South Philadelphia event honors chefs' Afro-Caribbean roots
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — As part of Black Business Month, local chef Chaz Brown hosted A Night Out with The Oxtail Exchange & Friends.
The event on the rooftop of Bok Bar in South Philadelphia offered a stunning view of the city skyline as Chef Chaz Brown previewed his upcoming restaurant, The Oxtail Exchange. The menu and concept of the restaurant, Brown explained, are deeply rooted in his Caribbean roots.
"The reason why we call it The Oxtail Exchange is it's like the New York Stock Exchange. It's the cultural currency of who cooks the oxtail the best ... It's like alchemy. It's something that nobody wanted, and then we turned it into gold," said Brown, whose family hails from Trinidad and Tobago.
The evening served as Brown's interpretation of a Trinidadian-style fish fry, with eight local chefs contributing unique elements to create a full Afro-Caribbean meal. The lineup of culinary talent included:
- Chef Chaz Brown of the forthcoming The Oxtail Exchange
- Next Baking Master Paris winner chef Rob Toland
- James Beard Award semifinalist chef Yun Fuentes from Bolo
- James Beard Award semifinalist chef Dane DeMarco from Gass & Main
- Chef Nana Araba Wilmot
- Chef Sashia Liriano
- Chefs Montana Houston and Ja'mir Wimbely-Cole of the upcoming The Avery
A highlight of the night was Brown's signature dish, the Oxtail Cheesesteak, a nod to Philadelphia's iconic sandwich.
"A cheesesteak is the perfect vehicle to feed everybody at a party," Brown said.
Private chef Nahna Araba, a first-generation Ghanaian-American, offered curry fried chicken sandwiches with her renowned Ghanaian bread. "Why can't African food be revered as well?" Araba asked, emphasizing her commitment to creating food that reflects her heritage.
The menu also featured dishes like beef suya, jerk plantain, and Puerto Rican rice and peas, a staple of West Indian cuisine. For dessert, master pastry chef Robert Toland presented a tropical take on the classic French dessert Paris-Brest, noting that it's "very decadent but very light, so with all this eating that we're doing, getting to dessert won't feel too heavy."
The event was curated by Roland Bui's company, Com.Unity, which believes that food is the universal bridge that connects people from all cultures. "It makes people meet different people, and it's fun," Bui said.
Araba echoed this sentiment, adding, "I feel like it's very diasporan. You can really see all these flavors that have been passed on through journeys and voyages. There's so much of us everywhere."