A new spark for the Lighthouse restaurant

On 25 Oct. 2020, the Lighthouse restaurant served up its final bowl of conch chowder and plate of pasta. Then, as the sun set, owner Captain Giuseppe Gatta climbed the tower’s stairs for the last time after 30 years and turned off the beacon, quietly marking the end of an era.

It has been a little more than two years since then and, during that time, the restaurant, loved by residents and visitors alike, has sat empty, devoid of life and gathering dust.

But now the fine-dining eatery is set to get a new lease on life thanks to business partners Jonathan Nunez and Thomas Tennant, who have acquired the property in the hopes of building on its legacy.

“We heard that there were several other bids from persons who wanted to either turn it into a fast-food restaurant or to demolish it and put up a new development,” Nunez told the Cayman Compass. “Fortunately, we were able to secure the location and our plans are to build on the strong cultural foundation that has attracted residents and tourists over the many years.”

He added, “We want to keep the name the Lighthouse from its heyday.”

Old name, new plans

The plans for the new business include a redesign of the main restaurant, which will incorporate antique and culturally significant furniture and pictures. The menu will consist of Caymanian and seaside cuisine. On the eastern side of the property, they plan to build a pizza and beer garden.

For Nunez, 41, and Tennant, 38, who are from New Orleans and Miami, respectively, this is not their first experience with opening a restaurant.

“On March 6, 2020, we successfully acquired what was Aroma and turned it into Tomfoodery; that was six days before the government shut the borders because of COVID and tourism dried up,” said Nunez. “Since then, we were pretty much chasing our tails and, although the business was doing well in the end, we were unable to find a common ground when it came time to renegotiate the lease.”

Although Tomfoodery is temporarily without a physical location, Nunez said they are maintaining a virtual presence and will continue to make deliveries while they focus on reopening the Lighthouse.

Building on a legacy

“Where I am from, there are legacy restaurants that are more than 150 years old,” said Nunez. “With the exception of the Lobster Pot, and maybe the Grand Old House, there really aren’t many multi-generational restaurants left in Cayman, and we didn’t want to see the Lighthouse be destroyed like so many others.”

The Lighthouse restaurant’s signature dish was ‘Ms Nell’s Conch Chowder’. The recipe was given to Gatta by his dear friend and former human resources manager, Nell Connor, for whom the stew is named. Its recipe remains a closely guarded secret but Nunez hopes Gatta will be willing to spill the beans.

“Chef Thomas is well known for his fusion of global foods with Cayman cuisine; our mac and cheese stuffed with Cayman-style beef was a big hit, and we would love to be able to get the [conch chowder] recipe and have it live on in its authentic nature,” said Nunez.

Work is under way to get the lights back on, but Nunez said it would take some time, with a likely opening date as far away as sometime in 2024 or even early 2025.