It wasn’t supposed to be this way — to spend years preparing for a fairytale honeymoon in a five-star resort on an exotic tropical island only to be served by a chef who learned his trade living down the road from my basement flat in Peckham.

The restaurant in question is Dasheene — named after the plant used to make callaloo — and the South Londoner in question is Orlando Satchell, a man with an evangelical zeal to put Caribbean cuisine on the map.

Dasheene is couched in the sedate setting of the Ladera hotel on the island of St Lucia, where birds come and perch on the tables and the only sound late at night are the frogs burping words of love. Continue reading »