It's welcome home for Mamas Jerk

Owner Adrian talks Mama's, Grandmamas and Jerk

Adrian Luckie outside his new arch

WE SAT DOWN WITH ADRIAN LUCKIE, THE CHEF BEHIND MAMA'S JERK AND THE GUARDIAN OF HIS GREAT GRANDMAMA'S SECRET RECIPE, TO TALK ABOUT HOW THE BUSINESS CAME ABOUT.

What made you set up Mama Jerks?

Mama's Jerk was setup in March 2009 to try create a legacy to my great Grandmothers secret Jerk BBQ Sauce recipe. Mama Charlotte worked in the food industry for over 20 years as a chef, and, my love of food and great home style cooking was passed down through the generations of my great grandmother, grandmother and mother. This led me to venture on my own to start a Caribbean street food business with a difference, by simplifying a Jerk product in the form of Jerk chicken wraps. Starting at the legendary Vibe Bar on Brick Lane, lots of hard work gave us the platform to be where we are today - trying to grow a small empire of Mama's Jerk.

Cooking up a storm

WE LIKE TO TRY AND DIFFERENTIATE OURSELVES FROM OTHER WEST INDIAN TAKEAWAYS & RESTAURANTS

What makes Mama's Jerk different to your average takeaway?

We like to try differentiating ourselves from other West Indian takeaways restaurants with the food we produce – service we provide and style branding of our operations. We are not afraid to try fusing classic dishes like Jerk lamb shank with sweet potato Mash and Jerk Gravy or creating gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian dishes. We will try to mainly focus on healthy clean eating at Deptford.

Why Deptford?

As a young teenager I was raised in Greenwich, Lewisham and Brockley. Every Saturday I'd be dragged by my mum, kicking and screaming, down to Deptford high street market to get speciality, caribbean food products. Seeing the fantastic regeneration of the area and seeing our arch for the first time, gave me a feeling of coming back home. It's a great site and great location and we want to fully ingrain Mama's Jerk into the local community by offering our unique style of food, look and service.