I was fortunate enough to sample the unique cuisine offered by Stephen and Emily Wallace’s Wah Gwaan on a Sunday afternoon at Café Balearica.
I walked into a lively, loud, and packed bar, with an exuberant energy radiating from a young crowd. An emcee in a sparkling, sequined suit jacket glided around the room shouting out letters and numbers as patrons punched out their Bingo cards. The menu for Wah Gwaan was placed on a chalkboard in the corner of the bar by the kitchen, where Emily and Stephen worked diligently to fulfill orders. The offerings were short and sweet – four signature tacos as well as a side of chips and guacamole. I placed my order and then sat down in the busy bar. A Bingo card was placed at my table, but the card was soon neglected and unwittingly used as a drip tray for the jerk sauce that periodically dribbled down my chin between bites. The medley of textures and flavors in the jerk chicken taco drowned out the Bingo game, which soon became nothing but background noise. The crunch of the diced apple and cucumber balanced out the tenderness of the chicken, while the spice from the jerk seasoning contrasted with the sweetness of the fruit to create a tantalizing sweet heat that permeated every bite. The experience felt more like eating a home-cooked meal at mom’s house than eating a taco – fitting, since home cooking at Stephen’s mom Audrey McKenzie’s house provided the inspiration for Wah Gwaan.
Stephen and Emily created their pop-up restaurant after facing a common dilemma: after a delicious, hearty meal at mom’s house, how can we avoid wasting the leftovers? Ms. McKenzie hails from Kingston, Jamaica and relocated to New York City over 50 years ago. She brought the bold and colorful flavors of Jamaica to the United States with her, cooking staples like jerk chicken, jerk pork and curry. Stephen and Emily would often dine at Stephen’s mom’s home, and in classic Caribbean Mom fashion she often cooked more than what Stephen and Emily could eat in one sitting. They always went home with leftovers, and it occurred to them that perhaps they could repurpose the leftovers into a more portable, travel-friendly form. The solution? Wrapping the leftovers in a tortilla and creating tacos with a Jamaican filling. Thus the idea for Wah Gwaan was born.
Emily hand-presses each corn tortilla in-house, and I could taste the distinctly fresh flavor as I sampled the jerk pork taco. Like the chicken, Stephen and Emily marinate the pork for 48 hours and bake it in high heat to lock in flavor, and the result was a juicy, savory pork that blended seamlessly with the tanginess of the pineapple. The combination of flavors was reminiscent of a taco al pastor, but the jerk seasoning added that characteristic sweet heat that kept this taco in a class all its own. The jerk pork taco, like all of the tacos on Wah Gwaan’s menu, was inspired by Ms. McKenzie’s home-cooked recipe. The only taco that deviated somewhat from those original recipes and required a bit of engineering by Emily was the vegan taco, but the result was exquisite. Emily wanted to ensure that Wah Gwaan was inclusive by giving vegans an option that did not sacrifice flavor or texture. The chickpea in this dish added a crunchy texture to the taco, and the cauliflower provided a substantial meaty base to soak up the homey, spicy Jamaican curry. The mango chutney added a fresh sweetness to the cornucopia of flavors, and the pickled slaw gave the dish just enough crunch to break up the textures. The end result was comforting, homestyle Caribbean taste in a modern-day package.
By the time I reached the cod fish taco, I was worried my tastebuds might need a break in order to fully appreciate the flavors. Then I took my first bite, and my senses were reborn. With a generous portion of cod, the dish immediately looked different than the traditional fish tacos I’m accustomed to seeing; this one was not overwhelmed with toppings or doused with a thick layer of breading and was instead flaked and sauteed, delivering a distinct cod flavor. As I savored my first few bites, Bad Bunny’s “Titi Me Pregunto” played in the background and I was transported to the tiny taco stand by the beach in La Parguera, Puerto Rico, where I spent my childhood summers eating bacalao (the Puerto Rican term for cod). The flavor of the cod burst boldly through the crunchy slaw and mango chutney, which served to complement but not overpower the delicious fish. Despite having eaten my fill of tacos by this point, I certainly could have made more space for another one (or two, or three) of these.
Each dish at Wah Gwaan was deliciously distinguishable, but a characteristic sweet heat provided a common theme uniting the menu. If you want to try something different – or, for some, a familiar taste of home – and are a fan of moderate spice levels, grab some friends and visit Stephen and Emily (and probably also me) at Café Balearica on Sundays from 2pm to 8pm or at Smorgasburg when it returns for the season. Your tastebuds and your friends will thank you.
by Maria Rivera-Diaz and Ramos