Villa life means we cook most nights — that's half the point of booking a place with a real kitchen. But every trip has one night where you put on the good shirt, and on our last few trips that night has belonged to SeaSalt, the upscale seafood room in the Sapphire Beach corner of the island — which, for guests at our Sapphire condo, makes it about the shortest fancy-dinner commute you'll ever have.
Order the lobster
Look at the photo. That's the whole grilled Caribbean spiny lobster, split and dressed with a slaw and grilled asparagus, antennae still attached like it wants a word with you. It arrives looking like a centerpiece and eats like a main event — sweeter and firmer than the cold-water lobster most visitors grew up on, with char from the grill doing the heavy lifting. When it hit the table, our conversation just stopped.
The scallops are the other thing regulars will tell you to order, and they're right. The wine list runs deeper than it needs to for an island room, which we respect.
Practical notes
Reservations: make one — it's a small room and the sunset hour goes first. Price: it's a proper occasion dinner, not a beach-bar tab; budget accordingly and it earns every dollar. Dress: island-nice. You'll see linen, you won't see a tie.
The best part might be the ride home. No cab into town, no mountain switchbacks in the dark — if you're staying at Sapphire you're back on your balcony with the last glass of wine before the kitchen has cleared your table. That, honestly, is the whole argument for basing a trip on the East End: the beach in the morning, dinner like this at night, and everything within a few minutes of your own door.
Summer weeks at both our places run 15% off when the calendar has gaps — the current open dates are always on the deals page. Go for the lobster. Stay for the commute.