Vintage dining was exciting, glamorous and exotic

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

1963: Lady LBustamante meets the hosts. Mrs. Murlin Arner (second left), wife of one of the hosts, presents Lady Bustamante (left) to the co-hosts, Mr. and Mrs M.E. Toppint. The ocasion was the P.A.A sponsored cocktail and dinner party at Blue Mountain Inn in honour of the Regional Labour Board and the US Employers of West Indian Labour.

1958: the chief minister, the Honorable N.W. Manley, escorting Lady Adams to dinner at the Blue Mountain Inn.

The picturesque Myrtle Bank Hotel was destroyed in the 1907 earthquake. However, it was rebuilt in 1909 and was later sold to the United Fruit Company. - File

 

Fine dining back in the day was also about elegant dining. Here are five contestants in the Miss Credit Union 1963 contest at the Myrtle Bank Hotel at a tea party. From left: Prudence chung, Patricia Hanson, Sonia Marks, Lois Monaghan and June Johnson.

 

Guests at a luncheon given by Mr. Abe Issa at the Myrtle Bank Hotel in 1955. They were Mr. and Mrs. L. Burke (right) of Dublin, and Mr. and Mrs. Everard De Lisser (left) of Falmouth

Restaurants of the past were places with branded memories.

• Mitsy Seaga: The Terra Nova Hotel

My favourite dinning experience was The Terra Nova Hotel in the 1960s. The maitre d' was the famous Rock Pavesi. My favourite meal was a cold potato soup with cream and chives vichyssoise, frog legs, crepes Suzette. Jamaica has not seen service and cuisine of that nature since those wonderful days of Rock Pavesi at The Terra Nova. Oh, for the return of those fabulous days!

Dairy products

"I lived at 1 Chelsea Avenue right across from Dairy Products on Half-Way Tree Road.
The building was a very old wooden structure painted green and white. There was no gate and one would drive in or just walk on an old asphalt driveway. At night, mostly lady waitresses would come out to your car and take the order, within minutes they returned with a tray full of all flavours of Dairy Products ice creams, jumbo malts, sundaes, banana splits or just a simple cone.
After you had dined in the car, they very efficiently returned and unhooked the metal tray from your window and off you would go, feeling very satisfied.
I fortunately lived across the road and was just about to enter my teenage years, so my mother would allow my sister and I to cross the street and go for a treat every now and then.
My favourite flavour was cherry, otherwise called strawberry. Those were some of the good old days when we were free to walk on the streets at night without fear."

• Paul Issa: Myrtle Bank Hotel

"I remember as a young boy in the late '50s and early '60s that having lunch at the Myrtle Bank Hotel on Harbour Street was a very big deal. It was the place to see and be seen in Kingston," said businessman and actor Paul Issa."Every day, the Swiss chefs put on a fabulous buffet, known in those days by the Swedish term smorgasbord, consisting of a sumptuous array of hot and cold foods, including lobster and roast beef and all sorts of salads and desserts. All you could eat for 10 shillings and sixpence (which later went up to £1 - then the equivalent of US$2.80. The inflation-adjusted value would probably be something like J$3,000 in today's money). Not cheap, but very good value for money.
Jamaican ladies, wearing hats and gloves in those pre-air-conditioning days, could often be seen having little luncheon parties in the gazebos or summer houses as they were called along the royal palm-lined promenade that led to the swimming pool at the edge of the Kingston waterfront. On the terrace, men in dark suits had business lunches. Hotel guests and cruise-ship passengers mingled with the local gentry and those who aspired to it in a setting that was always exciting, glamorous and exotic.
"The Crossroads of the Caribbean, they called it - the world-famous Myrtle Bank Hotel. If you drive by Harbour Street, not far from the Bank of Jamaica, you can still see some of those tall royal palms standing in a straight line in an overgrown empty lot, leading down to the waterfront.

