Kabawa, from David Changs Momofuku group, is…
Momofuku Ko is historical past — but long live Kabawa.
Neither the flavors nor pretensions of David Chang’s fabled, impossible-to-get-into restaurant lives on at its successor.
Kabawa is the first new venue from his Momofuku empire since Chang started closing most of his sit-down locations two years in the past and turned his consideration to branding and client merchandise.
But the place where Momofuku Ko served its last uni with chickpea hozon remembers Ko’s stressed, risk-taking spirit, even though its menu is Caribbean, not Asian, and served in a mere three programs in contrast with Ko’s 10.
Chef Paul Carmichael, who once labored at David Chang’s still-missed Ma Peche, isn’t attempting for a “pan-Caribbean” menu at new Kabawa; quite, it’s a personalised take on sure dishes he loves. Brian Zak/NY Post
Kabawa is the first new venue from David Chang’s Momofuku empire since he started closing most of his sit-down locations two years in the past and turned his consideration to branding and client merchandise. Brian Zak/NY Post
The room, on weirdly named Extra Place in the East Village, stays hard-edged despite some brighter colours and mosaics, yet oddly cozy thanks to chef Paul Carmichael’s infectious good cheer. The handful of tables have an out-of-the-action really feel, but it’s a different story at the three-sided counter where strangers mingle simply and Carmichael presides over the steamy, fragrant open kitchen with an omnipresent smile and infectious good humor.
Carmichael chuckled when I told him my spouse and honeymooned many years in the past in Barbados, his birthplace, when every meal featured variations on flying fish that all tasted alike.
“Flying fish,” he said with a twinkle. “We have real Bajan food festivals now.”
The menu (prix-fixe only and costing $145, but with dietary supplements that can raise the price significantly) displays the standard Bajan desk — without flying fish — as properly as the tastes of Jamaica, Trinidad, Martinique, Puerto Rico and other Caribbean locales.
Almost every little thing I tasted hit the spot — “tropical” without a cheesy onslaught of pineapple and coconut. Carmichael, who once labored at Chang’s still-missed Ma Peche, isn’t attempting for a “pan-Caribbean” menu; quite, it’s a personalised take on sure dishes he loves.
Breadfruit tostones are topped with rings of tender octopus and sparked with “dog” sauce Brian Zak/NY Post
Kabawa’s bread service embody Trinidad-inspired flaky roti and Jamaican cassava cubes with dips of pepper jelly, plantain ginger chutney, curried chickpeas and mango chutney. Brian Zak/NY Post
He avoids cliches: There’s nary a jerk in the home besides for hearty “jerk” duck sausage that’s not the real factor, but merely “inspired” by jerk seasonings.
My meals started with two varieties of irresistible bread: Trinidad-inspired flaky roti that was enjoyable to tear aside with fingers, and firm, Jamaican cassava cubes. Dips of pepper jelly, plantain ginger chutney, curried chickpeas and mango chutney foreshadow the flavour adventures to come.
Black sea bass — served beside a small pool of woodsy, gentle Trinidadian-style curry — seemed minimalist on the plate but packed most taste punch. Breadfruit tostones, as toothsome as pizza-style flatbread but a lot tastier, have been topped with rings of impossibly tender octopus and sparked with “dog” sauce, a piquant condiment made with parsley, lime and habanero from the French Caribbean.
Chuletas can can is a monumental combo of pork rib, stomach and loin, seasoned with pungent recaito, a conventional Puerto Rican sofrito of pepper and cilantro. Brian Zak/NY Post
Black sea bass — served beside a small pool of woodsy, gentle Trinidadian-style curry — seems to be minimalist on the plate but packs most taste. Brian Zak/NY Post
Luscious uncooked pepper shrimp from Montauk waters, dusted with tangy hibiscus and tingly fermented Scotch bonnet peppers hit all the notes completely. That fantastic dish has been changed by uncooked, mineral-rich ocean scallops that have been practically as good.
Plantain-scrambled egg and salt cod have been so scrumptious, I counsel you ask, as I did, to maintain the caviar that would add $50 to the invoice. It was enough to just benefit from the creamiest scramble and sweetest salt cod I’ve ever had.
The only disappointment was chuletas can can ($75 additional but enough to feed three) — a monumental combo of pork rib, stomach and loin, seasoned with pungent recaito, a conventional Puerto Rican sofrito of pepper and cilantro.
Carmichael was born in Barbados. Brian Zak/NY Post
Kabawa is at 8 Extra Place in the East Village. Brian Zak/NY Post
Although superior to behold, the meat emerged too dry and with little textural differentiation among the cuts.
Kabawa has a fairly priced wine record and killer, top-tier rums. I cherished a Cuban-inspired daiquiri made with shaved ice.
Next-door Bar Kabawa’s a la carte “small bites” and patties of goat, shrimp and crab, variously baked and fried, are low cost introductions to Carmichael’s expertise. But the place to get pleasure from it to the full is the main restaurant — and the counter is where it may be skilled at its spectacular best.
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