Young entrepreneur invests in indigenous cuisine restaurant

CALVIN’S Indigenous Cuisine is owned by Calvin Roberts, an Arawak youth with roots in the Pomeroon. Roberts currently resides in Zeelugt where he operates his business alongside his business partners, Eion Beaton and Denzil St Hill. The purpose behind his business is to promote the Indigenous way of life. In doing so, his business provides the opportunity to share his culture, heritage and delicacies with Guyana and the rest of the world. As a health advocate, Calvin Roberts stressed that he witnessed many Guyanese suffering from non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and even cancer. He firmly believes that one of the main contributing factors to this is poor eating habits. As such, Calvin’s Indigenous Cuisine wishes to gear and encourage the Guyanese population to make healthy eating choices. In doing so, it will ultimately increase their longevity on earth.

“Very often, I’ve noticed that after the long month of heritage celebrations ended at the Sophia Exhibition [Centre], many could not find indigenous delicacies if they wished to have them in October or January. The Guyanese populace will have to wait eagerly in September every year to have Indigenous delicacies,” said Calvin. He further stated that “This is the narrative Calvin’s Indigenous Cuisine wishes to change and in doing so, we plan to provide indigenous delicacies all year through to promote our culture and heritage. People no longer will have to wait until the month of September for Indigenous meals.” Calvin and his team believe that this is one of the best ways they can uphold their rich culture by allowing others to indulge in their sumptuous delicacies. The business is relatively new, a month old, to be exact. The Pepperpot Magazine asked Calvin what were some of the challenges the business faced since its commencement and he said, “Like many businesses, one of the main deterring factors would be lack of finances. This had been one of my biggest challenges, but I had to aggressively save and made sacrifices to launch my business. Another challenge would have been [sic] finding a safe space for my customers to dine, which would make them feel comfort[sic] with a sense of pride for my delicacies.” Calvin’s Indigenous Cuisine offers a wide array of dishes and beverages, some of which include; Labba Tuma, Capybara Tuma, Farine, Cassava Cakes and the Mighty Fly.

As a young Indigenous entrepreneur, he wants to encourage his fellow indigenous brothers and sisters to be proud of their heritage, culture and identity. This makes it much easier for you to share with the world, whether it be through a dance, a poem, a song or even through Indigenous cuisine. Calvin explained that one must love and appreciate his being and identity or it will be difficult for someone else to do so. He also urges other indigenous youths never to let anyone limit their potential. “We are educated, we have ambition and potential like any other ethnic group.

We can be business men and women too. Do not let anyone belittle you or compromise your standards for anyone. Our culture is rich and we are responsible to promote it and maintain our heritage,” said Calvin. Roberts and his team would like to urge Guyanese and tourists to visit their restaurant for an Indigenous cuisine experience like no other. They would also like to ask all Guyanese to support indigenous businesses, regardless if it’s September or not. At Calvin’s Indigenous Cuisine, the Hañ-thé Wako-ta-thé “come let’s eat” experience awaits you.