A nurse has been driven to quit the wards for her passion for cooking and has opened a new restaurant in Swansea.
Mum-of-two Barbara Hixson set-up Marley Vibes - The Taste of Jamaica in High Street in a nod to her roots.
She first moved to Swansea 20 years ago from Jamaica due to family reasons.
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Barbara had worked as a healthcare support worker in London before heading into hospitals to care for patients when she first moved to Swansea.
She said she still gets offered work within the NHS as bank staff despite setting up her new business venture from scratch.
Barbara, 49, from Manselton, said: “I moved here 20 years ago and I love it. It reminds me of my home in Jamaica, especially Gower, the beaches and streams intertwined with the greenery, it’s beautiful.
"My background is in nursing, but I’ve always had a passion for cooking. It got to a point where I had to choose between nursing and food, and well, food made the cut.
“I worked in Cefn Coed Hospital, Morriston and Singleton hospitals.
“I nursed throughout the pandemic, and still do when help is needed, but my main focus is here.”
She said she has slowly set-up Marley Vibes as she has funded her business herself.
“It’s something different, there aren’t any Jamaican restaurants in Swansea at the moment,” she said.
“I did not set up Marley Vibes with a grant, it’s from my own pocket so I’m taking my time and doing what I can do.
“I do not know how I am doing it but I am doing it - I am just doing my best.
“Cooking is something that I have always done and quite a few people have told me to have my own business before. Food is one of my passions.”
She added: “I wanted to open my own place for a while. I used to walk past these units and think this would be a perfect spot for me; small and cosy, exactly what I wanted.
“My friend who runs the hair shop next door told me when this unit became free, and suggested I went for it, so I did.
“I’ve been renting it since June, it offers a taste of Jamaica.”
She said she hoped her chef brother Rohan Allen, who is based in Jamaica, would come and join her with the venture.
Barbara said the dishes were starting to become a staple of Swansea life.
“The curried goat and jerk chicken are favourites,” she said.
“I have train drivers that come to eat here in their stop-overs who even told me I was the talk of Paddington station at one point.”
She added: “I hope my brother will come and work with me here.
“He’s currently a chef in Jamaica, I trust him and his cooking methods and want him as my business partner. He knows all the latest techniques.
“Our dream is that people will be queuing all the way down the road. We hope to deliver soon too, which is exciting. I think food will take me a long way in life.”
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