Farenough aims to carve out piece of Runaway Bay’s jerked food market
Although a newcomer to the restaurant business, Dalian Clarke is aware of the numerous restaurants with jerked food on their menus. He knew that his Farenough Jerk & Seafood eatery had to be different. Very different.
Located at Main Street in Runaway Bay, St Ann, the restaurant opened in February and caters to people who love their jerk outside of the box.
“Farenough offers a wider variety than others as we have jerk wild boar and curry reindeer as well as seafood. The response has been good, we hope to use this response and better our customer experience as we grow,” Clarke told Observer Online.
This is the Manchester-born businessman’s second cuisine venture, having previously operated a catering company. While not formally trained, he is the head chef at Farenough Jerk & Seafood, which has a 12-member staff.
Dalian Clarke preparing food at Farenough Jerk & Seafood restaurant in Runaway, St Ann.
Seeing the reaction of patrons to the food his catering venture provided, encouraged Clarke to open a restaurant in an area popular with Jamaicans and tourists. To attract clientele in a competitive market meant a radical approach.
“We have a variety of food ranging from jerk seafood and wild caught. And every other Friday we do curry reindeer and jerk wild boar,” he said.
There are a number of jerked food restaurants along the Runaway Bay/Discovery Bay stretch, a flourishing region for Jamaica’s tourism industry for decades. The global popularity of this spicy cuisine has resulted in an outburst of outlets that caters mainly to foreigners.
Eventually, Clarke plans to add a monthly live music slot to Jerk & Seafood’s ‘menu’. Wary of the teething pains most fledgling businesses encounter, he insists he is in it for the long run.
“We are facing the same challenges as others but with HR and management expertise we will be able to address these challenges smoothly. In the next five years, we want to be the premier restaurant on the north coast, offering diverse and tastiest foods to meat and seafood lovers and vegetarians,” Clarke said.
