Private catering · By arrangement
Trinidad,
cooked to order.
Roti pulled by hand. Curry built from the pot up. Nigel Simmons cooks Trinidadian food for gatherings across the valley, taking a limited number of events each month, because every one of them is cooked by him.
The food
Dishes people ask for by name.
Not “island cuisine.” Specific things, cooked properly. The ones Trinidadians recognise instantly and everyone else remembers afterwards.
Browned downStew Oxtail
Seared in burnt sugar and stewed slow until it gives way, with thyme and a dark, sticky gravy.
ParathaBuss-Up-Shut
Clapped and torn by hand until it falls apart in soft sheets. Named for a burst-up shirt.
Over coalsJerk Wings
Marinated overnight, then taken to the edge of char over open fire.
Fried to orderAloo Pie
Split hot and packed with curried channa, cucumber chow and as much pepper as you can take.
Beyond the islandRack of Lamb
Garlic, rosemary and lemon zest. Nigel cooks well past Trinidad when a table calls for it.
Saturday potCorn Soup
Split peas cooked down to velvet, sweet corn, dumplings, and a whole lot of green seasoning.
Heat is set to your table, with pepper always served on the side. Vegetarian dishes across the menu: channa, dhal, aloo, callaloo.
The kitchen
Nothing arrives ready-made.
- Dough is proofed the night before, so every roti and bara is rolled and cooked the day of your event.
- Seasoning peppers grown at home, blended fresh into green seasoning rather than poured from a jar.
- Whole fish broken down by hand, soaked in lime, seasoned and cooked the same day.
- Curry built from the pot up, with geera roasted and ground, never scooped from a tub.
The cook
He is not a restaurant. That is the point.
Nigel cooks the food he grew up on in Trinidad, and he cooks it himself. No line, no second kitchen, no shortcuts taken while nobody is looking. He takes a small number of events so that each one gets the pot it deserves.
Every plate that leaves here, I cooked. That’s the whole promise.Nigel Simmons
How it works
Three steps, and he does the rest.
Send your date
Date, headcount and the kind of gathering. Thirty seconds, and no obligation.
Nigel replies with a menu
Within 48 hours, usually the same evening, with dishes and a price per head.
He cooks, you host
Delivered hot in trays, ready to serve. On-site service on request.
Book Nigel
Tell him the date.
Dates go early around holidays and graduation season. If he can’t take yours, he’ll say so straight away.
Nigel replies within 48 hours, usually in the evening after work.