FOOD
their electronic pilot lights are going to go out and all the
flashing fire lights are going to come on.”
Laughing at the memory, he recalls flipping the breaker.
“Suddenly the place goes dark and pretty soon we had an
empty dining room,” he chuckles.
TROPICAL TURNABOUT
In 1993, he shifted his focus to a series of island-themed
restaurants: Pearl’s Bistro on Royal Palm Point was where
seafood became the canvas for aromatic seasonings from the
Caribbean — cumin, nutmeg, allspice and smoked paprika.
Dishes like jerk-spiced grouper with crab cakes and curry
hollandaise or Rasta Pasta made with coconut milk — a
Jamaican spin on an Italian mainstay, saw each plate ablaze
with color and flavor. Along the same lines came Ian’s Tropical
Grill in Fort Pierce, and Café Caribe on U.S.1, a departure
for Greenwood at 200 seats and a late-night bar.
“I wanted to see if I could do something a bit different,” he
explains.
As each restaurant swiftly became a neighborhood anchor,
Greenwood would find a buyer and move on.
“I liked to sell the restaurants after a couple of years,” he
says. “I call it the two-year itch. I’ve made money, and there’s
always someone who wants to buy a restaurant with a good
reputation.”
DIDN’T MESS WITH SUCCESS
He shrugs off the notion that he possessed a magic formula.
“I always had a head chef so when it came time to sell, it
came with someone who knew how to run it. If they didn’t
mess with it, and they kept the consistency, there was a good >>
56
Greenwood designed his home with plenty of outdoor living space. Shaded
seating on the terrace provides a welcome respite from the noontime sun.
A pathway at the front entrance leads to an herb garden and a sunlit oasis of fruit trees.