The Atlantic moves hard along the cliffs on Barbados’ southeast coast. Wind presses against the stone walls of Wyndham Grand Barbados, Sam Lord’s Castle Resort, and the sound carries through open-air corridors toward the restaurants and terraces that face the sea. Fishing boats cut across the horizon. Flying fish land on ice at nearby markets. Rum barrels rest in aging houses across the island.
In 2026, that shoreline will frame something new: a quarterly chef residency designed to bring Caribbean diaspora chefs back to the region for five nights of tasting menus, market visits and shared kitchens.
The program is called The Navigator’s Table.
A Quarterly Residency Anchored in Exchange
Wyndham Grand Barbados, Sam Lord’s Castle Resort is launching The Navigator’s Table in partnership with Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc and culinary agency Best Dressed Plate.
Each edition runs five nights and centers on collaboration between internationally recognized Caribbean diaspora chefs and the resort’s culinary team. The structure goes beyond guest appearances. Visiting chefs cook alongside the property’s team, work with local ingredients and spend time in Barbados’ fish markets and on farms. The intention is technical exchange as much as guest dining.
Representing the Barbadian team is Rashid Wickham, a rising local chef whose cooking emphasizes island ingredients. His role positions him alongside chefs who have built careers in New York, London, Miami, Toronto and beyond, while keeping the focus on what grows, swims and ferments in Barbados.
The name references the property’s maritime past. Each residency traces a route across the Caribbean Sea — from the Greater Antilles to the Lesser Antilles and into the Lucayan Archipelago — through multi-course tasting menus, chef’s table dinners, live demonstrations and culinary storytelling.
Select editions will include guided visits to fish markets and farms, offering guests direct exposure to the island’s agricultural and maritime traditions.
Luxury Framed Through Culinary Authorship
Petra Roach, Director of Sales & Marketing at Wyndham Grand Barbados, Sam Lord’s Castle Resort, describes the program as an evolution in luxury hospitality, with a focus on experience and professional development inside the kitchen as much as on the plate.
The residency model creates structured time for knowledge transfer. Techniques developed abroad return to the Caribbean kitchen. Indigenous ingredients are reexamined through contemporary methods. The result, the resort says, is an imprint that remains after each visiting chef departs.
BTMI’s Director, USA, Peter Mayers, points to the continued strength of culinary tourism among American travelers. Food, he notes, drives destination choice, particularly when tied to authenticity and storytelling. Programs like The Navigator’s Table add dimension to Barbados’ position within Caribbean gastronomy.
Nneka Nurse, Chief Flavor Officer at Best Dressed Plate, frames the series around migration and return — chefs reconnecting with flavors that shaped their early lives while bringing global experience back into a Caribbean setting.
The 2026 Lineup
The inaugural calendar spans five themed residencies.
April 16 – 20 | Caribbean Innovation: From the Antilles to the Archipelago
The opening edition explores technical evolution across the Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago.
Participating chefs include Brian Lumley of Jamaica, known for his work in cultural gastronomy; Garette Bowe, Chef de Cuisine at Marcus at Baha Mar Fish + Chop House in The Bahamas; and Darien Bryan, a contestant on Next Level Chef.
Menus will reflect regional interpretation — contemporary plating informed by island technique, with Barbados ingredients at the center of the table.
July 16 – 20 | Plant-Based: Earth, Roots & Terroir
The summer residency turns to plant-based Caribbean cooking, emphasizing hyper-local foraging and agrarian knowledge.
The lineup includes Nic and Mike Nichols, the Brooklyn-based duo behind Aunts et Uncles; Joachim Joseph of Grenada, known for “farm-to-fire” cooking; and Nathan Collymore, Executive Chef of Jam Delish in London.
Expect open-flame techniques, root vegetables pulled from Barbadian soil, breadfruit roasted over coals and reinterpretations of traditional island dishes without animal protein.
October 8 – 12 | Luxury Private Dining & Haute Couture
This edition focuses on presentation and private dining, merging Caribbean heritage with contemporary plating.
Chefs include Nick Sayles of Miami; Renee Blackman, known for her appearance on Pressure Cooker; and Max Guillaume, Chef de Cuisine at Kabawa in New York City.
The format leans into chef’s table experiences and smaller, high-touch dinners within the resort’s dining venues.
November 5 – 9 | The Food & Rum Edition
Barbados’ identity as the birthplace of rum anchors this residency.
Participating chefs include Nathaniel Mortley, named “One to Watch” at the 2025 Top New Restaurant Awards; Lonie Murdock, founder of Miss Likklemores and ISLA; and Omar Walters, curator of Omar’s Rum Bar in New York City.
Rum pairings, tasting menus and discussions around distillation and culinary integration are expected to define the week.
December 3 – 7 | Holiday & Tradition: The Legacy Series
The final residency of the year turns to holiday cooking across the Caribbean diaspora.
The lineup features Raul Correa of Puerto Rico, recognized by the James Beard Foundation; Brigitte Joseph, a Trinidad-based culinary preservationist; and Alain LeMaire, known from Chopped.
Menus will draw from recipes tied to family tables across the region, interpreted within the framework of a five-night tasting experience.
Five Nights at the Table
Guests can book The Navigator’s Table through curated five-night packages starting at US$2,000 per person, based on double occupancy. Packages include luxury accommodation at Wyndham Grand Barbados, Sam Lord’s Castle Resort and access to residency programming and signature culinary events.
The structure places you inside the exchange: seated at tasting counters, watching chefs plate, listening to conversations about technique and origin, traveling to markets where the day’s fish rests on crushed ice.
Across five residencies in 2026, the program traces routes of migration through food — from New York and London back to Barbados’ coastline, where trade winds move through open-air dining rooms and the Atlantic sets the tempo just beyond the terrace.
Caitlin Sullivan
2026-02-23 21:19:00