July 10, 2019
It’s Thursday evening at One Woodbrook Place and Chef Brigette is house-sitting for a friend with the assistance of their surprising friendly cat, who nonchalantly walks all over us on the living room couch..
If you follow Brigette on social media, you know she’s never short of an opinion and is definitely going to make you laugh. What you’ll also notice is that everyone following her is anxiously awaiting the return of G-Spot’s Cheat Night! For those of you who don’t know, G-Spot was arguably the best food truck experience in the country with monthly ‘Cheat Nights’ featuring long lines of eager eaters spilling out on to the surrounding pavement.
We got the chance to speak with Brigette about the G-Spot, Five the Eatery and the new Chili Bibbi Pop-up Dining experience, as well as the winding road of experiences that lead Brigitte to her life as a chef. Join us in discovering all of the delicious surprises Brigette has under her ‘toque’!
All right. So let’s go back, like way back, before Home Café, Five the Eatery and the famous although sadly short-lived G Spot on Maraval Road. We want to know where you grew up, where you went to school and all that good stuff that led to the creation of the Chef Brigette we know now.
BRIGETTE: I’ve lived in Cascade and St. Ann’s for my whole life – I’m still here – and I went to Maria Regina Primary School, and then Holy Name Convent.
I grew up in a family where every celebration is centered around food. We’re a cooking family, although not professionally, but everybody can cook, especially on my mother’s side. So I knew from very early on what I wanted to be, or maybe I should say that I always knew I wanted to be of service to people. Sometimes it’s a weakness, but I enjoy helping people.
Anyways, during summer vacations when I was a kid, there was an original cooking show on TTT called Chefs of the World. I used to look at what they were making and then go see if we had the ingredients at home to try to re-create whatever they were doing. My baby brother used to be the taste tester, poor thing!
But there were hardly any women on the show. If I saw one or two, that was a lot. I remember that distinctly, and I remember saying to myself, “I’m going to be on this show.”
You spoke about your mom, or rather your mom’s side of the family. Did your dad play any role in nurturing your passion?
BRIGETTE: My dad was actually the producer of The Morning Show on TTT, which was shot at the Hilton every morning.
The chef there at the time was Deborah Sardinha, who also attended Holy Name, and my dad told her that I wanted to be a chef. I was in Form 2 at the time and she suggested to him that I come in and spend the day in Hilton’s kitchen to get some real-life experience. It was during one of the vacation periods and it was one of the best days of my life!
Were you scared at all?
BRIGETTE: Not at all, which is strange for me. I just remember putting on my chef’s jacket for the first time and I was like, “Yes, this is it!”
At the end of the day, Chef came to see me before I went home and she asked me if I still wanted to be a chef. I said, “Absolutely.” I still have the little paper chef hat from that day somewhere!
So did you decide to attend culinary school after Holy Name?
BRIGETTE: I actually applied to the Trinidad & Tobago Hospitality & Tourism Institute in Chaguaramas before I graduated from Holy Name. I’d just turned 16, hadn’t gotten CXC results as yet but had zero intention on doing Form 6, so TTHTI was the next logical step. I got into TTHTI and didn’t take any breaks or vacations for the next four or five years. Instead, I did whatever internships I could find so I could learn more than the material that was scheduled on the syllabus.
Did you have plans to continue studying after TTHTI or jump into the working world?
BRIGETTE: I originally wanted to go to the U.S. to continue my education but, towards the end of my last year at TTHTI, I came out to my parents. It wasn’t one of those nice ‘coming out’ stories. They just didn’t know how best to deal with that situation at the time.
But through all of that, I was determined to be successful and as time went on, my parents have accepted me and have been the most supportive of my career.
You started working early because of this. Tell us what it was like working in restaurants and kitchens in Trinidad back then as a very young woman and how those early experiences shaped the person and chef you are today.
BRIGETTE: So, there was this new restaurant opening in Port of Spain and one of my lecturers asked me if I wanted a job. Of course, I said yes and went to the job interview. I hadn’t graduated from school yet but I just went. The lecturer highly recommended me and I got a job as a Line Cook.
It was a new restaurant opening so you had to come in and train every day. When the restaurant finally opened, I went from someone they were concerned about on the line as I had no real experience, to being the fastest cook. Six months later they promoted me to Sous Chef.
It wasn’t all positive though. There was an incident, in particular, that I remember that occurred in the kitchen. I thought I handled it well but, the next day, the GM lambasted me and told me I would never be an Executive Chef, that I was nothing, that I was the worst… Funny thing is, that conversation inspired me to always try to be the best.
Was it around this time that your focus shifted from the U.S. to Europe?
