Caribbean chef cared deeply for customers and family
James (Jim) Nicholas of Kitchener Born: Dec. 16, 1946, in St. Thomas, Jamaica Died: Sept. 10, 2017, of a heart attack
Jim Nicholas had his first glimpse into the mysterious world of cooking while still a teenager living in Jamaica. There were the rich aromas emanating from the pots in the kitchen, the alchemy of mixing spices to create the perfect jerk, the satisfaction of creating something delicious from nothing more than a few vegetables, spices and meat.
Though he didn’t know it at the time, this would be the world he would spend 40 years inhabiting, a world that brought him many friends and much love as the owner and chef at Rainbow Caribbean Cuisine in downtown Kitchener at King and Queen streets. But it had been a long and windy road to get to this level of success.
Jim grew up one of eight kids on a farm, leaving home at 18 for the town of Morant Bay, Jamaica, where he met an older couple who owned a hotel. They took Jim in, treated him as a son and gave him his first experience working in a kitchen.
Jim had also worked as a security guard in Jamaica but he would soon look elsewhere, much further afield for a chance for a more prosperous future.
His wife Lucinda Nicholas said Jim came to Canada in 1967 — finding work first as a farm labourer, then in a hotel in Wallaceburg where he made a friend from Kitchener. When the hotel was sold, his friend decided to return home and did Jim want to come too?
Lucinda said in those early days, there were very few people from the Caribbean living in Waterloo Region but Jim stuck it out, getting a job at Uniroyal then BF Goodrich. Jim was establishing a good life for himself but he must have also had love on his mind, because in 1975, he took his one week holiday from the factory and headed to Jamaica where he proposed to Lucinda.
She admits, when they worked in the hotel together three years earlier, they had just been friends. She hadn’t thought of this quiet, somewhat introverted man as a love interest but obviously changed her mind.
The couple married and a year later, Lucinda was able to come to Canada where she spent two decades as the owner of an international food market as well as running a jerk place in Waterloo.
Jim started working as a cook in Kitchener in a couple of Caribbean clubs on weekends while still holding down the factory job. Apparently, his fan base started at these clubs and customers encouraged him to open a restaurant.
It must have been daunting, quitting a steady job to open his own busi-
ness. But Jim was determined and he already had a large following of folks who loved his food.
He outgrew two smaller restaurants before finally opening Rainbow Caribbean Cuisine on King Street East in 2002.
Collette Clarke, a long time customer and family friend, purchased the Rainbow in May 2016 after Jim and Lucinda retired. What had inspired her to become a restaurateur, even though she knew nothing about the food industry, was Jim’s insistence that the place go to someone who cared about carrying on his legacy.
“It wasn’t about selling it and getting the money,” she said. “They wanted someone to maintain the same quality.
“Jim wanted to stay here, come in on weekends to help out.”
Collette’s son, Marcus Smith, now the general manager, was mentored by Jim.
“He was a good man, he taught me a lot,” said Marcus. “He was fun and interesting, the way he handled pots.”
Apparently, Jim was impervious to heat. He could take a metal pot off the stove without oven mitts and suffer no ill effects. Marcus thought Jim was rather magical.
Jim also gave Collette and Marcus all his recipes which he had previously been unwilling to share even with his wife.
“I’d say ‘how do you do this?’ and he’d say ‘I’m taking that to my grave’” said Lucinda.
She laughs noting that she had gone to school to learn to cook but Jim didn’t have any formal training.
“He’d say ‘I just use my head.’” There was one recipe he took to the grave, something called “doubles,” a street food in Jamaica using two pieces of fried bread. Jim would say it was too much work to make and Collette agreed.
What she will continue offering is Jim’s oxtails, jerk and curry, three dishes that brought him a lot of attention. Lucinda said customers who moved away, even across the country or overseas, would still ask to have the dishes frozen and shipped to them in bulk.
Collette said when she’d get a craving for a Jamaican steamed fish dish, she’d call pleading with Jim and he always gave in, telling her to come to the restaurant and it would be ready.
“It was never too late or too early to prepare a special dish,” said Collette.
It was this concern for his customers that Jim wanted to ensure would be continued with the next generation of owners. He even had his daughter, Donna Nicholas, stay on to help with the transition.
“He had relationships with his customers,” said Collette, remembering the street people who would come in and Jim always gave them food. He also donated to charities every year, including the Caribbean Canadian Association of Waterloo Region.
In his personal life, Jim was quiet, eager to get home and just relax at the end of the day. He wasn’t interested in a busy social life. The couple returned to visit family and friends in Jamaica every year and there, Jim really relaxed. He was definitely a put your feet up and watch wrestling on TV kind of guy though he also loved to play dominoes.
Jim’s big ambition upon retiring? Lucinda said he really wanted to be able to babysit the grandchildren. Jim loved kids, particularly babies and he was never happier than when surrounded by several squirming infants.
Marcus said the walls in the kitchen were covered in kid’s photos and art and those kids were always welcome to pop into the kitchen to say.
“He really loved kids,” said Marcus.
There will be a celebration of Jim’s life at the Westmount Memorial Celebration Centre, 1001 Ottawa St. S., Kitchener, Sept. 28 and 29, 519-743-8900.