Chef Reginaldo “Regi” Craveiro visited his girlfriend Kamilah Turner’s family in Mathews during the Christmas holidays, making his first trip to Virginia but not to this country. “I guess I have been here about eight times.”

On Christmas Eve Regi wowed family and friends with his knowledge and love for the culinary world by preparing a special dinner. A comment from one guest stated, “Delicious food and beautifully presented.”

Regi is a chef aboard the Disney Cruise Line, a position he has held for the past four years. He came to the ship with years of worldwide experience. Kamilah is a dancer for the Disney line.

At a very young age Regi and his family lived in Cape Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, an island group off the west coast of Africa, just offshore from Mauritania and Senegal. For generations his family has owned a rum distillery on the home island of Santo Antao. When he was four years old his family moved to Luxembourg, and here he developed his yen f...