It isn’t a stretch to say that cooking has been in Barry Taylor’s blood. Long before he decided to pursue a degree in culinary arts from Johnson and Wales University in Florida in the United States, he was getting his own inspiration from his kitchen at home.
“From the time I was a kid I always liked cooking,” Taylor said. “I would go through cookbooks, find interesting recipes and try them out”.
As Barry got older, so too did his interest in cuisine, so his decision to pursue it as a career came as no surprise to his parents.
“My father was actually very supportive of it,” he said.
That support from his father eventually paved the way to the realisation of a life-long dream in owning his restaurant.
After working at restaurants like Olive’s, La Terra and as executive chef at the Bougainvillea Beach Resort, he teamed up with his father Alfred Taylor in 2004 to open The Restaurant at South Sea.
It proved to be a successful move for Barry since The Restaurant at South Sea created quite a number of firsts, including being named by Condé Nast Traveller to their Hot Tables list in 2004, and being the first 4 Diamond Restaurant in Barbados by AAA.
Locally, it proved to be a forced to be reckoned with on the restaurant circuit, being the two-time winner of Barbados Tourism Authority Restaurant Of The Year and winner of the People’s Choice restaurant. It also won the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association’s Top Restaurant Of The Year Award on two occasions.
This time around with Naru, Barry has teamed up with his wife, who came up with its name to create a blend of Asian and Caribbean dishes.
“At SouthSea I started experimenting with the combination of Asian and Caribbean dishes, Taylor said. “So far the response to the cuisine has been good.
“I would like Naru to be viewed as being unique since that was the concept to start with. From the size of the dishes which are appetiser size, the menu is designed that people will order four and five different things and it will be shared.”
What was the last meal you cooked for yourself?
I don’t cook for myself. The kitchen at home is not set up like a restaurant kitchen, so by the time you’re done, you don’t have 50 pans in your house and by the time I finish I have a sink full of dishes to clean up.
Have you cooked for anyone famous?
Prince Andrew and Richard Belzer, from Law and Order.
What ingredient do you like working with most?
Mirin, it is a rice wine sauce without the alcohol and I like it because you can put it in anything.
What is the most difficult dish you’ve prepared?
Probably desserts because when I was a pastry chef I had desserts that had 15 or 16 parts to it.
If you were to eat your last meal what would it be?
A rare rib-eye steak or Burger King.
What is your greatest joy about cooking? When you spend a whole day working on something and at the end it comes out the way it’s supposed to come out.
