Dwight had a nightmare that forced him to flee Babylon, the name given to the capital Kingston by many Jamaicans, and move to the countryside. With no capital to invest, he decided to “try something” and set up a cook shop called “Taste A Yaad Restaurant” on the sandy beach of White Bay in Trelawny, Jamaica.
Walking along White Bay from the Breezes Hotel to the west, I passed rows of lounge chairs littered with bodies baking in the morning sun before coming upon a small complex of craft shops jutting out of the mangrove forest toward the north. southern edge of the beach. These shacks are typical of those found near tourist centers throughout Jamaica. A couple of vendors greeted me, trying to start a sale with something like, “Good morning mon! Take a look at my…” but I kept walking like I’d seen and heard it all before, and I had a date. meeting Brian, an instructor, for my first kitesurfing lesson later on that fabulous white sand beach.
After another few hundred yards, I was stopped short by the sight of Dwight, his hair in a bob combed, raking the beach in front of his establishment, “Taste A Yaad Restaurant.” My curiosity overcame my excitement about my kitesurfing lesson and I stopped to talk with Dwight, who gave me a tour of his place of business, which was built in the shade of tall trees in an area that backed away from the beach into a clearing. among the mangroves
As I followed it, weaving in and out of the sunbeams filtering through the branches above, I noticed that the main building materials were branches cut from the mangroves and pieces of used wood and plywood that Dwight had collected and recycled. . Chairs and benches were made from mangrove branches, bent and nailed into place. An old rusty sheet metal was turned into a table and a drawing board pattern was painted on it.
The main building was the shop and kitchen with a gallery containing two dining tables and chairs, all covered with zinc and a blue plastic sheet to keep out the rain. At the rear of this building, out of sight of his clients, Dwight had erected a stand for a large plastic jerrycan to gravity feed the water supply to the kitchen. Further back and to one side was a very small building with walls of sticks stuck into the sand. Dwight opened the door to show me an amazingly functioning porcelain toilet, the water supply of which was also gravity fed from another plastic drum elevated to the rear of this structure. He had also installed an ordinary plastic bowl and faucet as a sink with running water.
Using a bit of paint, mostly in the bright colors of red, yellow, and green, Dwight decorated his establishment and hand-painted his sign. He also used shells and painted bottles that he partially buried in the sand and hung from strings. And for the kid in all of us, he tied a piece of wood to the end of a rope and hung it from a tall tree, providing simple fun in a fabulous setting. From everywhere in Dwight’s “Taste A Yaad Restaurant” one had a fabulous view of the turquoise Caribbean sea in White Bay.
Dwight’s hard work, attention to detail and care for his clients were vividly displayed in his clean and tidy place of business. That he was able to create such an attractive environment with so little was truly remarkable and a joy to behold. I could have spent all day there talking to Dwight, but my kitesurfing lesson called, so I ripped myself off and promised to come back for lunch.