How a boxer is cooking up Jamaican-inspired storm

A retired boxer who became head chef at his own cafes said running them was very much a family affair.

After an eye injury ended his career early, Warren Richards opened a venue serving Jamaican cuisine at London's Covent Garden in 1993.

He later branched out to Loughton, Essex, in 2020 after his wife and three children helped the Cafe Caribbean brand grow in popularity.

"Any boxer loves food, but not all boxers can cook," Mr Richards told the BBC's Angelle Joseph.

The recipes cooked up by the ex-professional boxer were influenced by his mother's home parish of St Catherine, in Jamaica.

Mr Richards conspired with his wife to build up a menu that covered all tastes, but insisted there was no compromise when it came to authenticity.

"We said we were going to try and keep it as authentic as possible; we weren't going to change for nothing," he said.

The flavours have proved popular with the communities in which they are based, and Mr Richards, who trained as a chef in his late teenage years, said he had his mother to thank.

"She made me go to college... I didn't love it as much as I do now, I was more sporty - either football, rugby or boxing," he explained.

"I was lucky because my mum beat it into me, I could cook for the family when I was 11."

The father-of-four said his Covent Garden venue, which now operates at Old Spitalfields Market, was inspired by a suggestion from a friend.

He added: "When I had an eye injury I stopped, I couldn't fight any more.

"Someone said to me 'why don't you open a restaurant?', so I saw a restaurant on the Friday and I opened it on the Monday."

The head chef said he threw all of his time into making the business a success, later enlisting the help of his family.

"It was hard for the family because I was always at work, working seven days a week," he continued.

"If there were eight days in a week I would do eight days just to make it work.

"When I realised [how often I was at work] I thought: 'I've got to bring the family in'."

Mr Richards joked: "Now I'm working for them."

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