History of Cafe Roma on the Island:
Cafe Roma an open windowed setting, upstairs at 1-C Cruz Bay, was
open in the very early eighties. It served the only Italian food and pizza
on St. John. Joshlynn Crosley the former owner bought Cafe Roma in 1988 from
the McGinnis family. Joshlynn had landed in St. John in 1987 and was ready
to stay for awhile. The McGinnis family financed Cafe Roma to the then 28yr.
old waitress, Joshlynn. Gradually Cafe Roma has changed; tiled, windows closed,
and air-conditioning added. In the summer of 1995, a mural was painted by
Ted Effremoff (a Russian artist, now teacher, in Philadelphia) with scenes
of Italy. In 2003 Helen Lalitch changed one panel to a more ethereal scene
with Romanesque angels, and symbols for peace on earth. “The wall was
not a plan but now seems most appropriate,” says Joshlynn.
Joshlynn was not yet a chef but had always been in the restaurant business. She proceeded to buy a lot of cook books on authentic Italian cuisine. She visited Venezuela the first summer of 1989 and shared new inspiration from an Italian family as she visited their kitchen. Upon returning to St. John, Joshlynn brewed the new recipe for Cafe Roma’s marinara sauce. Joshlynn, from that point on, has been well received as a chef, she says: “The marinara recipe was repeatedly asked for, even by women whose husbands were Italian: What greater approval could I ask for? The lesson being: Follow your passion and your heart and all things come.” In 1994 Joshlynn visited Venice, Milan, and Florence, gaining even more new ideas for her menu. Mario Batali recently inspires Cafe Roma as he is the most passionate and educational in the “Zen” (says Batali) of Italian cuisine. Cafe Roma’s menu has changed over the years slightly with plate size dinner pizza pies, including house recipes like gorgonzola and pine nut, spinach and feta, eggplant parmigiana, all of which have a local following. Cafe Roma still sells 16” pizza pies for take-out and at the bar.
Cafe Roma seeks enthusiastic chefs and trains them to cook, welcoming creations from their repertoire infused with its own Mediterranean influences, this insures consistency in Cafe Roma‘s menu.
Personal/Owner: John Hiebert, his wife Michelle- who is originally from Trinidad, and daughters Ashley
and Victoria purchased the restaurant from Josh and moved to the islands after living in Vermont in
July 2008. Although John gave the restaurant a slight makeover and renovation, he understood that Cafe
Roma is a local's favorite and a landmark restaurant on St John. "The restaurant isn't broken, so it doesn't
need any fixin'". John fell in love with the food and quirky atmosphere Cafe Roma offers and
intends to maintain it's image for years to come. John has many years of experience in the food service industry.
He is a talented Chef and has owned and managed many restaurants in the states. John and Michelle
look forward to becoming part of the island community, and to continue cooking innovative
Italian dishes and specialty pizzas for the hundreds of loyal patrons who have been visiting
the restaurant for nearly 20 years. Everyone visiting St. John must stop in for something scrumptious
in this little Italian Café.