By Sarah Muñoz

Fabulous fare and gaiety is a way of life in the BVI. With a wide variety of restaurants, bars, nightspots and eateries — each with its individual flair — there's always a reason to look forward to your next culinary or nighttime adventure. Jump into each experience and relish it fully, as your culinary escapades will become an important part of the memories you take home with you.

The region's exciting mix of cultures has added a distinct zest to its cuisine, with international influences from as far away as Japan and the Middle East. Although many restaurants are casually laid-back, others require more elegant attire, so be prepared to dress up for dinner. Of course, West Indian food is the islands' day-to-day mainstay, and we are all the luckier for it. Some of the local dishes include pâté, a baked or grilled pastry filled with spiced goat, chicken, or seafood; roti, a flat bread filled with curried meat, seafood or vegetables; and fungi, cornmeal and okra in a polenta-type dish that's often served with fish.

The islands' wealth of native fruits and vegetables adds a certain zing to dishes — meat with curry sauces, fish with fruit chutneys and spicy stews are embellished by native produce such as ground hot pepper, nutmeg, parsley, mango, passion fruit, papaya, and more. Side dishes are created with vegetables from the land: okra, squash, plantain and dasheen (taro root), whose leaves are used to make callaloo soup. And of course, the freshest of seafood is predominant; some to sample are conch, red snapper, whelk (West Indian top shell), mahi-mahi, grouper and the world-renowned Anegada lobster.

Tortola is the hub of the BVI's gastronomic boom, and its branch of the New England Culinary Institute, its command post. In partnership with the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College, this institution has taken epicurean arts to a whole new level, preparing students for successful culinary careers by taking advantage of the fusion of cultural influences, flavours and ingredients that come together in this part of the Caribbean. Students receive plenty of hands-on training at restaurants and eateries around the BVI, including The Road Town Bakery, where pastries and pies are given the most sublime of spins. The patrons here, of course, are the ones who reap the rewards.