Calabash Opens in the West Village, NYC: Afro-Caribbean Bakery and Brasserie from Camari Mick

Calabash, an Afro-Caribbean bakery and brasserie, has opened at 183 Christopher Street in the West Village. It is the first restaurant of chef Camari Mick, a 2024 Food & Wine Best New Chef and four-time James Beard Award semifinalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef. She previously ran the pastry programs at The Musket Room and Raf's. Chef de cuisine Tajeh Porter, formerly executive chef at Brooklyn's Nura, leads the kitchen with her. The name refers to a vessel used across the African diaspora for centuries, and the cooking draws on West African, Caribbean and Eastern Seaboard traditions.

Daytime service began on October 2. The menu covers naturally fermented breads, laminated pastries and breakfast sandwiches, plus brasserie plates such as suya steak with maduros, cornbread pancakes with salted maple sabayon, and a headcheese terrine on cornbread brioche with pickled okra.

Dinner started on October 9 and runs Friday and Saturday at a single 6:30 p.m. seating. The five-course prix fixe is $175, which includes tax and nonalcoholic drink pairings. The evening opens with a half hour of passed canapés, taken while guests walk the room, with a glass of nonalcoholic sparkling rosé. The canapés are inspired by the paintings on the walls. One example is a squid ink flan with grilled squid and habanero vinaigrette. Later courses include hoppin' John dolmades wrapped in collard greens, red snapper with étouffée-style gravy, and pork belly with tahdig jollof and green mango chow-chow. Dessert is Granny's Cheese Toast, a torched cheese espuma over toast semifreddo.

The 1,300-square-foot room seats 30 and was designed by Washington, D.C.-based Drummond Projects. It shows work by BIPOC women artists, in collaboration with Cierra Britton Gallery, and some pieces are for sale.

Calabash is open Thursday through Sunday: coffee from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and dinner on Friday and Saturday. Reservations are through OpenTable.

(Details are drawn from points that agree across reports by Patch, The Infatuation, Food & Wine (via Yahoo), WhatNow.)