Sporting a new, hip goatee, Dr. Brown congratulated the Furberts and said they were representative of "what I hope is an emerging young, black entrepreneurial class''.

Next up was former Tourism Minister David Dodwell, who said of Mr. Furbert that "we have a new Wayne in the new Bermuda''.

Mr. Dodwell recalled how a dinner conversation on Mr. Furbert's porch with a group of his political colleagues had led, over coffee, to the idea of a coffee business. "We're all here as friends,'' Mr. Dodwell explained.

Shadow Finance Minister Grant Gibbons then cut the ribbon and at 4.15 p.m., the Paradiso Cafe was open for business and Mrs. Furbert began living her dream.