At Kabawa, Paul Carmichael Takes a Local Approach to Caribbean Cuisine
Opening
For Paul Carmichael, a native of Barbados, the Caribbean is the ultimate fusion region. 'They have it all: Spanish, French, Dutch, English, Indigenous and some Asian,' he said, one afternoon at Bar Kabawa, the adjunct to his main restaurant in an alley off the Bowery. The bar with the green door and a list of daiquiris opened a few weeks ago. The blue door nearby leads to the open kitchen of the prix-fixe restaurant ($145, three courses), previously Momofuku Ko. (Kabawa is part of the Momofuku restaurant group.) His take on the Caribbean is 'local, not tourist,' he said. A soundtrack of vocal music enlivens the bar but at Kabawa, instrumental sound provides background.
8 Extra Place (First Street and Bowery), kabawa.com.
This newcomer just around the corner from Kabawa (see above) has a take on a fusion cuisine that covers different territory: Brazil meets Japan. Izakaya in its approach, it offers a lengthy list of dishes like salmon carpaccio with mango salsa and yuzu; crispy rice with spicy tuna and avocado; various rolls including a vegetable futomaki; assorted takes on fried rice; and substantial platters of feijoada and churrasco. Two chefs, Nobuhiro Hamazaki and Ricardo Cardona, are in charge. Vibrant murals and greenery define a big space that also resonates with tribal house. (Wednesday)
299 Bowery (First Street), 646-852-1595, kobanony.com.
Folk art touches and nods to tradition define this intimate Georgian restaurant. The popular khachapuri pastry boat filled with cheese is thin and crisp, the work of Jimi Kurtanidze. Another chef, Ruslan Giorgberidze, only makes khinkali dumplings, including the mother khinkali filled with smaller ones like nesting dolls. Chicken in blackberry sauce, beef stew, skewered meats, and cauliflower in walnut sauce are by the executive chef, Manuchar Tsikolia. The restaurant serves Georgian wines, including amber ones, aged in qvevri, and some cocktails incorporate chacha, a grape-based spirit. The owner, Gurami Oniani, has a string of places in Georgia and Moscow.
80 Carmine Street (Seventh Avenue South), 917-388-3166, laliko.com.
The parameters at this pasta-specific spot in Brooklyn are strictly defined (though how closely they will be followed remains to be seen). A menu of seven appetizers, seven main dishes (mostly using dried pastas, from sources across Italy) and four desserts, all involving pasta and tagged with cute names and background details, are served at just 12 seats indoors and another 12 outside. Natural wines are poured. It's the work of a team led by the chef Andrea Pancani, who had been with the Sant Ambroeus group. (Opens Friday)
447 First Street (Seventh Avenue), Park Slope, Brooklyn, 718-301-0073, bepastany.com.
Manischewitz, the kosher grocery company, will be distributing free samples of its products from new orange food trucks, starting Thursday through April 7. The trucks will be stationed outside various ShopRite stores in New York and New Jersey from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily, except Saturdays. The routine will resume after Passover, April 21, when it will start selling kosher deli specialties.
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