“I’ve watched people arriving for their charters to the BVIs and they’re taking flights to St Thomas and then jumping on a ferry to depart for their yacht. It’s common sense to question why you need to take a second trip on landing in St Thomas when you can simply depart from here instead.

“Yacht Haven Grande and IGY recognised this and slowly and methodically, they refocused people on the beauty of the USVI, the St John beaches and so on. People who hadn’t been here for several years saw that the beaches and marina were absolutely fabulous.”

A graduate of Cornell University’s renowned School of Hotel Administration, Frank enjoyed a career financing hotels and restaurants but when the 2009 financial crisis hit, he started casting around for other opportunities and was introduced to his fellow founder partner Franklin Ferguson. “We got a call from a friend in Montauk who asked if I knew anyone who wanted to run a restaurant there,” he recalls. “Franklin’s wife Leyla Marchetto and my wife Kristina came on board; we designed the logo on the back of a napkin and the rest is history!”

Navy Beach took its name from its Montauk location, the site of which was a US naval base in the 1940s. “There’s still a tremendous amount of history there,” adds Frank. “There was a restocking pier for navy ships, a submarine pier and they tested torpedoes there. It’s a strategic location with gun entrenchments up in the hills. The history evaporated over time but as we opened up, many veterans came in and we became ambassadors for the Navy SEALs.”

In 2016, Frank struck up a rapport with IGY’s CEO Tom Mukamal during IGY’s tenure of the Montauk Yacht Club and, realising the common goals they shared, the pair discussed potential partnership ideas. “We had some co-branding efforts going and really admired each other’s organisations and the synergies within nautical hospitality. The 2017 hurricane put us on pause but we’ve been hankering to get moving and finally did so in 2019.

“Navy Beach has had a lot of opportunities to expand in the past 12 years and we came close once or twice. People often want to co-create something with you or leverage your brand. I had a very high bar and a strategic list of items and IGY met just about every one of them. We have similar high marks for what we want to do and ideas for future growth and we are hoping to grow further in other locations.”

Navy Beach, St Thomas was developed as a hybrid blend of the best Montauk had to offer combined with a particularly Caribbean direction in terms of produce and flavour. “It’s important to honour the local fabric and culture and we embrace that. Montauk is the oldest commercial fishing port in New York so we do a lot of dock to dine and we’ve mirrored that in the Caribbean, forming relationships with local fishermen and imbibing ourselves with their culture and people.

“People who have seen us in Montauk see similar colours and décor here and even some of the key staff who’ve come with us, so there’s a tremendous feeling of warmth and familiarity.”

“We have a wide demographic in Montauk and this translates to our St. Thomas property. We are appealing to families with children, a younger late-night crowd, and everything in between. We always embrace the local community. Tourists come and go, locals keep you going and are our mainstay.”

With a generous 14-acre upland site, well protected with amazing views and spectacular sunsets against a superyachting backdrop, Yacht Haven Grande and Navy Beach will provide the perfect setting for this unique yacht show.

Attendees can enjoy breakfast and lunch on the restaurant’s expansive outdoor deck overlooking the marina while cheffing events, a cocktail competition and various other soirées will also be ongoing. “We are still finalising the details but I’m confident that this is going to be one of the most fun, exciting and well-fed yacht shows to date,” adds Frank.

“Our role is to feed people, keep them hydrated and put them in the right environment to engage in the activities. We are going above and beyond to get them involved in the show. We will be hosting several interactive events like cocktail mixing, book signings, chef entertainment on the grill, local chef pop-ups, opportunities for the brokers to judge, mix, engage and enjoy.

“We will also unveil some exciting new dishes incorporated into an eclectic menu. We have visiting local and celebrity chefs and exciting gourmet sponsors. We will have a heavy tilt towards Caribbean influences, embracing the culture, people and food, not just on the higher end mega yacht style of cuisine, but also on a broad-based comfort and casual basis to honour the broader demographic.”

The visiting superyacht and celebrity chefs are sure to be inspired by Navy Beach’s own retinue of passionate and gifted creators in the kitchen. “Our executive chef leads from the top and our chefs from New York, who have been with us from day one, come down periodically to spend time with the chefs we’re developing in St Thomas,” says Frank.

 
“We’re working closely with events co-ordinators Jenn Johnson and Nancy Bean as well as the IGY team who are hyper focused and involved. We have a team heading down next week for a pre-rehearsal to lay it all out.”

Frank feels the event will also be a fitting showcase for the developing USVI food scene, which has come on in leaps and bounds over the past few years. “It’s going through a renaissance at the moment; the layers of food and different offerings have become more sophisticated and interesting,” he explains.

“You can now find very high-quality sushi, and while fresh fish has always been there, putting it together in a Japanese offering was not something that was happening in the USVI four or five years ago.

“High-end Italian food and amazing ceviche is also a relatively new thing – it’s not just the boardwalk offerings and quick lunches the cruise ship market might be looking for any longer. Lots of people have migrated to St Thomas for the lifestyle and they have brought their food with them. It’s a very exciting time.”