35 year old Luciano Barrow born to a Bajan father and Filipino mother didn’t always want to be a chef growing up. Other career choices were, Royal Marine Commando, IT whizz kid, Stock broker and the list goes on but as his dad was a Head chef for over 40years and his brother a well positioned chef, there was no doubt where his career would take him. Growing up and living in Tottenham, North London where crime and unemployment ruled the streets as well as local gangs, Luciano managed to stay out of trouble. He studied at St Thomas More RC School in Wood Green, where he stayed on at their Sixth Form, taking up A-levels in Art, IT and Business Studies & Economics before finally deciding to take up catering as a profession. I thought it would be a good idea to learn how to cook, as it would be a great skill to have when I grew up and had a family. I just couldn’t see myself constantly ordering takeaways and becoming obese. Not knowing years down the line I would become the envy of my friends and family, plus the women loved it too.
My parents ran their own private catering company - A.B. Caterers, which from a very tender age I helping out when a job came up, while all his friend were playing out. I studied at Westminster Kingsway College, Vincent Square, in Victoria as well as working part time for Waitrose in Belgravia as a supervisor and a chef. After leaving college, my brother opened his first restaurant in Derry, Northern Ireland where every so often I would fly over to lend a hand as his Sous chef where I got a good taste of running a kitchen.
While at Waitrose I managed to get involved in large charity events such as The Motcomb Street Party, The Motcomb Street Christmas festival and other private events within Waitrose over a span of 7years, before joining John Lewis Head office in Victoria. This was catering on a major scale, spread over two buildings, there are up to 1,300 partners to feed. Just before leaving Waitrose, I was approached by the Barbados Tourism Authority to work alongside three of Barbados’ top “celebrity” chefs in one of London’s biggest food festivals – Taste of London. I would have to say working at the Taste festival is one of the most thrilling things to be part of, thousands of people swarming your food stall wanting to taste your great cuisine. As I got older and gained more experience in the field I became more heavily involved with the parents catering business and notably becoming dads ‘Sous chef’, which brought great responsibilities.
Other companies I've worked for as a Head chef include, Antic London (Gastro pub company), Compass Group PLC UK & Ireland; and opening the first Usain Bolt's Tracks & Records UK.
Since the passing of both my parents, I have continued doing private catering under my parents company A.B. Caterers.
Kes- Incredible - 2017 Soca.mp3