NORWALK — Adriana Miller grew up in the restaurant industry, both in her native country of Jamaica and in Connecticut where she moved with her family at the age of 10. Now the 29-year-old Norwalk resident is using the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to put her culinary background to work.
On Dec. 18, Miller opened the Tropical Island Spice restaurant at 120 New Canaan Ave.
“When the pandemic happened, I looked at it like this is an opportunity for me to take a next step forward,” Miller said. “I came across a space and everything worked out the way I wanted it to. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”
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Tropical Island Spice is open Monday through Thursday from noon to 9 p.m. For takeout or delivery orders call or text 203-919-4623.
Miller handles the business side of the operation while her uncle, Hector Sterling, cooks and creates all the dishes, Miller said.
“Since I was young, I always had a hand in the restaurant industry,” she said. “When I was 8 in Jamaica, he (Sterling) used to let me help out. It was always something had in mind.”
Before opening their own establishment, Miller and Sterling frequented pop-up cooking and management events, with Miller organizing and taking orders while Sterling prepared the food, she said.
With Tropical Island Spice, Miller hopes to bring traditional Caribbean dishes and flavors to Norwalk. The restaurant offers Caribbean staples including jerk chicken, red snapper and oxtail.
Alongside the traditional Jamaican cuisine, Miller plans to create dishes that incorporate Caribbean spices into common American meals.
She is experimenting with a jerk chicken pizza and a pasta dish with Caribbean spices.
“With our food we carry a lot of different spices,” Miller said. “A lot of people who don’t know about oxtail or jerk. We do have pasta with our own spice, we give them a sample, so they know about it.”
The first few weeks of business have been gone smoothly considering the coronavirus restrictions, with many takeout orders, she said. On opening day, all orders came with a free dessert called “rock cake,” to give Norwalk residents a free taste of a type of food of which they may not have previously heard.
“Norwalk is very diverse, and I wanted to bring the culture, the vibe into Fairfield County,” Miller said. “We don’t have a lot of Caribbean-based dining in Fairfield County. We look at Norwalk as very diverse. I want to bring the taste to everyone, not just Caribbean people, and have good food for family dining, not just pick up.”
Until building renovations are completed in mid-January, the restaurant is offering only pickup and delivery orders.
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'I wanted to bring the culture': Caribbean-inspired restaurant brings diverse tastes to Norwalk - CT Insider
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