Enliven your senses: Carribean Food at its Best

With summer in full swing, some folks are craving social interaction outdoors after being cooped up inside over the winter. We take a look at three restaurants that are making their mark bybringing in new flavors.

WHYM | HAMPTON, NH

Owner Alex Aviles, seen outside WHYM’s new home on Lafayette Road in Hampton

To say that Alex Aviles is in love with craft beer is an understatement.

That love affair with the quality and taste of water, hops, yeast and malt all blended together drove him and his wife, Gretchin, to leave their corporate jobs in 2013 and open WHYM (pronounced whim) in Portsmouth, named after the ingredients that make this social beverage.

Now in its ninth year, the cafe-style bar moved to 853 Lafayette Rd. in Hampton and showcases a lineup of the most delicious brews available in the state. They also have an extensive collection of bottles (and cans) from around the world. Their food menu is aimed to accompany the craft beer experience according to Aviles with items ranging from meat and cheese plates to mouth-watering entrees.

One of those offerings on the food menu is the Caribean Hot Chicken Sandwich ($17.50).

The sandwich is a buttermilk, fried, antibiotic and nitrate-free, free-range chicken breast lightly dipped with Portsmouth’s own Spicy Shark’s buffalo sauce, applewood

bacon, grilled onions, sourdough and fries.

It’s paired with Against My Better Judgement, a blue raspberry sour-ale brewed onsite, brainchild of employee Zach Mitrook.

“It wasn’t the first idea we would have. We literally named the beer ‘Against My Better Judgment,’” Aviles said. “We did half a batch. It came out incredible; it’s unique and the name expresses that it wasn’t a business executive that suggested this idea.”

Aviles, his wife, Gretchin, and co-owners Matt Barrett, a brewmaster, and Bob Levine, a retired attorney, created a diverse haven for craft beer.

”We have people on staff from various backgrounds, and we all work together on our basic philosophy: Would you be proud to serve it to your grandmother? How do we feel about it? That is the basis of where our foods come from.”

According to Aviles, who has Puerto Rican roots, focusing on authenticity and ethnicity is extremely important in WHYM’s food and brew culture.

Occasionally you’ll see some of that diverse influence on their menu.

“I’ll take some influence from my life and the foods I grew up around and suggest it in a special, or I’ll show our people how to prepare rice,” he said.

In cultures outside the United States, it’s customary to rinse the rice in water several times prior to cooking to remove the extra starches.

“When growing up, my grandmother would show me how to make bacalaitos (a salted cold fish fritter) with peppers, onions and seasonings mixed in batter then deep-fried.”

He’s introduced this little snack to his staff as well as sofrito, an aromatic base for most Puerto Rican dishes.

Another Puerto Rican item that’s made the rotation over the years has been tostones, a plantain appetizer. “It’s a great introductory food,” he said. And Aviles says he’s not the only member of the diverse team to bring cultural ideas to the menu.

WHYM is open Monday through Wednesday from 3 p.m. to midnight and Thursday through Sunday from 1 p.m. to midnight.

CARIBBEAN BREEZE | NASHUA, NH

Above: Caribbean Breeze chef and owner Gerald Oriol is half Haitian, half Cubano and all American: The exterior of the restaurant on the Corner of Main and West Hollis Streets where they now feature outdoor seating.

For Gerald Oriol, food and hospitality go hand in hand.

“I love to cook. It is my passion. I have a deep respect for food and make it from the heart. I understand the importance of food safety and the impact of food on human life.”

For the last 30 years, the Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, native who opened Caribbean Breeze, Nashua’s first authentic Caribbean restaurant, in May, has been doing just that.

Oriol got his culinary chops in Lexington, Mass., working utility and becoming a chef at the Versailles Restaurant, specializing in French continental cuisine and earning his credentials in culinary arts from Bunker Hill Community College in Boston and from the American Culinary Federation.

Prior to settling in New Hampshire, Oriol oversaw regional dining operations for Sodexo in hospitals, universities and even the military along the East Coast. But it was when he was asked to oversee dining operations at the State University of New York at Albany, that he started to truly test Caribbean cooking for the students.

“A lot of the students who attend that school are from New York City,” he said. “They have that Caribbean background, so I wanted to offer them something that would not make them homesick as much.” The concept worked. “One student called their parents one day from the dining hall: ‘Mom, you’re not going to believe this, they have my favorite dish here,’” he said.

