Father-son team open Jamaican eatery
Father-son team brings authentic Jamaican fare to the borough
WEST CHESTER » Miss Winnie’s isn’t just a catchy name for one of the borough’s newest restaurants.
The Jamaican eatery that opened in October bears the name of the woman who inspired the father-son team of Bert and Nick Johnston: Winnifred Johnson, Bert’s mother and Nick’s grandmother who passed away in 2014.
More than just sharing authentic island recipes, Miss Winnie provided her son and grandson with the example of how to treat people.
“My grand-mom was the kind of woman who would take everyone under her wing,” said Nick Johnston, 24, of West Chester. “That was what we wanted to carry on here — to take care of everyone the way Miss Winnie did. I credit her a lot for who I am today.”
Bert Johnston, 60, of Devon, grew up in Jamaica with seven sisters and a brother plus foster children in the house. The family came to the United States when Bert was 15. While growing up his mother made sure that, like his sisters, Bert learned to cook and clean.
“I grew up with all of these women — girls back then — and she insisted I learn to do everything they did,” said the elder Johnston, a former engineer for Hewlett-Packard.
While Bert always cooked it wasn’t until the family was looking for catering for their annual Christmas party over 10 years ago when he decided to cook the food himself. He figured he could do just as good of a job so he cooked up the family favorite jerk chicken, according to a restaurant history. It was a hit, and planted the seed for a restaurant in his head.
As luck would have it Bert’s career as an engineer recently came to a pivot point. His project with HP came to an end and he was in between assignments.
“I just said, ‘you know what, enough is enough,’” Bert Johnston recalled last week as he and Nick prepared for a lunch crowd. “It was either start from scratch with a new IT company or this. I just said, ‘I have to do it now or when will I do it.’”
Nick, a star athlete in soccer, basketball and lacrosse while attending the Woodlynde School in Strafford, Delaware County, had graduated from George Mason University with a degree in sports management.
But entrepreneurship ran in the family with his mother and grandmother operating their own businesses.
“We always worked well together in the past,” Nick said of starting a restaurant with his father. “He was always at our games and he coached some of the teams.”
Located in the 200 block of East Market Street, Miss Winnie’s Jamaican Jerk and More offers both spicy and non-spicy food along with other Jamaican dishes like: oxtail stew, curry chicken, curry goat, plantain tarts and more. They also make traditional American fare like beef patties, wings, sandwiches and platters with a Jamaican twist.
“There’s a lot of different flavors that go into them,” Bert Johnston said of Jamaican cooking.
Decorated with sports photos like the great Jamaican runner Usain Bolt and the soccer legend Pele, the restaurant has several tables to eat at but caters more to take out.
The father and son hope to be able to expand their business at some point either by opening their own additional location or through franchising.