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Jinnie didn’t like to impose on Izzy’s cooking skills while they were in Barbados. It was her holiday as well as everyone else’s, but she still willingly did more than her fair share of childminding. Consequently, Jinnie was getting the evening meal delivered from DKL as often as possible. They had ordered in roast beef, chicken, pasta, rotis, pizza and gammon. The day after having the gammon, she and Izzy had made sandwiches with the leftovers and they had headed over to the twins’ favourite beach on the Atlantic coast. Simone, Jan and Juliette had been delighted to see how different the other side of the island was. Paolo warned them that the sea was not safe for swimming, with strong undertows. But the beach was fabulous and paddling was OK, even if the water wasn’t as warm as the Caribbean side of the island.
In the car back to the villa, Willie suddenly said, “Mummy, when are we going to the Continental for dinner? Their rack of lamb is the best.” Jinnie, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, half turned and said, “Actually, we are going tomorrow, but I was trying to keep it quiet as a surprise for our guests, so please don’t tell them. We are also going to try the best restaurants at the Ennios St James. We have never eaten there, but the hotel manager tells me that the food is very good and invited me to try it when I visited at the beginning of our holiday.” “Do we have to get dressed up?” asked Millie. “Well, you will need to look nice, just like you do when you go to the Continental.” Izzy said, “You could put on your favourite dress. I have kept the new one you brought from England for the Continental.” “Izzy, you knew and didn’t tell us,” said Willie. “Your mummy told me when we were organising the menus,” replied Izzy. “We worked out what we needed to order and when, so it was all delivered at the right time and we got things that everybody would eat. We also decided what things to get delivered for breakfasts, like cereals, eggs, bread and croissants.”
***
The twins were ready early to go to the Continental. Millie had the new dress on, and Willie had black long trousers and a white shirt. When Granny saw them, she said, “Don’t you two look smart. You put me and your Grandad to shame.” They were joined first by Izzy and then by the French contingent. They were still waiting for Paolo and Jinnie when the gate intercom buzzer sounded and Willie called upstairs, “Hurry up, Mummy, the taxis are here.” Earlier there had been a discussion about who was going to drive and how many cars they needed. It had been resolved only when James had suggested that they get taxis, which would allow everyone, except the children, to have a drink or two.
The group spread themselves into the three cabs and set off on the short trip to the Continental, where the uniformed doorman quickly stepped forward to open the taxi doors and let them out. The party gathered on the pavement as Paolo and James decided who was going to pay for the rides. The receptionist recognised them immediately and said, “Good evening, it’s lovely having you all back with us.”
As usual, they were shown to a large table by the greeter and settled into their places by the waiting staff. With a leather-bound menu in front of her, Simone said, “This is a beautiful restaurant, so elegant, from the pressed white tablecloths to the place settings, the silverware and sparkling glasses. It is wonderful.” Jinnie replied, “Yes, it looks good, but I think a restaurant lives or dies by the quality of its food. Let’s see what you think after we have finished eating.”
The twins, as usual, chose tomato soup, rack of lamb and a banana split. Juliette, who had been talking to the twins, ordered the same. Simone said, “What a fantastic menu. I’m going to have the veal chop in wild mushroom sauce, with olive oil mash and market vegetables.” “I think I might have the same,” said Jinnie. “And me,” said Izzy. Mrs Walsh chose an individual corn-fed roast poussin with roast potatoes, stuffing and market vegetables, while the men all went for fillet steak.
Willie asked, “Mummy, what is poussin?” “It’s a little chicken. You get the whole thing, so Granny will get a whole tiny roast chicken with two wings and two legs,” Jinnie replied. “I can’t remember seeing it on Uncle Alberto’s menu. We might have had it instead of spag bol. We like roast chicken,” said Willie. “He sometimes has ‘Galletto’ on the menu,” said Paolo, “that’s its name in Italian. You have learnt a new Italian word today.” “So have I,” said Jinnie. Millie said, “I thought that was ice cream,” to much laughter.
When the waiter came to take the dessert order, he announced, “We have Crêpes Suzette as a special today, prepared at the table.” “Oh yes please,” said Juliette, prompting Millie to say, “I thought you were going to have banana split.” “But I adore crêpes and it is too good to miss.”
