Vinton Fletcher

Executive Chef — Usain Bolt’s Tracks and Records

Since opening in April, patrons dining at the Market Place-located Tracks and Records have been enjoying delicious eats created under the supervision of executive chef Vinton Fletcher. Soft-spoken but deftly skilled in the culinary arts, Fletcher was certified an executive chef following two intense years of study (1997-1998) at the Florida Culinary Institute in West Palm Beach, Florida. On his return home, the 44-year-old chef first worked as a senior range cook at Boscobel Beach (now Beaches Boscobel). During his half-decade tenure with the north coast hotel, Fletcher and the food and beverage staff competed in the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission’s (JCDC’s) National Culinary Arts Competition where they scored multiple gold medals for their food creations. Fletcher, too, was recognised by the JCDC, winning an individual gold medal for his stuffed chicken breast with callaloo and sweet potatoes dish.

Seeking more opportunities for personal development, the chef left Boscobel and headed back to the United States for further studies. Immediately after, Fletcher filled a vacancy for a kitchen supervisor at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, staying for a year. He next went to work in Michigan, again as a kitchen supervisor at two establishments — the Lake View Hotel and the Irish Pub — both of which were operated by his employer. Fletcher worked in the Midwestern American state for four years. A homesick feeling brought the Port Maria-born chef back on The Rock and eventually led him to his current job at Tracks and Records.

“There are so many things I love about being in this line of work,” Fletcher tells Thursday Food. Most of all though, he said, he enjoys “when we have a busy night and you send out the full plates and they come back empty”. For him, there’s no greater joy than knowing that a diner’s appetite has been fully satiated. It is, therefore, a shocker for us to discover that Fletcher wanted to become a doctor. “To be honest, that was my dream,” he said. “I did all the sciences but unexpected financial difficulties came up after I finished high school, so I didn’t get to pursue it.” Unable to follow his dream but also eager for work fresh out of school, Fletcher learnt through a friend in the late ’80s of an available job as a delivery man at the now defunct Top Taste Restaurant in Ocho Rios. He landed the job.

In a career ranging from a deliveryman to being the boss in the kitchen, it’s been a long, but ultimately fulfilling journey in the food biz for Fletcher and one that he would not trade for the world. “I’ve travelled a lot and I think Jamaican cuisine is truly exceptional and it’s hitting the world… everywhere you go, restaurants are trying something Jamaican on their menus,” he opined, adding that he was proud to be part of an industry making waves across the globe.