... Gimbilyn?

Gimbilyn at Alhambra Inn on Tucker Avenue, has taken Jamaican food to another level. Every dish on the menu is 100 per cent Jamaican, but elevated to levels you never thought possible or imagined.

This is the responsibility of Sonia Grey and her two chefs - Palomein Phillpotts and Christopher Graham. Every year the entire staff brainstorms about new additions and new dishes, not just for The Gleaner-sponsored Restaurant Week, but also for the restaurant.

Trained in accounting 11 years ago, with a love for food and watching one too many cooking shows, Phillpotts enrolled in the HEART Academy in Runaway Bay, St Ann, where he specialised in Jamaican and Italian cuisines. Now he gets his joy from making guests happy and seeing an empty plate returned to the kitchen.

For 13 years, Graham has been doing what he calls "an inborn concept". He simply loves what he does, working with food and cooking at every opportunity he gets, including when he is home.

The kitchen team with 'master taster' Sonia Gray, enjoys the challenge of 'taking Jamaican food to another level to taste different and presenting it in a non-traditional way.

One definite Jamaican dish that will have patrons salivating this year is Pork Passion - melt-in-your-mouth, grilled smoked pork chops with sorrel sauce served with sweet potato croquettes and seasonal vegetables.

Nashauna Drummond