By Rhoma Spencer

Born in Dublin to an Irish mother and the very popular Trinidadian HIV Doctor, Professor Courtnay Bartholomew (deceased), Finbar ‘Barry’ Bartholomew, Trinidad and Tobago’s celebrity Chef comes to Toronto for the Canadian Premiere of his nephew, Adam Bartholomew’s film, Panazz: The Story, where he trades his Chef hat for that of being the Film’s Co Director/ Producer.

The young Barry inherited his mother’s cooking skills and his father’s signature curry beef as both parents were very good cooks. This must have been the inspiration for his chosen career path as a Chef, a vocation that came as an afterthought when he walked away from Panazz Steelpan Ensemble some 20 plus years ago. A band he co founded with Yohan Popwell to compete in Pan Ramajay. However, long before the music, Barry has been turning his hands in the kitchen creating gastronomical pleasures for friends and family.

He soon resigned his job as a banker to concentrate fully on his musical career with Panazz Players. A phenomenon at the time, Panazz Players quadruple winning success at the Pan Ramajay competition had placed them a cut above the rest.

Their first international gig came when they represented Trinidad and Tobago in London at the World Trade Festival. This was followed up with their participation at Midem, an international music fair in France. The impact made there, garnered interest for international tours. Disney came calling and so did the Boston Symphony. This was all carefully coordinated under the meticulous management of Lisa Ghany and Barry Tom Yew.

From the very first selection of “Misty” and “Rainorama” at Pan Ramajay, Panazz now had a repertoire of music, both local and international covers to headline their own concert at the Boston Symphony. They played to sold out audiences rising to their feet with standing ovations. Now with all these accolades, came individual stars in the band that were receiving contracts as soloists. This soon put a challenge on the ensemble, making it difficult to stay together when individuals may be in different parts of the world.

Barry as its cofounder with members of the band took the position to disband the ensemble rather than replace musicians. An unpopular act for some members when at a time it seemed the band was at the height of its popularity and international success.  Now without a job, he focused his attention on a second career, and immediately packed his bags headed for Rockport, Maine to study Video Production. This vocation did not gel with Barry and after some discussion with his family, he informed them of his choice to study cooking which they unanimously endorsed.

He enrolled in the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) in New York. However, school for Barry was just a playground, the real test of time in the industry came by working in the culturally diverse kitchens of New York City. From Tabla, a French Indian Cuisine Restaurant where he spent his entire first week cutting volumes of onions, Baton Rouge with its Southern American cuisine to a Jamaican Soul Restaurant in Brooklyn which gave him his true experience of restaurant management. 

With sufficient cooking experience in New York, Barry thought of returning home. The weather made the decision even more urgent and Barry returned to Trinidad. His interest in street foods and international dishes, spicy, Asian, Indian and local cuisines appeals to him most, and this would be his contribution to the culinary scene at home.

A chance appeal for breakfast at 11am on Carnival Monday for Nicky Minaj turned to a dinner for six as Chef Finbar was not about to go shopping for breakfast materials on Carnival Monday when most places are closed.  By Carnival Tuesday, a party of six turns to forty with the likes of Machel Montano and Destra being a part of the lunch crew, and subsequently Nicky’s tweet of Chef Finbar’s curry being the best curry she ever tasted in her life.

A Digital Chef if ever there was such a profession, Barry’s popularity came during the lockdown, when upscale restaurants in Trinidad were forced to close their doors due to the pandemic. He literally came out of retirement to provide pop up meals once a week to patrons from his Industrial Kitchen location. These patrons took to social media to expound on the goodness of his food and before long @ChefFinbar was trending on the social media and Barry became a  gastronomic influencer.

It is the improvisational skills of his pan playing days with which Panazz finds its way in his menus. Food to Chef Finbar is creating a vision for a dish, so a meal he prepared last year would not be the same this year because he would have improved on its taste to maximize its flavours, giving his clients something to talk about. They surely have, and continue to do so through all the social media platforms, making Chef Finbar, Trinidad and Tobago’s top  Chef.

He will be in town for the Canadian Premiere of Panazz: The Story. A film by Adam Bartholomew on Tuesday August 6 at 7pm at the Royal Cinema on College Street. Book ending the Toronto Carnival and heralding the city’s commemoration of the UN World Steelpan Day on August 11.

Canadian-Caribbean Arts Network (C-CAN) collaborates with Borden Place Inc. and Food Equity Every Day Inc. (iFEED) to present this Canadian Premiere, and promises a pan around the neck and tamboo bamboo band entertainment courtesy Pan Fantasy and D Farmers Rhythm Section as patrons wait in queue outside the cinema. Tickets for the Premiere can be obtained online at eventbrite.ca. Follow them on socials @Panazzthestory.

Rhoma Spencer is a Toronto based actor, director, playwright and comedian.