The changing landscape of Cruz Bay’s dining scene shifted again recently with renowned chef Ted Robinson’s departure from Tage for the second time in just more than a year.
This time, however, will be his last stint manning the kitchen at the popular Cruz Bay restaurant, according to Robinson.
“I am not at Tage, I was fired through an email last week,” said Robinson on Tuesday, May 15. “Me and that space have had enough. The way Tage started out, it was a one time deal.”
“I’ve never been part of something so great,” he continued. “I thought maybe I could do it again, but I realized it was a one-in-a-million thing.”
The chef appreciated the community’s support when he returned to Tage last fall.
“The people of St. John have been so supportive of me,” Robinson said. “It was really a great feeling to see how many people checked to make sure I was cooking to come in. It was such a great thing.”
“I look forward to cooking for those people again,” he added.
Robinson has a number of ideas for the future, the chef explained.
“I’m going to hire myself out,” said Robinson. “I would love to do private catering, or cooking classes or a private supper club kind of thing. I have a thousand ideas I would love to do.”
While Robinson is looking toward the future, Tage chef/owner Karrl Foster wouldn’t comment on Robinson’s departure.
“Right now my attorney is handling things, so I can’t really say anything about what is going on,” said Foster.
Robinson originally opened the eatery, named after his coconut retriever Meritage, with Bill Jerome in November 2002. The two had a number of successful years, but fell on difficult times in Spring of 2005.
Robinson left Tage for the first time then, but returned after the restaurant was taken over by Foster last year.
Staying upbeat is important for Robinson, he explained.
“The main thing is that I don’t want to be negative,” Robinson said. “And I want my poor dog to go back to just being a coconut retriever.”
