Former rapper Gavin Green tells MARION SAUVEBOIS how he came to open The Green House Kitchen in Eastcott Hill

SECRETED away in what looks from the outside rather like a shed, stumbling upon The Green House Kitchen is as likely as finding a needle from a haystack.

The Caribbean eatery on Eastcott Hill may be one of the tiniest restaurants ever to see the light of day but, for those lucky enough to have chanced upon it, it is fast becoming the hottest foodie spot in Swindon.

Every bit the Jamaican beachside snack shack, the no-fuss cafe is the handiwork of Gavin Green, a reformed rap top brass and, for many years, closet chef.

After an early childhood spent scuttling around the kitchen amid the clatter of pots pans and heady aromas of his forebears’ spicy fare, he seemed destined to be next in a long line of gastronomes.

But adolescence struck and he was side-tracked, falling in with the wrong crowd in his hometown of Tottenham.

“I was always into cooking, since I was a kid,” says the father-of-one.

“My family are from Jamaica and a lot of them have a catering background. I had aunties who ran their own catering business and uncles who had their own restaurant. It’s been in my blood.

“I used to spend a lot of time at my godmother’s house, sitting on a stool next to her while she was cooking, asking questions about what she was doing. Then I went on to study food technology at school.”

He adds with a chuckle: “That was my highest GCSE, I got a C. But the school I was at was quite rough. It wasn’t cool to cook. So I didn’t follow that route.”

But he still had plenty of opportunity to dip back in or at least observe his mother at work during the many hours he spent grounded in the kitchen for getting into countless scrapes.

He eventually teamed up with young Tottenham rapper Chipmunk (now the MOBO award-winning Chip) acting as his creative director and helping to produce, film and edit his early videos.

When Chip was signed, Gavin went on to join a new social media platform in Los Angeles.

All the while he continued to experiment with Caribbean flavours, throwing impromptu feasts for friends.

“It was always my dream to have a restaurant – the music and media thing was just a hobby, just to pass the time,” says the 32-year-old.

He moved to Swindon two years ago with his then partner and their daughter, travelling back and forth to the States.

Faced with a dearth of Caribbean outlets in the town, he started rustling up curries, gradually advertising his catering services on Facebook.

Confident he had found his niche, he packed in his day job for good to open a restaurant.

“Lots of people in Swindon were crying out for Caribbean food. I started cooking at home, giving food out to people, just to taste it. I went on a business course to work on a business plan. And I started looking for a suitable location.”

But reality set in. With very limited funds to inject into a business, he was forced to put his plans on hold, until, last March, after months of fruitlessly searching for an affordable venue, he came across the snug Wizard Cafe in Eastcott Road.

Within 30 minutes of sizing up the building, he decided to take over the lease. Two days later he walked into the kitchen and rustled up his first curry as a bona fide chef and restaurateur.

“This place was a blessing. It was already licensed so I just came in with my pots and food and started.

“I was nervous. I had never cooked big portions before. I really jumped in at the deep end. Certain things didn’t come out right. It took me a few weeks to get good at it.”

His modest but very affordable selection of Jamaican staples (mains start at £5.50) includes curry goat, jerk chicken, steam fish, homemade coleslaw and plantain. The entire menu is available to take away.

“I wanted to keep it small,” he adds. “It’s all the things I used to make at home with my family. It’s not expensive, just a nice taste of Caribbean food.

“The idea is to take over the George Pub next door and turn it into a bigger restaurant, but for now I’m just trying to create a nice environment, something different to what’s out there at the moment in Swindon.”

In August he relaunched the cafe-restaurant as The Green House Kitchen, a fitting tribute to the aunts and uncles whose recipes form the core of his menu.

“My last name is Venson but my dad wasn’t really there growing up so I changed it to Green. The whole family is Green – I am a Green.

“One of my aunts gave me her recipe for curry goat and every day I practically sell out of it. The coleslaw is an uncle’s recipe.

“I am on the phone to family a lot asking, ‘How do you do this?’ and ‘How do you make this?’ So it’s the Green house. They are part of this. My mum, my uncle and my sister come at the weekends to help.”

Running a restaurant and toiling away behind the stove virtually alone has proved testing at times, but Gavin swiftly found his stride. Thanks to a combination of long hours and exhaustion, he has set an unheard of precedent in his somewhat hefty profession.

“I’ve lost three stone since I’ve been here,” he says, still incredulous.

“I’m open six days a week and when we close, on Tuesday, I re-stock.

“There’s no break. It’s not easy. I eat, drink and sleep this now. It’s nice actually I was a bit chubby and I could never lose the weight. It took making food for a living to lose it.”

The Green House Kitchen is at 28 EastCott Hill, SN13JG. For more details call 01793 514681 or visit www.thegreenhousekitchenswindon.co.uk