The former Bombay Indian Cuisine space has a whole new fresh and light look.

Ray Ewing

The former Bombay Indian Cuisine space has a whole new fresh and light look.

Ray Ewing

Every dish tells a story, and executive chef and founder Chef Ting is sharing volumes in her new restaurant, Black Joy Kitchen. Drawing on her global culinary background and flavors and dishes from the Black diaspora, Chef Ting and her team are bringing their vibrant, flavor-infused perspective to Oak Bluffs. From Maalay Qumbe (coconut fish curry from Somalia) to Huacatay Shrimp & Pineapple (from Peru) to Doro Wat with Inerja (spicy chicken stew from Ethiopia), these are dishes you will not find anywhere else on the Island — or in this combination practically anywhere. It’s a heady and fragrant journey that truly feels like a trip around the world on your palate.

The extensive menu reads like a travel guide, with ingredients and the geographic roots of each dish offering layers of insight. There are dairy-free, vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options so everyone can enjoy the sharable, family-style dishes.

A related series of dishes called journeys offers diners a way to taste several items at once. The rice journey includes four types of rice dishes: Gullah red rice (South Carolina), rice and peas (Trinidad & Tobago), Jollof rice (Ghana) and Moros Y Christianos (Cuba). The greens journey travels from Cameroon to Mississippi, from casava leaves to collard greens.

Hearty dishes such as BBQ meatballs and billionaire’s bacon bouquet (both from Georgia) bring tangy-sweet flavors while the crispy whole piri-piri snapper (Cape Verde) is as light as air. For dessert, the passionfruit situation (Tanzania) and a big slice of Kentucky butter cake are the perfect sweet and buttery notes to follow the spicy umami of the main dishes.

 ABOVE: Dishes inspired by the Black diaspora. Clockwise from top left: Huacatay Shrimp & Pineapple (Peru), Misir Way with Inerja (Ethiopia); Maalay Qumbe (coconut fish curry, Somalia); Bedazzled Avocado Dream (Puerto Rico). PHOTOS BY RAY EWING.  

Chef Ting is excited about the restaurant’s Sundays-only brunch BBQ menu. “It allows us to lean in to some African American classics,” she says. “On Saturdays and Sundays most people roll off the ferry and the [rental] house isn’t ready yet. I want them to be able to head over to Black Joy for a family barbeque.”

A commitment to community extends to the ingredients on the menu. The restaurant sources produce from Morning Glory Farm and Beetlebung Farm. The seafood is sourced from Aquinnah, including scallops, bluefish and striped bass. And Chef Ting relies on Island resident Ms. Paulette to make jars of pickliz, a Haitian pickled condiment dish used to top the Sos Pwa, a Haitian rice dish.

Family is what first brought Chef Ting to the Island, starting in the early 1970s, when she would travel from Brookline with her family. “My white mom and Black dad got married in the 1960s and the Vineyard became a haven for them,” she says. “It was where we would see a lot of families like ours.”

So it’s no surprise that family is an intrinsic part of Black Joy Kitchen. Chef Ting’s wife, Melissa Bradley runs the business side of the restaurant and two of their daughters and a niece work on the restaurant floor. And despite living thousands of miles away in Hawaii, Chef Ting’s oldest daughter Gabriella — also a chef — created three recipes for the restaurant menu.

The sense of family is evident from the moment you walk in the door. A wooden spice cabinet (an antique library card catalog) against the wall holds more than fifty spices in pull-out drawers. Called Gabriella’s Spice Curiosity Cabinet, it’s a tribute to Gabriella’s curious nature that started at age three when she opened each drawer and memorized various spices.

Chef Ting enjoys mentoring and empowering young chefs, and it takes a solid team to steer a new restaurant while she also oversees a bustling catering business and moves forward with a cookbook. Sous Chef Chris Quiles is taking the lead in the kitchen, with help from Chef Malika, who drives the production, and a team of four more cooks.

A curated wine list includes wines from House of Brown — part of Brown Estates, a Black-owned family winery in Napa Valley. But Black Joy Kitchen also has an exciting cocktail menu to tempt you. There are plenty of classics and old favorites, but fresh takes that incorporate flavors of pineapple, passionfruit and strawberry are dazzling. The mocktails are packed with flavor and are a refreshing addition to a meal. Don’t miss the Be Easy on the Beat, a blend of hibiscus strawberry shrub, fresh mint, lime and club soda.

Sitting at a table on a Saturday night in the bright, airy space, the sounds speak volumes. With laughter, the clicking of cocktail shakers, diners chatting with each other in the aisles, it’s clear that this is a place that nurtures community. Celebrating flavors of the Black diaspora while creating a welcoming space comes naturally to Chef Ting and her team, and it shows in every single detail. Black Joy Kitchen is certain to become a year-round gathering spot.

Laura Holmes Haddad is a former cookbook editor and regular contributor to The Vine .

Black Joy Kitchen

7 Oakland Avenue, Oak Bluffs

(508) 338-7550

Open Wednesday – Saturday, 5 to 11 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Reservations accepted and encouraged

blackjoykitchen.com

@blackjoykitchen

Special cocktails include The Inkwell and Fifty Percent Pleasure, Five Percent Pain.

Ray Ewing

Special cocktails include The Inkwell and Fifty Percent Pleasure, Five Percent Pain.

Ray Ewing