Night cap under the stars
For extra pampering, try a glass of two Gold Cuvee, a sparkling white wine infused with gold flakes. A sip or two had me glancing skywards at the shimmering, starry night. I left Osetra Bay knowing - given the exquisite meal, competitive price point, efficient team service and memorable ambience - that I’d be back with friends, soon.