One particularly busy lunch hour at the Pizzeria one of the home owners from Mustique walked into the kitchen. The lady and her husband were regular customers at Mac’s, crossing the channel often in their speedboat to have lunch. She was a vivacious, friendly woman and I liked her, but that day the kitchen looked as though a tornado had passed through and I simply didn’t have the time to chat.
The lady from Mustique didn’t take the hint that I was busy, she was too excited about the idea she and some of the other home-owners on the Island had come up with. “Darling”, she cooed, “we are going to build a beautiful restaurant just for you over on Mustique, all you have to do is move in and run it!” Assuming of course that she was joking I laughed, but the lady was dead serious. She said the homeowners wanted Mac’s, and that Arne was already designing the building. Arne Hasselqvist was a Swedish architect who had built many of the lovely villas on Mustique, and he was going to build a new restaurant for me right on the waterfront. Imagine that!
When I realized the lady was serious, I told her that I could barely cope with the restaurant on Bequia – the place was on the verge of being a madhouse that day and the kitchen was a mess. The minute one set of customers left, the uncleared tables were quickly grabbed by newcomers. Business was non-stop, and my staff were being run off their feet. The thought of dealing with two restaurants on two separate Islands was unthinkable, totally out of the question. “We’ll see”, she said, “We won’t give up!”
When I went home that afternoon I told Mac about my conversation with the lady, and instead of laughing Mac said, “Really?” and started to smile. “Really? They want the Pizzeria on Mustique?” My heart sank. I had seen that look on Mac’s face before, and it made me uneasy. I said, “Honey, we can’t DO it! How can I leave Bequia to work on Mustique? We are building a home, we have two small children to educate, and who would run the restaurant on Bequia?” Mac was so thrilled that the wealthy homeowners on Mustique wanted his brainchild that he couldn’t see past the nose on his face. Oh Lord!
It wasn’t long before I got a call from Brian Alexander, the man in charge of the Mustique company. Mr. Alexander wanted us to come to Mustique to look over Arne Hasselqvist’s blueprints and to inspect the proposed location for the restaurant. Things were moving too fast and I indicated as much to Mr. Alexander, who assured me that there was no obligation, no obligation at all. He just wanted us to come and chat.
Mac and I crossed the channel the next day. The speedboat picked us up at the Friendship Bay Hotel’s dock. The sea was quite wild, and the driver of the boat didn’t slow down for the big waves. I was soaked by the time we got to Mustique, and my carefully brushed hair was a mess. We were greeted by Brian and Arne, who immediately took us to an office to see the architect’s blueprints. The Mustique Pizzeria was going to be quite large and very nice, but who was going to pay for the building? I was told not to worry about that little detail. We were then shown the waterfront site where the restaurant would be constructed, and once again I asked who was going to pay for the land. I was told not to worry about that little detail. When I asked where I was going to live on the Island they told me not to worry about that, they would work something out. The more they told me not to worry the more worried I became, but Mac was enthusiastic about EVERYTHING.
I had grave misgivings about the whole idea, and Mac and I argued about it constantly. Mac felt we could make a fortune with a Mustique restaurant and that we should accept the offer. As far as I was concerned it was too good to be true, the home-owners were wealthy but they were not going to just GIVE us the land, restaurant, equipment and a house for me to live in! Yes, I worried about those little details, those little details worried me a LOT.
You did the right thing! Why didn’t they get someone else to do it if their offer was so generous?