By: Gabrielle Burgess (Founder/Owner, Suga Lifestyle)
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Sunday’s cool, breezy afternoon was perfect for savoury bites and bubbly to celebrate International Women’s Day and contribute to the Canadian Women’s Club of Jamaica’s outreach projects.
Chez Maria’s Vegetarian Pumpkin Kibbeh Cups with hummus on top was both healthy and scrumptious. The winner for seconds if watching your calories. They were paired with Select Brands’ Primal Roots California Red.
Cannonball’s Antipasto Skewer with Lomo, Olive, Tomato, Mozzarella and Mushroom Tortelini was a myriad of flavours that balanced each other well and even further with Harbour Wines’ Columbia Crest Cabernet Sauvignon.
Suga’s husband, Randy Burgess about to enjoy the Lomo & Mozzarrella Skewer along with the Sliced New York Strip Steak with Caramel Onions and Tomato Jam.
Chocolate Dreams
Pistacio Chocolate Bites from Chocolate Dreams.
You have to top off the evening with some sweet! I didn’t mind the spicy either. Chocolate Dreams outdid themselves with their Scotch Bonnet Caramel Fudge and Pistacio Chocolate Bites. Their entire spread was worth the calories. If you like sweet wines, the Roscato Sweet Red courtesy of Harbour Wines was a great choice.
Sweet Red Wine Pairings courtesy of Harbour Wines with Chocolate Dreams’ Scotch Bonnet Caramel Fudge
Great evening filled with Vino, Savoury bites and Beautiful Women. Value for money with Proceeds to a great cause. Well done Canadian Women’s Club of Jamaica. #SugaEndorsed
Suga Tasters and cousins, Gabrielle Burgess and Kimberly Nesbeth enjoyed celebrating International Women’s Day together and all things good that paired with wine last Sunday, March 8, 2020 at The Matalon House in Long Lane, St. Andrew.
By: Gabrielle Burgess
If you liked this Blog, follow Suga Lifestyle Online, on Instagram (@sugalifestyle), Twitter (@sugalifestyleja) or like the Suga Lifestyle Facebook page.
 Two weeks ago, Suga took a walk on the strip of Las Olas Blvd. in Florida in search of a late Breakfast. It was quite a busy atmosphere because of the Festival taking place. People were everywhere!
I wanted to try somewhere new too so the sign, ‘La Bonne Crepe’ caught my eyes. I was like great, Breakfast Crepe.
Missed that though, because upon entry my friend and I were greeted politely then told that they were switching over to lunch so we may have a little wait. It was about 11am and we were fine with that.
Our waitress was not initially pleasant and she was a bit up in age but thankfully she warmed up as time went by.
We ordered Salmon and Turkey crepes with cheese ($15.70USD and $14.64USD respectively). Prices were reasonable and the Crepes on their menu were in different categores such as Breakfadt Crepes, Dessert Crepes, Cheese Crepes, you name it.
After much anticipation, HUGE Crepes came our way but we were not impressed. We had no idea it would be crispy Crepes and they were bland. The meats needed more seasoning and a different kind of cheese should have been used to complement them or add some flavour. So it really was just a big pile of nothing that just satisfied my hunger. I enjoyed my frozen Cappuccino though. The experience makes me have to big up our local, Tea Tree Crêperie, although they usually have you waiting on the one person making their Crepes, the quality is good, consistent, tasty and the flavours are brought out well in the Crepes.
So next time I go back on that strip I will just go with what I know, YOLO!
We were left with the menu for some time to make a decision. The waitress returned and took our orders, but to my disappointment there was no Guacamole for the White Corn chips and no Gluten-free OR Vegan Crêpes available. That should have been mentioned when we were given our menus. Luckily we were people with a flexible diet. So we ordered the Hummus and Pesto Pita Chips instead, the Chicken au Poulet Crêpe (Chicken breast, mushrooms, white wine dill sauce and mozzarella) and Beef Stroganoff Crêpe (mushrooms, onions, creamy stroganoff with beef tenderloin).
The appetizer arrived quickly with the boring waitress and it was alright. The Crêpes arrived in reasonable time afterwards and looked like huge servings. Huge servings they were because I was full when I was finished. Compared to my visit at the previous location, the Crêpes were now more filling and tastier. Service was better then though. The flavour of the creamy stroganoff and mushrooms was especially delightful, complementing the fork-tender beef quite well. As we were chatting and enjoying our Crêpes, we noticed that we were not given a Drink menu. We requested one and they did not have any mint leaves to make their popular Magic Mint lemonade. Really?! What did they have? Someone needs to do a proper inventory and have a chat with some local farmers if the crop isn’t meeting the demand. So I had a plain lemonade that was not as refreshing, but filled the void that water could not.
A different waiter came to us, a quite charming young man unlike the dull waitress before, asking if everything was ok and if we needed anything else. Was he for the night crowd? What a difference! I didn’t get his name but I know our experience would have been much better with him. Anyhow, we asked for the bill, then I decided before I left I would leave ‘Suga Lifestyle’ along with something I liked on the glass window. Space was limited but there was some high up. The waiter gave me the cup of markers, I took one and he brought the ladder. Being just 5ft 4″, I realized with the long stretch that if I wrote in common letters it would not be legible so just decided I was going to write ‘Suga Lifestyle’ in all caps and leave it at that. As I was doing so, I was shouted at across the room to keep it small. Based on the tone used, the fact that I wasn’t a 5 year old and knowing that they would soon run out of space anyway, I quickly finished writing in the one line I planned to and started to step down to hear the same nagging voice closer behind me, apparently one of the ladies in charge, saying just to put a signature etc., also asking what I wrote. I enlightened her that it was just Suga Lifestyle, I do reviews and walked out the door. Sadly I couldn’t leave right away because we needed to pay the bill. The silver lining so I wouldn’t leave completely annoyed? I got my Pop-Up Gourmet Discount and left with a full, satisfied tummy.
Tea Tree Crêperie Sweets & Savouries
Location: 80 Lady Musgrave Rd. Unit #2. Kingston 10, JamaicaÂ
Nice atmosphere and good service. Keeping in mind Tea Tree makes everything from scratch, the Nacho Platter took too long to come out, so much so that the Crepes arrived two minutes after. We understood different persons were attending to the order, so there was a lack of communication since the person who made the Crepes probably thought the Nacho Platter was out some time before. Â They apologised sincerely.
The Nacho Platter was alright. It could have had more crisp and had cheeses with more flavour. The popular Smoked Marlin Crepe was good. Nice flavour, Â accentuated with the pepper jelly. The Crepe au Poulet with chicken breast, mushrooms, white wine dill sauce and mozzarella was bland though. The preferred option was the Calzone Crepe that had chicken breast, white wine tomato sauce layered with 4 cheeses, black olives etc. but they did not have the white wine tomato sauce.
The majority of Crepes range from $1400JMD to $1600JMD. There is an extremely wide range to choose from, whether you are feeling for something savoury or sweet, so you can choose something new every time. It’s a nice daytime spot to take the kids or have a chat with a friend or two.