BRIGETTE: Yes. I was introduced to Mediterranean cuisine by my Head Chef and really just fell in love with it to the point where I wanted to go learn more about it from the source. In February 2009, I made up my mind to go to Greece so I saved every single penny that I could. I joined some Greek chef groups on Facebook and connected with a chef over there. I messaged him and told him I was interested in coming, which definitely wasn’t normal in those times. But I said, “Hey, I wanna come.” He was like, “What!?” And I was like, ‘Yes. I’m coming.’ He said, ‘Well, let me know when you get here!’
So, I messaged the chef when I got to Athens and he invited me to his cooking school so that I could meet different people in the industry and make some friends – I’m actually still friends with some of them up to this day!
After that, I went up north where I worked at this fancy restaurant called Kifissia in a very upscale, high-class area about an hour away from where I lived. It was French/Greek fusion and they had another location in Monaco.
“The first thing that I learned there was that working in a kitchen is almost like a universal language – it’s the exact same everywhere and anywhere you go, which is really comforting for someone far away from home.”
What brought you back to T&T?
BRIGETTE: A past lecturer told me they were looking for managers in Prestige Holdings. I was pretty excited because it was an international brand, with worldwide standards… global standards! So I thought it would be a great way to get an idea of the proper management and operating standards of a brand.
I was thinking of the bigger picture and of my future in the industry because, at the end of the day, a chef is a manager, and there are things that you’ll never learn behind a stove, like management or brand standards or all these ‘big business’ things.
So, I applied, got the job and went through some rigorous training and exams to become a manager. You can probably learn all of these things after many years in the industry, but I thought it was a good investment to make in myself, especially that early in my career. And it turned out to be a great decision because, through Prestige Holdings, I was able to make another connection with NSF International, who was the company’s international auditors. When I left Prestige, the NSF auditor offered me a job as a Food Safety Auditor for the region, which I still hold five years later.
From T&T to Greece and back… When does the G-Spot come in?
BRIGETTE: It started with a big leap of faith. Around the time that I left Prestige, I started to work for myself. After about a year of that, I met Kirk, who eventually became my partner at G-Spot. He called me one day randomly and said, “Brigette, I have a friend who just moved back home from China. He wants to open a food spot. Come and meet us.”
I was like, ‘Okay, lemme see…’ But at that time, I was also planning to go away to school again. I had saved the tuition and decided to go to London to do my Bachelors. After we spoke, I thought about it and said to myself, “I could probably be the consultant for this food business idea.” But Kirk didn’t want a consultant. He wanted a partner.
So, I met with Kirk and the other partners on the project in May 2014. I was the only person with invaluable experience in the food business, with a new restaurant opening and TGIF with experience in upper management and global standards.
They really sold me on the idea so I decided to do it. I took all my savings and sunk them in this business but we still didn’t have enough. So we applied for the i2i grant but we didn’t win. That put a little spoke in the wheel but we kept trodding on because we had to find the extra money. I’m not sure how I managed to work and save what was needed but I did.
You know how they say,
“The universe conspires to make things happen.”
That experience made me believe it even more.
Tell us a bit about how the design of G-Spot came into being.
BRIGETTE: We happened upon the little lot of land on Maraval Road, after stressing out about where we could park the truck. Then Kirk and I sat down with the architect and started to plan. Because we had a knack for doing things the unconventional way, we hired Marlon Darbeau to design and make the furniture, instead of buying basic furniture from Ikea or from some retailer and then hired Jeunanne Alkins to create the branding.
And they were beautiful graphics!
“We really wanted to support local as much as possible and to showcase local talent… we were tired of franchises – especially foreign franchises – coming here. We wanted to prove that a local brand could stand up next to an international brand.”
We have great local designers in this country. Going through the design process with Jeunanne has changed me. Following designers, like you, and all these other great local designers I know has made me look at the world differently. I look at design a lot now.
And Cheat Nights, whose idea was that?
BRIGETTE: I think it was my idea. We were doing healthy food all day and I was beginning to feel restless as that’s not really my style. Yes, the flavours were great and the food was great but that kind of comforting food for the soul, that’s more my style.
We had a fryer in the truck that wasn’t in use, and I knew that people who go to the gym have a cheat day when they just eat whatever they want on that day with no guilt. So I was like, “We can do this.” And we did… and it was insane!
Up to the end, we were doing 500 to 600 meals and selling them out in three hours. People were lining up from five o’clock, we opened the gate at six, and by nine o’clock we were sold out.
I don’t know how we did it but my staff were amazing in helping me pull it off every single time. Cheat Night was super stressful and anxiety-inducing but it was the cash cow so we had to increase it from monthly to fortnightly.
And then you closed it down…
BRIGETTE: That was an extremely hard decision to make. And people kept asking me what I was planning next – everywhere I went, people kept asking!
I just felt like I needed to stop working for a minute to do what I wanted to do. So I taught some cooking classes, as I love teaching. I did some catering. I was just existing for a bit because I needed to relax… closing the G-Spot was emotionally very stressful.
