Thon in Canarsie, Brooklyn, Tues. April 27, noon

Paul SL and I are planning a culinary "thon" of the Canarsie Neighborhood of Southeast Brooklyn (little discussed by food enthusiasts) on Tuesday April 27 at Noon. We know that some members of LTH live in the New York metro area or might wish to drive or fly in for the day (Canarsie is not so far from JFK airport).

Canarsie is an old Italian/Jewish community, but during the 1990s witnessed full-scale "White Flight" as Caribbeans moved in, but some of the old restaurants and stores remain as well as Haitian and Jamaican restaurants. We plan to meet at noon at Ambiance, a Haitian restaurant highly recommended by Robert Sietsema, the food critic for the Village Voice (located at 9413 Avenue L). Other places on the list are Original Pizza, Bell's Bialy, Teena's Cake Fair, and Dougie's.If you are interested in joining us for LTH-East, just post or pm.

Select in attendance but big in taste, Paul SL and I had a true LTH triple lunch-a-thon in Canarsie. We met at the end of the "L" line on Rockaway Boulevard in the farthest reaches of Southeast Brooklyn. Our first stop was to be Ambiance, an obscure Haitian restaurant on Avenue L (but known within the community), highly regarded by Robert Sietsema of the Village Voice. We were to be (temporarily) disappointed when shortly after noon Ambiance was tightly locked and dark.

Plan B was The Original Pizza (9514 Avenue L), a New York pizzeria, opened in 1970 in the heyday of this Italian and Jewish middle class community on Jamaica Bay. In the 1990s, Canarsie went through a difficult transition to become a predominantly West Indian community on the bay (we saw a lot of fishermen on Canarsie Pier). It is impressive how in New York (although not Chicago) ethnic groups colonize the waters of New York, whether City Island, Brighton Beach, or Canarsie. Original Pizza (the pizzamen were Hispanic) serves typical New York style pizza - somewhat oily with a mix of cheese and tomato, and seemingly no pseudo-cheese filler. The crust was somewhat crisper than usual, but New York style - not cakey. We also order a chicken slice, which was essentially a Buffalo Wing pizza. Very nice, but Original is not so different from other good New York pizzerias.



Chicken Pizza


A Plain Slice


The real find was Dougie's Jamaican Cuisine (9604 Avenue L, Canarsie), which like many West Indian places was basically a take-out shop despite table service (and a very friendly server, who encouraged us to return); we were the only diners. We were particularly impressed by the tenderness of the jerk chicken, the coconuty rice and beans, the fragrant oxtails served in an evocative and distinctive coffee-based sauce, and a wonderful fruity-gingery drink. Less successful was the fried breadfruit with saltfish and callalloo, although Jamaicans might well find it attractive. I found the breadfruit dense and tasteless, and the salt fish, salty. But Dougie's bids well to be a Canarsie GNR.





Jerk Chicken


Oxtails


Fried Breadfruit, Callaloo, and Saltfish


When we returned to Paul's car, we discovered that Ambiance (9413 Avenue L) had opened. It must once have been a quite elegant Italian restaurant, but is now redone in Haitian colors and with Haitian art, a place for banquets and wedding receptions. Sietsema recommended the Fried Pink Snapper, which was unavailable. While the passionfruit juice was passionate, the griot (a pork stew) and the plantain patties were somewhat tough and dry, although the sauce had a nice pepper kick. Too bad, but that is the life of a culinary adventurer.





Griot, hot sauce and Passionfruit drink


Next time I am in New York, I plan to visit Dougie's for sure, and Paul, living there, will be back soon. Visit Dougie's. They also serve Cow Skin, Chicken Foot, Pigtail, Kidney (I don't know which animal), Kingfish, Salt Mackerel, something called Soy Chunks, and Goat Roti. Our kind of place.