Brix American Bistro

Ashwani Ahluwalia, proprietor of BRX American Bistro, has always set high standards for himself, graduating with honors from the Bermuda Hotel and Catering College at 18 and immediately joining the staff at the fine-dining restaurant Romanoff. After working in restaurants in the Grand Cayman Islands, cooking for celebrities, Supreme Court justices, and athletes, Ahluwalia eventually settled in Grand Falls. Here, he helms BRX American Bistro, pairing upscale American cuisine with more than 30 wines available by the glass and 95 by the bottle. This service strategy helped Ahluwalia's restaurant earn the 2012 Diners' Choice Award from Opentable.com. He draws inspiration for his menu from his background. This helps Ahluwalia create the hickory-smoked barbecue jamaican baby-back ribs with a housemade sauce's Caribbean flavor, as well as the samosas, which he fills with creamy potatoes and a fresh cilantro-mint chutney inspired by his Indian heritage.

Named for brix, the measure for the sugar content in grapes for wine making, the restaurant naturally features a glass-enclosed wine cellar and an extensive wine list. The establishment welcomes oenophiles to become cellar members and store their prized bottles, purchased at a discount through BRX, in the cellar lockers. Past the cellar and the full bar is the main dining room, lined with long booths and lit by a flickering fireplace and natural light streaming in from the patio doors. These doors grant views of wooden trellises covered with thick green vines and a certain jungle legend swinging from them: Tarzan's stunt double.

Ahluwalia also works hard to give back to the community by hosting charity events and fundraisers for organizations such as the Rotary Club and Food for Others. He notes, "What gives me joy is serving people and not just at the restaurant, but also through community activities," according to an interview on the restaurant's website..