Chefs on the 'track'

Of course, if you're going to be opening a restaurant, your chefs have to be top quality, and Vinton Fletcher, executive chef at Usain Bolt's Tracks and Records, fits the bill.

With over 25 years' experience, he has seen (and cooked) it all. He has worked at various establishments, including Beaches Boscobel, Sandals Ocho Rios and even overseas. He studied his craft at the Florida Culinary Institute.

"I am very proud to be the executive chef here," he smiled. He explained that the staff sticks to the standardised menu.

"We just maintain it. We can't add anything or take off anything. In case we should run out of something, we just remove that dish from the menu for the night." He described the food as Jamaican but fused with other tastes, "a little French and stuff like that". He had no doubt about the current popular dish.

a winner

"The jerked chicken spring rolls, it's a winner man! It has the blend with the jerked chicken, fried plantain and the cheese inside and it's a bit spicy, so when they bite into it, they just don't want to stop. And our jerked pork is a huge dish, they go crazy for it." Fletcher described himself as a man who always tries to get things done and said he loves having a strong team working with him. And part of that team is Rochelle Grindley, executive sous chef, who has four years' experience in the kitchen.

"First it was in the hotels, but after a while that wasn't my thing anymore, (I prefer) doing more Jamaican style dishes, and Usain Bolt's Tracks and Records actually has all of that, so that's for me," she said. Grindley worked within the Sandals chain as a sous chef trainee before honing her skills further at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel then heading to the new restaurant. She has not regretted the move.

"It's been amazing - the clientele that comes here, the feedback you keep getting. Once you are pleasing the patrons, it means you, the chef, should be pleased also. It's a winner for you." Fletcher said he cooks at home, especially on his days off, but Grindley leaves the cooking at work.

Asked if there was any preference of a dish to prepare, Fletcher said: "I say everything. It's just fun having it done, to see those presentations coming out. One of my best feelings is when the empty plates come back to the kitchen. If I get a complaint, that's a damper on my day." And Grindley added: "The menu is a really good one, so there's nothing that you can say 'I prefer preparing this' because it is a good variety of foods."