A much-loved Caribbean restaurant in St Pauls will be featured on two different TV shows this year - putting the area on the map.
Just this week, Fred Sirieix - mostly known for being the host of popular dating show, First Dates - was at Glen’s Kitchen filming with the chef, Glen Crooks and French chef and restaurateur, Michele Roux.
They were filming for Remarkable Places to Eat on BBC2 and Glen’s episode will feature on Christmas Eve.
The programme is centred around leading chefs taking the host, Fred Sirieix to experience the restaurants where they genuinely love to eat and explore what the secret ingredient is that makes the place so special.
“It felt so good for my restaurant to be chosen. Sometimes you work for so long, so it feels good when it finally pays off,” Mr Crooks said.
During their visit they came into the restaurant and cooked with Mr Crooks, as well asking him questions about his upbringing in Jamaica, his arrival in Bristol and how he ended up serving food to his community for over 30 years.
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He moved to the UK at the age of 11 and first started his business in the 1980s when he created a health drink called Afro Delight.
Years later he still won’t divulge the details of what was in the drink, saying only it contained “secret ingredients”.
Now he runs Glen’s Kitchen, in St Pauls Learning Centre, which serves everything from plantain and curried goat to jerk chicken, cow foot and more. He believes having Glen’s Kitchen set up in St Pauls is important for community cohesion and reducing isolation within the Caribbean locals.
“Here at my kitchen, I cook everything myself and I’ve got a passion for cooking, so they thought I would be a great person to interview.
“It just felt natural, as they interviewed me and cooked with me simultaneously. We had a good time,” Mr Crooks said.
Last week, he was also visited by the former World’s Strongest Man, Eddie “The Beast” Hall for a new series where he takes on eating challenges featuring traditional Christmas foods from a variety of communities based around the UK in each of the four-part series.
At Glen’s Kitchen he was given Jerk Turkey and the show will feature on Dave TV towards the end of this year.
Mr Crook’s contribution to the community is continuously being recognised and he was recently awarded the MTM good food takeaway award.
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They will continue to remain open during lockdown, offering deliveries and take aways 10am-6.30pm Monday to Friday and 1pm-4pm Sunday.