Simone sipped her coffee and said, “Well, after that meal I would have expected nothing less. That is good coffee. It’s no wonder that this restaurant is so full, it is very good.” “When we first bought it, it was less than half the size it is today,” explained Jinnie. “From the very start trade was good, but its reputation under the old ownership wasn’t very good. The food was decent, but the place was in desperate need of renovation and the service was poor. We got it cheaply because the previous owner was, to put it bluntly, a crook. We closed it, redecorated and refurbished it, retrained all the staff in silver service and held a huge launch party. Soon we had a full restaurant for months ahead, so we bought the gents’ outfitters next door and knocked through, and we even have tables on the first floor next door, but we can still sell every table twice a night.”
“It must make a lot of money,” said Jan. “It’s surprising you haven’t opened another branch.” “In a way we have,” said Jinnie. “We have two delivery kitchens on the island, and they do a fantastic trade. But I feel that a second restaurant on the island would eat into this one’s customer base. We have opened several more Continentals, but on other islands, in Florida and in Canada. The only places we have more than one are Florida, Antigua and soon-to-be Canada. Florida and Canada have big cities that can cope with a restaurant, and Antigua is a special case. We have a restaurant that only serves people from Carnival Group cruise ships who come on a special excursion.”
“Would you open a Continental in France?” asked Simone. “No,” replied Jinnie. “This is our chain for the Americas. We have the Trattoria Trevi chain in Europe, but it is really an Italian restaurant. We are currently looking at opening in France, but we have decided to change the name and to sell a more ‘European’ menu, so in France it currently has the working name of Epicurean Bistro. The first one is to be at our vineyard in Bordeaux and we will have a similar menu to here, with dishes from all over the Continent.” “I hope you come to Nice,” said Simone. “And free Poland,” said Jan.
***
“Mummy,” asked Willie over breakfast, “how many more days is Juliette staying?” “Five days, why?” asked Jinnie. “Well, you said we were going to have dinner at the Ennios,” said Willie. “But you didn’t mention Anderson’s.” “You’re right. We are all going to the Ennios St James the day after tomorrow,” answered Jinnie. “And we are going to Anderson’s tomorrow evening. Is that OK?” “Yes,” said Willie. “We have been telling her about the yummy coconut shrimp, and we didn’t want her to go home without trying it.”
That morning Granny and Grandad stayed home by the pool and everyone else ventured into Bridgetown shopping and sightseeing. Jinnie, Izzy and Simone were dropped off at Broad Street, the main shopping street. While the rest drove on to sightsee, they went to the Pelican Island monument, which Paolo explained commemorated an offshore island that was joined to the main island when the deep-water port was constructed. The spoil from the dredging was used to infill the gap between the two islands. The container storage area was constructed later when the depth of the harbour was increased.
They drove to the port gates, from where they could see two cruise ships in port, and Millie explained, “This is where we sail from on our Christmas holidays.” Then they went to see the Kensington Oval cricket ground, the Barbados Museum and finally Rockley Beach, where they went to the big Aunty JoJo’s and met up with the ladies for lunch. The children all went for chicken burgers and then had artisan donuts, which Millie said were lush.
The children liked the donuts so much that Jinnie bought two assorted boxes of 12. Jan asked, “Can we have them for dessert tonight? They all look so good, even the ring donuts.” “I think we could manage that,” said Jinnie. “Goodie,” said Willie. Back at the villa, it was decided not to go to the beach, but to spend the afternoon around the pool and to have a barbecue for dinner. While the children were in and out of the pool, Paolo checked out the enormous gas barbecue that was stored in the pool house. Jinnie and Izzy popped to the nearest supermarket and returned with a selection of steaks, lamb chops, chicken pieces, sausages, burgers, rolls and a load of prepared mixed salad.
While Paolo got busy cooking the meat, Izzy and Jinnie laid out a table in the shade of the pool house with the plates, napkins, knives and forks, salad and rolls. Willie said, “Mummy, I think if he was here, Larry would be lying under that table waiting for a bit of chicken.” “Yes, he would,” replied Jinnie, “and I know who would be the first to feed him.” Millie asked, “Why does Daddy only cook when we have a barbecue?” and couldn’t understand when all the adults laughed.
