our story

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I am Barrie Gunning chef and owner of Bad Guys BB Ltd, now trading as The Black Urchin. I left corporate finance as an accountant after 15 years to study marketing and gained a professional degree to become a qualified entrepreneur. I am a self thought chef with a tremendous passion for authentic, vibrant and flavoursome cuisine that's created with  just fresh and quality ingredients. I took that passion and started a journey that will culminated an experience that Barbadians and visitors to the island alike, would greatly appreciate. My goal is to capture the very essence of the real island lifestyle, the beauty, the smile of the people, the exotic flavours it offers and pass that on to our customers in a dish or a well crafted cocktail.  

The Black Urchin started it's journey in 2008 as Pop Up Barbados in East London, a bi-monthly supper-club in my apartment in Dalston, London, hosting 25 - 30 people. I went on to host guests pop-ups at trendy bars and event spaces in London as well as being one of the headliners for the popular Street Feast London , a night market for gourmet street food vendors catering to a packed crowd of up to 3000 foodies from all over the world, on weekends. Pop Up Barbados immediately captured media attention and was featured in many major newspapers such as The Guardian, The Telegraph on Sunday, London's Evening Standard, London Metro, Huffington, was featured in the Ryanair inflight magazine, plus many top food bloggers sites and journals which led to private supper-club bookings with even some famous celebrities in the UK.

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In September 2020 I decided to return to home afetr 21 years living in Europe and gave birth to Bad Guys BB. Initially Bad Guys started out as a Bajan street food pop up at my aunts' rum bar/mini-mart selling local eats. Although this was a confinement on what I had to offer it was where I wanted to start. I quickly went unto having a pop up serving contemporary street food tapas at The Drift Lounge in Sunset Crest on the West Coast of Barbados.

 In 2023 I reintroduce the supper-club concept here on the island and with that, I decided to rebrand as The Black Urchin. The brand was to represent the refinement in what I offer. In December 2023, I then moved on from a pop up at The Drift Lounge, to having my own food bar at Haymans Market, serving some amazing gourmet cutters, bao buns with local fillings, homemade sourdough tacos and gourmet fish/meat salads. Customers were wowed by our products and we were happy to have this as a window for exposure.  I decided to closed my doors at Haymans after a year, taking the opportunity to focus my energy, time and management on the other aspects of the brand.  That is, The Supperclubs and Chef Table experiences, gourmet catering and private chef services. 

Our Supperclubs and Chef Table offers real underground dining experiences in Barbados. Not just serving food in interesting locations and venues around the island but giving our customers a taste experience with fine cuisine and some dishes you will not find in many restaurants on the island or done authentically as we do.

 We take great pride in what we do and have always had great reviews and feedback. We are professional and friendly. 

Don't hesitate to reach out to us on WhatsApp or send us an email to see how we can make your celebration, event, wedding, work do or evening special with our offerings.

Thank you for reading!