It takes three
TRIO BRINGS JAMAICAN AND HAITIAN FLAVORS TO SAN JOSE AT ISLAND TASTE CARIBBEAN GRILL
What makes Caribbean cuisine “authentic”? According to the trio behind downtown San Jose's newest restaurant, it has a vibe. “Think of Caribbean cuisine as equal parts resiliency, history, tradition and, of course, spices,” their Instagram page says. “It's how our people show love.”
Introducing that culture to a broad audience is the mission of Island Taste Caribbean Grill, which opened last week in the heart of downtown, across from City Hall. This new spot comes courtesy of Dorianne and Marc St. Fleur, who are the children of immigrants (her family comes from Jamaica and his from Haiti), and head chef
Imani Manning, a Jamaica native who learned to cook in her mother's Kingston restaurant before embarking on a professional career in New York.
The St. Fleurs had no intention of pivoting from their careers in HR and real estate to this cultural and culinary venture when they moved to San Jose. But they discovered that the descriptor “the islands” doesn't mean to West Coasters what it means to East Coasters. In fact, they were surprised to find that many residents they talked with had never been to Jamaica, or to the Caribbean, for that matter. And West Indies cuisine was much harder to come by here than it was in New York.
Amid the pandemic, those realizations germinated into an idea. We were eager to hear their Brooklyn-to-the-Bay Area story.
Q
How did the restaurant idea come about?
DORIANNE >> We initially relocated here with our daughter back in 2019 when I started a role at Google doing diversity, equity and inclusion strategy. Right as we were getting into the groove of Bay Area life, the pandemic hit. We found ourselves isolated in our home, thousands of miles away from all our friends and family. During that time my husband started teaching himself how to cook traditional Caribbean dishes by watching videos on YouTube. His goal was for us to feel less