Victoria's roti compared with T&T

Victoria’s taste for Real Trini Roti is Infectious

By William Doyle-Marshall

Dosti roti, naan, chapati, pepper roti are mere names to the average Trinidadian. Jeffrey and Nirmala Singh, the owners of Trini to De Bone Restaurant in Saanich, Victoria in British Columbia are committed to introducing western Canada to the taste of real Trini roti like paratha (buss up shot) and dhalpourie. Saanich, British Columbia is quite a distance from Curepe in Trinidad and Tobago. Should you peruse the web for the city of Victoria there are lots of outlets named with the Caribbean sobriquet but there are only two which stand out in actuality. Why? They are named after two popular Caribbean compositions – Trini to De Bone and Stir It Up.

   Trini to De Bone celebrated its third anniversary in January. Jeffrey announces proudly that he came directly from Curepe to Victoria. But it was not his intention to open a Roti Shop. In retrospect he calls it a ‘funny story’. Eight years ago Jeffrey was sitting in his favourite chair, reading the morning news after enjoying a fresh cup of hot coffee in his living room in Curepe.

Jeffrey & Nirmala provide delightful Roti dishes

“I was going through the Express and as I reached the classified I saw they needed roofers in Canada and I was a retired roofer in Trinidad so I said this could be an opportunity to see the world so I applied for that job and I got the position and the company that I applied to brought me over on two-year work permit,” he reported. During the first month in Victoria, he had the Trini taste still in his mouth and couldn’t get anything to compare it to. “I kept telling my wife they need a Trini restaurant here to show them what the food is about.”

Six years ago recession struck in America and later reached Canada. That affected Jeffrey’s work in the construction industry. Without work the taste for Trini food continued haunting him even more. So he decided it was time to do the thing they thought about two years ago. “That’s when I decided to chat with my wife and said ‘let’s try a ting’.“

   Nirmala  natural knack for entertaining friends was apparent. And the new friends they made since arriving in Canada provided the opportunity for pilot projects in a manner of speaking. So those new friends and people from her husband’s company were treated to her creation of  sweet Trini food.”That’s all I can cook and they would always say ‘you guys should open up a restaurant; you would make lots of money.’” School graduation followed and they met some parents and grand-parents who were Trinis and they were privileged to get a taste of Nirmala’s curried chicken. After that pot luck experience the adults started talking about food. In fact she received her first order for dhalpourie Trini to De Bone style.

   “I started doing that for this person and then we had invited his (Jeffrey’s) boss and his family. His mother in law is Trinidadian and they had our food and they started ordering roti from me and that’s where the idea came from. They basically started me off from home. So when he got laid off then he said ‘well, let’s try the restaurant and see how it would work out.’

 While working for the company they end up sponsoring me so I got my residency and so on and about six years ago there was the recession in America. Soon after the American recession it came over to Canada. So as a construction worker the recession affected me because all construction just went down. Construction workers were not getting any work at all.”

   “During that time I was not getting any work because there was no construction work I thought maybe it is time we go and do the thing we thought about two years ago. That’s when I decided to chat with my wife and said ‘let’s try a ting’. “

“When the restaurant started it was excitement being the first Trinidadian restaurant on the island, everyone was excited. I used to go places and people used to be calling me ‘Trini’ and asking me for a roti. So it was exciting being the first and only Trinidadian restaurant on the island, a lot of people had known me and I could go anywhere. I think in the first six months the Times Colonist did an article so when people saw me they would call me ‘Trini to de bone’, I said okay, that’s a good sign.”

Introducing a new business to an island is tough for the first few years. Indeed Jeffrey adds “tough” to the description. Most people who walked through that door wanted to know ‘what is a Trini roti? So I have to describe to them that it is like a flat bread and we put chick peas and whatever inside. They don’t know what a Trini roti is. So I find myself serving two roles – providing a meal in a restaurant and some education. A lot of people say when they come in here they learn a lot about Trinidad because when I describe it to them then I add a little thing about Trinidad, I might say we have the biggest carnival in the world and we invented limbo and calypso and the steel pan. I point to my display in the shop and tell them the steel pan, limbo, carnival, all were invented in Trinidad. They get their lesson right there.”

As summer approaches Jeffrey and Nirmala are looking forward to operating the first ever Trini food truck around the island. They will continue their commitment to introducing real Trini food to Canadians at the various events being staged around Victoria, British Columbia.