As I walked through the East Village on an especially cold evening in New York City, I got lost. I was looking for Bar Kabawa, the latest unveiling from David Chang’s Momofuku team, known in NYC for restaurants like Momofuku Noodle Bar, Momofuku Ssäm Bar, Ma Pêche, and more. This spot, a new daiquiri and rum bar I would find after doubling back, was tucked away neatly on the very small street Extra Place. People were playing catch with their dogs in front of it when the unassuming signage, “Bar Kabawa,” floating on a green vestibule door, finally caught my eye.
As I approached, the bar was opening. And as I escaped the cold to enter, I immediately felt the warmth of the spot—not only the literal heat that I appreciated (I’m telling you, it was freezing), but also the warmth of the people in it. From the smiling waitstaff who ushered me in and gave me the low-down on the menu, to the folks plating the food opposite of me as I sat at the bar, schooling me on what I was looking at, and chef Paul Carmichael, who greeted me as he made his own entrance from out of the cold.
That warmth is the goal for Carmichael, who leads the operation.
“I just want people to feel good and feel like when they’re in there, they’re not in New York. They’re somewhere in the region. It’s snowing outside, but it’s sunny inside,” he tells ESSENCE.
Vibes don’t lie. As I sat and enjoyed an atmosphere being filled with some reggaeton here, a little dancehall there, sipping on the Pineapple & Coconut daiquiri as I bopped to “Murder Dem” by Ninja Man, I made conversation with the people around me. I watched as small groups quickly began to pack in the place for happy hour, impressed by the concoctions brought to their tables. Drinks made out of intricate shaved ice, pickled okra with salt cod on top shuffled out on stylish plates, and the golden-brown patties (baked or fried for your pleasure), filled with everything from Trinidadian-inspired Geera goat to pepperpot duck and foie, nods to Guyana and Jamaica.
Carmichael’s talents have taken him around the world. Cooking since the age of three (seriously, he has a picture he showed me to prove it), he’s thrown down in kitchens in his native Barbados, Puerto Rico and famously, in Australia, including at Momofuku Seiōbo. Now, he’s back in NYC, given creative control by Momofuku, and focusing on the fare that’s always been the most important to him: Caribbean. But the region’s drinks are just as important.
“That bar has been in my head for the last decade because I love cocktails,” he says. “The entire bar, when I sat down, I wrote the entire menu, drinks, food. I knew exactly what I wanted to have in that space.”
He adds, “I knew I wanted to do something with patties as a core menu, but as far as what I was going to put inside of them? No clue. But I was just like, okay, I want it to be easy cold things plus patties, plus a special or two whenever we get there. And it all started with literally the daiquiri. That’s what’s been in my head for a long time: I want to have a bar that focuses on one thing. And that thing is the daiquiri.”
That said, the drink menu is stacked. The Pineapple and Coconut daiquiri I tried was delicious, but there’s also a Kabawa daiquiri, one of the cool shaved ice offerings, with rum, key lime juice, cane sugar with Probitas rum and Montebello Rhum Blanc, a Bay Leaf daiquiri as well as rums like the Soft Landing with El Dorado 5-Year Rum, Cava, lemon and brown butter, a Mojito Caballito with Real McCoy 3-Year Rum and mint, and much more. The menu highlights spirits from around the Caribbean, as does the food menu.
One of his must-haves? The Black Pudding, a Bajan dish made “very traditional,” Carmichael remarks. “It’s a taste adventure every time,” he says. “It’s sweet, but then you get that salty, sour cucumber action. You get a piece of pig ear, you get the texture of some tongue, you get some fat; it’s one of my favorite dishes.”
For Momofuku’s first new restaurant post-pandemic, situated in the space of their former spot, Momofuku Ko, Bar Kabawa is bringing pre-COVID joy and energy back, as island living naturally makes everyone happier. Behind me sat a set of dominoes for anyone ready to play bones. Glass roosters and dogs sat on the back wall with all the bottles as an homage to Carmichael’s love of animals. A blue and yellow Barbados flag sat next to ornate bowls to honor his home, and the staff, though in uniform, were decked in tie-dye.
All of these cheery things came together under Carmichael’s watchful eye in an effort to share the region with people. And what better place to center Caribbean culture than in a city filled with people from many islands? He worked with a number of them to bring the space to life, its doors opening at the top of February.
“All the artwork is with people from the Caribbean. I’ve engaged with a person from Flatbush, and we get a lot of ingredients from them. He’s from Grenada. So for me, it’s a lot more than just food and beverage. It’s truly just, I don’t want to say representation. It’s more like an honor. I just wanted to do it to the best of my ability,” he says. “That’s truly what it was. And not saying it’s going to be better or worse than anybody else. It’s just how I feel about the region and putting it out there and sharing it with people, with everyone, whether you’re from there or not.”
Next up for Carmichael is the opening of Kabawa the restaurant, which will be next door to Bar Kabawa and continue “weaving through the region” with a full menu. Guests will likely tiptoe over to Bar Kabawa for an impeccable after-dinner drink and, of course, good vibes, with a side of education.
“Everything we do here, for me at least, needs to represent and honor the Caribbean region. So I’m like, the music has to do that, the way we move through the space, the way we talk to people,” he says. “I need it to feel like we could live there. It’s a living, breathing thing that the majority of people would experience living on the islands.”
“I also want people to see that there’s more things out there in the region than just Jamaican food,” Carmichael adds when noting the way people see and think about Caribbean fare in the States. “There’s other islands that have amazing things to offer, whether it’s music, whether it’s the way people dress, the way people speak. There’s just a lot more than the two or three countries everybody knows.”
Pick a Pattie, Any Pattie
I tried both the baked and the fried patties and haven’t stopped talking about them. The baked options include the Geera goat, chicken criollo and mushroom, curry crab and squash and eggplant with tomato and raclette. The fried ones have even more unique flavors, including short rib with conch and bone marrow, pepperpot duck and foie, lobster and red herring, as well as kale and oats. Pair anyone you choose with the fresh coco bread if you want to eat it right!
The Drinks Hit Different
As mentioned, I loved the combination of pineapple and coconut in my daiquiri, which I threw back faster than expected. Also, if you’re someone who enjoys a good mocktail, Bar Kabawa has a great one in its Leeward Spritz, which centers sorrel, a very Caribbean fruit.
East Coast Oysters
You know, I’d never had oysters before, so I was a bit shook when these, from Jersey, were brought to me. But what better way to get introduced to the taste than with some flavorful ones with pineapple mignonette? I’m an expert now.
Bay Scallop
I love scallops, and I love fermented flavors, so the combination for this dish, centering the Haitian condiment of Pikliz, which is often paired with deep-fried meat, was a winner for me. “I’ve always said one of my biggest fears is having a person from the region come in and call bullsh-t. Last night we had two Haitian ladies on a table and it was one’s birthday. As soon as she walked in, she’s looking at the menu and she’s like, ‘Oh Pikliz! I’ll be the judge of that!’ [laughs] She had a blast. She’s just like, ‘Oh, I never had Pikliz like this. It’s not like the original, but for the dish, it’s amazing.”
Solomon Gunby
My palate is still longing for this smoked mackerel pate. His rendition has mullet roe with smoked red herring and burnt sugar on top, inspired by crème brulee. Bar Kabawa serves it with homemade cassava chips. There are two kinds, including one chip made with turmeric. “It’s all these little textures that you’re getting while you’re eating that dish.”