Caribbean Heart: Global Canvas

It is befitting that Tristen Epps opened his first restaurant in Miami. After all, the city has always been a beacon for multiple nationalities, and Epps, who was raised by an active military mother, hopped around the globe a lot.

“I was born Trinidadian. My mom came to the United States and joined the military. One of her first stations was Guam and The Philippines,” the 35-year-old says. “We then went to Japan, moved back to the U.S. (California), then came back to Virginia, which was our home state of origin at this point, did Florida, New England and then Portugal when I was in high school.”

The experience provided a backdrop for culinary exploration, something Epps’ mother encouraged.

“My mom was very much in favor of us trying whatever the local food was. It was always like, ‘Try the food – there’s no Kids’ Meals.’”

Being raised in a single-parent household meant Epps had to acquire certain skills early on. He remembers the moment his mother taught him how to scramble eggs. That, in hindsight, paved the path for his career. He was 7 years old.

“I thought it was the coolest thing that this liquid turned into a solid with heat and it was alchemy that I didn’t understand but wanted to learn. I certainly put my finger in the eggs raw and they did not taste that great but scrambled it was a whole other thing with just the addition of heat. And then it was like, ‘Oh my god, you can add cheese? And green onions, too? The leftover steak?’”

After high school, he completed his bachelor’s degree in Culinary Arts and Food & Beverage Industry Management at Johnson & Wales in Charlotte, N.C., then landed a three-year apprenticeship at The Greenbrier, the legendary national historic landmark hotel in West Virginia, working under lauded Master Chef Richard Rosendale. Epps thrived in the exacting and competitive environment focused on perfecting French techniques, but felt a personal connection was missing.

“I was one of three Black people in all of that resort, one being American, me being Trinidadian and the third being Jamaican.  We started to connect on being homesick. Like, ‘Man, I’m in West Virginia., I can’t find any Caribbean food.’ We started kind of fusing that into the French technique and the presentations we were doing, and we were told, ‘This isn’t cuisine. French is what you need to do — we don’t understand these flavors, we don’t know these flavors — we don’t know any of this.’”

The pushback only made him lean into the exploration more. He began incorporating Caribbean food, something he had previously thought of as “food for home” and placed little value on professionally, into his menu and applied to it French technique.

His talent led him to work for greats like Chef Thomas Keller, where he learned that respect for ingredients can be elevated to an art form.

“That was something I had never seen in how food can be presented and taken care of from the growing to the receiving to the experience of actually eating. It was so different. I just grew up with everything being in a bowl.”

A game-changing moment came when he found his way on ABC’s competitive cooking show “The Taste” in 2014. Marcus Samuelsson was a judge and became his on and off-screen mentor, ultimately hiring him as sous chef at Samuelsson’s wildly successful and acclaimed Red Rooster restaurant in Harlem, where he worked for 9 years.

“I got to finally work at a place where everyone looked like me. And I was celebrated for making very high-end Afro-Caribbean food and deep dive into my own culture and let people enjoy it.”

Reflecting on this pivotal moment, he adds, “From there, I took everything that I had learned: techniques from The Greenbrier, the care and attention to detail from Per Se [Keller’s restaurant], the ability to use my narrative in the cuisine from Marcus, and I turned it into my own cuisine, my own style.”

He continued to develop as a chef with various stints throughout the U.S., eventually moving from Denver to Miami to take on the role of executive chef for Red Rooster’s Miami offshoot.

“Denver was very culturally monotone. So, coming to Miami where there’s a really lively South American culture and Haitian culture and Bahamian culture and Russian culture and Jewish culture — it became somewhere that was a little bit more comfortable for me.”

Today, he serves as the executive chef at his namesake restaurant, Ocean Social By Chef Tristen Epps in Eden Roc Miami Beach, where he oversees the culinary operations at the iconic resort. At his restaurant, diners can find dishes like Key West Shrimp Toast (aji amarillo, garlic honey and dashi mustard espuma), Dry Aged Swordfish T-bone (braised brisket, local maitake, brassicas and Szechuan peppercorn) and Mishima American Wagyu Strip with bone marrow croqueta, heirloom confit carrot and tamarind red wine sauce — all of which are a testament to the culturally complex dishes he loves to create. He thanks Samuelsson for encouraging him to embrace who he is with what he has learned.

“I was all about, ‘I need to be French, I need to be Italian, I need to be Japanese, I need to be this’ and he’s just like, ‘Cool, I’m glad you know all of that. But what do you want to be? And let’s focus it onto something with a narrative.” 

Hearth Roast Whole Local Fish

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium poblano pepper, stemmed, seeded and roughly chopped

1 medium white onion, roughly chopped

2 lemongrass stalks, roughly chopped

1 medium parsley bunch, leaves and tender stems roughly chopped

1 small cilantro bunch, leaves and tender stems roughly chopped

1 bunch scallions, trimmed and roughly chopped

2 Scotch bonnet or habanero chiles, stemmed

3 tablespoons white vinegar

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

3 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves

8 garlic cloves, peeled

3-4 lb fish (snapper, pompano, porgy, sea bass or branzino), gutted and scaled

Banana leaves for marinating and wrapping fish

Process

•   Add all ingredients (except fish) to a large bowl and toss very well to combine.

•   Working in batches if necessary, transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender and pulse into a chunky purée. (The consistency should be similar to that of a thick pesto.)

•   Taking a sharp knife, score the fish two to three times all the way to the bone and repeat on both sides.

•   Season fish with salt and pepper.

•   Rub fish with the marinade liberally and massage into groves and inside the cavity of the fish.

•   Swaddle fish in banana leaves and let marinate for at least 6-8 hours.

•   Cook fish on grill and let banana leaf char on both sides. Move fish to indirect heat if needed and let fish cook until it reads 155 degrees right behind the head of the fish. You could also do this in the oven and bake fish on a rack at 500 F for 15-20 minutes.

•   To serve, cut open leaves and serve fish with your favorite sides, such as ripe plantains or rice.