French-Caribbean restaurant in P.E.I. earns $10,000 grant from DoorDash

Valéry Ladrezeau travelled a long way to P.E.I. from a small chain of islands in the Caribbean, but now that he's here, he wants to nurture both his restaurant and Islanders' appreciation of his cuisine.

He recently got some help in doing that when the food-delivery service DoorDash awarded him $10,000 to help expand his business, Datcha, located in Founders' Food Hall and Market in Charlottetown. 

Ladrezeau was one of 30 across the country — and the only Island-based establishment — to receive the grant, which recognizes Black business owners for their entrepreneurial spirit and impact on their communities. 

"It's a good opportunity to show people my food is good to represent P.E.I.," Ladrezeau said. "The goal is to turn my business into a franchise, because I think people need food like that…. We need more casual food." 

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We head down to Founders' Hall to meet Valery Ladrezeau, owner of French-Caribbean restaurant Datcha, who was just awarded $10,000 by DoorDash as part of a program supporting Black-owned restaurants.

Ladrezeau is from Guadelupe, a French territory in the Caribbean Sea that's about one-fifth the land area of Prince Edward Island. 

After stops in Paris, then Toronto, he eventually decided to make his way to P.E.I. a few years ago. 

He decided he wanted to show locals a new type of cuisine — the French-Caribbean food of his home country. 

'Caribbean vibes'

Ladrezeau said this island reminds him a lot of Guadelupe. 

"The people are chill. In summer, I almost feel like it's Caribbean vibes," he said. "The smell of the water, the humidity is the same." 

Datcha specializes in bokit, a sandwich made with bread that's cooked from scratch at the Founders' Hall stall and filled with anything from chicken or beef to lobster or cod, along with house-made sauces. 

The sandwich is then deep fried and served up to hungry customers. 

Ladrezeau said food in Guadelupe, and the Caribbean in general, is influenced by the many different cultures that live there. 

"In the Caribbean we have the Latinos, you can have Chinese, you have Lebanese, you have Indian, you have Black people, you have white people," he said. 

"The food is for everyone."  

As for the $10,000 grant, Ladrezeau said he'll put most of it toward marketing and purchasing new equipment for his Founders' Hall stand. 

While he'd like to eventually see more Datcha locations that can bring his food to new tastebuds, he also hopes a larger community of Black business owners can be inspired to set up shop on the Island. 

"It think it's a wave. Before us was, like, the Mexican food, maybe the Asian food, the Indian food," he said. 

"I think the next wave will be the Black food."