by TYRONE ROACH in London
AS I WALKED UP the path to a suburban home, I was greeted at the door by the aroma of baking sweet bread.
On opening the door of a converted garage at the home in Croydon in south London, a fully equipped commercial kitchen was in full view.
This was the operation of the United Kingdom 2016 Takeaway Chef Of The Year, Mike Springer – owner of Big Mike’s Calypso Kitchen.
Mike was born in London of Barbadian parents, Delores and Joseph Springer. They returned to Barbados when Michael was aged 11, and he attended Combermere School. His mother’s cooking was his inspiration and his earliest memories were of a house filled with “spellbinding aromas of freshly baked sweet bread and fishcakes”.
On returning to the UK at the age of 19, he went to university and studied business and finance. He then had had a successful career in the insurance field, yet felt the urge to be his own boss. So he embarked on his own venture and started a brokerage in North Wales.
This came about at a challenging time in his life as wife Samantha had just given birth to his first child Daniele. Initially it was tough but his hard work and perseverance paid off.
Seven years ago, Springer give up his job in insurance to take on a new challenge in his life and realise a dream to make a living from food. Describing himself as a foodist, the idea of a takeaway business was born.
Customers within a five-mile radius of his base can order Caribbean food from his Calypso Kitchen website www. mikescalypsokitchen.co.uk/ with expected delivery time within 45 minutes.
He has established a digital relationship with Just Eat, an online food order and delivery service, which he said was pivotal to his business with its extensive database.
Mike is very enthusiastic about his business model. He was keen to emphasise that his strong family unit – wife Samantha and daughters Daniele, now 18, and Lauren, 14 – is what keeps him grounded.
Very much aware of the high level of diabetes in the Caribbean community, Mike uses mostly fresh herbs in his preparation.
“Caribbean cooking has evolved and the need to ‘douse’ our food in oil is no longer necessary as we become accustomed to more healthy options like olive oil,” he said.
He instils in his staff the need to be always professional, courteous and punctual.
In the year ahead, he is hoping to open a restaurant and is looking at distributing Bajan fishcakes nationwide. After all, his signature dish on competition night was Bajan fishcakes.