BUFFALO, N.Y. — Chef Darian Bryan still remembers the first time he saw the impressive kitchen inside the former home of the Filling Station at Larkin Square.
"I came here for a meeting and I'm like, this space is awesome," he said. "The wheels start turning and I'm think, I can do some stuff in there, right?"
That building is now Bratts Hill by Chef Darian Bryan. It's the first time since the chef launched his successful private chef and catering business right in this very kitchen, that his food is available to the public on a regular basis.
"When I saw the kitchen I'm like wow it's show time," he said. "I saw ten burners, I saw a grill, I saw an oven, I saw a fryer. I'm like I can do some stuff in there."
Bratt's Hill is now open for lunch Monday to Friday, serving all Chef Darian's Jamaican favorites. Evening hours and a more upscale dinner menu will come later on, but for now, they're keeping it casual. Order at the counter, and your food comes out in a to-go box.
"Right now for the take out we have ox tail, curried chicken, some curried goat, rasta pasta which is the number one seller here. People love the rasta pasta," Chef Darian said. "We got fried chicken Jamaican patties. So that's what's happening now from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m., and probably mid-July we're going to do the upscale with tablecloths, napkins, slower music."
The name of the restaurant is not a recognizable reference to Buffalonains, but it carries a lot of meaning. It comes from the place where Darian grew up in Jamaica, before moving to the U.S. when he was 20 years old.
"Bratts Hill is where I grew up. It's a small little hill, probably like six houses up there," he said. "I took my wife and kids back to show them where I grew up and they couldn't believe, like no running water, no electric, we did everything outside. All the cooking outside, and some of us sleep on beds, some sleep on the floor.
"It opened their eyes a lot to see where I'm coming from, and why I do what I do every day," Darian continued. "I didn't have much growing up. I didn't have nothing growing up, but family and love and food."
Darian's life might be pretty different these days, but he is still surrounded by family, love, and food. His wife Jessica is the general manager of all of their businesses, and his sister recently moved here to help run the kitchen. It's the support from his adopted hometown that keeps them all going.
"Sometimes I see the line wrapped around the building, and I'm like that's crazy, all those people are here for me," he said. "Me coming from Jamaica, you know little town that nobody hears about or know about, to make this big impact. It's a good feeling to see that I'm coming from nothing, to what I have right now."
To keep up to date with Chef Darian Bryan and his businesses, you can follow him on Instagram.