Haitian restaurants are a dime a dozen In Miami, Florida making it extremely hard to find one that really stands out. Le Poulet Chic is the latest one to merge onto the scene. It was natural for one to dismiss it as just another typical Haitian restaurant. However, this one is kind of special. Le Poulet Chic open earlier this year during Haitian flag day weekend and in the short duration of its existence, it managed to form a strong customer base. A lot of Haitian celebrities visit the new spot daily, people from different nationalities and of course some locals that just can’t seem to get enough of the grub there.
The restaurant is owned by Clifford Sylvain of the famous Sylvain family originally based in New York, where they use to run a nightclub by the name of Vault Café. Clifford moved to Florida earlier this year to focus on this new venture.
I bought a house in Florida; it was something that I always wanted to do. I had already purchased everything that I would need for the restaurant a year in advance. As you know the rent for a business here in Florida is much cheaper than that of NYC rent. I was also tired of the NYC scene; I’ve been in NYC my entire life. ~ Clifford
One if not the biggest issue a lot of people have with Haitian restaurants is the fact that many of them either have a very limited menu or they never have most of the things listed on the menu. How many dishes do you have on the menu and how often are they available?
Most of the Haitian restaurants have many of the same foods like the griot, tasso, fish, and legumes. We here have 36 different dishes.
How did you come up with such a large variety?
When sitting back and thinking about the many different varieties of Haitian food there are in our country, I said to my myself that I should have as many as I can actually cook. Haitians cooked for the French in the 1500s during slavery time. Contrary to what a lot of people thought; the French were not the ones that taught or influenced our style of cooking. So we Haitians have so many varieties of foods, not just the ones that you see on everyday Haitian restaurant menus.
Who are your current clients?
Because of the many varieties of foods we have many different cultures coming in. We have Cubans of course because there’s a large population of Cubans in Florida; Jamaicans; South Americans; Central Americans; and a lot of the Caribbean.
Give us a breakdown of the menu and how often are they available?
We have 4 different recipes for legumes; 5 different recipes for rice; 5 different for Mais Moulen; 4 different for fish in 4 different for fish and a large array of finger foods. As of right now I’m still working on getting the special menu’s setup. Our special lunch menu starts at 12:30pm to 3:00pm Fried Plantains and Griot or Chicken Haitian style for the Corporate and after-school crowd. We’re still working on a complete special menu and once that’s done I will have more
How many cooks do you have to execute this large menu?
We have 4 different cooks and they are all from the south, O’kaye, Jacmel, Cote defe. So they each bring a different flavor of their own and of course, I add the finishing touches and make sure things are all well prepared.
If you were given a fish and one ingredient to prepare it; what would that one ingredient be?
LIMES, LIMES and more LIMES!
What style would it be?
Fried.
What’s the most popular meal at the restaurant right now?
The most popular dishes are the fish and legume with crabs. It sells like crazy.
Thank you, Clifford!
My Pleasure!
If you are in the Miami area, check out Le Poulet Chic Their hours of operation are 9am to 7pm 7 days a week.
