Chef G expands beloved Jamaican joint into Acre Homes cottage
Gareth Powell began cooking at the age of 12 alongside his late grandmother, Mable Williamson, the person he credits for his expertise in the kitchen. “Ms. May,” as folks in their community called her, could cook a mean plate of stewed chicken, but Powell says “she was all about family,” a trait that undoubtedly rubbed off on him.
Now, many Houstonians recognize Powell as “Chef G” from Jamaica Pon Di Road, the popular Caribbean food truck and Acres Homes restaurant inspired by Powell’s island roots. Translating to “Jamaica on the Road,” his mobile and brick-and-mortar eateries serve a variety of West Indian specialties, including curry shrimp, drunken plantains, coconut rice and peas and the region’s ubiquitous jerk chicken.
When Powell cooks, the 37-year-old chef employs long-established techniques he learned in Jamaica, setting his food apart from run-of-the-mill Caribbean fare.
“I use wood and charcoal and a smoker to smolder the chicken,” Powell explains. “As a lot of people use a gas grill, I do it the traditional way – –you’ll get more intense flavor from the smoke, herb and marinade.”
Post-high school, Powell completed a free culinary program at Runaway Bay Training Institute on the Northern Coast of Jamaica before landing positions at Sandals Royal Plantation and Riu Hotel in Saint Ann, Ocho Rios. But the promising chef had hopes of running his own restaurant one day.
In 2009, Powell met Houston native Danielle while she on vacation in Jamaica. The two connected and ended up marrying in 2010, with Powell moving to Houston in 2011. By 2013, Powell and Daniel were determined to launch his catering business — and they did, using the commercial kitchen at Danielle’s daycare center.
Both lovers of great food, the Powells frequented culinary festivals and immersed themselves in the city’s diverse food truck scene in their spare time. That’s when the idea for a mobile kitchen came to life. “The festival that started him thinking of his own truck was Haute Wheels Food Truck Festival,” Danielle says.
Since there was no Caribbean food at the fête, Powell thought he could bring Jamaican cuisine to Houston’s mobile food boom.
Even though he had years of cooking under his belt, Powell had not worked in a mobile kitchen before. “A food truck had never crossed my mind, and I didn’t really know about food trucks until I moved to Houston,” he said. To get the hang of whipping up a meal in a moveable space, the chef tag-teamed with a friend to learn the ropes before debuting his cookery on wheels in 2017.
The Jamaica Pon di Road food truck quickly developed a following, and eventually, Powell and Danielle expanded the business, opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant at 2213 S. Victory Drive in summer 2021. “I always wanted my own restaurant and the opportunity arrived,” Chef G says. Set in an aqua-colored house with white trim and a lemon yellow door, the Acres Homes spot is reminiscent of the bright clapboard cottages of the Caribbean.
The eatery’s number one seller is undoubtedly jerk chicken, but braised oxtail and Powell’s spiced-up version of an eggroll follow close behind. Powell takes the wheat flour skin used in the Chinese delicacy and layers jerk chicken and steamed cabbage inside before rolling the ingredients and tossing the roll into the fryer, then plating it with his sweet and spicy mango pepper sauce.
But perhaps the dish generating the most buzz these days is his “Insane Bolt Burger,” a play on Usain Bolt, the famed Jamaican sprinter. Earthy jerk seasoning motivated the sandwich’s name. According to Danielle, “It’s so insanely good that people will eat it fast.” Stacked with lettuce, tomato, cheddar and island aioli, then perched on a Brioche bun, the beef patty bursts with flavor.
Powell’s tasty fare aside, what folks may not know about the Jamaica native is his penchant for serving others. During hours of rustling up pans of goat curry and ackee salt fish – –Jamaica’s national dish –– alongside Ms. May all those years ago, the aspiring chef was also learning the importance of service, a skill that would ultimately help shape his life in and out of the kitchen.
In an effort to give back to the Houston community, the duo parks their food truck on Saint Charles Street in Houston’s Third Ward to prepare meals for unhoused people every fourth Monday of the month. They hope to expand their outreach to the Acres Homes area in the future.
Meanwhile in Jamaica, the couple organizes a backpack initiative through the nonprofit CHANGED Missions Ministries International each July. Folks in the U.S. fill bags with canned goods, school supplies, clothing and other essentials before the Powells ship the backpacks and travel to distribute the supplies to about 250 children in Clarendon, Powell’s hometown.
“Gareth is powerful in his giving,” Danielle said. “He has the biggest heart ever.”
While patrons praise Powell for the success of Jamaica Pon di Road, the restaurant he’s dreamt of owning for years, Powell credits his wife and step-daughter as essential to reaching this goal. “It’s a family effort,” he says.