Willie finally wiped the last traces of butter from a hot sausage bap from his chin and said, “That was good. I liked the steak. I might have it next time we go out to dinner. Now I want a donut with chocolate icing.” “Somehow I guessed that would be your and Millie’s choice,” said Izzy, “so I got extra ones of them.”
Simone said, “That was an excellent meal. We haven’t got a barbecue at home. Perhaps we should get one. We could have pool parties up on the roof.” “That would be nice,” replied Juliette, “but please don’t let Daddy cook. He is not good. As you English say, he could burn water.” “What does that mean?” asked Millie.
***
The next day was a beach day and, as the children played noisily on the sea edge with Paolo, Jan and James, the ladies sat in the shade and Jinnie said to Simone, “I have had an email back from Rick and he is more than happy to meet with you when you get home. He has been looking at several hotels along the coast and would love your input. But I have been thinking a little more. How do you feel about working for the Trattoria Trevi Group? As I have told you, we are looking to expand several of our chains into Europe, starting with France.”
Jinnie continued, “I want chains of Epicurean Bistros, SuperBurger and Aunty JoJo’s selling our own artisan donuts and Franks Ice Cream, as well as Ennios Hotels, maybe even dark kitchens. How would you like to be our permanent French agent, sorting out potential property, finding franchisees, sorting out translation problems and making sure we follow the local laws? I think we might need to set up a small French office and, with modern communications, it could easily be in Nice.”
Simone thought for a moment and said, “In some respects that wouldn’t be a lot different from what I do now. But it would mean a lot more travel, but Jan is away a lot, and we have Juliette to think about.” Jinnie said, “But your parents live in Nice. I bet they would love to help with Juliette. She is growing up fast and I bet she would love to spend an odd night or two with her grandparents and be spoiled rotten.” Simone said, “I would love to say yes, but I need to consult Jan and Juliette and, if they agree, I then need to talk to Mum and Dad. I don’t want to just dump Juliette on them. At the moment, I am convinced, provided we can work out a contract.”
“Sorting out a contract will be easy,” said Jinnie. “We pay top wages, we have a management bonus scheme that last year paid 10% of the annual salary, we have a non-contributory management pension scheme, and of course you would get a company car. At the level I would see you, it would be a Citroën C5, probably an Aircross.” “Really?” said Simone. “Jan and I were only discussing a new car shortly before we came on holiday. Jan wanted a C5, but we decided we couldn’t afford it and this holiday, so a new car is on the back burner for a while.”
***
After their standard snack lunch in Anderson’s, it was decided to return to the villa and spend the afternoon by the pool as the children wanted to swim. Mr and Mrs Walsh retired for a siesta, Jan and Simone disappeared for a chat, Izzy dropped into the pool with the kids and a beach ball. Paolo fetched a bottle of Banks from the pool house fridge and settled in the shade before promptly falling asleep. Jinnie checked her watch and decided that it was a good time to update Alberto on her thinking.
Alberto answered his mobile, saying, “Good morning, Jinnie, or is it afternoon where you are?” “Hello, Alberto,” replied Jinnie. “It’s a beautiful sunny afternoon here and I’m sitting on the patio watching the kids splashing in the pool.” “It sounds idyllic,” said Alberto. “Please tell the twins Uncle Alberto says ‘hello’. Now what can I do for you? You wouldn’t be phoning from your holiday if you didn’t want something.”
Jinnie chuckled and said, “Well, this time I don’t really want anything. I just wanted to tell you about something I have decided.” Alberto listened while Jinnie explained how she had offered her friend Simone a job as their French agent and what she would do and how it would be a cross-division job. Alberto said, “I assume she is fluent in English and French.” “Yes,” replied Jinnie, “and German and Polish.” “I don’t think we are likely to need a German speaker for a while, but the way the Free Polish Forces are rolling up the Germans, I can see a market developing there.” “I have been thinking about that,” said Jinnie. “If we don’t get in there quickly, the Americans will, and we will be fighting McDonald’s, Popeyes and KFC for franchises. From what I saw in Poland, I think we should be thinking about it now. Many of the big cities are free now and have been for some time. OK, it is still under military rule, but it is very benevolent. We could be opening in Warsaw, Gdańsk, Gdynia, Łódź, Poznań and Lublin tomorrow.”
