New CT restaurant focus is fine dining, ‘authentic’ food. Guest said it had ‘my taste buds dancing’

Rossetta Salmon has brought the flavorful food of her beloved island nation to Connecticut with a twist not often seen here: a fine dining setting.

The tables are covered in white linen, a vase of fresh flowers on each table and silverware place settings. They have a bar with specialty cocktails.

Guests get that Jamaican vibe with photographs of the island’s famous sites and eat to the sounds of old school classic Reggae.

“I’ve watched Jamaican restaurants serve mainly grab and go,” Salmon said. “Nothing wrong with that, but I wanted a setting that was fine dining.”

That special distinction isn’t lost on fans of Jamaican fare who are pouring into the restaurant, Long Gut Miss Pinny , at 856 Main St. in Manchester.

One Yelp reviewer wrote, “I love Jamaican food but I enjoy a nice meal out with a cocktail in a relaxed, upscale atmosphere. Until today I didn’t know the two together were possible.”

Another wrote, “It’s been a long time coming, and they’re finally here. A Jamaican restaurant with an elegant vibe/twist to it.”

Salmon, who grew up in Jamaica , coming here during high school, is a registered nurse. Her daughter MonCherie Salmon, 23, a college graduate in business management is the restaurant’s general manager.

MonCherie Salmon said her mom, “took her compassion and passion for nursing and put it into the restaurant.”

The restaurant, Rossetta Salmon’s first, opened May 20 on her birthday and a big grand opening was Aug. 6, Jamaican Independence Day. Neither date was coincidence.

The elder Salmon said she was touched that during the busy grand opening day regular customers pitched in to seat people.

“That made me feel very loved. That was very heartfelt,” she said.

Mayor Jay Moran said the city is happy the Salmons settled in Manchester.

“I love what they did to the inside of the restaurant. I had some samples of the food and found it to be very delicious,” Moran said. “I’m excited for Rosetta and her family and look forward to much success for them.”

As for the restaurant’s name, the “Long Gut” is a colloquial term used playfully to describe a person who loves to eat and has a voracious appetite, Rossetta Salmon said.

“Miss Pinny” is an archetype who represents the values of Jamaicans, always lending a hand, to a neighbor and being there for the community, she said.

The restaurant serves authentic Jamaican cuisine, but with an emphasis on good service and overall atmosphere, because food alone won’t set them apart, MonCherie said.

While Rossetta Salmon cooks Jamaican food at home, she has a few cooks from Jamaica to cook in the restaurant.

They carry all the traditional Jamaican dishes with an emphasis on presentation. The extensive menu includes: oxtail, curry goat, jerk chicken and pork, rice and peas, ackee and saltfish.

Online reviewers gave the new restaurant highest marks across the board including for service.

Some of the dishes that got rave shout outs include: steamed fillet of snapper with beans and rice, Rasta Pasta with chicken, pan fried salmon bites with a pineapple ginger glaze, cabbage, plantains, rice and peas, steamed vegetables, oxtails and curry goat, and Jamaican rum cake.

“The chicken curry is the best I’ve ever had!” one customer wrote.

One diner wrote the salmon cooked with a ginger based sauce was so good, “it had my taste buds dancing in my mouth.”

The cocktails that drew raves included authentic rum punch made with white and dark rum, pineapple juice, orange juice, grenadine and lime juice and The Kingston, made with white over-proof rum, hibiscus tea, bitters, pineapple juice, and a sugar rim.

“What a fantastic place this is!” a guest wrote.

Many of their guests have traveled to Jamaica and yearn for the food, Rossetta Salmon said.

“A lot of my guests love Jamaican food, culture,” she said. “We strive to bring not only Manchester but all the surrounding community to experience it.”

The vibe of the restaurant is “relaxing” and “family-oriented,” Rossetta Salmon said.

There are Jamaican colors, tropical plants, photos of famous Jamaican sites, including Dunn’s River Falls and Park; the Blue Mountains; Negril Seven Mile Beach with white sand.

And of course there are photos of late Reggae artist Bob Marley .

Rossetta Salmon, who resigned from her job as a nurse to get the restaurant up and going, plans to return to nursing per diem one day.

“It’s a rewarding job,” Rossetta Salmon said of nursing. She loves working with geriatric patients.

On the restaurant side of life, she said, “I like when the customer comes and enjoys their meal.”

Rosette Salmon, owner of Long Gut Miss Pinny, shows the Oxtail dish with a side of fried chicken at the new Jamaican restaurant on Main St. in Manchester on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)

MonCherie Salmon, who grew up with Jamaican food and culture, said she really likes managing the restaurant.

“It’s interesting meeting people, interesting interviewing people,” she said.

In keeping with her high standards, MonCherie has a list of core values for the restaurant and its employees to follow, including cleanliness and good personal hygiene, respect, excellent service, team work, integrity and professionalism.

“Its really our values that set us apart,” MonCherie Salmon said. “We don’t want people to have good food without good service.”

The mother/daughter duo hope to open more restaurants in the future.

Meanwhile, Rossetta Salmon said she will find ways to help the community in keeping with the spirit of the Jamaican culture.

“I consider myself a giver. If I hear of a need I do my best,” to help, she said. “I always have a positive attitude.”