SEBASTIAN — After nine years, the much raved-about Mo-Bay Grill is moving from the Publix Plaza north of Sebastian to a larger, waterfront location. Owner and Chef Wesley Campbell has been working non-stop in order to re-open his popular Jamaican restaurant for the New Year in its new location at 1401 Indian River Drive, in Sebastian’s Riverfront District.
Campbell sits at a table outside, away from the pleasant hum of restaurant conversation, talking about his life and his new venture.
Although this most recent and exciting move is a short one, Campbell began his lifelong culinary journey as a child in his native Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Born into the restaurant business, he watched his parents make jerk chicken and pork, steamed fish and fried chicken in their small restaurant.
At 14, he entered a cooking competition and won, impressing the judges with his sophisticated dish – chicken stuffed with rice and sausage.
As the saying goes, “he never looked back.”
Campbell began working as a prep cook at the five-star Half Moon Resort in Jamaica. Impressed with his potential, the resort sent him to Austria for additional training.
Upon his return, he became head chef. At 20, he was offered the executive chef position.
He later moved to the Wyndham Rosehall Hotel and, in 1986, when a friend opened a restaurant in Washington, D.C., Campbell left Jamaica to help make his friend’s Montego Bay Café a success.
Campbell’s career blossomed in D.C.: he worked as executive sous chef for the Mayflower Hotel and Georgia Brown’s Restaurant and as executive chef for the Georgetown Seafood Grill: then he took over the executive chef position at The Daily Grill.
Under him, the restaurant prospered and three additional restaurants were opened in the area, as well as another in Houston, making him Corporate Chef to all four.
He came to Sebastian more or less by accident.
“We didn’t choose Sebastian; Sebastian sort of chose us,” Campbell says.
While still in D.C., a Realtor friend convinced him to buy property in Ft. Myers.
The friend’s company went bankrupt and, through the courts, Campbell was offered property in Sebastian instead. Thus, he found himself the owner of Florida property he had never laid eyes on until 2004.
By that time, he had married Loreen, a girl from Kingston, Jamaica, whom he had met in D.C. The couple has two sons, Wesley Jr., a freshman at Cornell, and James, along with three grandchildren.
The family was vacationing in Sebastian, planning to build a vacation home on their property, but friends urged them to open a restaurant.
Liking the idea, the family moved to Sebastian, and Mo-Bay Grill, which is named for Campbell’s hometown, Montego Bay, opened its doors Dec. 29, 2005.
Mo-Bay Grill quickly developed a dedicated following, as word of Campbell’s delicious Jamaican cuisine spread, and the business was successful for nearly a decade.
Then, on the day before Thanksgiving 2014, Campbell’s landlord called to say he would not be renewing his lease, which was up on Dec. 29.
According to Campbell, someone had filed a suit, naming him and his landlord and claiming that the little restaurant was in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Seeking to rectify the problem, Campbell and his landlord realized that, because of its small size, the restaurant could not be brought into full compliance. There was no choice. The lease couldn’t be renewed.
“It was like a blow to the stomach,” recalls Campbell. “The restaurant was our livelihood, and our employees needed to work.”
Renting another space in the same shopping center “wouldn’t have been practical,” says Campbell.
So, on Thanksgiving Day, he found himself driving around town looking for a place to move his business. He saw a sign on the vacant restaurant space at the corner south of Earl’s Hideaway on Indian River Drive.
He dialed the number on the sign.
“On the Friday after Thanksgiving we struck a deal and I signed on Dec. 3!” he says.
Since then, things have moved quickly.
“It has been fun, exciting, hectic, tiring – but a wonderful journey because I have seen how God works, to move barriers, to make things happen.”
Required licenses that typically take months, came through in less than two weeks. Having the gas moved to the new location, Campbell was told, would take more than a month and a half.
“I kept praying and pleading with (the gas company). Then, on Dec. 19, my birthday, I woke up in the morning and went over to the new location and there were lots of workmen and machines. I asked what they were doing and they said they were putting in the gas line!”
Campbell is bringing much of the furniture and appliances to the new location.
With a grin, he explains that several customers have urged him to make sure he brings his old grill along, so the food they’ve grown accustomed to will be just as good.
Although it is the skill of the chef rather than the mystical properties of the grill that produces the delicious results, Campbell has assured them the grill is, indeed, relocating with him.
In addition to overseeing the renovations in the new location, ensuring all utilities are in place, all permits and paperwork are properly done and submitted and the myriad other to-do items large and small are attended to, Campbell is working, through a knowledgeable friend, to ensure a nice view of the lagoon for his customers.
His property extends across Indian River Drive to the lagoon and, currently, pepper trees and mangroves obscure the view. He plans to have outside seating and hopes to clear as much growth as possible within the mangrove protection regulations, to take full advantage of the riverside location.
He’s looking forward to being a neighbor of Earl’s Hideaway.
“There’s plenty of parking and customers for everyone. It’s a matter of respect.”
Campbell’s career is not only his livelihood, it is his passion. Nothing gives him more joy that to see a customer enjoying the food he has prepared.
“I love cooking. I love making people happy – the smiles on the customers’ faces. I want to make them feel special. That makes me feel special.”
He is proud that, during the economic downturn, “we battled through the hard times, we stayed open, didn’t change the quality of the food and didn’t increase the prices.”
Today’s menu offers American and Jamaican dishes, chicken, steaks, chops, fresh vegetables, enticing island desserts and an alluring array of sides.
Favorites include jerk chicken, oxtail soup and coconut rice pudding.
And, Mo-Bay’s beer and wine license will follow Campbell to the new location.
“With our specialty drinks, you don’t need hard liquor,” he promises.
In a moment of pure serendipity, two women exit the restaurant and approach Campbell.
“Are you the owner?” one asks.
Campbell smiles and nods. “Yes, ma’am.”
“That was the most delicious food my mother and I have ever had,” she says.
Her mom nods vigorously in agreement.
“Thank you so much. It was amazing. This is the first time we’ve been here.”
They each gave him a hug before heading for their car.
“Thanks again!”
Campbell sat shaking his head, tears welling in his eyes.
“I’m in business to make a living, but also to make people happy. That’s my secret ingredient – Love.”