Did that help to spark your focus on giving back?
BRIGETTE: Three years ago when the refugee crisis started, a friend of mine went to Calais. When I heard what it was like, I really felt like it was something I wanted to do, too. But I also felt that the type of people who could help were traditionally doctors – like Doctors Without Borders. Every sort of aid mission wanted people with medical experience or people who had studied law or had a degree in some randomness. So I didn’t think I could help.
But my friend told me that they actually needed chefs like me with experience. I went on the website for the NGO and saw that they really did need chefs and cooks because they were feeding refugees, and I was like, “YES! This is my time! This is my chance to do what I always wanted to do!”
So I went and it was one of the best experiences of my life. It was like two parts of me coming together: service and cooking. There was no ego in Calais, no hierarchy, no boss. Everybody was just focused on helping the refugees. It was the most amazing work environment I’ve ever experienced and I want to go back again soon.
So I also run my kitchens like that. I don’t think my staff ever feels like, ‘Boss Brigette is coming.’ They know that I’m the leader and they listen to what I have to say, but they also know that if they have a better idea, they can tell me and we can decide what to do together. It’s not a problem for me at all.
What would you say is one of your biggest takeaways from that experience?
BRIGETTE: The whole thing was just one big takeaway but the best part of it was that it was a truly safe space. Every morning, they would say a prayer and, because they had new volunteers coming in every day, we had to get the speech, “This is a safe space. There will be no transfers of phobias, no xenophobia, any kind of phobia, nothing of the sort.” They allowed people to be who they were without apology or judgement.
“It was the most freeing space I have ever been in, almost like the feeling you get on Carnival Monday and Tuesday… but there, it was every day!”
Since then you’ve been the consulting chef at Five the Eatery, working on the opening of Naked on Maraval Road and Chili Bibbi Pop-Up Restaurant. Does that mean your break is over?
BRIGETTE: Well, I told myself I would jump back in when the right thing came along. Did I know it would come along so quickly? I guess that all the requests and all the sad faces I kept getting might have helped.
With a lot of the artist we interview, the subject of standards in T&T comes up a lot.
BRIGETTE: It’s really easy for a person with no drive, for someone who doesn’t mind being mediocre, to live here. You could sell mediocre food. You could sell mediocre everything. But I always invest in myself. I work hard and am always looking for new things, for opportunities to see what’s trending in the industry and what’s going on in the world around us.
What do you think of the culinary culture of Trinidad & Tobago, as well as the Caribbean? What we are doing with what we have? What more could or should we be doing?
BRIGETTE: I think Trinidad & Tobago has the best culinary product in the Caribbean but we are missing out on so many opportunities because we do not think highly enough of ourselves.
We have the love for our food but we don’t have the respect that we have for other cultures’ foods. A great example of this would be the fact that Chaud Creole had to close because we aren’t as willing to pay for OUR food in a fine dining setting. Other islands have Food Tourism events and I feel like we could have more. This is what I’m trying to do with the Chili Bibbi Pop-up, trying to showcase who we are in a gourmet setting and get people used to it.
Quick Question with Chef Brigette:
Fave places to eat in T&T that aren’t your own?
Trinidad: You & I Korean BBQ, Golden Bell, Chaud Café, Hyatt Sushi Bar, Freebird, Buzo, Krave, Zazou, Annie’s and House of Chan.
Tobago: The Fish Pot, Kariwak, House of Pancakes and Pasta Gallery.
Fave places to eat in the Caribbean?
Barbados is my favourite island so the list is long but, off the top of my head, Cin Cin, Mojo’s, Tapas and Salt.
Jamaica: Summerhouse, Scotchies, Beef & Cheese Patties from Juici and Goat Patties from Devon House.
St. Lucia: Spice of India, Buzz Seafood & Grill, Jade Mountain and Jambe De Bois.
Curacao: Kome, Uno, Bij Blauw Mundo Bizzarro, Beans and e Marshe.
Saint Martin: The Lolos and Le Pressoir.
Saint Maarten: Mary’s Boon.
Fave Places to eat in the UK?
Every single vendor in Borough Market, but especially Bread Ahead, Gourmet Goat, Roast and Ginger Pig Sausage Rolls, Camden Lock vendors, but especially the Halloumi Fries Guy and Ink. And Burger & Beyond. And Busaba, Pho, Cay Tree, LEON, Dishoom… The answer everywhere! Everywhere in London is my favourite!
The most underrated local ingredient?
Pimentos!
Something you wish more people knew about food from Trinidad and Tobago?
Because we have such a beautiful mix of cultures, our food is the most diverse and beautiful in the Caribbean.
Culinary bucket list?
Japan for the best sushi in existence and Korea because I love it so much that I need to go to the source.
INTERVIEWER: TANYA MARIE PHOTOGRAPHER: DAMIAN LIBERT
