You might be led to think otherwise with Great Britain’s recent decision to exit the EU, but the kitchen remains the one place where all cultures meet, and Caribbean cuisine, led by Jamaicans, has found favour with many palates. Thursday Life, on a recent trip to the UK visited three popular spots – Levi Roots Caribbean Smokehouse located on the ground floor of the bustling Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford City; Rudie’s at 50 Stoke Newington, right on the corner; and Jamaica Patty Co in Covent Garden, at 26 New Row, London, in the heart of the city’s retail and entertainment district.

What hits you immediately is that these principals, notably Levi Roots, Matin Miah and the Johnston brothers (Edward, Marek and Aaron) and Theresa and Andrew Roberts, are in the business to ‘win it’; they are not playing small. Indeed, all three eateries are in locations where competition is fierce – interpret this to mean patrons have myriad choices and oftentimes must be prepared to fork out big bucks for the pleasure of eating Caribbean.

“This is the first mainstream restaurant owned by a black man,” states Levi Roots at his well-appointed eatery that competes with the likes of Jamie Oliver, whose equally impressive location is immediately across from the Smokehouse. “My brand is established… I’m playing in the big league and am putting our (Caribbean) food on the main burner… there’s no better time.” It’s no idle boast! The setting – beach shack chic – is clearly Caribbean in aesthetics. Not yet a year old, the open-kitchen restaurant, which opened in 2015, seats 130 inside and 30 outside, with menu offerings that range from a thick bowl of Saturday style Jamaican soup, to Trini delicacies like shark and bake. There are also menu options of escoveitched fish and festival, rice and peas and jerk chicken. Enamel mugs are used for sides of festival, sweet potato fries and roti. Naturally, there’s Red Stripe beer, great music and genius signage: ‘Ah suh we dweet! We have tings lock! Everything cook & curry!’