Mr. Everton Smith , I was born in Spanish Town, St. Catherine, on the 31st of May, 1972; to mother Mabelline White & Wilisford Smith (deceased) becoming the first Child for my dad, and first boy for my mother, who had 4 girls before him. Due to the separation of mom and dad, I was force to migrate to a humble surrounding in the rural parts of Jamaica, where there is a small district call Chudliegh, located in the hills of Manchester. It was a close knitted and humble community, which have change drastically today. At that time, growing in the rural area (country) means, little or no running water, electricity, telephone or cable supply, but it also meant togetherness. One could have slept with the door open ; as a matter of facts my mother was a merchant , and I cloud clearly remember instances where she use to place cases of books behind the door to keep it shut. With the little resources available to us, my mom worked very hard to ensure the family was feed and clothes. She would sometimes leave us at 5 am in the morning to catch the bus to the market and arrive back home as late as 10 pm, the only day been exempted was Sundays. Today I can sure say if I had to make a wish it would be to change the struggles my family had to endure when I was growing up. As a child I had to be creative at an early age , logs had to be collected to cook breakfast , lunch and dinner ……..also water had to be transported from a distance where the pipes were located to fill drums to assist with the clean of clothes , dishes etc. There were a point where we use pieces of wood to build make sift carts, which would be use to transport items, such as water, logs from a far away distance. I had to wake up early enough in the mornings to make sure that enough water was home for the daily routines, sweep up the yards, if there were pigs or goats, they had to be cared for too. These were not just limited to my household, but to most of the kids in the neighborhood. One cannot help but to remember how we use to compete to see who would fill there 20 gallon drums first with water. The first school attended was Chudliegh green pasture basic, onto Christiana leased primary school, which is one of the most memorable one , because I was one of the many who use to walk to primary school which was about 3-4 miles away from home. In those days you could not afford to be later for school, or you will have to deal with the principal (Teacher Williams) when you reach. That was where I won a scholarship for Knox College high school. Well of course the transition was not as successful there. At that point I lost focus as to what my priorities were. At that time the owner for Bass Odyssey Sound Keith Wellford, the now Member of Parliament for St. Ann was in the pinball games and poker machine business. I use to spend most of my time in a shop in Spaulding’s play pinball games, hence I was booted from Knox College and moving to Spalding’s high which I then attended for a year and dropped out. It was then I decided to take up a career in construction. I was a thrilled to learn the carrier as it was a rewarding one when it was time for my mother to finish the construction of her house. In 1993 I migrated to the Bahamas to live with my Annette Ramming (deceased), She was a hardworking lady, who sells newspaper in the morning , goes to work for 9am and was back at 4pm to sell the afternoon paper until night . For me the hours were not new, but the picture that was painted of foreign was not a reality, but one have to adjust if you wanted to earn an honest living. We use to be one the first set of venders on the road and the last to leave. This when on for about 8 months , then I met a Jamaican lady who rented an apartment form my aunt , and she invited me to come to the restaurant where she work on Sundays to do the cleaning , since it was the regular cleaners day off, well I did ! Upon arriving at the restaurant, and gaining conformation from the owner that it was okay to start working, I decided to start some general cleaning, suddenly the man call his wife because I had pulled away the stove from the walks, along with the refrigerator ……‘stop what you are doing he shouted on the top of his voice” I was scared to death I thought I had done something terrible wrong, but then he called his wife. She arrived minutes later with her tongue hanging from her head , ask said not one person we have hire have ever done this so far , you are free to come in any other day that you are available. I was so sock, simple because that’s what a cleaner is suppose to do. Mr. Gramme the owner; is a retired Australian Army general, and the restaurant was call The Billabong (which meant watering hole). It was located in the heart of the city Nassau, serving Australian other English dishes. It was there that I developed my passion for cooking. Australian love to Barbeque, so we use to roast huge Beef roast, legs of Lamb, cook stews, Chicken pot pies, and a few seafood dishes like lobster tail and shrimps. Because it was in the city center, on any given day you could find an English man, a German, Scottish, American, and ofcouse an Australian tell tails about the days and drinking beer from all part of the world. There was Fosters, Bass Ale, Gunnies, Beck’s, on tap along with many other beers. This used to draw lots of cruise ship passenger along with crew members attention. It was a lot of work the pay was little, but it was a fun job. A few years later after gathering much experience I move on to the Blue Marlin, which was a popular restaurant on Paradise Island, Sandals Royal Bahamian, Provence Restaurant, then to the Atlantis Hotel on Paradise Island Life for the most part have been very good, with a great sense of pride and appreciation from where life has taken me. Very hard working and not afraid to put in the hours, I started as a cook at the hotel and have climbed his way up the ladder to a Sous Chef De Cuisine. I have worked with the popular Carmines restaurant, Celebrity Chef Bobby Flay`s Mesa grill, and now Celebrity Chef Todd English Olives restaurant. It is a dream to one day open a restaurant that will serve as a testimony to my love for the culinary industry! One of the most meaning moments in my life, was when a youg cook came up to me and said do you remember me, you have contributed to me becoming a cook. I have an aggressive approach to work, not afraid to deal with issues directly at hand, and I like to see my team been very successful. . My goal in life is one day be remembered as someone who assisted others along the way.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 04:29:30 +0000