For a long time, whenever executive chef Robert Nicolle told people he worked at Tom Moore’s Tavern, the inevitable response was: “Is that place still open?”

“I definitely felt like Tom Moore’s was Bermuda’s forgotten restaurant,” Mr Nicolle said. “But that is changing now.”

The Hamilton Parish eatery – Bermuda’s oldest – just received a Best of Bermuda award from TheBermudian magazine, for the second year in a row.

“It was nice getting the award last year and even better to get it again this year,” Mr Nicolle said. “We must be doing something right.”

He is a little bemused by the sudden attention. As far as he is concerned, the place, run by Bruno Fiocca, has always been a gem.

“What makes Tom Moore’s Tavern great is its consistency,” Mr Nicolle said. “When people come they always know they will be getting the same great service and food. We have a good team. We make almost everything from scratch.”

Tom Moore’s has existed virtually unchanged on the same spot, as a home, hotel or restaurant, since 1652. In 1912, advertisements for its “delicious shore dinners” for a $1, were published in The Royal Gazette.

The restaurant has been through its ups and downs over the years. The pandemic definitely brought some difficult times but 2022 was good and this year is shaping up to be even better.

“Now, we are ahead of 2019 levels,” Mr Nicolle said. “We have lots of parties and functions on the weekends and during the week. That helps quite a bit. We just try to do the best we can and we appreciate everyone that is coming here.”

But they are feeling the pinch from rising food prices on the island. He said that a bag of sugar that once cost $45 is now $90.

“We have to watch our portion sizes,” Mr Nicolle said. “Food, particularly meat, is definitely going bonkers. I have to be mindful.”

What makes it all worth it are the positive comments from diners. The restaurant attracts an even spread of Bermudians and tourists.

“We get a lot of repeat visitors to the island, who like to come in and see Bruno,” Mr Nicolle said. “People can see how good he is at what he does.”

A favourite dish at the restaurant is potato encrusted salmon with snow peas and a goat cheese Dijon sauce. They also sell a lot of duck, lamb and local fish.

“We have had a spinach salad that has been on the menu for 20 years,” Mr Nicolle said. “That is one of our signature dishes. It is a beet carpaccio with spinach, goat cheese and raspberry vinaigrette with crispy pancetta.”

Many celebrities have dined at the restaurant over the years, including former US president George Bush, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and senator John McCain.

“Of course, I don’t really get to see them because I am in the back cooking,” Mr Nicolle said.

He has worked at Tom Moore’s Tavern for 19 years.

In 2004, he was working in a restaurant in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, when a friend called him from Bermuda.

“She was working as the pastry chef at Tom Moore’s,” he said. “This was just after Hurricane Fabian.”

The category four hurricane hit Bermuda on September 5, 2003 and badly damaged the waterside tavern.

“The head chef left after the storm and did not want to come back,” Mr Nicolle said.

In February 2004, he spent a weekend in Bermuda, met Mr Fiocca and got to know the island.

“They were still cleaning up,” he said. “There had been several feet of water in the dining room. The kitchen was gone. The propane canisters for the kitchen were off somewhere in the bushes.”

But he liked what he saw of the island and Mr Fiocca had plans to rebuild with brand new appliances, which he did.

Mr Nicolle went back to Canada but returned to Bermuda to start working in April 2004.

Growing up in Nova Scotia, it was his mother who inspired him to cook.

“I loved watching her,” he said.

He got his first cookbook at 15 and found French cooking techniques came easily to him.

“I would make pork chops in Vermouth sauce,” he said.

After high school he did not immediately go into cooking as a career. Instead, in early adulthood, he was the part owner of a courier company.

In his late thirties, he sold his shares in the business and enrolled at the Culinary Institute of Canada in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

“I was one of the oldest students,” he said. “I loved going to school. Other people did a lot of partying. I did a bit too but always made sure I went to school the next morning. I was paying for it. I graduated with honours. It was a great experience. It got me ready for real life.”

Today, he says the popularity of cooking shows such as Iron Chef give young people entering the industry a false impression.

“They think they are going to be a top chef right out of school,” he said. “The reality is you have to work your way up the ladder and take your knocks.”

Celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay popularised the idea of a head chef in the back ranting at his staff but Mr Nicolle feels this is the opposite of how a kitchen should flow.

“You have to maintain your cool,” he said. “It does get stressful back there but you have to get things done. Sometimes there are heated words between staff members but at the end of the day you just have to move along.”

He has stayed in Bermuda for so long because he likes the weather and the money.

“There is very little tax compared to Canada,” he said. “I drive around and look at the blue water and think, wow, I can’t believe I live here.”

However, one of the casualties of his job is a social life.

“You are working when everyone else is having fun,” he said. “You get off work at 10pm and there is not a lot to do.”

He is 60, and is thinking of going back to Canada in another couple of years.

“I would like to buy some land when I go home and do my own thing,” he said. “I want to have a homestead and raise pigs and chickens and whatever. I want to live more sustainably and not rely on the system so much.”

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