Foraging for supper is no easy task in Bermuda.

Muse’s Enworth Davis found that out the hard way.

The Restaurant Week People’s Choice winner needed two pairs of thick gloves to make dessert.

His crème brûlée called for prickly pear cactus.

“It was a dangerous venture,” the executive chef said. “I still had to use tweezers to pick stuff out of my fingers.”

One of his challenges was simply sourcing local items.

Suriname cherries, for example, were out before the competition began, but disappeared as it got under way.

“Luckily, I had picked some along the railway trail and froze them beforehand,” said Mr Davis.

To find wild spinach the 40-year-old Jamaican hunted along the shoreline, particularly in Sandys.

He thought it was worth it to see the surprise and appreciation on customers’ faces.

“It was a touch of interest,” he said. “Sometimes chefs get bored doing the same things.

“You can only do so much to stay within budget and stay within customers’ tastes. This was an opportunity for me to use stuff.”

The list of “stuff” included loquats, wild fennel and gooseberries, that he used to put a spin on traditional dishes such as cassava pie and codfish and potatoes.

He was particularly proud of his nasturtium and onion broth, a Bermudian take on French onion soup.

“Nasturtiums are something that really don’t get used here,” he said. “A lot of people don’t realise you can use the leaves and flowers. Usually if you see it on the menu, it is just as a garnish. But the leaves have a nice spiciness to them. The nasturtium gave the soup a real depth. When I put gruyere cheese and toast on top it was like a bowl full of sunshine.”

Customers lapped it up.

“I am really proud that I was chosen by the people,” he said. “That really says something.”

The Bermuda Tourism Authority named Muse the winner of the annual challenge last week.

Based on the feedback provided, people were impressed by the thought and creativity that went into the menu, Mr Davis said.

“It was a conversation piece. Everyone I spoke to was talking about the ingredients used. What made them even happier was that it tasted good. That was the icing on the cake. It looked good and it tasted good.”

Mr Davis also won the People’s Choice award last year.

Red executive chef Chad Mitchell and Zaid Khan of Pickled Onion were runners-up in this year’s competition.