Most of the big nights at this year's Festival de la Gastronomie need a ticket. The closing evening at Loterie Farm costs €150. The cocktail and food pairing in Anse Marcel costs €120, and Sip to Sunset on the beach there costs €110. The official launch costs nothing. It takes place on Boulevard de Grand-Case on Tuesday, November 10, starting at 6 p.m.
In the 2026 program, the launch night is built around Grand Case's restaurants. It is also the first stop on a new series that takes festival guests into neighborhood dining rooms. If you live near the boulevard, the festival's most local night is happening on your street, and it opens the whole twelve days.
What happens on the boulevard on November 10
The official 2026 program calls the evening "One Night Only." It lists four goals: open the festival, put a spotlight on Grand-Case as "the culinary capital of Saint-Martin," offer an experience that is "gastronomic, convivial, and authentic," and fill the boulevard with music.
SXM Talks reported in July on how the evening will run. At 6 p.m., festival organizers, local authorities and the festival's patron chef give an official presentation. Then guests are invited to walk the boulevard, enjoy the entertainment and have dinner in Grand Case restaurants.
The event runs the length of the boulevard, with music along the street and dinner at whichever table you pick. Entry is free, though the program still has a registration page for the launch on the festival's ticketing site.
The patron chef on stage that night is Jimmy Bibrac, chef-owner of Ô Z'Épices in Guadeloupe. Soualiga Post notes that he is Chef of the Year for the Antilles and French Guiana and won the Grand Concours des Régions. The official program also lists him as the festival's patron. Saint-Martin's two ambassador chefs this year are Amanda Whit and François Baly.
Grand Case is the first stop on the new Festival Tables
The most important change for the boulevard this year is a new event called the Festival Tables. The official program describes it as an evening that puts one district of the island in the spotlight through "its participating restaurants, its chefs, its atmosphere and its culinary creativity." The festival team goes out to that district to invite residents and visitors in.
Soualiga Post says one aim of this edition is to give the island's restaurants more attention. The Festival Tables do that by bringing people into participating restaurants, with a different neighborhood each evening.
Le Pélican has published the five announced stops. Diners will taste several traditional coconut dishes at each one:
- November 10: Grand Case
- November 12: Marina Port la Royale
- November 14: Marigot
- November 17: Baie Nettlé
- November 19: Baie Orientale
Grand Case comes first, on the same night as the launch. That means the boulevard's dining rooms get the festival crowd at its biggest, before the main program begins on November 11 and the action moves to Marigot.
The theme fits the menus too. Coconut is the featured ingredient of the 2026 edition, the festival's sixth.
The participating restaurants for the Grand Case evening have not been named yet. Expect coconut dishes on the specials boards that night, and keep an eye on the festival's channels in the days before.
The rest of the month moves inland and to Marigot
Once the launch is over, the festival leaves Grand Case. Here is how the rest of the calendar compares with a free evening on the boulevard, based on the official 2026 program:
| Date | Event | Where | Admission |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun., Nov. 8 | Taste of Sunrise brunch | Loterie Farm, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. | €45 |
| Tue., Nov. 10 | One Night Only launch | Boulevard de Grand-Case, from 6 p.m. | Free |
| Nov. 11 to 19 | Mixology competition | Festival village | €5 |
| Nov. 13 and 14 | Culinary Village | Marigot, noon to midnight | €5 per day |
| Sun., Nov. 15 | BBQ contest | Marigot, noon to midnight | Free |
| Nov. 16 to 18 | Private chefs competition | La villa les Jardins de Bellevue | €25 |
| Thu., Nov. 19 | Cocktail and food pairing | Anse Marcel, 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. | €120 |
| Sat., Nov. 21 | Closing evening | Loterie Farm Garden, 7 p.m. to midnight | €150 |
| Sun., Nov. 22 | Sip to Sunset | Anse Marcel Beach, 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. | €110 |
Only two events on that list are free: the Grand Case launch and the barbecue contest in Marigot. The barbecue day has new elements this year. Le Pélican reports a pizzaiolo competition and a journey cake challenge, with the barbecue set for Sunday, November 15, on rue de la République in Marigot. SXM Talks describes the journey cake as a nod to the island staple that has always gone with barbecue.
The two Anse Marcel events are close together on the calendar and have been described differently over time. Le Pélican placed Sip to Sunset at the restaurant Le Gourmet. The official program now lists it at Anse Marcel Beach. Check the festival site before you book either one.
Meeting the chefs after the launch
If Tuesday on the boulevard leaves you wanting more, the hands-on sessions are a short drive away. Cooking workshops run November 13 to 15 at the festival village at Marina Fort Louis. Workshops cost €50 for children, €100 for adults and €110 for Sip n' Cook sessions. One table seats two people, and you can come alone, but the price stays the same.
Several of the names you'll hear at the launch are teaching:
- Friday, November 13, 8 p.m.: Chef François Baly, Sip & Cook with a mixologist
- Saturday, November 14, 8 p.m.: Cheffe Amanda Whit, Sip & Cook with Arthur Sutley
- Sunday, November 15, 9 a.m.: Chef Jimmy Bibrac, children's workshop
- Sunday, November 15, 8 p.m.: Chef Jimmy Bibrac, Sip & Cook with Rhum Clément
Arthur Sutley also leads the mixology jury. Kevin Bludso, who appears on the program as a BBQ master and Netflix judge, leads the barbecue panel.
The organizers told Le Pélican they want to make Saint-Martin a leading culinary destination, with the festival as a showcase for all of the island's talent.
Which boulevard kitchens have announced reopening dates
The launch also lands just as the boulevard reopens after the quiet months. We Are SXM's seasonal guide, published September 22, gave these dates for Grand Case:
- Le Cottage: opening from September 8
- Blue Martini: expected to reopen October 1
- Java SXM and Rainbow Café: expected to reopen October 15
- Spiga: expected to reopen October 15 after a full renovation
These were published as planned dates, so call or message before you count on a table. Spiga is the one to watch. A We Are SXM profile from earlier this year names partners Andrea and Ness and Chef Filippo Bianchi as the team there. The same seasonal guide also lists Tropic's Beach Bar as the newest addition on Grand Case Beach.
November 10 also fills a gap in the boulevard's calendar. Its regular street party, the Mardis de Grand Case, ran its 2026 season on Tuesday evenings from 6 to 10 p.m. for six weeks, starting February 24, Faxinfo reported. Dates for the 2026 to 2027 Mardis have not been published. That makes One Night Only, also on a Tuesday evening, the boulevard's first big shared night of the season, about three months before the usual one.
If you're hosting guests that week, the launch is the one headline event you can walk to from home in Grand Case and get into for free, from 6 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10.
At Oceano Christie's International Real Estate, we follow the restaurants, events and seasonal rhythms that shape daily life in Grand Case and across Saint-Martin. If you'd like a local view of the boulevard and the streets around it, our Orient Bay team is happy to talk in English, French or Portuguese. Contact Us.
