Jamaica’s Finest: Selina’s in Negril, Jamaica

There are so many places to write about here in Negril, Jamaica; so, I have decided to write about a place that I mentioned before, but did not really discuss much. I found that Mike and I continue to be drawn to this restaurant every time we come. In fact, this time Matt, our son, and his main squeeze, Erin, were here before us, and when asked where they had eaten, Selina’s was the first placed mentioned. In fact, he said they pretty much had all their morning meals there.

So why are we drawn there? Well, it is familiar and at the same time true to the food of Jamaica. But what really makes this an interesting story is how Selina, this tiny woman from Canada, even got here, and she has been here for fifteen years! The restaurant is a great place to connect, have some great coffee, listen to live music, and have a wonderful Bloody Mary, all with the great food!

Because I was so taken with her responses to the questions I asked her, I have put this particular interview into two parts. So, enjoy learning about Selina’s background, her history with cooking, running a business in Jamiaca, some of her menu items, and more.

HPR: Please tell our readers a brief background of how you ended up in Jamaica.

Selina: In 1998, I suffered the loss of my boyfriend in a car accident. Being one who never enjoyed the Calgary winters, and having trouble getting over this trauma, I decided to pursue a dream of moving to a tropical place.
Didn’t know where, but I had a small settlement from a car accident of my own. I spent the summer of that year in my old high school town of West Lorne, Ontario, visiting old friends that I hadn’t seen in 15 years.

There, I bumped into one friend who was running an “Amsterdam style” coffee shop in Negril, Jamaica. I had never considered Jamaica. I wasn’t particularly interested in reggae, ganja, or Rastafarian culture, but I am an open
minded, “let’s try it” kind of person.

When winter approached, my friend was ready to head back to Negril for the winter, and I booked a ticket to go along. I love cooking, and although he did not serve food, I started to make sandwiches and hung out chatting to customers and just got very comfortable. I also learned about his Blue Mountain coffee business, as he roasted his green beans from the mountains, and his signature item was his fresh, rich coffee.

My friend had left a year or so later, and meanwhile I had met a Jamaican man whom I fell in love with and married, and together we took over this place that had just fallen flat on its face since my friend’s departure; and so, pregnant, I showed up with husband, spatula and pan and taught my husband how to make my mom’s very good pancakes.

They kept coming out so big, and despite my efforts to get Big Roy to make them smaller, I conceded, and we named them “Big Roy’s Pancakes”. They became famous, and thus: “Big Roy’s Famous Banana Pancakes!”

Big Roy also took on the task of roasting the coffee, and we shopped for the best beans we could get and continued the tradition my friend had started.

After two children and three years of running what became a bustling business, the owners of the property became envious and decided to “run it themselves,” oblivious to the hard work and dedication it took to make it work, and the love we put into our food.

I was left with no job, no income and a new baby plus a two year old. My Father had also died, and I was left with a small inheritance, which we lived on until we found a location just about a block away from our old coffee shop. We leased it and started up again, this time bigger, and no one could take it away!

Now, my husband continues to roast his special Blue Mountain coffee beans, and we have breakfast, lunch and dinner, all created by me and my love for good food!

HPR: You have my dream everything! Living in this wondering place, working with great people, serving wonderful food, etc! What suggestions would you give to someone wanting to live here and open a business?

Selina: Have something to fall back on. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. This is a lovely place to vacation: lots of fun, great beauty, lovely people, but [the] reality of working and operating a business, turning a profit, dealing with the envy of your competitors, takes skill.

As a foreigner, you must be aware at all times that you are still a guest in this country, and you will never be allowed to forget it. You are never anonymous, and have to be able to accept that and live with it graciously.
Jamaica has it’s own “logic”—not the one North Americans know—but they have their own, and it takes a lifetime to learn even a part of it, unless you are born into it. That is a challenge. Be prepared to learn how to walk all over again and to go through the “initiation” that is inevitable and inescapable!

HPR: Were you involved in the food business before you came here?

Selina: Cooking comes easily to every member of my family. I’ve been cooking since I was just a little kid, and my first job at 14 was at a rib joint, then Harvey’s, then at 15 I worked as short order cook and waitress at a local small town cafe called the Country Kitchen. I would run the place myself while the owners led their lives. I could do it all, second nature. I loved it!

Since then, I’ve had many careers: from computers to fitness to working in a wine shop, which I loved! I continued to enjoy cooking and having big dinner parties for my friends, and once I moved to Calgary, my boyfriend and I ate out at restaurants more than five times per week.

We enjoyed discovering new foods and traveled to New Orleans, Italy, and other culinary favorites, where I learned different tastes and styles of cooking, and recreating them at home. Our budget could afford it then.

HPR: I can honestly say that you are famous! A lot of our friends that have come here have said that the place for breakfast, good coffee, and company is Selina’s. How did you pick your spot?