“I didn’t know things were that far advanced,” said Alberto. “Oh, but it is,” replied Jinnie. “Places like Gdańsk are so calm that my friend and her husband took their eleven-year-old daughter there to visit her Polish grandparents last Easter.” “So, Simone is Polish,” said Alberto. “No. She is French,” said Jinnie, “but her husband is Polish. He works for the Free Polish Forces and could be very useful to use if we must talk to the military authorities.” “So are you proposing employing him as well?” asked Alberto. “No,” replied Jinnie, “but we could use him as a free agent.”
***
Jinnie had finished her call and was happy her plan had met with Alberto’s approval, and that meant it would go ahead as the board invariably approved a plan put forward by her and Alberto. She settled back to watch the children playing before seeing Simone and Jan walking across the grass from the garden house. Simone was grinning from ear to ear. She sat down next to Jinnie and said, “Jan and I have just phoned my parents, and it’s decided. I’m putting in my notice as soon as I get home and I will be happy to join you if the offer still stands.”
“Of course it stands,” said Jinnie, “and I am delighted that you are joining us. Now I have been thinking and had a chat with the group chairman back in the U.K. We have decided that we also want to open in Poland and we intend to do so just as soon as the French operation is up and running, and we can also use you there. In fact, we might need Jan’s occasional assistance, which we will be more than happy to pay for.” “Really?” said Jan. “Absolutely,” replied Jinnie. “I’m sure you have loads of contacts in the military administration.”
A soaking wet Millie arrived at Jinnie’s side and grabbed a big fluffy towel from the pile. Jinnie saw her shiver and started drying her off vigorously. Soon her teeth had stopped chattering, and she disappeared into the pool house to take off her wet swimming costume and put on shorts and a tee shirt, only to see Izzy, Willie and Juliette heading towards the pile of towels. Izzy said, “I think I stayed in a bit too long, I’m a bit chilly.” “I’m freezing,” said Willie.
With the children all clothed again and playing on Nintendo Switch 2s, Simone said, “Juliette, I’ve got something to tell you. I’m going to work for Aunty Jinnie’s company. We are going to be setting up their businesses in France, hotels, restaurants, burger bars, chicken shacks, everything.” Juliette sat and thought for a moment before asking, “Will we get a discount?” “I don’t know,” said Simone, “that’s something I didn’t ask Aunty Jinnie.” Jinnie smiled and said, “Yes, of course. You only need to show your staff card in any of the company outlets and you get an automatic 20% discount.”
Willie thought for a moment before asking, “So you get a discount whenever we eat at Uncle Alberto’s or we order from DKL or stay at an Ennios Hotel?” “Well yes,” said Jinnie. “So we can have something expensive next time we go to Uncle Alberto’s,” replied Willie. “You could, but you always have tomato soup, spaghetti bolognese and a banana split,” said Jinnie. “Next time we might have steak,” replied Willie. “We liked that steak that Daddy cooked at the barbecue.”
***
Saturday was changeover day. Her parents and Simone, Jan and Juliette were going home on the same Virgin flight, and Penny, Dan and George were arriving. The twins were sorry to see Juliette going, as they had all got on well despite her being a bit older than them. But they were really looking forward to seeing their aunt and uncle, but it was George who they were most excited about. They always had huge fun with him.
As Jinnie drove her guests to the airport, she suddenly said, “Simone, you need to meet our directors. Sensibly you should come over to Britain where I can introduce you to everyone. But it would have to be for a few days as several of the main board directors don’t work out of Potters Bar and only visit for board meetings, so it would mean going to them. Then it struck me you probably need to give notice, so we are looking at maybe a month from Monday at the earliest. So that takes us into October. Now we have a week’s school holiday, usually the last week in October. Do you have anything similar?”
“Yes,” replied Simone, “we have the ‘All Saints’ break’. It is the last week in October and the first week in November.” “That’s perfect,” said Jinnie. “The three of you can come and stay the last week in October when the twins are off school. I have plenty of room in the house to put you all up. It is business, so you can charge the air fares to the company, business class of course. You and I can spend a few days visiting directors and a few days sightseeing with the family. I want to introduce Jan to our chairman, Alberto. It is better they know each other if we need to use him in Poland. Izzy will look after the children while we are working. One more is not difficult for her, and the twins will be happy to see Juliette again so soon.”
