'I’ve always believed that food is far more than something we just eat': Northern Ireland chef brings Caribbean flavours to Belfast with new dinner box venture
Windrush Islands Café owner launches home-delivered three-course meals inspired by Jamaican heritage and family traditions
Soulful chef Wendy McGuire plans has started delivering the rich and punchy flavours of the colourful Caribbean islands to food lovers here.
Wendy, the enterprising owner of Windrush Islands Café in Belfast, whose family roots are in Jamaica, has launched a unique Caribbean Dinner Box delivery service in a new initiative to grow her successful small business.
She already runs an online Caribbean foods shop, Caribbean cookery courses, outdoor catering and event services for weddings, parties and business lunches from the small business she set in the university area in 2013.
Wendy’s own range of Caribbean sauces and other delicacies has also proved popular with deli’s and specialist food stores here and in Britain and the Republic of Ireland.
The innovative dinner boxes are ready to eat or ready to heat., Wendy, who has experience over 30 years in catering, says: “The dinner boxes are more than a takeaway, they are home styled quality three-course meals that can be ordered in advance online for home delivery.”
The launch menu included corn fritters with a hot sauce and mango; rundown fish slow cooked in a coconut sauce with lentil rice and mixed greens; and dessert Caribbean tiramisu and a classic banana pudding.
Wendy continues: “Food has been at the heart of my life for as long as I can remember. Creating it, sharing it, and celebrating with it. It makes me happy. I’ve always believed that food is far more than something we just eat — it’s a storyteller.
“It carries our memories, marks our milestones, and brings people together in a way nothing else can.
“My passion grew from simple moments: an obsession with pastry and jam tarts at the age of 4, collecting coupons for cookbooks from Nestlé, watching Mom and other relatives prepare and argue about the best Jamaican cook.”
Wendy named the business after the Windrush pioneers to Britain and was also influenced by childhood memories of wonderful smells and creations coming from the kitchens of family and friends in Jamaica.