Christie's Article in today's NY Times

11238

Subject: Christie's Article in today's NY Times

Top Pick

To Grab and Run, or to Linger Over
Shannon Greer for The New York Times
Christie’s serves Jamaican favorites in Prospect Heights.


By PETER MEEHAN
Published: July 19, 2006
THE tables at the new Christie’s aren’t used much yet. Most customers dash in for a patty to go, maybe because they never saw a table at the old quarters of this 40-year-old Prospect Heights stalwart, which recently moved half a block closer to Prospect Park on Flatbush Avenue.

The Jamaican patties — beef and otherwise — are hefty but not unmanageable with one hand. I imagine that many I saw brown-bagged for police officers and other people eyeing their idling cars were ultimately consumed behind the wheel.

But just because you can eat a patty, which is practically a meal in itself, on the go doesn’t mean that a good one isn’t worth sitting down and contemplating. And Christie’s new spot — modestly appointed, brightly lighted and even more brightly painted, in a manic shade of yellow — is a fine place to do it.

The meat fillings at Christie’s are encased in a turmeric-yellow pastry, made with a fair amount of suet. The suet helps give the dough its savory appeal and, more important, its flaky texture. Like any good pastry made with ample fat, it splits into layers and shards when you bite into it, revealing the moist, nearly puréed meat filling within.

Unless you have some reason to shun it, beef is the best filling choice. It is moister and more flavorful than the very respectable chicken patty. (Both are $1.85.) Allspice lends an aromatic note to both; ground black pepper and chopped Scotch bonnet peppers tag-team for a double-fisted — but not overwhelming — punch of piquancy; and a splash of vinegar tempers the fattiness of the meat.

A vegetarian version of Christie’s patty ($2), made with a less fatty, less flaky pastry dough and stuffed with a cabbage-heavy vegetable mix, is very popular. (I was behind one man who ordered four, perhaps some headed for the freezer.)

Regardless which patty you choose, if you can handle the heat, I recommend anointing it with a dash or a splash, or even more, of the bottled Jamaican hot sauce on hand (also available for sale at $2 a bottle). Beyond the incendiary sear, it has the alluring, multifaceted flavor of the Scotch bonnet, at once fruity and faintly vegetal.

To tame that fire, a full selection of Jamaican bottled drinks are on hand. Ice-cold cucumber juice — spiked with, I suspect, lemon and ginger — was refreshing and unusual; Stagga Back, made with Irish moss (actually a seaweed) and ground nuts, was a little bit too manly a man drink for me.

Beyond the patties — and there is a full menu, at $5.50 to $7.50, beyond the patties — the offerings are less even but not without merit. The best was the jerk chicken, which traded away the smoky, crisp-skin attributes most closely associated with jerk for a sort of preternatural moistness. I might call it “allspice baked chicken” instead of jerk, but I recommend it all the same.

The restaurant’s rendition of curried goat is simple, and an equally one-dimensional curried chicken is on offer. Braised oxtail had a sweetness I most closely associate with Chinese takeout.

And then there’s the restaurant’s assortment of baked goods, made in the back, to sort through: slices of sweet currant rolls, loaves of moist spice cake, whole puffs of doughy coco bread. Overwhelmed by the sheer volume of options — Should I try the carrot cake? What about the coconut gizzadas? — I listened to what others in line were ordering.

Patties and coco bread for one. Patties and coco bread for the next. Patties and coco bread for me, too, with a bottle of ginger beer and a chair outside on Flatbush Avenue to watch the summer day go lazily by.

Christie's Jamaican Patties

387 Flatbush Avenue (Carlton Avenue), Prospect Heights, Brooklyn; (917) 682-2848 or (718) 636-9746.

BEST DISHES Beef patties; chicken patties; jerk chicken; coco bread.

PRICE RANGE Patties, $1.85 to $2; entrees, $5.50 to $7.50; baked goods starting at $1.25.

CREDIT CARDS Cash only, for now.

HOURS 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS One step up. Restroom is inaccessible.

livetotravel

Thank God that Methodist Hosptital is completing that coronary care wing!

meganlibrarian

Mmmmmmmm! Now that Christie's is on my side of Flatbush, it's even easier for me to get there. Dangerous... very dangerous.

carnivore

I gave their patties another try last week after the move, and I've got to say, they're better than I remembered. I still think the filling is too liquidy, and that a better patty can be had in the neighborhood, but the patty was not bad. I wish them well in their new location.

alafairnadia

Carnivore wrote: I gave their patties another try last week after the move, and I've got to say, they're better than I remembered. I still think the filling is too liquidy, and that a better patty can be had in the neighborhood, but the patty was not bad. I wish them well in their new location.

I've never tried their veg patty. I'm kinda off meat patties in general right now - had two very bad fat-mass/gristle incidents from both miss muffin and 3Ds that were gag-worthy. so yeah. veg patties.

carnivore

alafairnadia wrote: I've never tried their veg patty. I'm kinda off meat patties in general right now - had two very bad fat-mass/gristle incidents from both miss muffin and 3Ds that were gag-worthy. so yeah. veg patties.

The Christie's beef patty filling is pureed to such a fine consistency (practically liquified), I don't think you'd be able to tell if there was any gristle in it. Maybe that's why they do it that way.

joshb

Yeah, I used to think Christie's patties were all that, but take a trip to Nostrand and nearly everything is better--and cheaper. Willie's (used to be Cheffy's) has a kick-ass curry chicken for $1.25. Nick's (between Park and Prospect) has spicyspicy beef for $1.25.

Christie's is often undercooked, and the veggies are sort of drab.

putz

i cant believe he doesnt describe the sublime carb-binge of patties inside coco bread! it is the only way to go!

meganlibrarian

putz wrote: i cant believe he doesnt describe the sublime carb-binge of patties inside coco bread! it is the only way to go!

The first time I bought coco bread at Christie's (old location), I didn't know it was coco bread. I thought, "hmmm... yeasty." The next time (new location), I bought a bread that looked like a coconut pastry... and then noticed a sign for the coco bread. Huh. Coco bread with no coconut. Who woulda thunk?

bigguy

Not to generalize, but I kinda feel like there are two kind of West Indian restaurants: the ones the Times writes up, and the ones West Indians go to.

carnivore

BigGuy wrote: Not to generalize, but I kinda feel like there are two kind of West Indian restaurants: the ones the Times writes up, and the ones West Indians go to.