Trevor's Blue Toucan
By Tobin Bennison

If the Beachside Resident exists for one reason, it’s to turn you on to places like Trevor's Blue Toucan.

The Blue Toucan meets all of our unspoken criteria: it’s a small, family-owned joint offering affordable, unique and delicious home-made food prepared and served by friendly staff. Very friendly staff.

If any nation lives up to its reputation, it’s Jamaica, and should owner/chef and Montego Bay native Trevor Dixon ever need extra cash, he’d be the perfect ambassador for the friendliest tropical isle in the world. To be fair, Jamaica isn’t without its share of problems, but Trevor would be the right man to remind you of the good things; those things that keep you smiling when all about you is fraught with worry and gloom.

The day we were scheduled to visit him was particularly fraught with worry and gloom. I won’t go into details, but suffice it to say that things looked bleak from the moment I awoke, and I didn’t have the energy or the desire to face the day. I got up anyway (as you always manage to do) and put on a brave face, safe in the knowledge that it was just a passing phase. I knew hope would show up later in some form, I just didn’t expect it to appear in the shape of an enthusiastic Jamaican chef in a foam toucan visor.

Upon meeting Chef Trevor around lunchtime, all my worries simply disappeared. There was no flash of light, no earth-shattering epiphany, just that slight, barely noticeable shift in perspective one enjoys when sharing time with a humble, beneficent fellow human. The delicious jerked pork he was grilling outside in his parking lot didn’t hurt either.

Trevor’s been cooking for over 30 years, for elite restaurants at exclusive Jamaican resorts, as a cruise line chef recruited to bring the first two Disney vessels into service from Italy and, for the past seven years, as the managing chef at the Atlantic Ocean Grille on the Cocoa Beach Pier. “I can cook any style,” he says confidently. “Japanese, Italian, French, American, German; let me know what you want, and I can make it. What is my favorite thing to cook? I can't answer. Everything.”

Cooking for tourists from a variety of locales and traditions has always been his forte, but here at his latest venture in Cape Canaveral, an unassuming little restaurant squeezed between a convenience store and a video rental shop, he and his son, Chef David, make the food that’s closest to their hearts. Here you’ll find everything – and I mean everything – that makes Jamaican cuisine such an ideal accompaniment to all the beachside’s varied pleasures.

From jerk pork and chicken, to curried goat and even ackee (Jamaica’s national dish), the Blue Toucan fulfills Trevor’s aim to provide a unique combination of flavors to those who love both Jamaican and American food. The jerked and curried meats are mild and flavorful without being bland. I tell him that most jerked food I’ve had is overly spicy – more blazing bonfire than reassuring ember. “I learned everything from my mother,” he tells me. “All you really need to begin with is salt and pepper. People think that Jamaican food is spicy, spicy, spicy, and they go crazy with peppers. Yes, it’s a little spicy, but you can taste my food. The spices aren’t so strong that you can’t taste the flavor of the meat. You want to eat the food, not be cryin' the whole time." He flips some ribs with a magical gesture and turns to make a further point. “Let me tell you something,” he whispers. “This is the closest thing you get to Jamaica without flying there.”

And he’s right. On his grill (which he rolls out into the parking lot each Saturday) he’s cooking glistening ribs, pork and chicken two different ways: barbecue and jerk-style. When he ladles some jerk sauce onto some thick slices of blushing, perfectly tender pork, I can’t wait to dig in. The flavor is revelatory. Here’s some of the most delicious pork I’ve ever had getting even better when dipped in the light, scarlet sauce. Some pepper, yes, but just the right amount. And is that ginger? Garlic? Nutmeg? Allspice, maybe? It’s no use asking. Trevor won’t tell. “It’s my secret,” he smiles.

