Portlander Chef Bobby Walker dishes on island flavour
Published:Thursday | April 18, 2024 | 12:08 AMKrysta Anderson/Staff Reporter
When flavour enters the chat, there is one place that remains synonymous with natural spices and authentic flavour and it’s Portland. Since calling the parish his home in 2006, Chef Bobby Walker has dedicated over three decades to the culinary industry, honing his skills while teasing and pleasing palates from all over the world.
“My favourite food to cook growing was stewed peas with pig’s tail because it reminds me of the bond with family and because of the distinctive taste of the coconut flavour. These days, my signature dishes are mostly seafood due of their diversity; it makes it much easier to play with each of their flavours so that I can create amazing dishes,” he told Food.
His gastronomic journey dates all the way back to his enriched childhood, where he recalled cooking up a storm in the kitchen while learning all the family recipes from his grandmother and mother.
“From a tender age, I was always passionate about food, having spent time with my grandmother in the kitchen and then helping out my mother more and more,” he recounted.
As he got to his 30s, persons began gravitating towards his dishes. The raving reviews were in tasty alignment with that of a warm and inviting home-cooked meal. With creativity reaching mouthwatering proportions, Chef Walker, who has a Bachelor of Science degree in business management, was happy to build on his food foundation and ignite a flame on his cooking as an art form worth sharing.
“Because the culinary platform has been evolving so rapidly, it has given me the latitude to play around with herbs and spices during meal preparation, which brings an end result of tantalising taste in the meals that we prepare,” the owner of Bobby’s Café revealed.
The good chef was proud to showcase his culinary expertise at the recent staging of the annual Image Music Festival.
“I have been with the promoters since the inception of this festival in 2018,” he said, adding, “Once I got a sense of the vision and desire to showcase the skills and talents of the people of Portland, I saw where I could marry their vision with my culinary craft because you know that food and entertainment go hand in hand.”
Additionally, the collaboration also provided a platform to showcase his talents on a grand scale, crafting menus that emphasised the spirit of celebration meets innovation.
This year’s carefully curated menu, which tantalised taste buds from the first bite, included heartwarming chicken soup, chicken kebabs, jerk chicken, escoveitch fish fingers, barbecued fish fingers, an assortment of wings, Alfredo pasta, festivals and pressed plantains. The symphony of tastes and textures brought music to the mouths of attendees, creating notes of harmonious Nirvana.
“The event is food inclusive, so whether patrons are in regular or VIP, they all get to taste the wide variety of food that is available all-event long. I pride myself on not allowing the food to run out. Locals and even the tourists who are visiting are giving their feedback to my team of servers and it has been great,” he added.
With plans already under way to cater for more events and private occasions, Chef Walker shared that you can look forward to even bolder flavours on the horizon.