It started over a decade ago with a dream in a backyard, but years later the Arawak Cay restaurant Gone Fishin’ has successfully catapulted itself to the 88th BBQ restaurant in the world and the solidified BBQ ambassador of The Bahamas.

Gone Fishin’ was the official winner of the Smokin Hot BBQ competition held at Green Parrot earlier this year – beating out scores of BBQ teams in The Bahamas.

Just last month, the Gone Fishin’ team went to Lynchburg, Tennessee to compete in the Jack Daniels BBQ Invitational, where the cooks impressed judges with their Bahamian recipes.

Hamish Moxey, the chief cook of Gone Fishing, says his restaurant, which is located on the shores of Arawak Cay, has gotten rave reviews from locals and tourists alike.

“Gone Fishin’ started as a backyard BBQ at home doing what we love to do and then we started getting serious with it after a while. A lot of people who come here from around the world love to BBQ and so I started to look at sauces and I started playing around with sauces and about 15 years later we developed the number one sauce in The Bahamas,” he said.

“People are tired of the same-old. You can go anywhere in the world and have food in an air condition restaurant. But there are not a lot of places where you can put your foot in the sand. You can have a meal and go swimming all at the same location in a comfortable environment. This is the only place in New Providence where you can have lunch on the beach.”

Now that Gone Fishin’ has proven that it has the number one BBQ in The Bahamas, the restaurant’s Associate Owner Brian Austin said they are looking to take competition to another level.

“It exceeded our expectations at the Jack Daniels. Many people who have never been to The Bahamas before are looking forward to coming because of our BBQ. So from that competition we have brought at least 20-30 people and they are continuing to tell their friends and as I email them we are getting people who want to taste The Bahamas,” he said.

In February, the Gone Fishin’ group is expected to go to Puerto Rico to compete in the Cattleman’s Caribbean BBQ competition.

Mr. Moxey said the restaurant continues to receive invitations for competitions.

However, the cooks are most excited about the opportunity to bottle their famous BBQ sauce.

“We are looking forward to going back after thanksgiving to get that going. We are partnering with some great people- Ocean Potion- and hopefully this time next year our sauce will be in every major food store in the United States,” Mr. Moxey said.