A hometown chef feeds the soul By Marilyn Baer Photos courtesy of Freetown Road Project
Chef Claude Lewis
W
hen Jersey City native Chef Claude Lewis went off to college, he had dreams of working in animation, studying special effects and motion graphics. But the kitchens he worked in all his life never stopped beckoning. “Food was so familiar to me from jobs I held in school as a dishwasher and a helper to being at home in the kitchen,” Lewis said. “Now, fast forward, and I’m opening a restaurant in the town I grew up in.” If you’re a fan of cooking competition shows like me, the name Claude Lewis might sound familiar. In 2019, Lewis, then the Executive Chef at Porta, competed and won Food Networks Chopped, turning gefilte fish and margarita cotton candy into a West Indian fish stew. Winning the show gave Lewis a national stage to showcase the food he loved and the momentum to finally open a place of his own.
An Eatery of his Own Freetown Road Project opened in Journal Square at 640 Newark Avenue in December 2019 and pays homage to Lewis’s West Indian heritage.
Caribbean Munchies Family Ties The cozy spot features exposed brick walls, potted palm trees, and wooden family style tables with mismatched chairs surrounded by cushioned booths that evoke the welcoming sense of home and family it was inspired by. The name is rooted in family coming from a combination of the Antigua towns where Lewis’s parents are from. Freetown Road Village, where his father is from, and Old Road Village, where his mother is from. The menu is a modern take on West Indian food or what Lewis calls “Caribbean munchies” or “Caribbean soul food” reminiscent of the food he grew up eating and likes to eat.
24 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ SPRING | SUMMER 2021
“While I was young, growing up in Jersey City my parents worked multiple jobs to allow my brothers and sisters and I to go to catholic school instead of public school,” Lewis said. “My father worked three jobs in kitchens and always brought food home, and my mother is a really great home cook who went to school in Antigua to cook as well. All my inspiration for my food comes from them.” Lewis serves up everything from beef patties, oxtail, and curry chicken, to craveable roti and triga you’ll end up falling in love with. “When you open a restaurant, the food is supposed to mean something to you,” said Lewis. “That’s when it tastes the best.”
