St Barth Gourmet Festival 2026: Chefs, Dates & Where to Eat
The St Barth Gourmet Festival 2026 runs from November 9 to 15, 2026 across Saint-Barthélemy. Its 13th edition brings 14 guest chefs and pastry chefs into 12 island hotels and restaurants, including David Toutain at Cheval Blanc, Jean-Philippe Blondet at Le Barthélemy, Cyril Lignac at Bar des Prés and Álvaro Clavijo at Grain de Sel. New this year: a free-flowing gastronomic village on November 10 and a culinary show at Espace Rockefeller on November 9.
Every November, just as St. Barts shakes off its quiet season, the island’s tourism committee invites a cast of Michelin-starred and headline chefs to cook alongside the resident teams of its best tables. You don’t need a festival pass. Each venue runs its own four-hands dinners, signature lunches or tea-times, and you book them directly. Below is the full 2026 lineup, what’s new, the confirmed prices we could verify, and how to plan a gourmet week around it, using details published by the organizers, the participating hotels and local press as of late October 2026.
Stay for the Whole Gourmet Week
Festival dinners are spread from Flamands to Grand Cul-de-Sac. A villa with a car outside the door makes a different table every night easy.
Browse St. Barts Villas →St Barth Gourmet Festival 2026 at a Glance
- Dates: Monday, November 9 to Sunday, November 15, 2026.
- Organizer: Comité Territorial du Tourisme de Saint-Barthélemy (CTTSB), the island’s tourism board.
- Format: guest chefs cook with the resident chef of each host venue, through four-hands dinners, signature lunches, a tea-time and an eight-hands dinner.
- Scale: 14 guest chefs and pastry chefs in 12 establishments, with three venues joining for the first time: Grain de Sel in Saline, plus Fish Corner and La Cantina in Gustavia.
- Budget: the Journal de Saint-Barth reports a budget of about €80,000 for this edition.
- Booking: reserve directly with each restaurant or hotel; there is no single festival ticket.
The 2026 Chef Lineup: Who Cooks Where
The table below combines the official list published by the Journal de Saint-Barth with the resident chefs named by Chefs & Gastronomie Magazine. Formats are those announced by the organizers; menus and exact nights are released venue by venue.
| Venue | Area | Guest chef(s) | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheval Blanc St-Barth | Flamands | David Toutain (Restaurant David Toutain, Paris, two Michelin stars), with resident chef Anthony Suivant | Four-hands dinners |
| Le Barthélemy Hotel & Spa | Grand Cul-de-Sac | Jean-Philippe Blondet (Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, London, three Michelin stars), with resident chef Guillaume Gillan | Four-hands dinners |
| L’Esprit | Saline | Nicolas Masse (La Grand’Vigne, Les Sources de Caudalie, two Michelin stars) | Four-hands dinners |
| Nikki Beach Saint-Barth | Saint-Jean | Amaury Bouhours (Le Meurice Alain Ducasse, Paris, two Michelin stars), with resident chef Antoine Durand | Signature lunches |
| Bar des Prés St-Barth | Gustavia | Cyril Lignac | Signature dinners |
| Hôtel Le Manapany | Anse des Cayes | Thibault Sombardier (Anne, Paris; Top Chef 2014 finalist), with resident chef Misel Bayrakcioglu | Four-hands BBQ-inspired dinners, Nov 11–14 |
| Hotel Christopher St-Barth | Pointe Milou | Pastry chef Claire Heitzler, with resident chef Paul Bertheau | Gourmet breakfast and tea-time |
| Fouquet’s Saint-Barth | Gustavia | Esteban Salazar (Finka, Paris; Top Chef 2025) | Signature lunches |
| Fish Corner | Gustavia | Tabata and Ludovic Mey (Ombellule, Lyon, Michelin-starred), with resident chef Thomas Lézé | Signature dinners |
| Grain de Sel | Saline | Álvaro Clavijo (El Chato, Bogotá; World’s 50 Best Restaurants) | Four-hands dinners |
| La Cantina | Gustavia | Yoni Saada (Bagnard; Top Chef 2013 semi-finalist) | Signature dinners |
| Bagatelle St Barth | Gustavia | Pierre and Cristina Chomet (Ambos and Tina), with Rocco Seminara and Manon Santini | Eight-hands dinners |
The Michelin heavyweights
If you only book one or two dinners, the starred names are the draw. David Toutain brings the cooking of his two-star Paris restaurant to Cheval Blanc on the Baie des Flamands. Jean-Philippe Blondet, who runs the three-star Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester in London, cooks at Le Barthélemy on Grand Cul-de-Sac. Amaury Bouhours of Le Meurice Alain Ducasse takes over lunch at Nikki Beach on Saint-Jean, which is the most relaxed way to taste three-star-pedigree cooking with your feet in the sand.
The newcomers to watch
Álvaro Clavijo is the international wildcard of 2026: his Bogotá restaurant El Chato has been named the best in Latin America and sits on the World’s 50 Best list, and he is cooking at Grain de Sel, one of the festival’s three first-time venues. In Gustavia, La Cantina finally joins the official program after running its own “off” festival in 2022, this time with Yoni Saada’s colourful Mediterranean cooking, while the Lyon duo Tabata and Ludovic Mey bring their starred cooking to Fish Corner.
Sweet tooth and casual options
Pastry chef Claire Heitzler, a former Gault&Millau Pastry Chef of the Year, hosts a gourmet breakfast and tea-time at Hotel Christopher on Pointe Milou. Cyril Lignac, already at home on the island since Bar des Prés opened in Gustavia in early 2026, signs dinners there. For the full background on that restaurant, see our guide to new restaurants in St Barts for the 2026–27 season.
