By Nathalie Orlando
With the rise of immersive experiences in Caribbean food, there is a new restaurant in Miami — just a few short blocks from Barry.
Pierre’s Caribbean Cuisine, 11105 NW 7th Ave, was founded in 2016 by Pierre.
The owner is originally from Haiti and attended Chaminade University in Honolulu, Hawaii while in the military. However, due to a medical discharge, he was no longer able to serve and was offered a job by the state of Florida.
He later enrolled in the police academy and served for 2 years before resigning, but fell in love with the concept of opening up his own restaurant someday.
“My intent was to have a restaurant because, when I explored a lot of Haitian restaurants, I felt as of something that was missing for a very long time,” he said.
It was an idea that would soon come to fruition — to deviate from traditional Haitian restaurants and make a plethora of Caribbean cuisine available yet at the same time adhering to his Haitian roots and values. So, in 2016, Pierre’s Caribbean Cuisine was born.
What separates this restaurant from competing chains like Chef Creole?
“When you have a quality product, you don’t have to care about competition. I’m a fairly new restaurant that puts more emphasizes in taste than anything.”
Additionally, he would like to debunk the narrative that Haitians are lazy, but hard-working people who “shake your hand firmly and look said person in the eye.”