During a recent trip to Ocho Rios, I ventured away from the resorts and into the hills of St Ann for a culinary experience with Jamaican chefs Michelle and Suzanne Rousseau. While the conveniences of a beachfront stay are a treat on most vacations, the peaceful escape of Rockfield Estate offered something entirely different.
Surrounded by gentle mountain air and the sounds of nature, I was introduced to Two Sisters Culinary Experiences, the Rousseau sisters’ newest venture. The experience felt intimate and deliberate, built on a sense of connection that can’t be found in a hotel buffet line. Every dish told a story of heritage, creativity, and care.
Michelle and Suzanne have long been known for their creative partnership, with careers spanning boutiques, restaurants, television, and two award-winning cookbooks, Caribbean Potluck and Provisions. With Two Sisters, they’re ushering in a new chapter — one that brings bespoke Jamaican culinary experiences to life in a way that feels both elevated and deeply personal.
The Rousseau Sisters’ Journey — From Boutique To Burners
Two Sisters
West Indian culture and cuisine have always been part of Michelle and Suzanne’s story. Their creative, pan-Caribbean identity was shaped early on as Jamaican natives who spent several formative years in Trinidad in the 1970s before returning to Jamaica.
“We came from an upbringing that celebrated our West Indian heritage,” Michelle shares of their early childhood. “While in Trinidad, we would have traveled and holidayed a lot in the other islands — Grenada, Barbados, Antigua, and St. Lucia. One of the things that was very clear, in a nuanced way, not an articulated way, was this sense of a West Indian identity that was beyond just being Jamaican first.”
After finishing university in Canada, where their exposure to West Indian culture continued through student organizations, both sisters eventually returned to Jamaica. With a bank loan and the ambition typical of their 20s, Michelle and Suzanne launched their entrepreneurial journey as boutique owners in the 1990s, selling La Perla lingerie, swimwear, and other apparel. After several years and two locations, their business expanded into a cafe — the family’s response to the growing trend of luxury fashion brand cafes in cities like New York and Paris.
Initially planning to make the shopping and dining concept a family affair, the Rousseau sisters set up shop near their mother’s retail space. When a family member backed out of the coffee shop idea at the last minute, Michelle and Suzanne were gently encouraged by their mother to go ahead on their own. The result was their first venture into food, which became an instant hit with locals, expats, and visitors.
“Our understanding and love of our region has very much informed a desire to create environments that celebrate that in a more elevated, more feminine way,” Suzanne shares of their passion for the craft. “One of the things that we never considered, but is evident to me now, is understanding that because we are also culture lovers, history lovers, ‘our region’ lovers, this gives us multiple pieces from which to train. We came to the space with food being this connecting piece — trying to understand it, understand the history, [and] the reason why we eat it. That is a big part of how we evolved our food philosophy and our food personality.”
The Two Sisters Culinary Experience — Hearth, Heritage, And Heart
Simone Cherí
Two Sisters Culinary Experiences gives guests a seat at their island home table — one that is elegant but unpretentious, rooted in community and history. Michelle and Suzanne’s ability to navigate both the kitchen and serve as hostesses is nostalgic in a way that feels like the most endearing homecoming. With each personal story shared over renditions of staples in Jamaican cooking, guests settle into an experience that feels as fresh as it does familiar.
Two Sisters offers morning and evening dining options at Rockfield Estate, along with accommodating private events for large groups and weddings. The easiest way to experience an intimate gathering with the Rousseau sisters is by booking a Hearth-to-Table dining experience, where chefs Michelle and Suzanne craft their signature dishes during a live fire sunset dining experience in the estate’s backyard.
“We cook our signature style of food for you on the open hearth, outside, on the back of the pimento drying yard,” Michelle teases about the food experience. “You come around pre-sundown, have a little aperitivo, [and] go to dinner. Then, you have a digestif and leave when it’s dark. It’s a magical time at night up there.”
Michelle and Suzanne also offer a daytime experience for visitors traveling from cities like Negril or Kingston, which may be an hour or more away. Available twice weekly, The Harvest Brunch showcases how the Rousseau sisters reinterpret the flavor profiles and local ingredients of West Indian cuisine as a refined, international affair.
On what guests can expect of the Two Sisters Harvest Brunch, Michelle shares, “The menu is a little lighter, more pastoral, [and] very signature to our style as well, but more South of France beach club vibe. That’s great salads, signature styles of galettes and quiches, and clean grilled meats, with a glass of rosé or mimosas.”
The family-style meals provide options for varying dietary preferences, from gluten allergies to meat exclusions, while showcasing the simplicity and variety in Jamaican cuisine through a whimsical lens. At the heart of their vision for the culinary experience is sharing long-cherished local ingredients in modern ways that are easily accessible to visitors.
“For a visitor coming to Jamaica, there’s a lot of gray area in figuring out what to do, where to go, where to stay, what to eat, what’s safe, what’s not safe,” Michelle says on navigating Jamaica as a tourist. “There’s a lot of messaging out there. We wanted to create something that feels like home — warm, beautiful, and authentically ours.”
Available for direct bookings on twosistersja.com, guests can explore various food and beverage experiences. In addition to culinary-based programming, Two Sisters also offers a rum tasting experience, curated by the sisters themselves. The Rum Tasting of the Caribbean experience allows guests a glimpse inside the Rousseau sisters’ favorite rums as Jamaican and Caribbean women with over 30 years of lived professional and personal experience in the region.
“This project is celebrating our work and vision, and bringing that to people to experience is very personal to us,” Suzanne shares. “It’s like we are having you in our home. It’s much less about offering a product to the mass market, but really zoning in on intimacy. Service with joy, celebrating West Indian hospitality, and us being able to be much more involved in a hands-on way in the experiences.”
Redefining Jamaica’s Culinary Future
Two Sisters
The launch of Two Sisters is yet another indicator of the growing interest in shifting from resort-style tourism toward experiences that celebrate Jamaican creativity and support local economies. Two Sisters honors both the island’s flavors and its feminine strength, blending entrepreneurship, artistry, and heritage. Ultimately, Michelle and Suzanne aim to reshape how guests perceive Jamaican cuisine.
For many, regional staples often evoke images of brown stews, meats, or sides. However, Suzanne explains that this view only represents a narrow part of the country’s culinary culture, leaving the most unique experiences to word-of-mouth among residents or repeat visitors.
“The perception of the cuisine outside of Jamaica is represented typically by smaller cook shops where you sell a box lunch, or they think of it only as oxtail, stewed chicken, and rice and peas — these heavy things,” Suzanne says. “But we have such a wide variety of ingredients here, so our job is to present it, translate it, and use the ingredients in ways that give people a different understanding or appreciation of them. Our recipes bring together and elevate the ingredients and present them in new ways.”
Travelers seeking a refreshing slice of Jamaica will find it with Two Sisters — not just in the food, but in the feeling it leaves long after the experience. Far more filling than the meal itself is the chance to add another layer of cultural exchange and understanding beyond Jamaica’s typical attention-grabbing symbols. While the sisters agree that Jamaica is famous for many things — stellar athletics, reggae, dancehall, and Bob Marley — this narrow view often leaves many aspects of the Jamaican narrative missing from the visitor experience. Whether you’re coming for the cultural capital of Kingston or the chill music scene of Portland, Michelle and Suzanne encourage more travelers to explore beyond the resort walls.
Dining and Cooking