The Gleaner NA Specialty Edition

THE WEEKLY GLEANER | OCTOBER 11 - OCTOBER 17, 2021 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | NEWS 22 DEBRA EDWARDS/ASSISTANT Online and Lifestyle Editor Palates craving Jamaican food in New York have been getting their fix at Omar’s Kitchen. Opening just before the pandemic hit in January 2020, the eateries buzz of where to get good Jamaican food in NewYork has beenmaking the rounds, with celebrities like Shenseea, Nick Cannon, Jhene Aiko, Fabolous, Junior Reid, and others popping in to get their Jam Rock-inspired grub on. Located in the lower east side (LES), owner and chef OmarWalters says of its prime location, “I call it the fun and hip side of Manhattan because something is always going on”. Walters, who was born in the Bronx but moved to Jamaica as a child and lived in Mandeville for many years be- fore returning stateside, explains that while the food at Omar’s Kitchen is Jamaican, he also fuses aspects from other cultures, taking diners on a culi- nary journey every time they set foot in the restaurant. A JAMAICAN TWIST ON DISHES Top sellers include the plantain gnocchi, a locally motivated take on the renowned Italian pasta dish, coco-bread lamb sliders. The shrimp doubles tacos, which are doubles, a Trinidadian staple, but with the ad- dition of shrimp, it gets a Jamaican twist and is eaten like a Mexican taco. Sorrel glazed lamb. Chicken and waf- fles with a Red Stripe batter that in- cludes Guinness stout spiced bun or Baileys rum and raisin waffle flavoured options. Then there is the biggest of them all, the curried oxtail – yes cur- ried – oxtail. “When we first put that on the menu, people were like ‘yu can’t do that to oxtail’, but we were like you know what we are going to focus on, the people that are open to try it,” Walters says with a laugh. Trying that new thing paid off for Omar’s Kitchen, as each night, they are almost always sold out of the curried oxtail. Not to be outdone by their solid family members are the cocktails available, which comprise, among other things, an Appleton mule, rum-punch, and everyone’s favourite, the sorrel. “We are always running out of the sorrel – it’s that good,” says Walters, a system and data analyst by profession who has now realised his dream of opening Omar’s Kitchen, the restaurant. Another allure of the location is the island décor, and with walls painted with the names of parishes and no- table attractions in Jamaica, Project Runway alum and designer Sammy B recently shot and released her latest collection ‘Small but we Tallawah’ at the restaurant. As Omar ’s Kitchen becomes more popular, Walters reflects and tells Food the ideal hope is for more restaurants and expanding to other major cities in the United States. He would even like to open a location in Jamaica. Helping other up-and- coming restaurants with consulting is also important to Walters. “I love to help people coming into the business and show them you can do things in different ways. You don’t always have to do it the traditional way. Do it the way you want to do it.” Find Omar’s Kitchen at 29 A Clinton Street, New York, and on IG at @ omarskitchennyc. OMAR’S KITCHEN The new hotspot for Jamaican food in NY Chef and owner of Omar’s Kitchen, Omar Walters. Sorrel glazed lambchops with mac and cheese available at Omar’s Kitchen. CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS While primarily Jamaican fare, Omar’s Kitchen fuses aspects from other cultures into their menu. Here is the shrimp doubles taco. Doubles is a Trinidadian staple, but with the addition of shrimp it gets a Jamaican twist and is eaten like a Mexican taco. Neil Armstrong/Gleaner Writer TORONTO: AFTER RETURNING to Jamaica to spend the summer with family and friends, veteran educator Michael Yee Sing is back in Muscat, Oman, where he teaches at Al Sahwa Schools. Yee Sing served at his alma mater , St Jago High School in Spanish Town, for more than 23 years, including as vice-principal from 2007 to 2016. He relocated to North Carolina in 2016 to teach at Seventy-First High School in Fayetteville, and would later move on to Oman. With four Jamaican teachers at Al Sahwa Schools, and one a Roman Catholic like himself, he felt very com- fortable as they have mutual friends from the church. He says adjusting was easy as his principal immediately put him in con- tact with the circle of Jamaican teach- ers who answered all of his questions. Equally accommodating was the African community, with both groups sharing a variety of social activities like regular outings to the wadis (little waterholes) and the beaches, says Yee Sing. But despite the small size, the group has been making its mark. He says Jamaicans are all over the country with at least one person rising to become principal of the prominent ABA Oman International School in September. The group stays connected through a WhatsApp group called ‘Jamaicans in Oman’ and many can also be found in Kuwait. But even as he celebrates his journey to and time in Oman, his journey to teaching was a bit unusual. From he was in third form, Yee Sing, 51, had a love for sharing his knowl- edge with friends and classmates and enjoyed writing on the board. In high school, he majored in the sciences – biology, chemistry, physics, add maths –with plans to pursue medicine. His application to the medical faculty was not successful, so after graduating from Te University of the West Indies with second class honours in natural sciences in August 1992, he applied for job opportunities in biochemistry. It was difficult to find something in that field. However, things soon changed when one day in January 1993 he went to St Jago High School to deliver an invoice for his mother. He saw a friend, Sandra Swyer-Watson, who taught there and she told him that the school needed an A-level biology teacher. Initially, he was hesitant but agreed to an interview with then new princi- pal, Keith Noel, the following day, and began teaching zoology and biology to sixth form students almost immedi- ately after perusing the syllabus. As someone who was very involved in school life and popular as a student, the former head boy knew the culture of the institution and was very com- fortable teaching there. Eight of his siblings attended the high school and his parents knew the late Victor R. Edwards, a venerable principal, very well, so Yee Sing’s fam- ily connection to the school was deep. A couple years into his teaching there, he was appointed a senior teacher in charge of the entire science department, after being encouraged by Mrs E. J. Murray who taught him chemistry in high school. When Swyer-Watson applied for the position of principal, there was an opening for vice-principal andYee Sing, who was the dean of discipline, applied and was selected. It was a smooth tran- sition, he says, as she gladly took on the role of being his mentor. Yee Sing enjoyed his new job so much that he describes it as being ‘sweet stress’ because he didn’t know when to stop. He holds a Masters in Education in Educational Administration and a post- graduate diploma in science education. With Watson nearing retirement, his colleagues encouraged him to apply for the position as principal but he wavered at the thought of his entire career being at the school. “I said to myself, there’s a whole world out there with so much oppor- tunities and you don’t know anything; you’re just in SpanishTown and St Jago, that’s all your entire life gonna be,” he said. He opted instead to branch out be- yond Jamaica to explore opportunities in the UK and the United States. He ended up in Oman where he says he is living his dream. Michael Yee Sing Shines in Muscat, Oman Michael Yee Sing CONTRIBUTED THE WE KLY GLEANER | OCTOBER 11 - N VEM 0