Mrs Walsh had been listening intently and said, “You must all come over to dinner one of the days. James may not be there. Parliament is sitting and on some days they sit till late.” James said, “Make it the Friday. We only sit on Fridays if it’s an emergency. I hold my constituency surgery on Friday morning.” “A couple of things while I think about it. Late October can be cold and wet, so bring woollies and anoraks. Also swimming costumes, we have use of our neighbour’s indoor pool. And one other thing, do you like football? If so, I will ask Paolo if he can get use of the embassy’s box at Arsenal.” “Oh yes please,” said Juliette. “I play for Nice Ladies under 12s.”
Jinnie parked the Nissan Noah in the short-stay car park and paid B$3.50 for three hours’ parking, once more marvelling at how cheap it was, before heading over to Departures and the Virgin check-in, where they discovered the incoming flight was on time. Jinnie kissed everyone goodbye as they disappeared through the door to check in. Alone, she walked over to Arrivals and, having noted the incoming flight was now showing ten minutes early, she went to find a coffee.
It was then that she noticed an Artisan Donuts outlet with a short queue. Out of interest, she walked over and saw that there was an offer on a regular coffee and a donut, and that was what most people were buying. Jinnie joined the fast-moving queue and was pleasantly surprised when the girl serving didn’t hesitate for a moment when she presented her staff card and debit card. Jinnie asked, “Do you get many staff cards?” The girl replied, “All the time. There are so many TT SuperBurger companies on the island that I see them every day.”
Jinnie found a seat and settled to drink her coffee and eat her lemon meringue donut, people-watching and thinking while waiting for her next guests. Jinnie was thinking about the Artisan Donuts outlet. It had been busy, surely it was making good money. Jinnie pulled out her mobile and rang Leah and said, “Hi Leah, I’m at the airport to pick up some visitors and I have just bought an Artisan Donut and coffee. I was impressed, good coffee, an excellent donut and perfect service, but I was surprised you didn’t mention the outlet in Arrivals when we did the review a couple of weeks ago.”
“But I did, boss,” said Leah. “I said we had three, soon to be four, shops. Well, that is the fourth, but it’s only been open nine days.” “But the girl who served me didn’t act like she was new,” said Jinnie. “Was she tall and thin with long wavy hair?” asked Leah, “because I moved her from central Bridgetown and made her manager. She is good, too good to be serving behind a counter. I have my eye on her for potential management. Which reminds me, that girl you asked us to interview, Violet Gibson. She was very impressive, good school record and exams, spoke well, wasn’t intimidated being interviewed by a board and had a personality. I don’t know why one of the big companies didn’t offer her a job. Gracie, me and Jorja decided to take her on immediately. We are designing a management training course for Bearcat Caribbean, and she will be the first. Maybe I will add in Naomi from the donut outlet.”
“I like your thinking,” said Jinnie. “Can I suggest you get HR to talk to group HR in England? They have a management training programme which you could adapt. It moves trainees around different group companies, and we have had a lot of good results. A person who is awful in fine dining can be excellent in a hotel, it’s just finding the right spot for them. And I can tell you why no one picked her up. The big companies only interview someone whose application the computer passes, and she wouldn’t get past the initial sift because she was looking to work in hospitality and had no experience.”
“But I had a thought about the Artisan Donut outlet,” added Jinnie. “I suggest you have a look at the cruise terminal. Have somewhere to sit and free Wi-Fi and you’ll make a fortune. The Wi-Fi on board the ships isn’t cheap and many passengers come ashore to get free Wi-Fi in a bar. The bar staff only tell them the passcode when they buy a drink. We could do the same, but with a coffee and a donut. I am going to suggest we do the same in the U.K., airports, seaports and railway terminals. I think we could have hit on something.”
“I’m looking up Barbados Ports on Google right now,” said Leah. “I want to know if they have any empty shops in the cruise terminal. If not, perhaps they have a waiting list we can join.” “I look forward to buying a coffee and a donut when we are cruising at Christmas,” came the reply from Jinnie.
Chapter 22, New Visitors
© WorthingGooner 2026
