Turks and Caicos Islands - Dining Experience

‘What you see, is what you get!” confesses Jamaican Chef, Mark Clayton. But what I discovered, was a genuinely humble and sensitive human being, determined to have all the brothers and sisters of the world living in peace, while simply enjoying preparing and creating foods which he demonstrates with a whole new level of energy, enthusiasm and animation. In fact, Mark parallels his profession with that of professional basketball players, who love to play the game and are paid for doing it. “They’re paying me to have fun!” And Mark does indeed have fun in the kitchen; a fascination and interest in food which began at the young age of nine, learning the basics of cooking from his Mother, in his native Jamaica. After preparing his absolute favourite dish, curry chicken, for a friend at the age of twelve, his friend suggested that he take cooking up as a profession which planted the seed which led Mark to the understanding that he could get paid to do something he enjoyed. Throughout his teens his fascination with cooking continued while he enjoyed writing recipes and learning all about foods through research and exploration. He smiles as he remarks that the experimentation from his younger years continues today, however, it is no longer ‘risky’ and he is confident and sure of the outcome. By his own admission, he strongly believes that humbleness is the key to learning.

His Father, espousing very old-fashioned ideals discouraged Mark from pursuing a career as a chef and encouraged him instead to work with him in what he considered a ‘man’s job’, working in construction. Learning a significant portion of the masonry trade, Mark still could not shake the desire to become a chef and at the age of 20, enrolled in the Saunders Catering School in Kingston, Jamaica. Attending classes in the evenings, Mark was the only male in a class of nineteen women while still working construction during the day. After completing the catering school program almost a year later, Mark began working in several restaurants and cafes in Kingston, continuing to hone his culinary skills and make connections. In particular, with the Executive Chef of Sandals, Negril whom he accredits to learning a great deal from specifically in pre-preparation and organizing a kitchen and buffet. That connection led Mark to a two-year stint at Sandals, Negril, first beginning as a line cook, and moving up to kitchen supervisor the following year. A promotional transfer brought Mark to another famous resort in the Sandals chain in Montego Bay where he worked as a sous chef for the next two years. Thriving on the fast-paced and intensely bustling environment of the Sandals kitchens, with an unceasing desire to continue to learn, Mark also completed a course through the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association with Johnson & Whales University, Florida, focusing on kitchen management, costing and food preparation.

With the tragic events of September 11th leaving the Montego Bay resort virtually void of guests, Mark decided to return to the island of Providenciales in November 2001, after previously visiting here on vacation earlier that year. Since then, as Head Chef of the Seaside Café located within the Ocean Club West Resort, Chef Mark Clayton has designed and created a menu which he describes as a fusion of his native Jamaican cooking roots with international flavours which together form a unique and innovative selection of dishes designed to satisfy all of your senses. A perfectionist, he insists that you have to get everything right, no matter how busy you are. Enjoying the opportunity to converse with his guests, he welcomes and encourages them to describe their dining desires that he anticipates preparing to the utmost best of his ability. Claiming there are two things he could not be without in the kitchen ~ Soya sauce, because it gives a taste you just can’t explain in marinades and sauces; and garlic, because food is not food without garlic. Chef Mark prefers fresh herbs and spices and rarely uses powdered spices, with the exception of paprika and curry. His favourite dish is curry goat, which he still prepares the traditional Jamaican way, and the seafood curry on the Seaside Café menu is a perennial and popular favourite, again true to the Jamaican traditions. Great care must be taken to enhance the foods instead of over-powering them, and he attributes his success to his heightened sense of smell. He generously shares his culinary secrets in the 2007 Providenciales Dining Guide, supplement to the Where When How magazine with his recipe for Bronzed Tuna. Whenever our conversation turned to foods, it is truly amazing to watch Chef Mark, as he takes on a completely passionate persona anxious to communicate his favourites in sight, smell, texture and taste.

Mark fondly recalls the ‘country life’ of Jamaica and the abundance of fruit and foods and has endeavoured to bring that aspect of his life here growing a number of different things to varying degrees of success in his experimental garden including sour sop, orange, coconut and tangerine trees, kalaloo, basil and flowers. He advocates the benefits of a settled life with peace and tranquility. When he’s not in the kitchen, he devotes a great deal of his life to God, his church and bible study, attributing his patience and tolerance to his religious background. On his evenings off, he enjoys relaxing on the beach with friends, often preparing picnic foods. He takes pleasure in board games, particularly backgammon, and miniature golf, which also allows him the opportunity to participate in Karaoke citing his favourite tunes to sing, “That’s What Friends Are For” and Bob Marley’s, “Is this Love”.

I couldn’t help but ask how his Father now ultimately felt about Mark’s accomplishments in the culinary world. Today he is fully supportive, his old-fashioned ideals replaced with the belief that whatever you have a passion for, makes it easier.

The ultimate compliment you can pay Chef Mark, is to return your plate to the kitchen “squeaky clean!” with his hopeful expectation that, “The meal touched something in you that has never been touched before.”

By Mandy Rostance-Wolf
Reprinted from "Where When How - Turks & Caicos Islands" March/April 2007