Wah Di Rass Is a WongaGyal?
Jamaica Food & Drink 2019: Meat Street
Sometime in 2012, I went to KFC in between dance rehearsals and came back to the studio to indulge in Jamaica’s (unofficial) national dish. The scent greeted my vegetarian company director in her office and she came out to see what I was up to. I can’t remember the details, but we ended up talking about food and I verbally took her on a passionate descriptive journey of some of my favourite foods and restaurants. It was in that moment she said to me, “Have you ever thought of being a food critic?”
The thought had left my mind not long after that moment and by 2014, it was time to deal with the woes of career paths – Dentist? Pilot? Engineer? I arrived at Vassar College in New York still undecided, but ultimately chose Mathematics (I know, yuck) by second year.
But Tiana, why would you choose Math if you don’t like it?
It wasn’t until post-college while interning with my kinda-sorta mentor that I realized that this choice was the beginning of my career in marketing & honing my personal brand. I chose Math not because I liked it, but because I knew that it would make me sound SMART. Without sleuthing into credentials, anyone would be impressed with the journey of a Mathematics degree. And it worked. Tell anyone you studied Math in college, and watch the progression of their facial expression from fear to shock to admiration.
But back to food.
After 4 years of traveling between Jamaica, Atlanta, New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, Florida, St. Croix, Trinidad & Tobago and Cuba while studying abroad, I perused my camera roll on January 1, 2019 and realized that I had amassed a grotesquely large number of food photos. No lightbulb has ever sparked quicker than the one in my head on that New Years Day. In that moment I knew what I wanted to do. I needed to find a career in food (so much for Math, eh?). But I didn’t go to culinary school. Well experience counts, right? And on January 4, 2019, @wongagyal was born on Instagram.
I left Poughkeepsie, New York in May and moved back home in July. My phone number changed with my address. You know that annoying glitchy thing that Instagram does when you open the app and all of a sudden you’re signed out? Poof. I could no longer sign into @wongagyal without confirmation of my US phone number, which by this time had already been redirected to an elderly Hispanic woman. This was a sign. Don’t bother.
If it wasn’t for my sister, @wongagyal would have been lost forever.
Once she flew back to Atlanta, she and my mother figured out how to regain access to my account. I am indebted to these women because soon after, @wongagyal began to seriously pick up speed. I began to receive invitations to try out menus, write reviews for Restaurant Week Jamaica, be a part of the planning for food events and make restaurant recommendations for friends, family and even an upcoming wedding!
So that’s how I got here. More pushing from my sister and she convinced me to start a blog. To put words to my pictures. Still dedicated to having memorable meals & sharing them with you – in more ways than one.
