Chef Emmanuel Gibson's concept for his restaurant was simple to provide fresh, healthy, delicious dining options to Bahamians. The end result is Manuelo's Lettuce Eat Fresh.
It was a concept he came up with approximately two years ago, after visiting a number of salad chains in New York and witnessing the open kitchen concept with chefs on the line and customers simply walking the line and choosing what they want from the fresh display to build their meal.
"I walked into a salad chain restaurant and said this is what we're missing back home. I went into 12 different salad chain restaurants eating and doing research," he said.
After seeing a "for rent" sign in a former fast chain restaurant in the Circle Palm Mall, Gibson called the number made an appointment to view the location the next day, liked what he saw and paid the deposit. Four months after that meeting, he opened the doors to Manuelo's Lettuce Eat Fresh -- a restaurant that features, flat breads, soups and salads, waffles and crepes, pastas,
burgers and wraps and signature dishes like his braised boneless short ribs, grilled salmon, dry BBQ rubbed rotisserie chicken, blackened catch of the day and a tamarind-glazed sirloin steak -- as well as a daily surprise special.
Unlike those New York restaurants he visited, he offers more than just salads, because he has to.
"I know how Bahamians go, so when I came into this concept I said people will want more than just salads, so I needed to add another component to Manuelo's Lettuce Eat. As we move on, I'm going to introduce daily specials to the menu like grilled rack of lamb with salads, grilled salmon with salad, fresh crab cakes with salad, a lot more things, but with the salad concept in mind," said Gibson.
Almost two months since opening the door to Manuelo's Lettuce Eat Fresh, he said the concept has been well received.
"It's been really good ... beyond my expectations. I knew that it would have done well, but actually seeing it happen is a dream come true."
And he says he's doing well despite a number of people having warned him off putting a restaurant in the location.
"For me honestly, location sometimes is good, but if you have good food, Bahamians will drive anywhere to get it. A few people came to me and cautioned me about this location and said restaurants were here and didn't succeed -- I was focused enough to hear them, but not to focus on that information. I think that was important to because at the end of the day, people can deter you from your dream."
Gibson, who served as executive chef at the now closed Courtyard Terrace at the One&Only Ocean Club refused to listen to the naysayers, and brought his high-end abilities to the Soldier Road location where he serves up upscale food at affordable prices. Menu items range between $7 and $24.
Think spiced gala apple flat bread with caramelized onions with goat cheese and grain mustard cream, topped with arugula-mint salad and balsamic syrup; or anjou pear, blue cheese crumble, red onions with fresh tarragon leaves, wild flower honey drizzle, extra virgin olive oil and Meyer lemon tossed field greens; or jerk conch and lobster, smoked bacon, grilled mango and pineapple, bell peppers, red onions and fresh mozzarella -- just three of the flatbreads among the six-menu offering, or you can opt to build your own.
He offers a Bahamian Greek salad with baby spinach leaves, feta cheese, cucumbers, red onions, kalamata olives, with the twist being the addition of a curry pigeon pea hummus with pita chips; a cracked conch cobb that is a favorite; and the Carnival which consists of wild rice, shaved green apples, pumpkin, raw corn, toasted almonds, dried fruit, goat cheese and roast chicken on a bed of kale, arugula and romaine lettuce with sour-orange vinaigrette.
In the waffles and crepes offering, there's chicken and waffles; his jewels of the sea which features conch, shrimp and lobster sauteed with shaved fennel and toasted cumin seeds with a light tomato-basil coulis over savory herb infused waffles; the farmhouse crepe filled with chicken, mushrooms, smoked gouda and spinach with roast garlic cream essence.
On the sweet side, he offers a dark chocolate waffle with salted caramel and vanilla bean ice cream; and a fruit crepe with mango, pineapple, anjou pear, toasted almonds and coconut.
Burgers and wraps include his wildly popular handcrafted lamb burger, grilled balsamic marinated Portobello mushroom burger, curry chicken breast burger, spiny lobster wrap, beef and caramelized onion wrap and a grilled seasonal vegetable and pigeon pea hummus wrap which has a hint of roasted garlic paste, marinated tofu and arugula.
On Saturdays Gibson gives in to the Bahamian favorites, and offers boil fish, stew fish and stew conch for breakfast. Throughout the week he gets to indulge his creative side for breakfast with offerings that include crushed avocado on pumpernickel bread with over easy eggs or egg white, or an avocado salad by itself, or waffles, fresh banana pancakes, any kind of omelette you want, and fresh fruit.
With the opening of the doors to Manuelo's Lettuce Eat Fresh, Gibson said the restaurant is important to where he is now in his life, and the journey it took him to get to this point.
"What you want when you go into a business is to have a good, strong footing and looking back at my 27 years-plus career, I think I'll be able to stand on my own."
Gibson is a Culinary Institute of America graduate. He served as a Royal Bahamas Defence Force marine for 11 years, and believes that experience is important because it provided him with the discipline that he executes in the kitchen and in life. He taught at the College of The Bahamas (now University of The Bahamas) for five years before venturing into cooking in a private home in Lyford Cay where he provided personal chef services for two years, before joining the Ocean Club where he rose to the executive chef position at the Courtyard Terrace where he spent eight years. And has gained experience in places like Dubai and Mexico.
A keen competitor, Gibson has also competed on culinary national teams under intense pressure, and he said bringing those experiences into a setting like Manuelo's Lettuce Eat Fresh is the recipe for success.
"You have so much knowledge and you can go crazy in your own place. You're the boss, you have the ideas -- you just have to be more disciplined with it and have a well-rounded structure in place and you can succeed," he said.
The restaurant can accommodate at least 30 diners inside, but Gibson says he's looking to expand seating on the outside. He has also planted a garden at the location from which he harvests fresh herbs to use in his cooking. He's also looing to install a chef's table where patrons can get a more personalized service.
Gibson said he's hoping to open a second Manuelo's Lettuce Eat Fresh within this first year.
Manuelo's Lettuce Eat Fresh is open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. (with breakfast served until 11 a.m.) to 10 p.m.

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