Chef Jamie Nigel is on an epic adventure of a lifetime as he discovers the beaut y of Sri Lanka’s fresh produce. Enamoured by this Jamie aims to bring alive his dream of opening Black Honey, his own café in Ahangama.
Advocating a nomadic lifestyle Englishman Jamie Nigel arrived in Sri Lanka lured by the many stories he’d heard, not only about the beauty of the island and its people but especially the rich and varied culinary landscape of Sri Lanka. A chef armed with equal measures of formal training and self teaching, Jamie is in the throes of setting up Black Honey, his own cafe in Ahangama. In his element elbow deep in fresh produce, Jamie has elaborate plans to serve Australian style brunches at Black Honey. Working hard he experiments with taste and texture as he conjures up innovative recipes to showcase the marvels of Sri Lankan produce. His ultimate goal is to serve cuisine with his own inimitable style and of course to lure diners to his new cafe. For Jamie, food is not only a passion but a journey of self discovery. Despite his plans going awry with the numerous lockdowns, Jamie has used his time wisely to strategize and be creative in the kitchen. With the advent of Black Honey, the dining scene in Ahangama looks set to soar.
What brings you to Sri Lanka?
What brings me to Sri Lanka? Well that’s an interesting question. Many things but I guess the short answer would be having travelled extensively for the last 10 years or so, Sri Lanka was a name that just kept popping up so I guess you could say it was on my radar. The long answer is I was living in the UK and planning to open a café in Brighton.
However, finding suitable premises pre-Covid 19 was not an easy task. Funnily enough I’m sure there are plenty now! After a year of extensive looking and planning and too little sleep, it became apparent to me I needed a holiday. It was then that Sri Lanka entered my mind.
It was March 2019 and within a month holiday, I decided to quit my job, rewrite the business plan effectively starting over and move the business and my life to Sri Lanka. A little time passed in between, but I’m here now and I’m setting up my café Black Honey in Ahangama and couldn’t be happier.
What cuisine do you favour cooking?
I think by definition if it was my favourite it probably would have to be something I cook for myself most of which would be a play on Asian fusion.
What plans do you have while in Sri Lanka?
When you are setting up a café business, you soon realise that you can’t have time for plans, so I guess I would have to say my café Black Honey. Jokes aside I am also a keen surfer so this was a lifestyle choice for me too. So I surf a lot, eat lots of nice food and travel around the country. I would like to see the north as I had heard the food is very different up there. It all sounds interesting.
Where have you worked previously?
I have worked in too many kitchens over my time. Most recently was heading up a kitchen in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was a funky little joint on Lake Geneva. I have also worked as a private chef in the French Alps, cafés, restaurants, and fine dining in Sydney, Melbourne and New Zealand. I have also done my time in London working for over a year for Gordon Ramsay.
Words: Tina Edward Gunawardhana