• Charles Hanna: Blue Mountain Inn

"It would have been unthinkable to plan a trip to Kingston without going to the legendary Blue Mountain Inn, nestled along the Papine Road on the way to Newcastle," said Charles Hanna. "However, it was not a long drive along the river's edge. Once there, there was valet parking if desired and a long wooden walkway lead into the charming white stucco house, which made up the formal restaurant. It also had marvellous gardens which were lit by torches which flamed in the tropical evenings, illuminating the winding river below. It was an atmosphere of old movies from the 1930s; this was chic understated English elegance.
The main rooms were the lounge and dining room which were on a split level and covered with crimson wall-to-wall carpeting. The tables were candle lit. The overstuffed chairs and settees were also red velvet accentuated by the shining and freshly polished mahogany furniture. You could not have been caught dead at the inn unless you were attired in a dark dinner suit or tuxedo and long dresses were the style for the evening.
You were greeted at the door by Mr Black, who seemed to have been there for centuries. Mr Black, many will recall, had a legendary wine shop on North Odeon Avenue and sold the finest French wines. Mr Black in his black tux would warmly welcome you to have a cocktail in the exotic and well-maintained gardens. After that you were summoned to the dining room for a sumptuous dinner.
My favourite was the wonderful and huge chateaubriand with the special béarnaise sauce. It was char grilled on the outside and blue inside. Simply wonderful. Always served with fresh Jamaican vegetables and beautiful soft and sweet plantains. Dessert would be a banana flambé served and flamed at the table with choice old Jamaican rum. The waiters were truly professional and so well trained in this fine art.
The cuisine was clean, uncomplicated and always fresh with a very old world British touch, with some tasty Jamaican items as well. The waiters were so well trained and wore jackets which were starched gleaming white and they were always smiling and charming and called everyone 'my lady'. Gone are those days for sure! The barman was a great old soul who remembered everyone's name and could make any cocktail, even the most rare and complicated drinks.After dinner, you were ushered to your seat by the roaring fireplace and you could all sit in great comfort in plush chairs, coffee was freshly brewed and everyone had a liquor served with delightful petits fours served from a gleaming silver tray with fresh linen doilies. The proprietor was the late Kingston attorney Robert Lake, who acquired it in the late 1950s from its former owner. This was an evening to remember, and I'm sure all old Kingstonians have many fond and delightful memories of it. Many honeymoon nights were spent in these exotic foothills of the Blue Mountains, as it also had a lovely honeymoon suite attached. What a delightful and truly elegant watering hole this was!

• Robert MacMillan: Bruce's Patties

"Bruce's Patties had the reputation of making not only the best patties in Jamaica, but in the entire universe," reminisced businessman Robert MacMillan, who was a regular customer, as his father's cinema, The State, was the patty shop's neighbour.
"Many was the returning traveller whose first stop on arriving back home in Jamaica was a pilgrimage to Bruce's to eat a patty, as if to confirm that they were, indeed, back in town.
"It was there that my father introduced me to Mr Norman Washington Manley, a family friend of the proprietors, the Predergasts. I recall shaking his hand, and even as as a young child, knowing that this was an important and respected person by the solemnity of the introduction and the courtesy and intelligence reflected by his demeanour.
Later on in life, me and some rambunctious schoolmates from Wolmer's would "tief out" from school, back off our epaulets, and enjoy an invented concoction of red peas soup - another specialty of the house - mixed with a hot Red Stripe beer. We christiened this brew 'Furmity', which was an ale which was featured in the book we were studying in literature class, The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy. Bruce's, ahhhhh, sweet memories of carefree days gone by."

• Ranny Bop: Winston Sill

"There were also what we called cold supper shops and they were opened all night, like Ranny Bop. People would come from all over for seasonal Jamaican food like ackee and salt fish," said photographer Winston Sill. Other laid-back eateries included Sombrero on Molynes Road. "They had this fried chicken and a special sauce that most people went for," he said.