About Bananas
Built in the old plantation style with shingled walls and wooden shutters, Bananas exudes character and style and is full of shabby chic touches, iron day beds, ornate chandeliers hanging down from rustic galvanised roofing and antique kilims on Nevis stone flooring.
The dining terrace overlooks the lush gardens with the Caribbean sea visible through the Palm trees. Come early for dinner and enjoy the sunset from our stunning new “firefly lounge’ with one of our signature Passion fruit martinis.
Featuring International Comfort food with a good dash of Caribbean thrown in our menu is both eclectic and mouthwatering. If your feeling like a taste of something local, we have the largest selection of creative Caribbean dishes on the Island.
We also have a large selection of Old Rums (including our own home made Banana Rum} plus the Cuban Cigars to go with them.
Our Cute west Indian chattel house Gift Shop is chock block full of interesting finds from around the globe…and our original Art on the walls is purely Caribbean.
Bananas
How It All Started
I get asked ALL THE TIME how I ended up in Nevis..Here it is in a nutshell leaving out all the gory bits….
I have lived an extremely nomadic life ..trained as a classical dancer, but far too fond of pies. From the age of 16 after spending the summer dancing in a nightclub in Crete, going on dates with Bouzouki players, I was hooked on travel.
The next 16 years were spent dancing around the world in various dodgy locations. Working with an Argentine folklore group in Istanbul was a highlight, after losing that job, due to having a cracked rib, I funded my ticket out of there selling carpets to unsuspecting tourists in the Grand Bazaar..this might give you a clue as to what Bananas actually refers to……my state of mind!
After 16 years as a Professional dancer and performing some seriously great “gigs” and some rather “interesting’ ones..I decided it was taking too much effort to continue fitting into my G String…so I continued my itinerant lifestyle by going into the hotel business..starting as a chamber maid and working my way very quickly up to Management level.
Landing in Nevis in 1998 (en route from St Martin to Cape Town) I discovered Ozzie Tyson’s Bar in Cotton Ground, and I turned his rum shop into a cute little bistro. I had always been a foodie and using a dog eared Delia Smith cookery book and a pile of “Bon Appetite” magazines I created a black board menu. Unbelievably my customers both ate and even paid for the food. Bananas was born. I had begged and borrowed everything and started my business on a shoe string… I did everything my self on a single burner gas stove. It was the most challenging thing I have ever done (aside from topless ice-skating in South Korea)..but the stars were aligned for me at that moment.
Now of course I have a large family of great people working for me, some of whom have been with me from the start . After several years of renting I took a chance & bought the land up here in Hamilton in 2005 and built a permanent home for Bananas and my menagerie of rescue dogs. … It has been an extremely challenging 18 years..and without the help of many people the business would not have survived. However it has more than survived it has thrived.
I believe there is a great difference between service and hospitality..at Bananas we want you to know that our welcome is genuine..and we are truly happy to serve you regardless of whether the knives and forks are in the right place.
If by chance I’m not here when you are visiting, don’t worry, I have the best team on the Island, you will be well looked after. Our food is fresh and tasty and prepared by an extremely hard working team of local staff who learnt their Culinary skills from a rather crazy ex Can Can dancer…yes its just “Bananas” !