Ice-tea from a ceramic teapot covered with wicker. - PHOTOS BY CARLINGTON WILMOT/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
Bryan's Bay, Portland; two miles outside of Port Antonio (heading towards St. Thomas) and 58 miles from Kingston (a little blue and yellow shack with hanging bananas).
Opening and closing hours: 5 a.m. until the last guest leaves (sometimes 11 p.m.)
Menu: Anything the person wants (reservations a must)
Price: $1,250 per person for a five course dinner
IGNORE THE rackety outward sight of Dickie's The Best Kept Secret. There's also no welcoming sign to the yellow and blue shack perched on the edge of a cliff on the road approaching Port Antonio from the Ocho Rios side. However, this multilevel two-storey restaurant was conceived more than 20 years
ago as Dickie sat with friends at the spot and told them that he was going to build a 'first-class restaurant' right where they were sitting.
Today, there is no doubt that Albert 'Dickie' Butler's restaurant is in a class by itself. From the outside steps down a staircase into Dickie's wonder world restaurant. Neatly folded in the centre of each plate are colourfully-patterned handkerchiefs - printed in the colours of the Jamaican flag, some with a hand-painted picture of a marijuana plant. These are definitely not your traditional table napkins. The inside is decorated by Dickie himself and boasts numerous artistic works. There are Rastafarian drawings, a Buddha, photographs, magazines, books, plates and figurines - a group of personal treasures collected over the years. There are also wood cravings; hanging wood fans; hanging wood shelves; drawings on paper. Patterns that Dickie made and were materialised by an artist.
Most of Dickie's customers have been tourists including Winnie Mandela and The Duke of Edinburgh. The restaurant has also been written about in Delta Airlines magazine.
Food was feted by Dickie and his wife, Joy Edwards. First Edwards served us deliciously warm bread and butter, washed down with iced-tea from a ceramic teapot covered with wicker.
Then Dickie served his speciality - fruits; orange; lemon; papaya; orange sauce; and a vegetable omelette - carrot, cabbage, callaloo, chocho filling - garnished with cucumber, cabbage and butter. To top off our dining we were soothed by timeless '80s and '90s music like Anita Baker's Rapture.
SWEET SECRETS
Soon after, Dickie introduced to us a mouth-watering way of having papaya. His secret, pouring lime juice and honey on the papaya before having it. My colleagues' agreed that papaya has tasted better.
Dickie has worked at and gained experience at the Round Hill Hotel, Montego Bay, St. James and the Frenchman's Cove restaurant, in Portland. Indeed, Dickie received special training while at Frenchman's Cove in preparation for the visit of Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh of England.
Even if you are not eating, being at Dickie's for the breathtaking view of Port Antonio looking over to the Marina Pier and that of the Caribbean sea is a treat. Or, after dinner take a walk into the cave located in front of the restaurant.
- Shelly-Ann Thompson
