Abigail Stewart did not come to Powell River to start a Jamaican food business. She came on a travel nursing contract. “When I first arrived in Powell River, I never imagined I would one day operate a Jamaican food business here,” she says. “Travel nursing was the vehicle that brought me to this community, but looking back, I sometimes feel that Feast Jerk Hut was the reason I was meant to come.”
Raised Around the Table
Born in Kiev, Ukraine to Jamaican parents and raised largely in Kingston before her family moved to Edmonton, Abigail grew up with food at the centre of everything. “Food wasn’t simply something we ate,” she says. “It was how we celebrated, and connected with each other.”
The lesson that shaped her most came from her grandmother, known across Kingston as Ms. Cherry, who cooked, sold food, and quietly sent plates to neighbours who were struggling. “Through her example, I learned that food is about much more than eating,” Abigail says. “Food can comfort people, strengthen communities and show love without saying a word.”
That belief carried into her work. Before Feast Jerk Hut, Abigail was a hairstylist and later a nurse, and she sees a throughline between the nursing and the cooking. “Nursing allows me to care for people’s physical well-being, while cooking allows me to nourish them in a different way.”
Jerk, and the Story It Tells
Jerk is the heart of everything they make, and for Abigail it carries far more than flavour. “For us, Jerk is much more than a seasoning or cooking method,” she says. “It tells the story of Jamaica itself.”
For Abigail, the story starts long before the seasoning. “Long before Jamaica became known by its current name, it was called Xaymaca, meaning ‘Land of Wood and Water,’ by the Indigenous Taíno and Arawak peoples who first inhabited the island,” she says. “They used smoke and native spices to help preserve food, laying the foundation for what would eventually become jerk cooking.”
The technique was sharpened generations later, in the island’s mountainous interior. “Centuries later, enslaved Africans who escaped into Jamaica’s mountainous interior, the Cockpit Country, refined those techniques,” Abigail says. “The Maroons, descendants of these runaway slaves, developed complex seasoning blends and slow underground pit-cooking methods that allowed them to prepare food while remaining hidden from British colonial forces.” What came out of that, she says, was “a cooking tradition built on patience, ingenuity, resilience, and community.”
That patience defines how she and her husband Andre cook now. Geography means they cannot use traditional green pimento wood, so they work over wood coal, closer to the roadside street style of Jamaican vendors, and temper the heat level for the region, though extra hot sauce is always on offer. What they will not do is hurry. “Jerk cannot be rushed. It requires time for the spices, herbs, smoke, and seasoning to work together,” Abigail says. “We build flavour in layers and allow the food to develop slowly. Every marinade, sauce, and dish is prepared with care because we believe the best food comes from patience rather than speed.”
Her hope is that the history travels with the plate. “We hope customers don’t just taste the food, we hope they experience a small piece of Jamaica’s history, culture, and warmth, and feel transported to the islands with every bite.”
A Family Business
Feast Jerk Hut is Abigail and Andre together, and the traditions they cook from run deep on both sides. Andre grew up in the hills of Manchester, Jamaica, where his grandmother, now 95, still cooks over a wood fire. “Together, we bring those traditions, experiences, and memories to every meal we prepare,” Abigail says.
They built the business on faith and a lot of long days, launching while Abigail kept nursing full-time and raising their two daughters. “Starting a food business from scratch requires a lot of faith,” she says. “There are long days, early mornings, and plenty of uncertainty. We are constantly learning, adapting, and finding creative ways to grow while working within our means.”
The community is what carries them through. She thinks of a recent day when the chicken ran low and customers were left waiting. As she apologized down the line, one of them stopped her: “Don’t worry, we came here for you, we’ll wait!” Moments like that, she says, “make all the hard work worthwhile.”
Community, One Interaction at a Time
For a family that arrived as newcomers, the Powell River Farmers’ Market became the way they put down roots. “Community means connection, belonging, and showing up for one another,” Abigail says. “People may come to our booth for a meal, but often they stay for a conversation about Jamaica, travel, family, or cooking. The market has reminded us that community is built one interaction at a time, and we feel grateful to be a part of it.”
What’s Next
This season brings rotating specials including oxtail, jerk pulled pork, traditional sides, homemade sauces, and Caribbean-inspired beverages, with a line of seasonings somewhere down the road. Through all of it, Abigail wants to hold onto the reason she started. “We never want to become so focused on expansion that we lose sight of the heart behind what we do,” she says. “Whether we are serving twenty customers or two hundred, our goal remains the same, to share the spirit of Jamaica through food, create meaningful connections within our community, and honour the generations of people whose traditions made these flavours possible.”
It comes back to a saying she holds close. “One Love,” she says. “At its core, it means unity, connection, and treating people like family.” At Feast Jerk Hut, you can taste it.
Find Feast Jerk Hut at the Powell River Farmers’ Market throughout the season, at both Saturday and Sunday markets as Abigail’s schedule allows, serving jerk chicken, oxtail, jerk pulled pork, festivals, rice and peas, homemade sauces, and Caribbean-inspired beverages. Follow along on social media for weekly menus and pop-up appearances.