Well-known French restaurateur in Anguilla, Didier VanVan, a former international freelance magazine journalist and photographer, has predicted a bright future for the island’s tourism industry.
He was at the time speaking in a media interview on Friday, March 27, as he celebrated the opening of his tenth restaurant in Anguilla – Le Bar – this time his own land development property just beyond the surf at scenic Road Bay, Sandy Ground.
Didier, as he simply preferred to be called, arrived in Anguilla from Paris in March 1981 and set about establishing himself in the hospitality industry. In that year he began with the launching of Rivera Restaurant, just north of the Customs Department at Sandy Ground, which soon became a household name, but which is now closed like the others he also once owned.
“Le Bar is now my tenth,” he proudly said. “For me, personally, there are no other restaurants. I stopped ten years ago as I had some medical problems, but two years ago my wife, Vronique, said that she would like to have a restaurant in Anguilla. I said ok. I have some land in my name and I have some money in the bank, so let’s build a restaurant. So that’s how Le Bar came about – and that is number ten now.”
Didier, replying to a further question about his new restaurant, went on: “Let’s talk about the tourist industry. I think the tourist industry is going to grow and grow. Our young people now realise that they can make good money in tourism and that it is not so tiring as other types of business – and I see a bright future for Anguilla. I am very happy to see that any government in Anguilla is not promoting everything and that we will never have any gambling. I support the coming of the tourists, the restaurants and the boutiques, and I hope one day that there will be a good yacht marina, but I do not believe in gambling. It will be a mess. Anguilla is a typical little secret for everybody. Let us not have gambling. If people wish, they can go to French St. Martin or Dutch St. Maarten.”
Didier, known for his heavy, but well-understood French accent, is also echoing the views of other persons: “My confidence is coming from all my guests I see every day,” he stated. “I see about fifty to sixty of them. I have been here for thirty-five years. Everybody loves Didier because I am a good guy; a tough guy; and what Didier did here, I did it the right way and I got the support of a lot of people.”
He continued: “I have a typical French restaurant, meaning that seventy-five percent of my food is coming from France. I go personally to St. Martin in my boat to collect my mussel and other supplies, so that they are fresh when they arrive in Anguilla; and my young wife, Vronique – we lived together for twenty-five years now – is taking care of the restaurant completely because I am getting old. I have about three employees in the kitchen and seven at the front as a start…
“We are open for two weeks now and we have a lot of Anguillians and many expatriates, who know me for thirty-five years, coming to Le Bar; and they love the food.
“I make the best burger on the island, as everybody says. I make my burger [with meat] from France and I get the tomatoes from Anguilla because, of course, Anguilla has the best vegetables… and my wife is doing a fantastic job.”
Didier is proud of his restaurant. “I own the land, I own the building and I am very happy,” he laughed. “I started off in Anguilla with Rivera in 1981. I had nine other restaurants and today I own the land and the place for my tenth restaurant which is a very good satisfaction for me.”
