A Trip to the Beach

“A Trip to the Beach is the next best thing to being there. The Blanchards have given us a smart and amusing tale of running off to chase a dream. It’s just as tasty as their cooking.”– Tom Brokaw, Anchor, NBC Nightly News“If you think it takes courage to open and operate a fine dining restaurant, just try doing it the Blanchard way. Pick a beautiful but remote island with cultural idiosyncrasies, build it from scratch, make it seasonal to assure up and down business, and subject yourself to the most powerful hurricanes Mother Nature knows how to create. Other than that, it’s easy. I love the Blanchards’ determined sense of hospitality and appreciate the rich texture they have woven into Anguilla’s colorful fabric.”– Danny Meyer, Coauthor, The Union Square Cafe Cookbook

Melinda and Robert Blanchard have been married for nearly thirty years and divide their time between Norwich, Vermont, where they built their own home, and Anguilla, where they operate Blanchard’s Restaurant. Together they have started eight businesses, including Blanchard & Blanchard, the award-winning line of specialty foods. Bob is a seventh-generation Vermonter, and Melinda was born and raised in New York City.