A taste of the Caribbean

Island Jamz restaurant opens in Keyport.

Neil and Theresa Chiddick are adding a little Caribbean spice to Keyport.

The Gig Harbor couple, along with their children Nigel and Lisa, opened Island Jamz Caribbean Restaurant on State Highway 308 just past Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Keyport earlier this month.

“Keyport seems very happy to have us here,” Neil said. “We’ve been encouraged by the support of the community.”

The authentic Caribbean restaurant is the only one of its kind in the area, according to Neil, and serves up jerk chicken, calypso kabobs, pelau and Trinidad crab cakes, along with many other authentic Caribbean dishes.

Neil moved to Washington from Trinidad and Tobago in 1988 to join his brother and play steel drum music. Neil said music has always been a big part of his life and he now leads the eight-person Island Jamz Steel Drum Orchestra, which plays at Island Jamz Caribbean Restaurant every weekend.

Live reggae music fills the Keyport restaurant Friday nights. Soca, a form of dance music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from calypso music, is played by the band Saturday nights and easy listening steel drum music is played on Sundays.

Neil said the band plays music earlier in the evening than they would in the Caribbean so people will actually be awake to listen to it.

“People go to bed very early here,” he said with a smile. “That’s the time in the Caribbean you want to go party.”

The Chiddicks have owned and operated Island Jamz for eight years, but only did catering and entertainment until they opened the Keyport restaurant. Neil said they sold food at farmers markets and people wanted to know where to buy their food when the markets closed, so he and his wife decided a restaurant was the next step.

“Farmers markets are very seasonal and people wanted to know where they could get our food during winter,” Neil said. “This was the exact thing we had in mind to do.”

Island Jamz Caribbean Restaurant’s executive chef Lydia Rowell moved from Texas to work at the restaurant. She has worked with the Chiddicks and their catering business for a number of years, but made the move to Washington when the restaurant opened.

“They made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,” she said with a smile.

Rowell trained in Trinidad and Tobago, England and Washington, D.C. She said Island Jamz Caribbean Restaurant serves an all-you-can-eat Sunday brunch buffet and people seem to enjoy the food.

“The people are loving the food,” she said. “The basics are the jerks and the curries, but they’re experimenting with other things.”

Neil said they decided to open Island Jamz Caribbean Restaurant in the former Continental Inn building in Keyport because they have catered and provided entertainment at military events on Naval Base Kitsap, so the close proximity to NUWC Division Keyport and Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor seemed like a good fit.

“The military knows a little bit about us already,” Neil said.

Island Jamz will cater and/or provide entertainment at any size event and travel as far as Oregon. The Keyport restaurant also offers a large space for meetings, banquets and parties when requested.

“You can get a hot dog or hamburger anywhere, but to get our food you need to come here,” Neil said.

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