When Danny Keen began work in the kitchens at Harrods he spent his meal breaks perched on a box by a back entrance. His white colleagues could eat in the canteen – but not Danny.


In 1960s London racism was overt and every-day. Behind the glamorous façade of a top department store a form of apartheid existed. “We were all West Indians led by a foreman from Trinidad, none of us were allowed to eat in the staff restaurant. Whites only. We had to eat sitting on boxes by the back door of the kitchen,” said Danny.


Born in Jamaica, he was just four when he arrived in Britain. His grandfather had fought for Britain in the First World War and in 1950 his mother left her young children in the care of her sisters in Jamaica to travel to Britain to work in a factory - sending for Danny to join her two years later. “Living conditions in Notting Hill Gate were harsh for everyone, but only the worst was available for us,” said Danny. “Racial prejudice was at the core of British life then. West Indians were the lowest level of a class-based fading colonial empire. Everything was stacked against us.”


And yet there was inspiration and opportunity too.
Today Danny is a respected artist with his paintings hung in museums, galleries and the Houses of Parliament. He traces his art career back to his London primary school, where prints of Pre-Raphaelite paintings hung on corridor walls.


“It was the wonderful Victorian portraits on the walls which inspired me to be a portrait painter,” said Danny. “Millais, Rossetti and Burne-Jones. Among them was a famous black beautiful Jamaican woman who was not only painted by them but also became an artist in her own right. Fanny Eaton was a great inspiration.”
Danny went on to study art but said: “What was I going to do with a degree in fine art? There were no opportunities for me.”
However, there were jobs, and opportunities, in catering. Working six night-shifts a week to fund himself through catering college, he went on to cook in fine-dining restaurants in London.

When he first moved to Norwich more than 30 years ago he bought a bakery and café but was defeated by trying to fit family life around 4am starts. “A baker’s life was not for me!” he said.
However, Norfolk life very much was for him.


“Why Norfolk? The rich cultural life of this county, and the friendliness of people.
“I followed artist friends from London to Norfolk. Norfolk has a thriving arts community. I came up here to stay with artist friends and thought why live in London when I could live in Norfolk?” said Danny.


After the bakery experiment he went on to become executive head chef for an outside catering company and then opened a French restaurant, De Lubeck, in North Walsham, which garnered very good reviews including the then reviewer of this paper. “He said my food was as good as his favourite restaurant in France!” said Danny, who also ran the Buckinghamshire Arms at Blickling, and then Alibi jazz club in Norwich.
“It was very successful so I was able to retire!” said Danny.
And finally he could embark on the career he had always wanted.

Read the full interview in Weekend magazine, in the EDP this Saturday, October 23.

Other highlights include:

The legacy of Norwich's Father John

East Anglia's most beautiful autumn walks

The Assembly House's crumbly apple cake

A staycation in Beccles