People called Dexter Dillas crazy when he told them he was working for free.

However, the 57-year-old, who had been unemployed for six months, knew it was the best way to prove his worth as a chef.

Three weeks later he had a full-time job, courtesy of MEF Ltd.

“People told me, ‘You’re out of your mind!’ But today I’ve got a full-time job. I’m now taking over the local buffet at one of the Island’s premier restaurants. And that’s the advice I’d give to young people: sometimes in life you have to give up something to get something.”

Part of his value is the local touch he brings to dishes.

Mr Dillas was made responsible for the local section at Fourways Inn’s regular Sunday brunches when he joined MEF. He was then asked to come up with Bermuda-inspired dishes to add to the menu at Café 4 on Queen Street. “It was launched three weeks ago,” he said. “We have three items that are repeated Monday to Friday and the other seven entrées vary. The three that repeat are cassava pie, a local fried mahi mahi and baby back ribs.”

Every dish isn’t “traditionally Bermudian”, many are just recognised as “local favourites”, the chef explained.

“I also do black-eyed peas and rice and Spanish rice and mac and cheese. And I do a coconut curry pumpkin rice — that’s one of my specialities. It’s a complete change from what they had done here at Café 4 for all these years. All the dishes were cooked by foreign chefs but now they have a Bermudian chef cooking Bermuda’s favourite dishes.”

Local shark hash and paw paw casserole will soon be slotted in, he added.

Mr Dillas joined the hospitality industry in a roundabout way.

The talented musician is a graduate of Boston’s Berklee College of Music. It’s there he honed his skills as a drummer before he had to return to the Island.

“I was a drummer with the Bermuda Strollers,” he said. “My father was a popular local tiler and so I had to take up that business to pay for my schooling after I graduated. I came back and worked with the Bermuda Strollers for seven years. I played at most hotels most of my life. Of course, change came when the hotels stopped playing local bands. I went back to my tiling and had a very big company, but it closed down four or five years ago when the recession hit.”

Fortunately, he had other skills he could draw on.

“Some years ago, I’d taken a course in culinary arts with a gentleman who was then the manager of Fourways, David LeStrange. Ten or 12 years ago he helped me study and sit the American Hotel and Motel Association’s culinary exam. I passed that and would periodically do little catering jobs.”

He sold his homemade chicken, beef and mussel pies at a store in Warwick owned by Nelson Hunt. However, he returned to tiling when his brother called for help with the work he was doing on the new hospital wing.

Said Mr Dillas: “When that was done, I sat there wondering where to go next.”

He turned to his “good friend” Dale Butler, the director of training, leadership and communications for MEF.

“I asked him, ‘Do you think there’s a chance I could get a job there?’ And then I started doubting myself, wondering whether I was even good enough to work in this type of restaurant. I’d never worked anywhere with an à la carte menu before.”

Mr Butler told him they weren’t hiring.

“I said to ask [MEF] if I could work for free for a month. I wanted to see: one, if I would be good enough to be hired, and two, I thought at the very least I could up my skills in culinary arts. After three weeks, the head chef came to me and said, ‘We want to offer you a job’. So many people told me I was crazy to work for free but it worked for me. If you can’t get in the front door, get in the back door — just do whatever it takes to get in the door.”