We’re running late for lunch with Whispering Bamboo Cove owner Marcia Bennett. Those who know the elegant Bennett will appreciate that missing a hairdresser’s appointment is not to taken lightly. Thankfully, she understands our delay and soon we’re regaling her with tales of our visit to Morant Point Lighthouse and quenching our thirst with sips of mango passion juice. Bennett, who has been the parish custos for 11 years, is passionate about her parish and its potential. “St Thomas is beautiful. Look at the sea in front of you. We welcome tourists from all over the world who delight in their chosen destination, but we’d be a lot better off with a highway from Harbour View to Morant Bay… we’re a forgotten parish. Agriculture is a must and agro-park (where onions are cultivated) is doing well. More (help). The amount of mangoes wasted each day is of great concern. There’s no one to reap them to make chutney, butter, juice, so many things. I do despair for the young people who have such few options.

Bennett’s two sous-chefs, Demouy Brown and Marvin Brown (not related), are two such young people who have been given the opportunity to develop their culinary skills have done just that. Thursday Life can attest that we have already discovered two candidates for next year’s Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards Chef on the Rise category. Our Sunday lunch, each course tasting better than the last, will long be remembered.

— NMW