This Saturday, June 10, marks the grand opening of Tropikàl, an Afro-Caribbean restaurant by Canadian celebrity Chef Jae-Anthony Dougan. This is Tropikàl’s second location, with the first already a success in Montreal. Last night, Chef Jae-Anthony hosted a media night preview and we were lucky enough to attend and speak to the chef!
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Dougan competed on Season 9 of Top Chef Canada and is a chef and judge on the Wall of Chefs competition series on Food Network Canada. In 2021, he was featured in Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants magazine.
“When filming Top Chef Canada, my main thing was education,” says Dougan. “I specialize in Afro-Caribbean cuisine and modernize it. When people think of the Caribbean, they think of Jamaica, but I want to showcase how Afro-Caribbean cuisine is extremely diverse. I only started nine years ago in my parents’ garage and now I have four restaurants. My goal is to open a restaurant a year.”
In 2021, Dougan collaborated with three Crust and Crate restaurants in Ottawa to infuse the Afro-Caribbean vibe into their pizza menus with additions such as jerk chicken pizza and garlic cheesy bread with pulled oxtail. In the last couple of years, Dougan hosted a pop-up project in Ottawa and briefly had a different restaurant in the market. With those projects closing down, Chef Jae-Anthony focused all his attention on the upscale Tropikàl in Montreal’s Notre-Dame West neighbourhood.
Leaving culinary school in week six, Dougan learned on the job, running his first restaurant and a catering company at the same time.
“I’m self-taught,” he explains, “I learned in the kitchen from my father and grandparents.”
In fact, Dougan’s favourite dish is his grandmother’s fresh fish stew—cou-cou and flying fish, a Caribbean classic. We see Chef Jae-Anthony’s love of seafood reflected on the menu with a tropical ceviche headlining the summer offerings.
A look at the food and drinks menu:
Tropikàl ceviche: Made with Leche de Tigre and coconut milk to balance the acidity, with fresh ginger, garlic and Scotch bonnet for spiciness. Served with plantain chips.
Mini jerk chicken poutine: The chef’s first dish that put him on the map! Jerk poutine gravy with hand-cut Yukon gold fries and Quebec cheese curds topped with Tropikàl’s famous jerk chicken. We tried this, as you can see, and it was so delicious and flavourful, albeit a bit spicy as can be expected from this seasoning.
Jerk chicken poutine. Photo by Curtis Perry.
Spicy coconut shrimp: The chef’s play on a Caribbean staple where prawns are marinated in green seasoning, grilled and then sautéed in spicy coconut sauce and topped with fried coconut flakes. Not your ordinary coconut shrimp.
Roti n Channa: A staple dish across Trinidad and Tobago; a true street food delicacy. Paratha, also known as “buss up shot” is the roti of choice (similar to naan bread, but more textured and made on a tawa frying pan). Potato and chickpea channa is made into a curry blend and topped with chutneys and cucumber chow (pickled cucumber).
Vegan plantain cups: Also known as Haitian bananes pesées, this dish is made with green plantain that is brined, fried, then topped with avocado and sautéed mushrooms.
Pineapple Breeze: Ciroc, pineapple juice, coconut milk, simple syrup, and lime juice
Ciroc Mule: Ciroc, fresh lime, simple syrup, topped with ginger beer
Vandra’s Rum Punch: Mount Gay rum, tropical juice mix, lime, simple syrup, grenadine
Espresso Martini: Remy Martin cognac, espresso syrup, Kahlua liqueur
The one thing Chef Jae-Anthony wants Ottawa to know is this: “Afro-Caribbean food is here to stay. We are here to stay.”
Follow Tropikal on Instagram. The restaurant is located at 89 Clarence Street in the ByWard market. The entrance is via walk-up stairs and is not wheelchair accessible.
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