What’s on the menu at Nikki’s Kitchen?

Six months after lighting the stoves inside Dulce Lounge at 22 Barbican Road, Nikki’s Kitchen is stoking heightened interest.

Naturally, the eatery’s proprietor, Nicola Whitelocke, feels optimistic about the good word of mouth now making the rounds in Kingston 6 and beyond.

“We started doing just seafood here on Fridays in October last year, then in January, we decided to add lunch and wellness options every day,” Whitelocke explained of the gradual evolution of her business model.

Hairnet covering her curly tresses tied into a bun, she invited us into ground zero, where she’s fastidiously prepping meat and fish, the latter freshly sourced from on-call fishermen in Rocky Point, Clarendon and Old Harbour, St Catherine.

With her workday underway, the woman of the hour is dicing pumpkin, carrots, okra and onions to whip up a steamed fish order for a customer she has just spoken to on a cell call. Lunchtime looms for the establishment’s midday diners, and the to-go orders are set.

“Our ultimate goal is to offer a bit of everything for everyone, but always keeping wellness as part of the background,” she posited.

BEYOND SEAFOOD

To this end, the restaurateur has expanded beyond the initial seafood-specific menu, which featured grilled, curried, and escovitch lobster, as well as fish and shrimp dishes. Now, there are meat-themed lunch days: oxtail Mondays and Thursdays, curried goat Tuesdays and Saturdays, stewed peas and barbecued chicken on Wednesdays, and jerked chicken on Fridays.

Best-selling favourites, she reported, include conch soup, escovitch fish, oxtail, and her much-buzzed-about salt and pepper shrimp.

What’s new at Nikki’s Kitchen is the Wellness Corner-branded healthy bites of Greek, Mexican and Caribbean selections that launched this month.

Explaining the composition of the just-arrived menu items, she said: “You choose a base, which would be a wrap, salad or bowl. Then you decide on your protein option, that’s salmon, chicken, beef and shrimp”.

“Then, you select the ethnic food category. Each comes with its own ingredients – from ripe plantains, pineapples, and purple cabbage with a jerk sauce for the Caribbean selection, to sweet corn, black beans, salsa, and sour cream for the Mexican option,” Whitelocke shared further.

The Barbican Road culinary establishment is Whitelocke’s third brick-and-mortar business. Her first was Jacob’s Place at King’s Plaza with her father, Michael, as co-partner. “After, we moved to Springvale Avenue, but COVID hit and we took a little break. I hit the pause button on cooking in general. Then I decided to start seafood lymes on Fridays at home on Dewsbury Avenue,” the 33-year-old self-taught cook shared.

UNEXPECTED TURN

What followed was an unexpected turn of events.

Displeased neighbours lodged official complaints about the weekly gathering that led to legal wranglings. A stop order was issued by the National Environment and Planning Agency in July last year, and Whitelocke had to face the judicial system.

She owns up to the kerfuffle, seeing it as a chapter in her life story.

“The lyme grew, but my neighbours got weary, and took me to court. I had to pay a [negotiated half of the $25,000] fine,” the restaurateur recounts of how the legal wrangling came to its conclusion.

Months later, and now on the right side of the law, she is forging ahead with her culinary dreams.

The St Andrew High School for Girls alum remembers a long-running affinity for whipping up meals. “ I love cooking in general, and [I] am kind of a perfectionist, so when I am not in the kitchen, customers tend to know. The excitement it brings me in making something perfect at the end of the process, that’s what I truly enjoy,” revealed Whitelocke, who also runs a catering business. Clients include Jamaica Flour Mills, GK General and Scotiabank as well as “customers who have birthday parties or events at their homes”.

“In school, I did all sciences. My dad wanted me to be a dentist. But I always liked chemistry. I didn’t know why I liked chemistry. My high school chemistry teacher saw me the other day and said, ‘I didn’t know this is the kind of chemistry you would be doing.’ But it kind of makes sense now,” she shared.

As for the existing partnership with Dulce Lounge, she crossed paths with the owner and operating manager, Papangeo Logan, last year. “He asked if I would be interested in hosting my seafood offerings at Dulce on Fridays and was excited about it. We clicked really well and are like family now,” she explained.

Of their working relationship, Logan, who opened the Dulce Lounge watering hole in 2023, tells Food, “food is a sensitive thing, it’s all about the flavour, vibe and presentation, and Nikki has all the elements perfectly fused. We met through mutual friends, and in the sense of what our business build outs were, we looked at it, and everything was in sync, and the collaboration has been amazing.”

Music personality Orrett ‘DJ Bambino’ Hart counts himself among regular patrons.

AUTHENTICALLY JAMAICAN

Halfway through our interview with Whitelocke, he pops in for lunch with his Hillel High sixth-form son, Presley. “I’ve been a faithful customer since she was doing it at her house,” Hart divulges, trumpeting her expert hands at crafting tasty meals.

“You don’t have to drive too far from Kingston to get food that is authentically Jamaican. I usually get the escovitch fish with bammies and plantains, and when she has lobster, I get that escovitched as well. On Fridays, when I come by, it’s like Cheers, that bar on the TV show, you see the same people returning,” he told Food.

The half-year-old Nikki’s Kitchen has not been without teething pains. The 30-something businesswoman admitted, “Some days are up, other days down. Some days, you feel like you want to really throw in the towel because you have had it. You wake up every morning not knowing if one customer is going to come, but you have faith. But what reassures me is when that one customer comes and enjoys the food and commends you. That’s what keeps me going.”

There’s also the juggling act of being a mother to her sons, Jacob, nine and Saint, two, and running a restaurant.

“That’s the biggest challenge, but I am grateful that I have a good support system. Every time you need to make a move, you have to find a babysitter. You get calls throughout the day: ‘Mommy, when are you coming home?’ I work late almost every day. I feel like a bad mother when I can’t help out with homework, but eventually I will find balance.”

Top of mind at the moment is moulding the eatery into a well-oiled, successful operation.

In addition to the recently introduced Wellness Corner menu, which has received positive customer feedback thus far, coming soon are late-night bites from Thursdays to Saturdays, available up to 1 a.m.

“I discovered that within the area we are located, there isn’t an option for after-hours meals. So we want to go into that. We plan to start a smart menu like smash burgers, wraps, sandwiches, we will see how it goes,” Whitelocke said.

lifestyle@gleanerjm.com