Chef Jason Howard opens new Caribbean cuisine restaurant, Froottree in London

Caribbean chef Jason Howard has announced the opening of his first Caribbean cuisine restaurant, Froottree, in Docklands, London.

Jason Howard on why he wants to be the first Caribbean chef to get a Michelin star in the Michelin Guide UK for cooking Caribbean cuisine

The restaurant, which opens tonight, is the first of its kind offering refined Caribbean cuisine whilst still maintaining the historical taste and flavours of original Caribbean dishes. Jason has recruited seven chefs to aid him in the kitchen, serving up to 70 covers a night.

He said: “We are starting from the humble beginning, and I would think that within the next three years if this restaurant is quite successful then we will venture out to find another spot in another area where we can proceed to get that Michelin star. But for now, we just want to establish Froottree as the best Caribbean restaurant in London.”

The dishes on the menu at Froottree

The dishes on the menu at Froottree each tell a story, such as the ‘Green Rack’ which is a parsley crusted lamb rack with caramelised red onion and red cabbage mash, and red cabbage slaw.

Dessert ‘Death By Coconut’ is a completely white dessert. On the plate there’s coconut panacottas, coconut gels and coconut marshmallows. ‘Passion in a Sphere’ is another dessert made up of a passionfruit cheesecake and a white chocolate sphere. The ‘Eden Apple’ is made from Froottree’s own garden apples.

“All the dishes have their own character," explained Jason. "In the restaurant the guest would just see the name and not the description so the waiters will inform them about the descriptions of the dish and what it is. It’s a lot of fun to eat and to see why the dish named as it is and why it has the story behind it.”

Caribbean ingredients

Jason’s ingredients will be sourced locally where possible, but certain items will have to be imported, such as Jason’s favourite ingredient, the scotch bonnet. Using ingredients from the Caribbean is important to Jason, and he aims to one day receive the first Michelin star awarded to a chef for Caribbean cuisine.

He said: “Caribbean chefs they just cook French or they just cook Italian,and sometimes I don’t even think we have the respect for our cuisine because we aren’t using those ingredients right. I want to use my ingredients and show the full potential of them. This restaurant is like no other Caribbean restaurant that anyone will ever come across in London. This is a different identity that I am looking to put on Caribbean cuisine. I do think that it’s time for Caribbean cuisine to evolve and that is what my mission is.”

Froottree is located in King George V Docklands, which offers free parking, and is open four nights a week.

Jason is taking over our Instagram today during the launch of his restaurant, follow his journey here

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