Momofuku's Caribbean Blockbuster, Explained
Review: Kabawa in the East Village is a haven for chiles, giant pork chops, coconuts, and other tasty fare
Kabawa: Everything You Need to Know Before You Book
Here’s my review of Kabawa by the Momofuku crew!
This is not a standard critique. What follows are a series of blurbs and mini-essays about the best dishes there — and about the ideas underpinning the restaurant.
No need to read this long column from top to bottom. Scroll down until you find what you like!
What’s up with Kabawa’s chile program? Is it strong?
The chile program is strong!
I know what you’re thinking. Kabawa is a prix-fixe spot — not typically a haven for dishes that’ll wreak havoc if you compulsively scratch your eyes.
But here’s the thing: Kabawa is also a Caribbean restaurant. A place where the martinis are spiked with coconut water. Where the caviar is paired with plantains.
It’s a place where diners experience both the pain of chiles and their breathtaking flavors.
You might run into a verdant and mild poblano. Or maybe you’ll taste scotch bonnets, chiles whose “complex, slightly musky perfume” is “music to the soul of cooks” in Puerto Rico and elsewhere, Maricel E. Presilla writes in “Peppers of the Americas.”
But if you’re lucky, you’ll try the habaneros, a fruit the color of cartoon munitions, a chile whose pain is only rivaled by its delicate, floral aromas.
Chef Paul Carmichael, a native of Barbados, is serious about his pepper program.
But he’s also quiet about it.
Like at so many good Mexican or South Asian restaurants, there are no triple asterisks to alert folks to something spicy. There are no doodles of flaming posteriors, like at the old Mission Chinese.
This is the way it should be. Restaurants don’t issue bold-face warnings about broccoli rabe being bitter, or ghormeh sabzi being aggressively tart. If you’re at a steakhouse, you don’t expect a waiter to explain that the ribeye is acutely fatty, though let’s be honest: More folks will experience gastric distress from a cube of A5 wagyu (way too rich) than from a few peppers in their larb.
Chiles are simply yet another ingredient. A small but important piece of the flavor puzzle. It’s nothing to get all worked up about.
And yet….
