TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Fig is gone?

Someone posted here that Fig was closed for renovations. Jeff Berger's newsletter says it's closed for good. Can anyone confirm that? If so, it's a shame. I really wondered when they moved to Maho whether they could afford the rent..

Oh my ... I really hope not. We were there the end of July and first couple of weeks of August. Checked in several times only to see the sign of renovations but never saw anything being renovated.

Was the sign Fig (and Bananas??) still there?

Randy, one of the owners of Fig has sold his business to his business partner to open a cooking type school along Simpson Bay with group cooking classes which should be operational by December. Eat what you cook. He is going through extensive remodeling at his beach front location. Pictures he sent us looked great. He told us that most revenue and profits for a restaurant come from the bar drinks. With the prevalence of the drug crowd only water was being ordered and there is no money in that.

Say what??

I've been told by a long-time area restaurateur that FIG has closed for good. The problem is that Sonesta is all inclusive and that doesn't include many area restaurants. We liked FIG a lot and are sad to see this happen. They had done well at dinner when they were in Cupecoy. (This source has never given us inaccurate info.)

I like Randy. That should be a good fit on SXM, particularly with younger people who want to learn culinary arts.

I never heard that at all, or saw any evidence of it.

That is what Randy told us over a private dinner last May. Said drugs made users thirsty and water is what they would order instead of alcohol. A lot goes on that we older people don't relate to or know about.

I've gotta say, from recent trips, I've not seen any evidence that drinking in restaurants on SXM has been reduced..

I'm talking about the late night crowd, long into the wee hours of clubbing. Way after you and I are in bed. And I don't mean together. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Said drugs made users thirsty and water is what they would order instead of alcohol. A lot goes on that we older people don't relate to or know about.

I have no idea what "Randy" is talking about. If someone is stoned on drugs and not drinking why are they there?
I used to run restaurants in NY and Fire Island and that statement is bizarre. I would have thrown them out and have!

Dont shoot the messenger. Just repeating was I was told.

If FIG is really gone I will be disappointed but what I won't be is very surprised. They had a great product when they first opened and basically they were the only show in town and then the changes started at Jordan Village with more eateries every trip.

We loved FIG when it was there but you could almost see the writing on the wall when they moved to the Maho location. Too much good competition already in the area and thanks to the AI changes at Sonesta, too few live bodies to compete for.

The restaurant business is tough anywhere but on SXM, it's even more so since there are so many great venues and particularly in that general area. And as nice as that upstairs location was, it was also not the easiest location to find the second floor access into.

And lastly, when we were there both in January and over three weeks in April, we thought the whole of Maho was seriously lacking in warm bodies on the street in the evenings in comparison to so many other years. I wondered at the time if FIG knew In advance of signing their lease that Sonesta was going AI. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

When they are clubbing and partying, if they take X then they are thirsty....and amped.

MDMA, Ecstasy, Molly, etc

So true Pat. We really enjoyed Fig in both locations. Last year the food was excellent but the place was totally empty. This was in March, and I figured their days were numbered if they could not get more than 3 tables the whole time we were there. It's really too bad.

If true, this is sad news. I really liked Fig and looked forward to going there this December.