Selina: It picked me! As I was searching for a location to start up my own place, I was visiting a friend who was staying at a hotel just up from this location. I noticed that this location was not open and looked abandoned. I saw it was perfect.

I dreamed of a long U-shaped bar for the “coffee bar” concept, and it had outside seating and a concrete building big enough that we could put a bed in the back for the kids.

I located the owner, who lived next door, and me, my husband, and kids (ages two and two months) went to see him, and he told me it was just put up for rent that morning. He said he had others interested, and he would think about it.

A couple of days later we came by, and he told us he chose us because he could see we were decent people and a nice family. We fixed it up and opened the door—sold our first fried egg sandwich and coffee on Nov. 1, 2000.

HPR: What is the hardest food experience that you have living here?

Selina: Not having a variety of really good places to eat, when I don’t want to cook. That’s what motivated me to start my breakfast business originally—couldn’t get a decent breakfast anywhere in Negril at that time.

I spent years dreaming and drooling and starving, because I couldn’t eat what I was craving, could only get jerk chicken and fish, and I was vegetarian.

You couldn’t get the ingredients then that you can now. Now we have much more variety of imported items, and even cheese we couldn’t get in the early 90s unless you were willing to break the bank!

The foods I need to offer quality home cooking here are very expensive, so keeping my prices low and still making a profit is a real challenge! We actually don’t make much of a profit. But I love making people happy. Also, fresh fruits and vegetables can be horribly expensive during hurricane season, and the prices jump sky high while availability is limited, so keeping consistent is difficult at times.

HPR: Looking at the menu, there are many favorites. Could you tell our readers about the following on your menu?
Spiced roasted Blue Mountain coffee? ~ What makes the potatoes famous? ~ For those that do not know, what is a Jamaican breakfast? ~ Of course, I want the readers to know exactly what your “Angry Bloody Mary” is.

Selina: Not sure what you mean by “spiced,” perhaps you mean our “spiked” coffee, which is a mug of our freshly brewed Blue Mountain with a good splash of Jamaican rum cream.

Jamaican breakfast is a breakfast that is traditionally Jamaican. We offer the Jamaican national dish, which is ackee and saltfish, steamed callaloo, fried dumpling, and plantains.

Ackee is a “fruit” that is grown on a tree. The outside shell bursts open when ready to eat, revealing three yellow pods with a big black seed at the end. You pick the pods, pull out the seed and vein, and boil the flesh. Ackee is poison if eaten before it opens by itself.

Callaloo is a bunch of leafy greens, similar to maybe mustard greens or collard greens. Saltfish is imported form Switzerland or Canada, and is salted cod, the days of no refrigeration made this an easy-to-keep staple.
Jamaican breakfast can also be liver and boiled green banana, chicken or fish with boiled dumpling or roasted (or fried) breadfruit, and also a staple is oats or cornmeal porridge!

The potatoes, we call them “hash browns,” are chopped, real potatoes, fried till golden, then saute’d with onion, green pepper, garlic and sprinkled with basil, salt, and a herbal blend seasoning.

The “Angry Bloody Marys” came about because I love Caesars, but the Clamato is scarce and expensive, so I spiced up the tomato juice and concocted a hot pepper, onion, pickle mixture with a vinegar base.

So the final product will have a heavy shot of vodka, tomato juice, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, celery salt or Caesar rim spice, and then topped with a couple of the hot onions, a pickled green bean, carrot strips, a slice of the marinated Scotch bonnet pepper, and a spicy pickle spear. A customer once suggested that they are “angry,” hence the name “Angry Bloody Marys”

HPR: The newest thing here at Selina’s is the Hamburger Pub Krawl. Please tell our readers about that.

Selina: The Pub Krawl is a fund raising event being held at Selina’s on Jan. 30 to raise money for local schools. Scores of tourists will come to eat burgers and pizza, drink, and there will be prizes, raffles (our coffee is one) and specially made t-shirts made exclusively for this event. “Tattoo Charlie” is the man who started the whole thing.

Since I can’t find a really good burger in Negril, I decided to turn Selina’s into the place to get the “best burger In Negril.” Since the Pub Krawl was coming up, I dubbed it “The Pub Krawl Burger.”

I shopped around till I found the right bakery-fresh burger buns, freshly ground mince at the right fat-to-meat percentage, and stocked jalapenos, salsa, mushrooms, pickles, and of course, my own homemade “jerk sauce.” I tasted the first one yesterday and it is the best!

HPR: Do you have any Canadian influence in your cooking?

Selina: Not only Canadian but international. I use international styles with Jamaican ingredients as much as possible and offer menu items that are familiar to many—with a Jamaica twist. Then there is the full out “American breakfast” and the “classic burger.”

Next week, I continue my interview with Selina in Negril, Jamaica. I have the answers to questions about finding good help, learning about the national fruit, ackee, a great recipe for Chicken Jamaica, and more.