by Marlon Madden
It is like a story out of a book or from the big screens straight out of Hollywood – the coming together of a chic Barbadian woman and a Jamaican Rastaman, who now serve up some of the most scrumptious, filling and exotic ital food straight from the farm to the table as they combine their culture.
Lisa and Christopher Binns are the proud owners of popular Stush in the Bush in Free Hill, St Ann, Jamaica – a restaurant that offers a mixture of rugged and fine dining, using exotic vegetables from their own ital farms.
Nestled high in the hills of the northern parish, the restaurant, which sits on about 17 acres is hugged by rich vegetation all around, and offers guests a serene environment that is teeming with life.
Lisa, who was born in Barbados and spent most of her life in the US, visited Jamaica one year where she would meet the man that she immediately fell in love with and marry.
Lisa the chief, is the chic and stush one, while Christopher the farmer, who is affectionately known as Chris, is referred to as the bush. They consider each other to be the yin to their yang.
The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) organised a press trip to Jamaica, where journalists, travel writers and other partners had the opportunity to experience and learn about various aspects of the destination between November 7 and 11.
Stush in the Bush was one of those locations that the group visited. They were treated to a Jamaican mezze, which consisted of a variety of plant-based dishes including crispy fried plantain chips, yam and pineapple croquets, roasted and fried breadfruit enhanced with dried jerk seasoning and a plantain ceviche.
Not left out of the mix were three items that are of Barbadian origin – salt bread rolls, mini fish cakes and Bajan hot pepper sauce.
“We use all things local as much as we possibly can . . .
Our locavorism extends past the food. It also goes into things like the dishes, the pots and the wood pieces you have here that were made by local artisans,” said Lisa, as she presented the guests with their mingling plates made by Dana Bough Design Studio based in western Jamaica.
“When you think about veganism it really finds its centre in Jamaica and it finds its centre in Rastafari and ital,” she said.
Before consuming their meals, however, they were given a little bit of education about the food by the chef herself, including a little background to why some of the items were included.
“I am originally from Barbados. In Barbados we make a lot of salt breads. Not that it is salty but it is just to kind of juxtapose against all of the sweet bread that we make. These are homemade salt bread rolls by these hands,” she said.
“In Barbados we have something called fish cakes. Ideally, every Caribbean country has its [salt fish] fritter. In Jamaica it is stamp and go. Here for us it is fish cake and in our fish cakes we have a replacement, instead of fish it is eggplant from the farm,” said Lisa.
Lisa was born in Barbados but grew up in New York. While living in The Big Apple she would visit her land of birth every summer, which left her with some good, unforgettable memories.
However, while she knew she wanted a less hectic life at the time, the then teacher decided it would be Jamaica that she would call home after meeting Chris. In 2010, she moved to the island with her husband, and as they say, the rest is history.
“I was ready for a change. So anytime you are sort of ready for something and you put it out there to the universe the universe conspires to give you exactly what you want. I wanted to dial down from New York City,” she recalled, as she declared “it is that slim ras out there that brought me to Jamaica”.
Lisa, who still possesses her full New York attitude, also shared a little bit about how she and her husband started the farm to table experience around 2014, a business they “built on love” after selling products made from the crops they produced.
“The reason we ended up doing farm to table is because we had products. Any time you are making products the best way for you to try it is on food. So we had people making requests and they wanted to come to our farm. So it has evolved over time. I started off with things like fire grill pizza out in the farm,” she recalled.
The location, which is currently under renovation after closing temporarily at the end of August, is mostly visited by locals. The duo are already working on an expansion plan that will include the building of rooms that would allow people to stay over.
After our medley of appetizers, we were treated to a tour of one of the four sections of the massive farm by Chris as he spoke about some of the plants on the property. He noted that the farm was self sustainable, harvesting its own water from the rain and using solar panels to generate its electricity.
“All of our roof tops are guttered and those gutters lead to some central piping which leads to a filter system and then it ends up in our water tank. It has been our primary water supply for the past 15 years since Lisa and I have been here together,” said the farmer.
“We are not connected to the national grid in any way, shape or form, so there is no grid switch. Up here solar is a great idea for Jamaica, but when you are 2,000 feet up in the hills you don’t see the sun a lot. It is typically like this,” he said, as he pointed to the overcast conditions.
Indicating that farmers had a responsibility to help protect the environment, Chris said, “We don’t do any form of monocropping and that serves a few different purposes including helping with your pest control, it is also great for harvesting different things. So your salad mix today was harvested right there,” he said, pointing out that he practises a closed-loop agriculture and has a donkey, a horse and a goat on the farm.
“We have a responsibility to protect our soil,” he said, adding “we do need more of these throughout the Caribbean”. After the tour, the guests were treated to an eight-course gourmet dining experience.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb
