Caribbean cuisine chain prepares two eateries
Source: Detroit News

TROY - A Caribbean breeze will blow into Troy and Livonia this year, helping to inflate Michigan restaurant sales by an estimated 4.9 percent during the next 12 months.

Bahama Breeze, a new restaurant chain from the Darden Restaurants family of casual dining spots that includes Olive Garden and Red Lobster, plans to open in Troy in February and Livonia in early summer, said Rick Walsh, senior vice-president of corporate affairs. “It’s a two-hour vacation in the islands,” Walsh said. “We try to make sure everyone who comes in feels that way.”

The restaurants resemble a Caribbean sugar plantation and will open at 4 p.m. An open kitchen, deck, live music and retail spot with souvenirs are part of the mix.

Along with the usual assortment of servers, cooks, and cashiers, the restaurants also are looking for musicians who can play keyboards, guitar and steel drums.

“Think about the Caribbean - it’s a cultural crossroads,” Walsh said. “The influences are Portuguese, Dutch, Mexican, African.” The menu incorporates that diversity and features tropical pizzas and salads, soups, sandwiches, desserts and drinks, Walsh said. One of Walsh’s favorites is fresh mahi-mahi sealed in parchment and baked in natural juices with sweet peppers, mushrooms and celery. The menu also includes paella, a traditional island casserole with fresh fish, chicken, chorizo sausage, shellfish and rice, and West Indies ribs, slow roasted Dominican style with a carmelized sweet guava glaze. “We have 16 open across the country and all of them are doing extraordinarily well,” Walsh said about the chain, which occupies a niche between casual and fine dining.

Within two years, Walsh expects Darden Restaurants will open two more outlets in the Detroit area. Darden operates more than 1,100 restaurants in North America and all are company owned.

“What we have found in virtually every market is that Bahama Breeze quickly becomes a destination,” he said. “It appeals to a broad demographic.”

That dining-out demographic should remain strong in Michigan and around the country in 2001, according to the National Restaurant Association.

Michigan restaurants are expected to post sales of $10.6 billion this year, a 4.9 increase over 2000.
Source: Detroit News