Photo by Janet Silvera
Summerfest Productions' head cook and bottlewasher, Tina Davis (right), has returned from a six-week rest in beautiful Virginia, United States, and she looks great. Here she enjoys the evening with pals Sandria Henry (centre) and Ysamme Russell (left) during Montego Bay's Pier One showcasing of its 'Seafood Sundays', 'Star Struck Open Mic and Happy Hour' on Thursday night.

Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

Rustic sophistication. Dressed up but not too rigid. Airy and cheerful. These were just some of the exhilarating vibrations emanating from the cocktail party billed as the 're-emergence' of 'Pier One on the Waterfront' last Thursday night.

Offering a panoramic view of the city of Montego Bay and situated directly on the harbour, Pier One lends itself to a nautical feel because of its marina. But the new management team of brother and sister Anna Kaye and Jason Russell didn't want to go with the expected so they used a lot of white, with a touch of blue, floral arrangements of sea grape leaves, shells, sand and coconut barks to accentuate the area.

Cooked to order

With an emphasis on their seafood market's 'Seafood Sundays', the siblings are innovatively offering calamari, scallops, lobster, shrimp, conch, snapper and mussels by the pound. Once selected, diners have the option of getting their meals cooked to order.

Under the new thrust, the complex, which is one of two cricket villages for the ICC World Cup Cricket 2007, introduced a new 'Sunset Happy Hour and Star Struck Open Mic' night to complement its already popular Friday Night Jam. "Montegonians can no longer complain that there is nothing to do in this city," quipped Anna Kaye Russell.

Known in the business for providing one of the best catering services in the west, the Russells, led by their executive chef Clinton Bullins, assembled an excellent team and delivered samples of spicy, curried and garlic shrimp, fried and grilled calamari, lobster kebobs, coconut crusted fish fingers and smoked marlin and salmon on baguettes with sweet cream and capers.

A sample of great things on their menu - they unveiled a rich array of seafood dishes available daily for lunch and dinner.

Pier One is a family-owned business, with Summerfest Production's 'bird bush' chef, Robert Russell, at the helm. Russell turned over the business to his daughter Anna Kaye and son Jason two years ago.