Rosemary Parkinson, Freelance Writer
Filet Mignon, Red Wine Bordelaise Sauce accompanied by Callaloo Rice and Vegetables of the Day. - PHOTO BY ROSEMARY PARKINSON
HEART Academy Restaurant
Runaway Bay, St. Ann
Hours: 7:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. every day
Telephone: 973-6671-4
TRAVELLING ACROSS the island, I have met some fine young men and women in the service industry who have come out of the HEART Academy, and who have won medals and awards at Jamaica Cultural Development Commission competitions and elsewhere.
Well, I thought I would take a little trip up and see 'what ah gwaan'.
I found the hotel, located in Runaway Bay, St. Ann, sweet -- the sort of place I would go to get away from it all. It felt very Jamaican, homey and well put together, with lovely paintings on the walls.
The restaurant is colourful with bright orange, red, green and blue bandana tablecloths set over bright yellow underlay. White voile drapes, hanging on 'arty' wrought iron hooks at every doorway, together with the 'gingerbread'-type screen that blocked the kitchen, bring a touch of the whimsy to the room. Set close to the swimming pool and the pool bar, it commands a view that is absolutely a joy to behold. The surrounding well-kept gardens are tropically lush.
FRIENDLY, INFORMATIVE
I found the staff at the front desk and in the restaurant, friendly, informative, well-trained and extremely affable. It all sounds good so far, right?
Sherwin Williams greeted us with a big Jamaican smile, a beautiful voice and an inviting manner. I had a chat with this affable young man who informed me of his many stints at HEART. He likes to work 'outside' but returns to the academy for more training, having worked at Rick's Café in Negril and The Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston from where he hails. He told me that the academy was not actually in the hotel, but close by and, yes, the hotel was the training ground for the practical side of things.
Sherwin is doing a Maitre D' course, another step on his path to achieving his goals in the hospitality industry. He had other wonderful things to say about the HEART Academy, but this was the sentence that caught my attention: "We now have a course for executive sous chef. I believe we will have about seven coming out this year, fully trained," he told me proudly.
I immediately asked if the chef on duty was a trainee or a trainer and Sherwin assured me he was a trainer - a fact that was backed up by the front desk. Still sounds good, right?
Sherwin recited the special three-course meal of the day - Fresh Garden Salad, a combination of Brown Stew Pork and Fried Chicken served with Callaloo Rice and Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. My companion chose this and added a cocktail from the bar. I ordered from the a la carte menu that offered soup, appetisers, salads to entrées and included several sandwiches. There was Smoked Marlin, Shrimp Cocktail, Creole Seafood Runaway Bay and Pimento Chicken, among the many other offerings.
FOR STARTERS
I requested Coconut Chicken Tenders for an appetiser; Cardiff Hall Salad with Raisins and Nuts for a salad; and Filet Mignon (rare, please) for my entrée. I also ordered Red Wine Bordelaise Sauce accompanied by Callaloo Rice and Vegetables of the Day.
My appetiser arrived with my companion's salad. I had noticed this before but, was watching to see how di t'ing go. The table was not set for appetisers. There was only a soup spoon, knife and fork and dessert spoon and fork (not very good quality, I might add) so we ate with the cutlery that was available. (Sherwin is training to be a Maitre D'?)
The Coconut Chicken Tenders looked good, but were not crispy enough and I certainly could not taste the coconut. My companion's salad consisted of iceberg lettuce and tomato - not exciting. My Cardiff Hall Salad arrived with finely cut cabbage on a bed of iceberg lettuce, some cucumbers and carrots, sprinkled with a few walnuts and raisins. Nothing as grand as the name implied, but okay.
Now, I did wonder about the combination of Brown Stew Pork and Fried Chicken but, hey, I was not the chef and maybe this was some newfangled way of serving Jamaican fare. However, when the plate arrived I had to question whether the chef in the kitchen was a trainer and not a trainee. I mean, this is the kind of food I have had in cookshops and small road side restaurants. The Brown Stew Pork, according to my companion was okay. The chicken was not only fried but had a coating of bright yellow pineapple 'guk' that was almost inedible. My Filet Mignon was cut into chunks, the Bordelaise sauce was either missing in action in France or was so under French orders it was imbedded into the meat that was, to say the least, overcooked.
There was a Creole Tomato type sauce plonked down next to the steak that tasted Caribbean. Bordelaise, or sauce, it was not. Actually, it looked more like stewed green sweet peppers and tomatoes.
The Callaloo Rice was good, the vegetables -- carrots, butter squash and cho cho -- were fine. There was no steak knife and we had to keep our dirty cutlery from before in order to eat the entrée. The Pineapple Upside Down Cake tried its best to be well presented but whoever put it together definitely did not have an eye for form. One does not just chop off so unceremoniously the beautiful stem of the cherry and position the cake so far over to other side of the plate, totally away from the 'garnish', for instance. The cake itself was dry and crumbly and not desirable.
NOT UP TO THE STANDARD OF A TRAINING COLLEGE
I am not saying that this food was awful. I am saying that it was not up to the standard of a training college. Executive Chef Mark Cole, Hedonism III, has told me that he and other chefs have offered, and on occasion, have gone to HEART to do demonstrations. Commendable as it is, if we are to give our young men and women a chance to become chefs, HEART needs an excellent team of highly qualified people to train these kids.
Why must our people have to go to the U.S. and Europe for training -- and only if they can afford it or if they win a scholarship. Those who are not so lucky are relegated to being quasi-cooks at the bottom of the line in a kitchen.
Hello, with facilities like HEART, I would have a working Culinary College with paying students of all ages from home and abroad. There would be chefs from all over the world doing working with some of our finest in Caribbean cuisine. Why can't we have an exceptional school here with those from other countries coming to us to learn about Caribbean food at its finest. It only takes thought, organisation and marketing for HEART to produce fine graduates who can complement our tourism sector. It really does not take a rocket scientist to figure that one out.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.- Proverb 