Oriol moved on from SUNY Albany to Bentley College in Waltham, and in December of 2019 made the decision to work for himself.

“I could have retired but I wanted to create something that is from my heart from my home and share with my community,” he said.

Seeing that there weren’t that many Caribbean options in Southern New Hampshire Oriol and his wife his wife, Kettly, began building the concept.

“There are not many authentic Caribbean restaurants around here, let alone the country,” he said.

His restaurant offers dishes from four cultures: Haiti, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Cuba.

If you were to walk into Caribbean Breeze on the corner of Main and West Hollis Streets in Downtown Nashua, you’d get a vibe between the old and the new. It’s as if you are either in Havana, Cuba, or in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.

When Oriol took over the space where Classic Norton’s Diner once was, the sock hop booths and speakers were still in place. Americana art from that era has been replaced by palm trees, but there are still some die-cast American Classics cars from the mid-century lined up on a few shelves.

The breakfast menu hasn’t changed either.

“We kept the breakfast diner menu for some of the long-time patrons of the past owners,” Oriol said. “We don’t plan on changing that.”

And past clients still come. Don Fournier of Hudson is a regular for breakfast and lunch.

“It’s convenient for me,” he said. “We keep this place going.” Fournier, who is retired, has been coming in with a group of friends for the past decade. He orders the original breakfast fare and returns for lunch to have chicken noodle soup.

“I’ll be trying the new menu soon,” he said. “I think it’s great that he (Oriol) is here.”

A new breakfast item being offered is plantains with avocado. Although, on the day I was there, I opted to have it with a watercress salad topped with ti-malice sauce, a light tomato paste-based gravy.

Oriol claims to be the only authentic Caribbean restaurant in America offering dishes from Haiti, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Cuba with all associated authentic condiments that come with them.

For instance, Grace habanero hot sauce, a popular Jamaican brand, is available.

And they even carry popular beers from each island: Prestige (Haiti), Red Stripe (Jamaica), Medalia (Puerto Rico) and Presidente (Dominican Republic). One of their specialty drinks features granadilla passion fruit.

For dinner, one can find Haitian Legume (vegetable stew) with beef and a side of rice and beans (Haiti, $16); Jamaican Chicken Curry ($14); Bacalao, salted cod fish ($16); and Monfongo, mashed plantains ($18).

Oriol hopes that the southern New Hampshire community will come to experience the flavor of the islands.

“They don’t need to travel far,” he said. “Our cooking comes from the heart ... it’s our pleasure to offer a taste of our home.”

Caribbean Breeze is open Sunday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

MY CIELO TAQUERIA | ROCHESTER, NH

Luis and Carmen Garcia never imagined that they would be living in Rochester, NH, let alone starting not one but three restaurants in the region.

The 36-year-old pair were having a bit of cabin fever during the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020 and decided to go for a drive. They had reached the corner of NH-125 (Columbus Road) and Wilson Street in East Rochester and were making a U-turn to head back home to Haverhill, Mass., when Luis spotted a for-lease sign on a vacant building.

“Something inside me said, ‘This is your place,’” Luis said. “I saw something here.”

The Garcias had been delayed in starting their first restaurant in Massachusetts during the pandemic and, seeing that most New Hampshire businesses were open, reached out to the building owner.

“I was actually surprised how we were able to move forward and open up shop here,” Carmen said.

Located in the former Liu’s Garden, My Cielo Taqueria offers casual indoor-outdoor dining with all items made from scratch, according to Fernando Veracruz, My Cielo general manager.

“We let the food do the talking,” Veracruz said.

Among My Cielo’s popular items are the chicken and carnitas street tacos ($10.99 for three) and the fresh fruit margarita flights. The Blood Orange Margarita ($10.99) is another favorite among patrons in the bar, according to Veracruz.

While finding help has been hard, Carmen Garcia says that the Rochester community has been open over the last couple of years.

Luis, who is originally from Chihuahua, Mexico, grew up in the kitchen and service industry. He recalls helping his mother make family meals in the kitchen at age 10. By age 16, he was working alongside his mother, who worked in a cafeteria at their local manufacturing plant feeding approximately 1,500 people a day on multiple shifts. “I am living the dream,” he said. They plan on opening a second location in Epping this September. My Cielo is open Sundays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.