January 4, 2016
Chef Digby Stridiron is Making St. Croix the Culinary Destination of the Caribbean
You also used to be a private chef, working with the likes of Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry? What made you leave the entertainment business?
It just wasn’t for me. Working with Nicki Minaj was a great experience, and being on tour, but it just wasn’t for me. For me, I think about 10 years down the line, my legacy and what I’m doing with my life. I realized I was a guy working on a tour bus, working to help someone else’s dreams come true. I realized for me to be happy with me, I have to always be pushing myself as hard as I could push myself. Within fine dining I found a world where there’s endless possibilities on how to use an ingredient. Fine dining gave me a creative way to express myself. I’ve always wanted to do art. I went to school for art and I studied art, but I can’t draw for anything. Looking at Michaelangelo and Picasso and seeing the way they capture art, I was always trying to find a way to express myself in an artistic form. I started listening to history, the ingredients, and what’s around me. I didn’t set out to do it, it just kind of happened naturally.
What would you say is one lesson you took in your journey?
Most of the best lessons didn’t come in the kitchen. There was a time in 2009 when I wanted to do something different. I went into mixed martial arts. I wanted to do something that was kind of impossible. I was 26/27 years old and said, ‘I just want to see what I can do.’ I wanted to see what the possibilities were if I pushed myself. And what I realized is after 3 months I was at American top team; after 6 months, I was helping him run his gym; after 9 months, I’m teaching classes and competing. And I learned through that, if you apply yourself and believe in yourself you can accomplish anything. The minute you say ‘this is who I am, this is what I want to do,’ you just have to achieve it. Believing in yourself is one of the most important things.
You’re currently the culinary ambassador for the U.S. Virgin Islands. How did that partnership come about?
The whole thing was surreal. At Crucian Fusion (an event featuring St. Croix’s leading restaurants and culinary experts) in 2013, I was brought down here. That led to me to moving back down here about 3 weeks after. I was still trying to figure things out and the commissioner reached out to me and told me what she was trying to do in terms of food. It was right up my alley in terms of sustainability being progressive, adding culture to what we do. It was exactly what I was already on the path of doing. So, basically she gave me an avenue of what we were doing here. Next thing you know we were winning ‘Chef of the Year’, the James Beard is here, a restaurant is being built, a community is live in Christiansted right now, and we’re trying to build a farmer’s market. Right now is a pivotal moment because we’re declaring ourselves the culinary destination of the Caribbean; not just through food, but through culture.