In 1986, Albert & Lonnie Willis bought the property known as Raintree Inn in Cruz Bay, St. John. The Raintree then consisted of 3 apartment short term rental units, and one cottage.  After running the 3 rental units and the cottage as a long term rental for several years, they were approached by Jean and Bob Matheny who wanted to turn the cottage into a restaurant.  Jean and Bob had local builder Marty Gack build the deck, and they soon opened the Raintree Restaurant & Lounge  serving mostly Mexican food.  After 3 years, Lonnie & Albert decided to  run the restaurant themselves, as the Metheny's were moving their restaurant to where J.J.'s Texas Coast Cafe is now. 

They ran the restaurant for a year until Phil Hoffman of Margarita Phil's fame came along as Chef and together they turned the Raintree Restaurant into the seafood mecca now known as the Fish Trap.  Phil cooked for the Fish Trap for 4 years.  When he left, the Willises checked with their Chef son, Aaron , who was working  at the "California Café" chain of restaurants, to see if he would like to come home to St. John to take over management.  He said "yes", and he successfully ran the Fish Trap for almost 15 years. 

Under Chef Aaron's management, the Fish Trap Restaurant won multiple awards for the best seafood, and he himself walked away with yearly "Best Chef" awards.  He also enlarged the bar area and set up the first fresh Seafood Market on St. John.  Over the years, Chef Aaron became a  mentor to several local youths, and trained them in food preparation.  Some people here will remember Hartley Metor (now in a management position in the states) and Cyrus Jean (who has since become a Chef himself). 

In the late seventies, the Willis family used to have home parties where Aaron, only 12 or 13 at the time, cooked along with Nazim Ghany, a Trinidadian Indian.  Naz (as he is fondly called) has lived on St. John for over 30 these years, and in 1993 joined the crew of the Fish Trap.  He is presently cooking there, lending his knowledge of fish and Caribbean spices to the soups,  and specials.

Six years ago, Christopher Gagnon joined as the overall Business Manager of the Fish Trap and its sister restaurant, Stone Terrace.   In addition to his sound business sense, he has brought his special expertise of Asian cooking (along with a Thai wife!) to the new menu which is being presented this year.  Christopher has also enlarged the kitchen, and enhanced the event calendar in the bar by scheduling Karaoke and Sports Nights weekly. 

Last year, Chef Aaron took a prestigious job with the Yachthaven Grand in St. Thomas. But given the opportunity to come back as the owner and operator, Chef Aaron has decided to come home, now joined by his wife Lisa, also a person with excellent restaurant experience and skills.  They plan to re-open the Fish Trap in the first week of June, 2008.