Doug, a regular local customer, says it best. He’s been coming to Trevor’s since it opened five months ago and he's been to Jamaica often, so he’s familiar with the food. “The jerk chicken is probably my favorite,” he says enthusiastically. “It’s flavorful without being too overwhelmingly hot. Jerk is simpler to make spicy – you just throw loads of spices in; it's more difficult to make it tasty and delicious. Trevor knows how.”

The barbecue is just as delicious, but not a threatening competitor. Trevor’s two styles run in tandem; though each has its own distinct personality, they compliment each other like lifelong brothers. These Saturday barbecues work a little something like this: You go inside the restaurant and say hello to David, admire the colorful mural of a Costa Rican rainforest (it’s Trevor and his wife Siegrid’s favorite vacation spot), you scan the trees and thick foliage for the hidden blue toucan and then tell them what you want from the grill. Grab a ginger beer, pay David what you’ll soon learn must be far too little, grab a ticket and give it to Trevor, who’s out there in chef whites tending the grill. He loads down your plate with the meat of your choice, walks you to a table under a tent, chats with you effortlessly, and gives you Jamaican red beans and rice (laced with coconut milk) and some of his famous steamed cabbage. Steamed cabbage? Yes. And as Trevor promises, you’ll be coming back for more. Then you can choose from a made-from-scratch potato salad or fresh fruit salad cup and pick up either a hefty baked sweet potato or a warm bread roll.

By all means, try Trevor’s on a Saturday, but be sure to come Monday through Friday for equally exceptional fare. There’s breakfast (served all day!), featuring omelets (the true test of an accomplished chef); other eggs any style; croissant-wiches; cinnamon French toast; a “wacky” fruit-faced waffle; and two of Trevor’s signature pancakes, served with either pecan, blueberry or banana topping. The lunch and dinner menu offers a variety of sandwiches (served on your choice of white, wheat, Kaiser or hoagie roll) including a jerk pork or chicken; a Reuben (on rye), a club; BLT; Philly cheese steak; grilled ham and cheese, fish or chicken; Trevor’s famous Toucan burger and even a chili dog.

Apart from soups (clam chowder, red bean, French onion, and the hard-to-find authentic Jamaican fish tea) and salads, there are full meals: jerk pork or chicken; curried goat or shrimp; pepper steak; escovitched fish; grilled or steamed fish (only the freshest); Southern fried chicken, and fried shrimp with homemade crab cakes. All meals come with a choice of two sides. In addition, you’ll find Jamaican beef patties and six to seven daily specials every day. Expect dishes like oxtail, ackee, Jamaican codfish, and heartwarming American fare. Everything on Trevor’s menu is prepared with the zero transfat-conscious in mind and will please both gourmet and “down-home” palates.

Out under the shade of the tent, Trevor shifts his whimsical, beaked visor to wipe his brow and smiles widely. It’s not the syrupy, airbrushed smile you see on Jamaican Tourist Board posters; it’s just a smile, but made so much warmer for its simple guilessness. "This is a pension,” Trevor says. “I'm not doing this to get rich; I’m having fun, man. This is what I love to do."

And you’ll love the results.

Trevor’s Blue Toucan is located at 8177 N. Atlantic Ave., Suite 4 in Cape Canaveral’s Church Street Center (just veer to the right at the A1A split if heading north). Chefs Trevor and David are open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. with Saturdays the exclusive barbecue day from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. You may call in your order ahead by calling (321) 784-5300 or via fax (784-5510) for either take out or to dine in. For customers who are drawn to certain regular menu items or the daily specials to take home for your evening meal or get-together, Trevor will individually prepare and pack your order for pick up. Just call at least one hour before pick up. Everyone wants their special events to be tailored to their tastes in food and décor, and Chef Trevor has a world of experience in creating a memorable event and custom menu for every budget – from casual family picnics and reunions or professional business meetings to formal, upscale weddings. He’s also adept with hand-carved vegetable and fruit displays. Call him to schedule your free planning appointment. Visit the Blue Toucan online at: www.trevorsbluetoucan.com