The ‘Spice’ of life

It’s mere minutes until noon, and the Friday lunchtime crowd at Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts is roused by eager appetites.

A quickly expanding queue of students and staffers forms outside a food truck parked a stone’s throw away from the tertiary institution’s Edward Seaga Library and Resource Centre.

Janelle Montaque is ready to serve.

The proprietor of All Spice Catering & Events, Montaque – who has operated her culinary vehicle on Edna Manley’s campus since 2023, alongside assistant Devika West – has a nine-item menu all set to be boxed for a line of customers.

On the chalkboard listing affixed to the truck’s side are callaloo rundown, escoveitched fish, jerk pork, fried and jerk chicken, beef and chicken burgers, spicy wings, and hearty chicken soup.

There’s no shouting of orders here. The well-mannered assembly of youthful and middle-aged customers, on their lunch break from classroom sessions and office work, announce one after the other what they will be eating today.

“I got a call from Edna two years ago that their canteen was down,” Montaque informed, between scoop, ladle, and tong grabs from chafer dishes of meats and sides to meet the rush of requests from persons now standing before her. “They asked me if I would be interested to come on for five months, I think it was, and I’m still here.”

For this culinary entrepreneur, the allure of the profession was baked on a steady television diet of The Food Network in her formative adolescent years.

“You would always find me watching that channel, and I tell people, if I could afford it, I would just want to wake up and feed people ... just cook and host brunches. It relaxes me,” Montaque shared.

That inherent love of food – spurred, too, by growing up seeing her educator mother Janette Stephens’ passionately tending to a catering side business – led a younger Janelle to the University of Technology, where she pursued a four-year bachelor’s degree in culinary management. Then came jobs as a line cook at Couple’s Resort in St Mary and Acropolis Gaming Lounge in St Andrew, the latter where she met co-worker and cook Rory Montaque. “We don’t do anything else as chefs, where else are we supposed to meet people?” she joked to Food as she reminisced about the love that blossomed in the hot kitchen. They would welcome their daughter in 2012 and tie the knot six years later.

SEASONAL WORK

In a move seeking better opportunities, the tertiary-educated Janelle sought employment in North America through the H2B seasonal work visa programme.

“I went overseas and did the country club scene in Florida and Massachusetts for four years. Then I came back home, as being separated from my daughter became increasingly difficult. It was, however, a welcome change to get some form of structure, workwise,” she recalled of her experience.

Pointing to the distinct differences in management style on The Rock and The Land of Liberty, she surmised that “in America, it’s standardised. Everybody knows their role and sticks to it. It’s one thing I now try to practise. You live and you learn,” she said.

Returning home from her extended work sojourns abroad, she and hubby – joining forces with her mother – went about formally establishing a catering business in 2017.

All Spice was born and would serve a diverse clientele spanning weddings, sporting events, and birthday parties. There were, too, booked showcases for All Spice at the Jamaica Food and Drink Festival and Kingston Kitchen.

Divulging the backstory of the mobile kitchen now in place at the Arthur Wint Drive arts university on weekdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the 42-year-old caterer said: “We got the truck in 2018. It was never originally meant to be a food truck per se. It was really designed to do catering jobs. So, instead of travelling from Kingston to the events wherever they were on the island, we created a truck that we could do things on the spot.”

“Then we had COVID, and that was our lull period. We were having trouble with the engine that came with the vehicle, and needed a part which we couldn’t find. So we parked it. We had to change out the whole engine and start in 2020 when it was up and ready for the road,” she shared.

First up: the Montaques did a series of pop-ups at the Rubis gas station located off Washington Boulevard. “We did a couple of Friday night stints there. This is where the food truck was launched “Half a decade on, and the truck is now a familiar, comforting presence at Edna Manley. And, how is business?

“We have our good days and our bad days. Initially, it was a bit slow, but it has picked up. We get to know most of our clients. Most of the students, we treat them like family. All in all, it’s been a good experience. Even a lady today, she said to me, ‘That lunch yesterday, I tasted love’,” she told Food. Lunch day offerings typically comprise a soup, a chicken option or two, a red or white meat kind, a vegetarian selection, and attendant side dishes.

Meanwhile, Montaque’s right-hand woman on the truck, West, beams when speaking of what has kept her happy, showing up each day for work.

“It’s meeting and pleasing new customers and hearing their laughter. When you serve them the meal, how much they enjoy and appreciate it. All Spice’s food is so delicious, and always well prepared and well seasoned,” trumpeted the de facto brand spokeswoman.

lifestyle@gleanerjm.com