The couple behind The Door

Garfene
Grandison and Krysta Anderson, Gleaner
Writers

Celebrated for its sun, sand and sea, Jamaica
is also internationally acclaimed for producing some of the greatest
culinary offerings known to man.  Some who have
migrated from the beautiful island, however, can find it difficult to
tap into their culture while abroad.

Christopher
Roberts and Joan Lewis, who experienced this first-hand, decided to do
something about it, opening a window of delectable greatness straight
from Jamrock called The Door, in Queens, New York.

The
restaurant opened its doors on December 13, 2000, and has never looked
back since. The name - The Door - originated from a restaurant that was
at the location before, called The Village Door.

"Everywhere we went,
people knew of the Village Door, so we decided to keep the door aspect
of the name, and got rid of the village," Roberts tells
Outlook.

"As a couple, we dined out
quite frequently, and one of the challenges we had was finding a nice
Jamaican restaurant in our community, and because of that, we decided to
open the restaurant," recalls Roberts.

Authentic
Jamaican food

Lewis points: "Having authentic Jamaican
food in the New York tri-state area posed a bit of a challenge, too. We
wanted to make the dishes and the experience as authentic as
possible."

They both wanted the menu to be uniquely
Jamaican with an ethnic twist. They import staples such as yellow yam
directly from Jamaica and local ingredients like thyme and Scotch bonnet
pepper to spice up their 'yaadie' meals.

Priding
themselves in providing fresh food daily, Lewis asserts: "There are some
staple Jamaican dishes, such as curried goat, jerked chicken and
oxtail. You have to have those items daily.

"People,
not only Jamaicans but from different nationalities as well, come to our
restaurant to get authentic Jamaican food."

Outside
of that, they run specials weekly, like goat-head soup and stew peas
with pig's tail as the Saturday special, while offering steamed snapper
and shrimp lobster, preparing 'eclectic' dishes by combining Jamaican
foods with other ethnic cuisine.

The owners have been
receiving rave reviews so far, noting that many customers travel through
their doors before they go to the airport, and upon
arrival.

"Seventy-five per cent of our clientele are
actually Jamaican or of Jamaican descent. We are extremely grateful for
their continued support," said Lewis.

Managing close
to 100 members of staff - from those who work in the dining room,
kitchen and the takeout area, to those in preparation and the clean-up
crew - isn't easy. "The hardest challenge we face as a restaurant is
managing the attitude of the staff in understanding our goals and our
mission, and our constant need to satisfy our customers' demands," says
Roberts.

They have other circumstances such as the
weather, which is an important factor to consider when preparing meals.
They sometimes cook too little and sometimes make too much of one thing,
so they have to manage that as well.

Being one of the
biggest small businesses in the area, they support events held by
Jamaican organisations. One such organisation is the Children of Jamaica
Outreach, which they've supported for about 10 years. It began when
they visited Jamaica to contribute to some of the schools and the homes
here, donating computers and other items.

Each year, they contribute to
the annual gala held by the organisation. At this year's gala held in
New York recently, Roberts and Lewis were honoured by the organisation
and presented with a Corporate Service
Award.

Photos by Raymond Simpson