Black Lives Here: Past experiences helped Jaclyn Mah on journey to opening her restaurant
By MIMI LILIEFELDT
As we start another new year, we often focus on the future and what goals we want to achieve. As important as that is, I think it’s also purposeful to examine and honour what brought us to this point. Our paths are often not linear but linked to life-changing moments big and small.
For Jaclyn Mah of Jaclyn’s Caribbean Fusion Restaurant & Catering on Queen Street East, just west of Coxwell Avenue, the journey to opening her own restaurant wasn’t a straight line but it was directly linked to the strong connections she’s had with the meaningful people in her life, starting with her Chinese grandmother.
“When my parents separated, I spent a lot of my time, my weekends with my grandmother, at her very side. I think that’s where a lot of my passion for the kitchen is from. My passion for the kitchen 100 per cent started with her. I carry that through all different aspects, for catering, events, for the restaurant, learning new skills. It really started at a young age, watching the love she put into her food.”
In 2010, Jaclyn met her ex (who is Trinidadian) and started working at his Caribbean restaurant. “I started working alongside his cooks and initially I was just helping out. But then it became, ‘this is what I love doing.’”
For almost 10 years Jaclyn worked alongside many chefs from different parts of the Caribbean.
“Many of them were skilled in what we call bulk food cooking, so they worked either in the army or the hospitals, things like that. Essentially, they taught me how to cook one pot of rice that could feed a thousand people, where previous to that I was doing 10 pots on the stove! . . . The skills that I learned from being there, I was able to hone in on those things. . . I was able to take pieces of what I thought were the best parts,” said Jaclyn.
By 2019 Jaclyn, who had amassed years of Caribbean cooking experience, left the restaurant business, her partner, and her home. She started working with her best friend as a receptionist for their law firm when the pandemic hit.
During this time, a close friend who owned a Caribbean restaurant asked her to run his second location. While considering the opportunity Jaclyn called her current partner in life and business, Andrew, to share the news. His reaction was not what she expected, but he explained, “You just spent 10 years in this business with your family. You’ve left and you have nothing. You have your daughter, but you have nothing to your name. Do you want to do this again?” he said, “If you’re going to do this, I’ll help you and we’ll do this together.”
Jaclyn’s first thought was, “How”?
She knew how expensive starting up a restaurant was and how difficult it was to find good people to work with her. It seemed too big, and yet, a seed was planted.
After wrestling with her own feelings of self-doubt, she approached her friend Dr. Mirek Dutczak who also happened to own the building where Jaclyn’s restaurant is now located to talk about the possibility of using the space. Mirek was very positive and supportive, but her decision had yet to be made, until one day out of the blue he called her to say the space had been emptied and that the keys were waiting for her.
Opening and running the restaurant has come with its triumphs and challenges. Even with Jaclyn’s many years of being mentored by and working alongside respected Caribbean chefs, some still doubted her capabilities in the making of the food.
In response to the skepticism, Jaclyn said, “I’ve worked alongside great Jamaican chefs, great Trinidadian chefs, my ex is Trinidadian. I have ‘aunts’ and ‘uncles’ who’ve assumed me in Trinidad; I’ve cooked alongside them. I blend my own seasonings, I blend my own pepper sauce, I buy chadon beni and pimento seeds so that my oxtail has pimento flavour which is a very traditional Jamaican spice. . . In Trinidadian curries I use specific spices like chadon beni which is like a pungent cilantro which is used in a lot of their curries.”
Jaclyn’s dedication to authenticity and respect for Caribbean dishes is commendable. This is in addition to her strong connection to Chinese cooking which she learned from her grandmother.
Another worthwhile fact to consider, is that there has been Chinese influence in Jamaican cuisine for almost 200 years. The first of the British ships to import Chinese migrant workers arrived in Jamaica in 1854. Over the next few decades more waves were brought in to work in the indentured system. Chinese immigrants could also come into Jamaica outside of the system, usually to reunite with family, then in 1917 the indentured system was made illegal.
The point of this miniature history lesson is to highlight the fact that during this migration (as with many others), more than just people were introduced into the foreign lands. The Chinese brought soy sauce, dried noodles, five-spice powder, ginger, and some started growing rice in their new homeland, at least until importing rice became a much cheaper option. The cooking methods such as stir frying and deep frying also made their long journey across the ocean.
Though many of us have distinct cultural backgrounds and unique histories, it’s worth noting that many of our histories intertwine and shape new and interesting traditions, cuisines, and ways of connecting across civilizations.
It is our responsibility to be mindful of each other’s cultures and respectful of how we profit from them. Everything about the way Jaclyn learned to prepare her food and cares for her multicultural staff assures me that both of these aspects are taken highly into account.
More than three years after opening their doors Jaclyn’s has become a staple in our neighbourhood. She attributes her work ethic and the loving style in which she runs her family business to her grandmother. “She was the rock of our family, she was hard working, in and outside of the home. She showed her love by how she took care of us, feeding us and sending us on our way. Not only did she share valuable cooking skills with me she made me realize there is a lot more to a meal than just food (the love that is put into preparing it can be felt by those who share it). Outside of the kitchen her work ethic and ‘never give up’ mentality shaped my values and approach to life.”
Jaclyn’s work ethic goes beyond the stress and responsibilities of her restaurant. She has maintained her “day job” because running a restaurant is not immediately profitable. “I do this (runs the restaurant) because I love what I do,” she said. Jaclyn’s “day job” keeps her stimulated in a different way, and also helps support the multifaceted life that she has created.
With all the work and risk, Jaclyn has been willing to take on to realize her dream, she commendably does not take all the credit. She reflects on how she arrived at this point in her life and fully acknowledges that she doesn’t do it on her own.
“I really feel having a restaurant, these small businesses, is like a family. I don’t even like the word ‘employee’. I get up there in the morning, set up the shop, do dishes, I serve alongside my colleagues. I really do feel we’re a family here. We look out for one another, they look out for me, we’re close knit.”
From the time she was a child, Jaclyn’s grandmother gifted her the joy of cooking, the ways in which you can love to cook and show your love through it. As she grew up and made her way in the world she was introduced and welcomed into another culture of cooking by people who mattered to her and that she respected. And when the day came to carve her own path and start something of her own, her partner Andrew encouraged her, while her close friend Mirek handed her the literal keys that gave her the push she needed to walk through that door.
So, as we now walk into another year, I hope that we can all reflect and appreciate the people and moments that have brought us here.
Sadly, in August 2023, Dr. Mirek Dutczak suddenly passed away. He was much loved by the community and of course will always hold a special place in Jaclyn’s heart. She wanted to share that “His witty charm and his consistent and loving nature (always checking in on us daily), left a lasting impact on our family and the community as a compassionate healer, touching the lives of many with his dedication to medicine and care.”
— Mimi Liliefeldt is a Beach resident and business owner. She can be reached at mimi@missfit.ca
