Food as usual at doomed Breakfast Shed yesterday

Demolition work did not take place at the historical site of the Breakfast Shed, Port-of-Spain yesterday, as previously reported. Instead, a full complement of cooks turned out and prepared meals as customary for the handful of customers, among them Saturday loyalists. However, Sunday Newsday learned that pending a meeting between workers, that was scheduled for late yesterday evening, to jointly agree on Udecott’s (Urban Development Corp-oration of Trinidad and Tobago) proposition, nothing could take place. This follows on the heels of a meeting between Udecott and Breakfast Shed workers to negotiate a better package on Thursday.

“We have to decide on the offers that they have presented to us and then take it to them (Udecott), then we will know,” said senior cook Barbara Blackie. Initially, stall owners were given a two-week deadline from February 21, to vacate the Breakfast Shed. Udecott has proposed the installation of a new facility to house stall owners that would be completed in three months. An alternative to relocation was compensation of $93,000 per stall owner plus payment per worker. Demolition of the Breakfast Shed will make way for Udecott’s $1.2 billion waterfront complex earmarked for completion in 2007.

When questioned yesterday, many cooks welcomed the move to a new facility under the conditions that there was no lull between moving to their new place and that it was air-conditioned and spacious. “We have already seen the drawing of a plan but we would prefer if we can move right into the facility than having to go home and then wait for it to be completed,” said Charmaine Best, a third-generation cook in her lineage. Charmaine’s grandmother Omega Rosales was once a cook at the Breakfast Shed. Her mother, Stephanie Gill, and brother Sheldon Dick, are now stall owners, and her aunt Violet Kelly, retired as cook, last year.

Several customers, with whom Sunday Newsday spoke, said they preferred to eat at the Breakfast Shed than at other downtown restaurants because of the “homestyle” taste and ambience. “I used to come here everyday but now I come once a week because it’s difficult to get a park,” said Hollis Esdelle, who is employed in Port-of-Spain. “This food is like how my parents used to cook. I choose to come here because I could see what’s going on in the kitchen. You ain’t seeing how people preparing food in some of those restaurants... but if they close, I’ll buy somewhere else.” Attorneys Larry Lalla and Keith Scotland were two of the loyal customers who enjoyed Saturday lunch at the Breakfast Shed. “We come after leaving the office every Saturday. We enjoy the good food and the ambience. It is a piece of history that is going away but once they stay within the general area their customers will follow them,” said Lalla.

“I hope that they get an air-conditioned place with the same food and I’ll return. What they need to do, however, is to add some East Indian dishes.” Michael Manswell described lunch at the Breakfast Shed as “a perfect meal. After a hectic weekend you come here for a fish broth, pig tail soup. It’s natural home cooked food and well-balanced. You can tell your favourite cook what to prepare.”