Wise people take back their vacation; daredevils take back their life. A few … the courageous and sometimes foolhardy … head to paradise to plant the seeds of long slumbering dreams, attempting the difficult task of running a business in the third world.

Anguilla, like all the islands of the Caribbean, has met its share of enthusiastic risk-takers during its 50 odd years of tourist development. Each year a few more arrive and, like migrating birds, just as many leave.

One of the most successful couples on Anguilla, and for sure the most famous, are Bob and Melinda Blanchard. In 1995 they left behind their stateside life, moved to this British West Indian island and opened Blanchard’s Restaurant. Two successful cookbooks (“Cook What You Love” and “At Blanchard’s Table”), along with a featured spot on NBC’s “Today” show that coincided with the destination wedding event, helped ignite their island fame and fortune, and it hasn’t stopped growing since.

Together the Blanchards also authored “A Trip to the Beach,” described by U.S. Weekly as, “a charming tale of a Caribbean culinary adventure.” And last year they launched a second restaurant, Zurra, at the Baccarat Hotel, and soon will release two entrepreneurial books on how to live the life you love. It would seem they have that subject mastered well.

The Blanchards’ unbridled success might lead you to think paradise is a piece of cake … but nothing could be further from the truth. Nuuh-thing! Last year on the island we met a middle-aged couple from New York who left behind their stateside life (sound familiar?), snagged a lease on a beachside restaurant and unleashed their plans and dreams. Big ones. We weren’t surprised to find them missing less than a year later, and to hear the story of how the police had escorted them to the airport, where they were flown one-way, no returns, no do-overs, to Puerto Rico. Behind them trailed a cloud of debt, broken promises and bad will. You can bet there won’t be a book about that.




Anguilla does have some new kids on the rock, though, who are turning heads and making headlines with their restaurant, Veya, Cuisine of the Sun. Located at the top of Sandy Ground hill, far from the water’s edge, it’s nestled among lush tropical trees that shadow a garden of fragrant blooms. Guests ascend to the second story via candle lit steps to a canopied veranda. Inside the lounge, decorated with a simple yet discerning décor, a table holds a guest book full of over-the-top glowing remarks. “From start to finish it was perfect!” “Michelin stars in Anguilla!”

We met Carrie Bogar, half of Veya’s dynamic duo, at the beach one
Sunday. Two of her three young children, with salt-caked blonde hair and sandy bodies, ran between the sea and their Mom. In between the kids’ visits I collected bits of the Bogars’ blossoming success story. In less than a year, Carrie and her husband, Jerry, have created one of the island’s most popular fine dining establishments and it’s received rave reviews from the New York Times and Caribbean Travel and Life. That’s quite a feat on an island where pretty much every top restaurant has a drop-dead waterfront view.
Photo: Carrie Bogar, second from left; Jerry Bogar, far right.

Days later, Carrie and Jerry sat with me at Veya to share their story, starting at the beginning of an odd string of events that led to the beautiful setting we were sitting in. During the ninth year of owning and managing a restaurant in Pennsylvania, they were yearning for something different. Not simply looking for a career shift or a change of scenery, they were after a new life in a new land. Annual January get-aways from Pennsylvania’s cold to several islands in the Caribbean prompted them to Google “Caribbean restaurants, for sale.” Up popped one on Anguilla. Just as they were about to book flights to check it out, a once-in-a-lifetime proposal that was just too good to pass up landed in their laps. Carrie explained, “We were offered a blank check to design, open and run a restaurant, spa and town center. We couldn’t pass it up, so we worked on the project for a year while continuing to manage our own business, along with checking out Anguilla, just in case.”

Still yearning for “something more, something different,” they flew again to Anguilla, sealed the deal with a handshake and returned home to sell everything and move to the Eastern Caribbean. That process took much longer than they imagined, but with the stateside house sold they were finally ready to buy one in Anguilla. Unfortunately, during the three years that had ensued values on the island had tripled. Undeterred, they found a rental to live in and set to work renovating the Veya property and grounds, creating a new kitchen, installing furnishings and developing the menu and plan that would secure them a business license.

Carrie, trained at the Culinary Institute of America, created a menu of global tastes. “I’m drawn toward equatorial cuisine,” she explained, “Asian, Moroccan, South American.” Their menu reads like a mouth-watering world map. First course selections include Moroccan spiced shrimp cigars with roasted tomatoes and spicy apricot sauce; Vietnamese style crispy calamari with nuoc cham; traditional fish soup with coconut, ginger and red pepper rouille. Just a few of the dozen second course offerings are grilled local lobster with passion fruit mustard sauce, gingered sweet potato with garlic toasted spinach; grilled crayfish, ginger beurre blanc, chayote flan and local pumpkin; tamarind glazed roast chicken with christophene gratin and tropical fruit chutney.

Carrie had hoped to change the menu frequently, but it has remained the same because many guests return for specific meals. She doesn’t want to disappoint, so they offer daily specials that usually include one of her favorites … anything with fresh fish. Also at the top of her list is the carpaccio of conch with Asian cucumber-chayote slaw, Indonesian rice salad and chili aioli. Carrie also loves to serve her Five Course Tasting Menu, comprised of her current favorites.

Jerry, educated at Pennsylvania’s College of Fine Arts, leads the business end of Veya. He’s the logistics guy, working through the myriad of oddball island issues that spring up like moles. Together they manage a staff of 12, serving upwards of 60 guests each evening. Carrie leaves her kitchen in an attempt to chat with each table. She typically visits during the first seating, announcing the specials. “Our social life has become hanging out with the last tables,” she said. “Those people come back several times a year because of it.” During those late evening visits they have met some amazing people, including some world-class movers and shakers. She added, “There is a sophistication of tourism here. An audience that’s world-savvy and food-savvy.”

Thinking there must be some downside to transplanting a family of five so far from malls and soccer fields, I probed a little further. They assured me that, although they are actually busier in Anguilla, they are definitely happier and have less stress. Their three children are thriving in school. Recreational opportunities include golf clinics at the Temenos Club, private swim instruction, lessons at the tennis academy and sailing school. The restaurant is closed Sundays, so the family can hang out at the beach. “Living here isn’t for everyone,” Carrie told me. But for the Bogar family, it’s veya … a Carib word meaning “a ray of sunlight.”

Jan