Lunch With Nils Dufau, President Of St. Barth Tourism

Nils Dufau, President of the St. Barth Tourism Committee shares his experiences, top picks, where to eat, what to do and how to best experience St. Barth and beyond.

Photography property of SVADORE

When the St. Barth Tourism Committee heard we were coming to St. Barth, the President Nils Dufau offered to meet with Pat and I to share his passion for the island. Honored by this opportunity, we accepted without hesitation and our meeting was set for lunch at Le Manapany. 

We walk into Le Manapany’s beachside restaurant and see a tall, tan man speaking with a bunch of locals in a corner. He has an inviting way of speaking and everyone seems to be at ease around him. As we approach I realize its le Président of the tourism committee himself, Nils Dufau. With a smile we introduce ourselves and head over to one of the many outdoor tables by the beach. After perusing the menu and making introductions, we dive right in.

Half Swedish, half French, Nils Dufau truly mirrors the island at its core. The island’s history goes way back. It was originally owned by the French, but sold to the Swedish in a trade in order to acquire the port of Gothenburg the French needed. Little did the Swedish know that the island of St. Barth was barren, on the other side of the world, and had little to offer economically. Eventually, the Swedish sold it back to the French who had little to no use of it until the late 1950s early 1960s when Rockefeller bought a property on the island. The island realized it’s old world charm potential and tapped into what today is their primary source of income—tourism.

Nils Dufau had been homeschooled by his parents on a boat as they hopped from island to island experiencing the Caribbean. Once they set foot on St. Barth, the islands Swedish and French culture set in and the Dufau’s knew this would be their new home. Nils eventually went back to Sweden where he went to university. After living abroad for a few years, his heart drew him back to St. Barth following the devastation of Hurricane Luis in 1995. From there, he immersed himself into his passion. He became one of the 19 members of the St. Barth territorial council and shared his love of the island with the rest of the world through his work as the President of the St. Barth Tourism Committee.

I turned around to grab my notebook out of my bag and noticed a turtle a foot away from my bag snacking on a leftover fry. The harmony between nature, Le Manapany, and the community and island of St. Barth in general is unbelievable. While we were enjoying our lunch turtles were roaming around the beach side lounge area in search of scraps and a rooster was wandering around next to the bathroom door. It is clear that what this island has managed to do is create a complete balance and harmony with the island and nature.

His reason for returning to St. Barth following Hurricane Luis was a perfect transition into the recent 2017 Hurricane Irma and how the island had left me awestruck at how unbelievably quickly everything was up and running. Hurricanes don’t happen often in this area, in fact they happen once every 20 years. The day following Hurricane Irma, Nils Dufau said the entire community pitched in and volunteered to help get things restored ASAP. It is this community effort that made the island almost completely damage-free by end of March. By June, the island will be brand new and fully restored, with it’s same old world flair, but with a bit of a refresh in certain areas. Although St. Barth is a French island, they see themselves as a separate entity. They rely solely on themselves, as their economy, lifestyle, and political climate are pretty disparate from France. Of course, they do overlap with France on main constituents, but even when it came to the Hurricane they used their funds to rebuild the island and did not turn to France for help. They are a part of France, but are their own island with their own identity, their own system. And it seems to work for them and France.

As the President took a sip of his beer, the waitress seamlessly slipped in and brought us our lunch. I had ordered the tomato salad with mozzarella di bufala. Like all things in St. Barth, the food is always presented in the most beautiful and Instagram-worthy of ways. Even just my simple mozzarella—the white mozzarella was a perfect contrast to the popping colors of the bed of vegetables lying underneath. It was a light and flavorful salad, perfect for the hot mid-day St. Barth temperature. The mozzarella was so fresh it melted in my mouth and the vegetables so flavorful I couldn’t put my finger on what made it so.

As I was relishing in the freshness of my food, the conversation shifted to Nils Dufau’s “must-dos” on the island. At the top of the list of course was to relax. If the island offers anything it’s the ultimate in relaxation. From the people, to the pace, to the laid back laws and atmosphere, when on the island you have the ability to relax at every moment. Second was the food. The island is the foodiest destination in the Caribbean, home to over 60 restaurants. I can’t explain what it is, especially since the majority of their food is imported. Being a barren island, fish is truly one of the few locally sourced ingredients on the island. Nonetheless, they somehow still manage to import only the freshest most flavorful of foods. And of course, their French, Creole, Asian and Fusion twists on the food definitely help give it a flavor unknown to our taste buds. A certain, je ne sais quoi!

Living on a boat for so long, Nils Dufau’s number one recommendation while on the island would be to try and get out on the water. Whether it’s via a catamaran, yacht, sailboat, or Jet Ski. If you truly want to experience the island and what it is all about, you need to get out on the water. We eventually took his advice and went on a Jet Ski tour of the island, more on that in a later post!

As we shared our love for the island, he shed light on how the island is able to maintain it’s old world charm, be so down-to-earth yet elegant and elevated, and have a one-of-a-kind vibe that is hard to describe and can only be experienced when on the island. There are no huge resorts on the beaches, no casinos, and no means to accommodate mass tourism. With a capacity of roughly 10K on the island, St. Barth has put laws in place to make sure it maintains it’s one-of-a-kind lifestyle. Laws include that no building in St. Barth is allowed to be more than 2 stories high (that’s about the height of a palm tree if not less!) and 65% of the island is a “free-zone,” which means it is a nature reserve or environmental protectorate so no construction can be done in those areas. In order to build you need to get permission from the territorial council and all roofs in Gustavia need to be red or green, per mandate. There are so many laws that have made this island what it is today, that I could go on for hours to describe what makes it so special. I’ll save that for another post…As we wrapped up our meal, we thanked Nils Dufau for his time and promised that if he were ever in New York we would take him out and show him our city.

Following our goodbyes and Pat and I headed down to Le Manapany’s beachfront area on the tranquil Anse de Cayes bay. The windiness in this bay make for a perfect hot spot for surfers while giving sunbathers a break from the sun with it’s overarching palm trees. From here it is clear. Rather than turn the island of St. Barth into something it is not, the community has chosen to take its beauty and create a paradise out of it. An island where everyone seems to be at peace—at one with nature. 

I would like to thank Monsieur Nils Dufau and the St. Barth Tourism and Territorial Committee for taking the time to meet with us and share his love of the island with us. It was an absolute delight to be in the presence of a man that truly embodies the island!  

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