Founded by three brothers, recently established food business the Brekkfuss Klubb has been creating quite a stir among foodies, so much so that it has had to extend its menu to include brunch and lunch.
Shamar Jack, Kevin Ordonez and Mark Debarros are not biological brothers but they have developed a bond through their shared academic journey, beginning as students at St Joseph High and now at the University of Guyana, where Ordonez and Debarros are second-year Biology students, while Jack, who is in his first year, is an International Relations major.
In an interview with the Stabroek Weekend, Jack revealed that the Brekkfuss Klubb was initially supposed to be established at UG last year with breakfasts catering for students and lecturers. However, the reality of COVID-19 delayed their plans and the business was finally opened on February 16 this year.
“As it relates to the conception of the business, I won’t take all the credit for it. It was a collective effort to make it happen. [However] I came up with the name for the business after the popular [1985] movie, The Breakfast Club,” Jack said.
He had left for Trinidad right out of high school and he first worked at Ravi’s Hot Buns. He was later employed at a restaurant called Samurai, where he honed his culinary skills. When he returned to Guyana two years later he worked at the Royal Restaurant Teppanyaki & Sushi at the Princess Ramada Hotel before deciding that he wanted to be self-employed. He and his brothers then decided to go into business together.
Stumped by the arrival of the pandemic, they used the time to find all the necessary utensils and reached out to investors, some of whom are close friends from school who run their own businesses. Jack does the cooking, while Ordonez and Debarros take on the responsibilities of delivery and finances.
The preparation of the meals is done at Debarros’s home in Georgetown. Jack, who lives at Diamond, East Bank Demerara, leaves home at 5 am every day and gets there between 5.30 am and 6 am, by which time Debarros has the dough kneaded and waiting on him.
The breakfast menu has banana and chocolate pancakes that can be served with sides, like eggs, sausage stew, barbecue and stir-fried soya chunks or tuna salad; cheesy French toast; ‘Chunky Lion’ filled with barbecue soya chunks and sweet potato chips; grilled cheese made with garlic bread; and chicken and fish sausages. The choice of beverage includes green tea; bush tea; hot or cold cocoa; and ‘Courage’, a Brekkfuss Klubb original, which is a mixture of coffee and porridge. Jack said Courage is a popular beverage. Fresh fruit juice is also on offer. The most popular breakfast meals are cheesy French toast, bake and saltfish/salt shark and pancakes.
For brunch and lunch, the menu includes chicken and chips, fish and chips, pasta Alfredo, vegetable rice and vegetable chowmein. To cater for vegetarians, all meats are cooked separately and not mixed into the pasta or rice. Jack said they also cater for Muslims, while noting that he specially orders all his meat from a Muslim supplier. For now as it relates to meat, there is fish, chicken, eggs, and sausages. There are plans to have beef added to the list in time.
All of the pasta is made from scratch. There is a passion fruit pancake syrup that is also freshly made, which is a big hit with customers. The entrepreneurs are working towards marketing a pancake mix and the passion fruit syrup.
As time progresses, Jack will unleash more of his culinary skills and he said that sushi will be on that menu in the future.
At present the Brekkfuss Klubb mainly delivers around central Georgetown though from time to time there are orders from outer Georgetown areas. Jack explained that right now, the business can only deliver by way of bicycle. He noted that they are working on having a motor vehicle as well as a delivery man to include customers living outside of the city.
With the assistance of his co-owners, Jack said everything is “pitch-perfect” at the moment. He added that because they work in harmony, there is no struggle in what they do. Since they opened for business in February, their customers have been increasing. Each new week there are new customers, Jack said. Though not any time soon, there are plans to have a dinner menu available as people are already asking for this.
Jack shared that they are working towards eventually having a business that offers a 24/7 service to cater for people working the night shift like telemarketers, security guards and taxi drivers as well as partygoers. He is certain there is a market out there for a 24-hour food service and it just needs to be tapped into.
The Brekkfuss Klubb can be followed on Instagram and Facebook; orders can be placed at 647-0151.
