CKiarlotu
Thursclay, May 25,1989
LIFESTYLES
Section B
Page One
s^niBBEAN
Artwork/CHERYL BEAUTY BUNN
Anntony's Caribbean Cafe
h
■J ;
Anntony'B Caribbean Cafe
I I
K-
Manager Maggie Pemandea is shown
above taking the chicken from the
rotisserie.
Owner Tony Martin presents
two plates which are ready to
be served.
By LORA VANDERHALL
lifestyles Editor
Spicy food, which Is normEilly
considered bad for your health,
need not be, sa)rs Tony Martin,
owner of Anntony's Caribbean
Cafe.
He should know because he's
a doctor of preventive medicine
and sports medicine.
Caribbean food Is one of the
newest cuisines to be added to
the endless list of restaurants
In the Charlotte area.
And It seems to be catching
on.
Initially, Martin formulated
the reclf>es for personal use.
Soon his friends began to ask
for It.
After experimenting with the
recipes for about three years.
Anntony's opened In November
1987.
The concept for the restaurant
Is based on the myth that spices
cause Irritation to the stomach.
"People don't realize that the
proper combination of spices
can be very beneficial to the
body, as well as tasty," he said.
Martin's son. Dean, was In
strumental In getting the re
staurant started.
"Dean was working at a pizza
parlor In Statesville when he
convinced his boss to try some
of my chicken. He liked It and
wanted to market It. But
Instead we began selling chick
en out of the pizza parlor.
"We soon started selling more
chicken than pizza, so he asked
us to leave," s^ Martin.
They moved to a different loca
tion for about eight months be
fore moving to Charlotte.
"After catering an affair for the
Afro-American Cultural Center
and WestFest, lots of people en
couraged us to open In Char
lotte," he added.
The Initial response to the re
staurant, which Is located at
2001 East 7th Street, was good .
They had to be expanded after
about six months of operation.
"We went from 750 square feet
to 2300 square feet." Martin
said.
On any given day there Is usu
ally a line waiting to enter Ann
tony's.
On Monday, by 11:15 a.m. the
first customer showed up. By
the time he opened 15 minutes
later, the line had stretched to
about 30. After making all of the
prellmlnaiy checks Martin said,
"Let's do It."
He opened the door and the
crowd moved quickly to claim
tables.
"Technically, we're open for
lunch from 11:30 until 2:30 and
dinner Is served from 5:30 until
10 but on both accounts, we
serve until the food runs out," he
added.
With take out orders and eat-
ins they usually serve about
300 people each day.
The lunch menu consist of
chicken, beef, Jamaican curries
and pork chops. The meats are
roasted rotisserie style with a
specially formulated, all natural
sauce.
The menu Is moderately
priced with lunch Items at a
lower price.
Some of the Items Include
chicken from $3.25. Trinidad's
special beef sparerlbs, $5.50
and Barbados delight pork
chops, $4.50. The side dishes
Include: caljrpso rice, cole slaw,
potato salad, callaloo and des
Caribbean Eatables
serts.
"We prepare everything by
hand and we cook the meats
fresh three times a day. We usu
ally cook about 600 pounds of
chicken each day. Our food Is
formulated with health attrib
utes. It has natural enzymes
and Its excellent for a lot of me
dicinal purposes," said Martin.
Manager Maggie Fernandez
says they usually start cooking
at about 7 a.m. daily. Fernan
dez, a native of Venezuela, says
the food Is similar to that of her
homeland.
" I had never had fried chicken
until I move to the United States
nine years ago. The food at Ann
tony's Is very good and Its good
for you because It is naturally
prepared," she said.
Martin, a native of George
town. Guprana, came to the Unit
ed States at age 19.
"I came here to attend New
York University."
As a child, he had an Interest
in experimenting.
" My mother was a good cook
and she allowed me to experi
ment with food and new Ideas.
She was a big Inspiration to me,"
he said.
Other than the restaurant on
Seventh street, he has a location
In Lake Norman off of Knox
Road.
Having been trained as a doc
tor, Martin practices medicine
In addition to owning the re
staurants.
"I have a clinic in Statesville
and I work there on Fridays and
Saturda3TS. I'm usually In the re
staurants 40 to 50 hours a
week," he said.
In the future he hojies to fran
chise the restaurant.
Photo* by Calvin Ferguson
By LORA VANDERHALL
lifestyles Editor
Caribbean Eatables, located
at 901. S. Kings Drive, Is the
newest Caribbean restaurant In
Charlotte.
African, European and Orien
tal Influences make up the Ca
ribbean cuisine.
The Reid family, owners of Ca
ribbean Eatables, are natives of
Jamaica.
They moved to the United
States In 1967.
Alter having lived In New York,
co-owner Leslie Reid moved to
Charlotte In 1983. He attended
St. John University, Queens,
New York.
In addition to the restaurant,
he Is a pharmacist at Charlotte
Memorial Hospital.
Pharmacy and owning a re
staurant may seem diverse but
there are similarities.
'The two are closely related
because In the restaurant I mix
the spices," he said.
Reid said he wanted to do
something that would bring
him closer to people.
"My mother, Frelda Reid and
my sister, Pamella Reid Green
also operate the business and
they do most of the cooking."
Frelda Reid Is retired and Pa
mella Is a practicing nurse at
Presbyterian HospltS.
Having been In business for
only three months, the Reids
are encouraged about their new
business venture.
We didn't expect to do as well
as we have because we're In a
new shopping center and this Is
a new cuisine," he said.
The menu at Caribbean Eata
bles Is moderatety priced.
"We try to give the people
something a little different," he
said.
The fastest selling Items are
the Jerk and fricasseed chicken.
Both Items sell for $4.75 and
are served with rice and peas
and a vegetable.
Jerk chicken is marinated In
special herbs and spices and
oven grilled to a golden brown
color.
"The jerk chicken is time con
suming because It has to cook
for almost three hours," said
Frelda Reid.
The frlscasseed chicken Is
also marinated In special herbs
and spices, slightly pan fried to
a golden brown color then Its
simmers In Its own juices.
The Jamaican beef patties
also sell well.
'We are the only restaurant In
Charlotte that makes the beef
patties. My mother makes them
from scratch.
"All of the food Is made here,"
he added.
Retd sa3TS the food Is unique
because of the seasonings.
"It's a family recipe. But some
of the dishes are toned down,"
he said.
Other menu Items Include:
curry chicken, $4.75, esco-
veltched fish (season price) and
roll, $3.50.
They have red pea, split pea,
chicken and vegetable soups for
$1.25 and a variety of baked
Items.
'We also offer ginger root beer
and we make It here. It's non
alcoholic and good for diges
tion," he added.
Caribbean Eatables Is located
In the Kings Court Shopping
Center and Its hours are from
11:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. Mon
day through Friday and from 12
noon until 8 p.m. on Saturdays.
im
The owner* of Caribbean Eatable* are pictured above (1-r) Pamella Reid Green, Leslie Reid and Preida Reid.
V
Frelda Reid prepares Jamai
can beef patties from
scratch.
The meat patties will cook until thqrYe flaky and golden brown.