What’s New at the 2026 Festival
After a slimmer 2025 edition, the tourism committee has deliberately scaled back up and opened the festival to more of the island’s residents. The main additions:
- Culinary show at Espace Rockefeller (November 9): the opening day brings a public show in Gustavia with a bartender competition and the traditional café waiters’ race.
- Gastronomic village (November 10): a new, open-to-all event where visitors can taste bite-sized creations from the participating chefs, alongside local producers, artisans and private chefs.
- Local fishing in the spotlight: as in 2025, the program includes activities around St. Barts’ fishing community.
- Petites Toques (Saturday, November 14): the much-loved children’s cooking competition returns.
- Wine festival: Cave du Port Franc runs a wine festival in parallel, with winemakers at the village and tastings at the Wall House in the following days.
Prices and How to Book Gourmet Festival Dinners
Each venue sets its own menu, price and booking channel, and most publish them only a week or two before the festival. The one fully priced menu we could confirm as of October 30, 2026:
- Hôtel Le Manapany, Anse des Cayes: Thibault Sombardier and Misel Bayrakcioglu serve a three-course, BBQ-inspired menu at €95 per person, from November 11 to 14, 7 pm to 10:30 pm. Each course offers two choices, such as raw yellowfin tuna with Thai basil or spiny lobster ravioli in coconut-lime broth, then grilled mahi-mahi or wagyu picanha. Reservations are required: +590 590 27 66 55 or restauration@hotelmanapany.com.
For the other eleven venues, our advice is simple:
- Book the starred dinners first. Cheval Blanc, Le Barthélemy and L’Esprit have intimate dining rooms, and festival nights fill quickly.
- Call or email the venue directly. Bookings go through each hotel or restaurant’s usual reservations line, not a central box office.
- Ask which nights the guest chef cooks. Four-hands formats rarely run all seven days; Manapany, for example, runs four.
- Check the official site. The full program is published by Saint-Barth Tourisme at saintbarthgourmetfestival.com.
How to Plan a Gourmet Week in St. Barts
The festival lands in early-season November, when hotels and villas cost less than in December and most of the island has just reopened. A practical seven-day plan could look like this: arrive Sunday, November 8 and catch the Rockefeller show in Gustavia on Monday; graze the gastronomic village on Tuesday; book a starred dinner at Cheval Blanc or Le Barthélemy mid-week; take a long lunch at Nikki Beach on Saint-Jean; and finish Saturday with the Petites Toques before a last dinner at La Cantina or Bagatelle on the harbor.
Distances are short but roads are steep and dark at night, so a rental car or pre-booked taxi matters, especially for Flamands, Grand Cul-de-Sac and Pointe Milou. If you are staying in or near Gustavia, Bar des Prés, Fouquet’s, Fish Corner, La Cantina and Bagatelle are all within easy reach of the harbor. For more established tables to fill the remaining nights, see our guide to the best restaurants in Gustavia.
Fly In Before Opening Night
Most visitors connect through St. Maarten (SXM). Arrive by November 8 to catch the opening show on the 9th.
Search Flights to SXM →St Barth Gourmet Festival 2026 — Frequently Asked Questions
When is the St Barth Gourmet Festival 2026?
The St Barth Gourmet Festival 2026 takes place from November 9 to November 15, 2026 on the island of Saint-Barthélemy in the French West Indies. It is the 13th edition of the festival, organized by the island’s tourism board, the Comité Territorial du Tourisme de Saint-Barthélemy.
Which chefs are at the St Barth Gourmet Festival 2026?
The 2026 St Barth Gourmet Festival features 14 guest chefs and pastry chefs: David Toutain, Jean-Philippe Blondet, Nicolas Masse, Amaury Bouhours, Cyril Lignac, Thibault Sombardier, Claire Heitzler, Esteban Salazar, Tabata and Ludovic Mey, Álvaro Clavijo, Yoni Saada, and Pierre and Cristina Chomet.
Which restaurants take part in the 2026 Gourmet Festival?
The 12 host venues for 2026 are Cheval Blanc St-Barth, Le Barthélemy Hotel & Spa, L’Esprit, Nikki Beach, Bar des Prés, Hôtel Le Manapany, Hotel Christopher, Fouquet’s Saint-Barth, Fish Corner, Grain de Sel, La Cantina and Bagatelle St Barth. Grain de Sel, Fish Corner and La Cantina are taking part for the first time.
Do you need a ticket for the St Barth Gourmet Festival?
No. There is no single festival pass. You reserve each lunch, dinner or tea-time directly with the participating hotel or restaurant. The public events, such as the Espace Rockefeller show on November 9 and the gastronomic village on November 10, are designed to be open to everyone.
How much does a Gourmet Festival dinner cost in St Barts?
Prices vary by venue and are set by each restaurant. As of October 2026, Hôtel Le Manapany has published a three-course festival menu at €95 per person for November 11 to 14. Most other venues release their menus and prices shortly before the festival, so contact them directly.
What is new at the St Barth Gourmet Festival in 2026?
New for 2026 are a gastronomic village on November 10 with tastings from the chefs and local producers, a culinary show at Espace Rockefeller in Gustavia on November 9 with a bartender contest and café waiters’ race, a parallel wine festival by Cave du Port Franc, and three first-time host restaurants: Grain de Sel, Fish Corner and La Cantina.
Sources: Journal de Saint-Barth: Gourmet Festival 2026 (Sept 25, 2026) · Chefs & Gastronomie Magazine (Sept 2, 2026) · Hôtel Le Manapany: Gourmet Festival 2026 (Oct 19, 2026) · Pasha St Barth (Oct 3, 2026)
*Affiliate links — we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Festival details were checked in October 2026; menus, nights and prices are set by each venue, so confirm directly before booking.
Last updated: October 30, 2026
