Business Profile
AMBER’s Nest
Friday 22nd February 2008

By  M. Justice Darboe

How it all started?

Amber Barry is a self-taught culinary chef, and has had experiences working in some of the finest hotels in the US including The Ritz Carlton as sous chef from 1993 to 2003. Prior to that, Amber was a trained Insurance Underwriter by profession. She was amongst the first Gambian women to undertake professional training in insurance underwriting. Her career as an insurance broker continued after spending 10 years in the US and returning home in 2003. However, her passion for cooking and eating healthy has always been nurtured on the side burner. She would cater for family and other private occasions on an ad-hoc basis and often entertain friends who loved her cooking style. In summer of 2003, Amber joined the Sunset Beach Hotel as chef. She spent less than a year at Sunset, before opening doors to the AMBER’s NEST restaurant at the TDA.

The Business - What we do and where we are today.

AMBER’S NEST first opened doors in January 2004. We are in the business of food service and event planning. We offer corporate catering services to a number of Gambian institutions including banks, insurance companies, international community as well as private individuals. We also specialize in event planning, particularly corporate functions. This would involve working with the client to brand the venue of the event, propose suitable menu, arrange for and deliver invitations where required, and coordinate the food serving. During the recent AU summit, Amber’s Nest was contracted to serve Thabo Mbeki and entourage, Thailand’s Prime Minister, and all UN ambassadors during their stay.

The people behind AMBER’s NEST?

Amber Barry, proprietor of AMBER’s NEST is the chef/operations manager at the restaurant. Over the last 3 years, she has built and nurtured a team of capable Gambian talent. The total staff complement at the NEST is  nine(9)  : 2 assistant chefs, 4 waiters/Waitresses, 1 driver, 1 watchman, 1 bar-tender/cashier. All staffs have been working at the nest since inception.

The strategy - how we intend doing it.

The strategy is underpinned by three factors - offer excellent service, tasty & healthy food and yet budget-friendly. Building on this, AMBER’s NEST wants to expand into the fast-food business and has recently signed a contract with ELTON, under the trading name of BAY Enterprises, to manage the EDEN Cafeterias. This is driven by our objective of reaching out closer to our clients and offering them affordable lunch menus that because of location would be difficult to do from the existing NEST restaurant at the TDA. We would offer lunch delivery services to the growing number of corporate names along Kairaba Avenue, lunch hour buffets as well as in-house services for those corporate lunches, breakfast meetings, etc...