New Lake Norman family restaurant features recipes from back home in the Bahamas
A framed portrait of a man holding a Bible graces the entrance to the new Brother Pay Bahamian Delight restaurant on North Main Street in Mooresville.
Owenta Richards said she named her and her husband’s Caribbean dining spot in memory of her late grandfather, James Pennerman, a cook, food seller, minister and devoted family man in the Bahamas.
She named menu items after beloved aunts, uncles and cousins from the Nassau area. A mural of the flag of the Bahamas graces a wall of the restaurant, and Bahamian music plays overhead. Thursdays are karaoke nights.
Richards and her restaurant are part of the burgeoning Caribbean culture in the Charlotte area, seen through community festivals and thriving businesses.
Conch, lobster, land crabs
Richards was a Marine in the Royal Bahamas Defence Force for 10 years and eight months before immigrating to be near her son in Jacksonville, Florida, she said.
She eventually gravitated to Lake Norman, where, two years ago, she met her future husband. John Richards is a Mooresville resident and regional chief engineer for a local manufacturer. The couple were married on Christmas Eve 2023.
“I love the people,” she said about living in Mooresville. “The serenity. It’s relaxing.”
Everyone complains about the traffic in Lake Norman. But not her. By serene and relaxing, she meant less congested east Mooresville, where farmland and undisturbed former farmland still blankets both sides of N.C. 150 into Rowan County.
She decided that, here in Mooresville, she could make a living in the culinary world, based on what she’d learned growing up.
The menu at Brother Pay Bahamian Delight features conch, lobster, land crabs, grouper and red snapper, flown daily from the country where she was born and raised, she said.
She included secret family sauces and recipes in the chicken and other entrees, mac-and-cheese and other sides.
Lobster entrees are $35, including the Adrian crack lobster — a battered lobster served with peas and rice — and grilled and baked selections.
Entrees also include the $30 crack conch, snapper and other fish selections; $20 conch snack dinner; and $15 steamed chicken, steamed pork chop, chicken in the bag and baked chicken.
The menu has salads, sandwiches and breakfast items, along with stews and souses, including the $20 chicken souse, pig feet souse or pork sous; $25 sheep tongue, stewed fish or stewed conch; and $30 broiled grouper.
Burgers include the $18 Adrian conch and Vincent fish burgers, $25 Whitney lobster burger and $15 Timothy pork chop burger.
5 o’clock somewhere
I was lucky enough to visit the restaurant on Tuesday afternoon, when Richards also had what will be an occasional special on the menu lineup board: her Bahamian jerk chicken ($15), with a secret blended spice sauce she describes as hot and sweet.
I ordered the mac-and-cheese and Bahamian rice as my sides, and needed a take-home container because the order was so large.
Being 5 o’clock somewhere, I didn’t resist when one of her sons and other staff brought me a $2 shot of sky juice, a smooth blend of gin, coconut water and sweet cream.
Next time, I will save room for dessert, namely, Guava Duff, a Bahamian steamed pudding with rum sauce.
Richards said her menu was inspired by the recipes of her family back home, including mom, Franceta, who is a chef, she said. But most of all, the memory of her grandfather inspired her new venture in the former Little Spaghetti Deli & Grill.
“Brother Pay” refers to the friendly phrase her grandfather said with a smile to customers at his food sales register, she said.
“He was more than a grandfather,” she said. “He was like a father to every one of us.”
Her grandfather instilled a love of God in her and others, she said.
“My grandfather was all about the Gospel,” she said. “He always had a Bible in his hand.”
That’s why Sunday is the only day the restaurant is closed each week.
“We do go to church on Sunday,” she said.
Brother Pay Bahamian Delight
Location: 969 N Main St, Mooresville, NC 28115
Cuisine: Bahamian
This story was originally published August 2, 2024 at 5:30 AM.